East End Voices: Community, Activism and Identity
East End Voices: Community, Activism and Identity
Join Four Corners, London Community Video Archive and Oitij-Jo Collective for an afternoon of screenings and discussion.
This screening event showcases shorts that engage with community, activism and identity from the 1970s to the present, drawing on archive material including a community video magazine, a documentary on Bengali families’ housing struggles, and a film about young people’s attitudes to racism, alongside shorts by contemporary Bangladeshi creators.
London Community Video Archive will be showing Despite TV video magazine, issue one (Despite TV/Spectacle 1984, 42 mins).
Four Corners will be showing two films: A Safe Place to Be (Director Simon Heaven, 1980, 30 mins) and Divide and Rule – Never! (Newsreel Collective, 1978, 41 mins). A Safe Place to Be is an exploration of the housing discrimination faced by the Spitalfields Bengali community in the 1980s, this documentary looks at how people were struggling for better lives. Unusually, it features Bengali voices, even if they are all male. Made by local director Simon Heaven, it was shown on Channel 4 in 1981. Divide and Rule – Never! Young working-class Londoners – first and second generation Black and Asian immigrants, as well as ex-National Front members – discuss their experiences of racism in 1970s Britain, and fight back with rock and reggae. Screening followed by discussion.
Oitij-Jo Collective will be showing Gaali Kothon — A Tale of Swear Words (Mahamuda Aktar (Monisha), 2024, 16.06 mins). This short docu-fiction investigates the prevalence of sexist and misogynistic swear words existing in Bangladeshi society and culture, but also universally recognised. Mahamuda Aktar Monisha is a feminist, queer activist and filmmaker from Dhaka, Bangladesh, currently based in Dublin. She is dedicated towards dismantling deep-rooted social injustices through the use of arts and activism, and using storytelling to challenge social norms.
This event is part of Backyard Biennial.
More Information: https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/events/east-end-voices/