BLACK WORLD CINEMA: 31

BLACK WORLD CINEMA: 31 GREAT FILMS

Since the beginning of the twentieth century and up until the modern day,film has been one of the most effective mediums people of African descent have used to tell stories about who they are and to revision their history.The following is a list of titles that have made a creative and social impact over the last decade.In alphabetical order,they range from Oscar winners to first time Directors working across varied genres,languages and budgets.These titles in their content,language and style have widen the discourse about identity and also shown the extent to which the black experience is part of the human story.

1. 12 Years A Slave (Dir:Steve McQueen,2014) 2. A Screaming Man (Dir:Mahamat Saleh Haroun, 2011) 3. An Oversimplification of Her Beauty(Dir:TerenceNance, 2014) 4. Besuro aka The Assailant (Dir:João DanielTikhomiroff,2009) 5. Black Girl (Dir:Ousmane Sembène,1966) 6. Black Orpheus (Dir:Marcel Camus.1959) 7. Coming to America (Dir:John Landis,1988) 8. Cuba, An African Odyssey (Dir:Jihan ElTahri,2007) 9. Dancehall Queen (Dir: Don Letts,1997) 10. Daughters of the Dust (Dir:Julie Dash,1993) 11. Divines (Dir:Uda Benyamina,2016) 12. I Am Not Your Negro (Dir:Raoul Peck,2016) 13. Malcolm X (Dir:Spike Lee,1992) 14. Moonlight (Dir:Barry Jenkins,2016) 15. Nairobi Half Life (Dir:DavidTosh Gitonga,2012) 16. Osuofia in London (Dir:Kingsley Ogoro,2003) 17. Paris is Burning (Dir:Jennie Livingston, 1990) 18. Pressure (Dir:Horace Ové,1976) 19. Sankofa (Dir:Haile Gerima,1993) 20. Set It Off (Dir:F.Gary Gray,1996) 21. The Spook Who Sat by the Door (Dir:Ivan Dixon,1973) 22. Straight Outta of Compton (Dir:F.Gary Gray,2015) 23. Sugar Cane Alley (Dir:Euzhan Palcy,1983) 24. The Figurine (Dir:Kunle Afolayan,2009) 25. The Great Debaters (Dir:DenzelWashington,2007) 26. The HarderThey Come (Dir:Perry Henzell,1972) 27. Timbuktu (Dir:Abderrahmane Sissako,2014) 28. To Sleep With Anger (Dir:Charles Burnett,1990) BlackHistoryMonthisstillrelevant,though 29. Tsotsi (Dir:Gavin Hood,2005) myownpersonalviewis that theemphasis 30. Viva Riva (Dir: DjoTundaWa Munga,2010) should be on activity throughout the year 31. Black Panther (Dir:Ryan Coogler,2018) rather than just for one month.

BY NADIA DENTON

NadiaDentonhasbeenworking in the film industry for over a decade primarily in the areas of curation and audience development.In 2016 she presented a second edition of BEYOND NOLLYWOOD as part of theBLACKSTARseasonat the BFI Southbank.She formally entered the industry running bfmFilmClubamonthlyplatform for BlackWorld Cinema at the ICAin2004.Shehaswritten two books which include andThe Black British Filmmaker’s Guide to Success andThe Nigerian Filmmaker’s Guide to Success: BeyondNollywood.Shehasbeen featured as a speaker at the HousesofParliament,TheBattle of Ideas Festival,Sheffield Doc Fest and Cannes Film Festival. Most recently,she co-produced SHOOTING IN LIKE AWOMAN a BBCWorld Service radio documentary that looks at the fortunes of female producers in theNigerianfilmindustry.Nadia has a degree in Modern History from St.Hilda’s College,Oxford. She is a member of BAFTA.

AWARD FOR COMMUNITY

ACTIVIST On Thursday 20th September 2018, the University of Wolverhampton presented Patrick Vernon with an Honorary Doctor of Letters.

OnThursday 20th September 2018,the University of Wolverhampton presented PatrickVernonwithanHonorary Doctor of Letters.The award was made in recognitionofPatrick’scontributiontothe voluntaryandpublicsectoroveranumber ofyearsandinparticularhishistoricalwork around family genealogy and identity of migrant communities particularly African and Caribbean communities.Speaking at the presentation of his award,Professor Laura Caulfield praised Patrick as an “inspirational individual”who shared the University’s“commitment to reducing inequalities,improvingmentalhealthand wellbeing,and increasing the visibility of migrant communities”. Patricksaid:“AsachildoftheWindrush GenerationborninWolverhamptonalong nowwiththreegenerationsoftheVernon family It is great to be honoured by the University ofWolverhampton to receive an honorary doctorate for my work over the years for advocating,campaigning and developing content and learning on the heritage of African and Caribbean community from family history,100 Great Black Britons,Windrush Generation.Also, the recognition reflects my wider work on migration histories,race equality,mental health and wellbeing”. PatrickVernon OBE was born in Wolverhamptonandwent toGroveJunior School,Colton Hills andWulfrun College. He is Patron of ACCI mental health charity based inWolverhampton and in 2017 guest edited this magazine.He is a Clore andWinston Churchill Fellow,Fellow at ImperialWarMuseum,andformerAssociate Fellow for the Department of History of Medicine atWarwick University. HewasthefirstDirectorofBlackThrive, a mental health multi agency tackling mental health in Lambeth,former Non-Executive Director of Camden and Islington Mental Health FoundationTrust, HealthPartnershipCoordinatorforNational Housing Federation,committee member of Healthwatch England,NHS England EqualityDiversityCouncil,andDirectorof Brent Health Action Zone.He is a former member of the Labour and the Coalition GovernmentMinisterialAdvisoryforMental Health.Patrick was a Former Councillor in Hackney between 2006- 2014.He was awarded an OBE in 2012 for his work in tackling health inequalities for ethnic minority communities in Britain. Patrickhasa25-yeartrackrecordworking in health and care,and anti-racism campaigning.This year he worked with theUniversityofWolverhamptonandother community groups on the Many Rivers to Cross project,which marked the fiftieth anniversaryofEnochPowell’sRiversofBlood speech,by raising awareness of both the positive progress made in the city and the challenges that still need to be overcome. Thisyearhecampaignedagainst theillegal denial of residency to members of the WindrushGeneration,andhaslongargued forWindrush Day to become a Bank Holiday,to ensure greater official celebration of the contribution that BlackBritonshavemade tothecountry.He will be speaking about that,and the problematichistoryoftheBlack Country Flag,at the University ofWolverhampton’s Black History Month Conference onThursday 18th October 2018. Will Cooling,Head of Equality and DiversityattheUniversityofWolverhampton, said,“I am delighted that the University has chosen to honour Patrick in this way. He shares with the University a commitment to celebrate Black History,to ensure that the contribution made by Black people in Britainandthewiderworldisnotignored. We are proud sponsor ofWolverhampton Black History Month,and look forward to welcoming Patrick on the 18th October”.

The University of Wolverhampton recently received Silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework. It offers courses across over 70 different subjects, with over 4,000 students graduating from Wolverhampton each year. It invests heavily in our students, staff and alumni and in the local and international community. Our next Open Days are on the 13th October (Undergraduate) and 22nd November (Postgraduate). For more information about the University, please visit www.wlv.ac.uk or email w.cooling@wlv.ac.uk.