As a black American living in London nothing grates on me like being asked where my parents, grandparents or great-grandparents are from. This is the inevitable follow-up question which accompanies the initial enquiry into where I’m from, to which I reply "California". It’s not the fact of being asked that grates on me—I get it, I’m a foreigner. Added to which I was also raised in what was, (…) Continue Reading »

Mark Brown is a screenwriter and founding member of Braine Hownd Films. The P.O.C. teaser of his film Corinthian is currently on the festival circuit, screening at the Reading Fringe Film Festival this week. Mark is also a playwright and has had his plays performed at theatres such as The Old Red Lion, The Kings Head and the Soho Theatre in London. How as the film company set up? Braine (…) Continue Reading »

During her 1972 presidential campaign, politician Shirley Chisholm was questioned about her willingness to work with the Black Panther Party. Chisholm responded that rather than focusing on the Panthers themselves, the nation should consider the (…) Continue Reading »

Above and Below is a charming and inoffensive documentary surrounding the lives of a few outcasts who have completely distanced themselves from ‘ordinary’ life and the society that this comprises. Whether this rejection is a result of their (…) Continue Reading »

Chameleon is a light-hearted and genuinely interesting look at the “most successful investigative journalist in Africa:” Ghana-based Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who helps the police investigate serious crimes and reports them back to the public. The (…) Continue Reading »

Shubbak (meaning ‘window’ in Arabic) is London’s largest festival of contemporary Arab culture. For its third edition, which runs from the 11-26 July, Shubbak asked renowned Palestinian director Michel Khleifi to curate its main film programme. (…) Continue Reading »

It brought it all back, the years that formed the person I am today: the Thatcher Years. Generation Right is a powerful reminder of why I became a radical community activist. It tells the story of Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Britain’s first female Prime Minister. As a child I vaguely remember women celebrating at first (not so much by the end of her reign). But back then there was a sense of (…) Continue Reading »

Watching Welcome to Leith weeks after the shooting in Charleston the stakes are high. The film has at its centre the white supremacist Craig Cobb and is being seen around the world at a time when the reality of racist violence is (momentarily) (…) Continue Reading »

An interesting and well-meaning documentary, The Divide presents audiences with a frequently mentioned, though infrequently interrogated, phenomenon- the divide of the rich and the poor in the Western world. The film begins with a quote from Warren Buffett, “the most successful investor of the 20th century": “There’s a class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making (…) Continue Reading »

Struggling actress Anna is at the end of her tether. Still reeling from a recent breakup with dial-a-scumbag John and a failed audition, she packs up and heads for Paris to spend a few days with her gay best friend, Jean. Meanwhile, John is in Paris on business and Jean’s relationship with Philippe is going sour. So far so common or garden chick flick. But director Sophie Mathisen, who also (…) Continue Reading »