UDVFF 10: “I never died,” says he.

Editor’s Note: Welcome to the tenth program of our Virtual Film Festival, which offers a weekly watching schedule of moving image works available for free streaming. Previous programs can be found here.

If you enjoy this week’s program, we ask that you please click the ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ button below to make a donation to your local community or a national organization (or both!)

by MLP

Over the past two weeks I have watched events unfold in the USA, first with disgust, then followed by a wave of hope. People are using real voices and physical presence to enact real change. But as the movement has gained momentum, so have many seen this moment as an opportunity to (often falsely) self-righteously proclaim that they’ve never supported racism. It is my hope that you will accept this program as a small gesture of support, rather than a promotional stunt. As someone mentioned on Twitter, programming black artists’ work should be regular and perfectly normal occurrence, rather than a trendy one-time PR event. If you’ve been following our festival, you’ll know this is not the first time we have featured the work of black artists in a program (check out Programs 5 + 6 in particular), yet it’s undeniable that the road to true equality and justice is still a lengthy one with a great deal of ground to cover. I don’t have much else to say, so I’ll let the films do the talking.

Rest in power to George Floyd, Eric Garner, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and so many others.

“A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.” -Malcolm X

TitleYearFilmmakerRuntimeSupplements
Four Women1977Julie Dash7:20
Black Chains2017Amir George2:36
H-E-L-L-O2014Cauleen Smith11:06
I’m Not Gary1991Stan Douglas0:31Monodramas
Speech Addressing Police Brutality1962(Malcolm X)2:48Perfect Film
Extract from Mining Review 2nd Year No. 111949Peter Pickering3:26
Paul Robeson: On colonialism, African-American rights1960(Paul Robeson)3:09
Vanilla Sex1992Cheryl Dunye3:22Dunye + Hammer
Excerpt from Vertigo Sea2015John Akomfrah1:39
Three Degrees of Proximity to the Disaster2013John Akomfrah1:45
Handsworth Songs1986John Akomfrah60:57Article
Wealth of a Nation1966William Greaves20:55
Drylongso1998Cauleen Smith81:34Article

*Well worth nothing as well that Madeline Anderson’s half-hour documentary I Am Somebody (1970) is available to rent from Icarus films!

**Some extra reading material shared on twitter can be found here + here + here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *