Other Cinema are proud to be hosting Brent based filmmaker Cathy Hassan as part of our Borough of Culture 2020 programme. Cathy’s film brings to life an important and often forgotten part of our history.

Beyond the Photo records individual stories of Black British lives in the 1970s. Personal experiences are linked by themes of a discriminatory police culture, winter of discontent, inhumane housing and the rising voices of disgruntled young black people, determined to break the cycle of poverty and systemic oppression.

Beyond the Photo explores the journey of one photo opening up to reveal social and historical narratives, from times when “Sons of Empire” gave rise to fears of a black invasion and to cultural and political awareness shaped by the US Civil rights movement and black liberation struggles.

The documentary features interviews with family members of the Community leaders, activists and feminists like Olive Morris, and the writer, broadcaster and Civil rights activist Darcus Howe. Historian, Dr Robin Bunce, Homerton College, University of Cambridge offers valuable insights into the turbulent 1970s.

Powerful images by Al Vandenberg, Charlie Phillips, Neil Kenlock, Homer Sykes, Nick Hedges and other contributors, explore themes of London’s social unrest:

• Black Power as an ideology and a movement in Britain
• The Afro as a expression of black pride and heritage, and
• Photography as a means of protest and a tool of representation

This is a free event, register your interest here