SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
MEDIA LAUNCH & PROGRAM REVEAL
https://windrushfilmfestival.com/
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
6:30 pm
The evening hosted by Garry Stewart
MEDIA LAUNCH & PROGRAM REVEAL
Theme: Windrush Generation, History and Storytelling
Moderated by Garry Stewart, Recognize Black Heritage & Culture
Panellists: Patrick Vernon Frances Anne Solomon
7:30pm TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL GILKES
Sargasso! A Caribbean Love Story (Michael Gilkes, Dominica/Guyana, 1991, 47 minutes)
The first screen adaptation of Jean Rhys novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, from a Caribbean perspective. It examines the girlhood and marriage of Antoinette Bertha Cosway, the madwoman in the attic in Charlotte Brontëe’s novel Jane Eyre. The film also includes biographical and critical information about Rhys.
Panelists: Christopher Laird and Mark Gilkes
OCTOBER 03, 2020, 7:00pm
CARIBBEANTALES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT
CO-PRESENTATION
Screening
A People’s Art – Genesis of Freedom
Director: Tony Oldham
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2019
Running time: 58 minutes
Synopsis: Ayesha is a young mixed-race British girl who is on a journey to find out the truth about what the Notting Hill Carnival really represents. From its genesis in the 1958 Race Riots and a young man’s murder to its contemporary perception as a Carnival of violence, Ayesha discovers that this vibrant, colourful Carnival represents something much deeper in British history.
OCTOBER 17, 2020 – 7:00pm
OPENING NIGHT – BLACK LIVES MATTER
Screening – SHORT FILM PROGRAM
Windrush Archival Short: The Great Black British Invasion
* Screening will be followed by talkback session
Visibly Me (dir. Nicola Cross, UK, 2016), 21 minutes
Visibly me tells the story of a 47-year-old woman with no partner and no children who finds herself invisible and feels she has no choice but to find the antidote.
Cardiff 1919 Riots Redrawn (dir. Kyle Legall, UK, 2020), 28 minutes
Cardiff 1919: Riots Redrawn is a vivid day-by-day, hour-by-hour account of the Cardiff race riots, pieced together from reports in local newspapers, following the dynamic ebb and flow of the rioting.
Caribbean Skin, African Identity
Director: Mandisa Pantin
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Year: 2012
Running Time: 40 Minutes
Exploring the evolution of the idea of African identity in the Caribbean against the backdrop of Emancipation Day rituals and parade
OCTOBER 23, 2020 – 7:00pm
CELEBRATING OUR ACHIEVEMENT
Opening Short Films
Windrush Archival Short: Cricket
Windrush Archival Short: Learie Constantine
* Screening will be followed by talkback session
501 Not Out (dir. Sam Lockyer, 2019)
Over twenty-five years on from Brian Lara’s world-record breaking innings for Warwickshire at Edgbaston, brand new documentary 501 Not Out tells the story of cricket’s first global superstar.
OCTOBER 31, 2020
JAMAICA NIGHT
5:00pm
Feature Film
Just ah likkle piece of Jamaica in Port Talbot
Director: Tracy Pallant
Country: Wales
Year: 2019
Running time: 40 minutes
A celebration of the previously untold stories of Jamaican Elders who made Port Talbot, South Wales, their home in the 1950s and 60s.”
OCTOBER 31, 2020
JAMAICA NIGHT – 7:00 PM
7:00pm
JAMAICA NIGHT
Opening Short Film
Windrush Archival Short
Feature Film
Footsteps of the Emperor (dir. Dr Shawn Naphtali Sobers, 1999)
Director: Dr Shawn Naphtali Sobers
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 1999
Running time: 90 minutes
Highlighting Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I’s an exile in Britain’s Bath in this docudrama
NOVEMBER 06, 2020 – 7:00pm
OUR STORIES
7:00pm
OUR STORIES
* Screening will be followed by a talkback session
Opening Short Film
Harold Phillips – Lord Woodbine (dir. Lana Hughes, UK, 2020), 28 minutes
Feature Film
Hardstop
Director: George Amponsah
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2015
Running time: 85 minutes
The police killing of Mark Duggan in London in 2011 ignites the worst civil unrest in recent British history.
NOVEMBER 07, 2020
RACE AND REPRESENTATION
4:30 pm
RACE & REPRESENTATION
* Screening will be followed by a talkback session
Shorts Programme
Jamaican Men: A Collector’s Choice I Art Exhibition July 2012 London (dir. Dionne Walker, UK, 2012), 9 minutes
An interaction between Jamaica through art, and an interesting mixed audience made of African, British and Caribbean people
Iciline Brown, our Windrush Generation Story (dir. Monica D. Brown, UK, 2016), 10 minutes
A successful Windrush story about fighting to win.
The Story of Sam King MBE (dir. Quince Garcia, 2019)
Sam King MBE was involved in many activities that moved the U.K in a direction where the nation would acknowledge a new type of diversity, culture and politics.
NOVEMBER 07, 2020 – 7:00pm
7:00pm
Opening Short Film
The Peckham Wall – A Silent Voice (dir. Tracey Francis, UK, 2018), 2 minutes
This two-minute film addresses the silent but constant voice of the Peckham Wall that was moved from Peckham Hill Street to outside of the Peckhamplex Cinema.
Feature Film
Hero (dir. Dr. Shawn Naphtali Sobers, 1999)
Director: Dr. Shawn Naphtali Sobers
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 1999
Running time: 90 minutes
Highlighting Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I’s exile in Britain’s Bath in this docudrama
OCTOBER 17, 2020
WINDRUSH WOMEN
4:00pm
WINDRUSH WOMEN
Shorts Programme
Windrush Child (Rainbow Collective Animation Club, The Green, UK, 2018), 2 minutes
An animated tribute to the Windrush generation from children in London.
Focus Claudia Jones (dir. Joyce Fraser, Zoom Presentation, UK, 2020), 11 minutes
Filmed theatre enactment on the life of Claudia Jones 2020. A new play by the Black heroes Foundation.
Thanks For Coming (dir. Daisy Jones, 2019), 4 minutes
Thanks For Coming deals with the mistreatment of the Windrush Generation that was highlighted in the news in 2018. This scandal speaks of a growing attitude towards immigrants in our country and asks the question: What is it that makes someone British?
Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle
Director:
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2019
Running time: 60 minutes
Monologues that reveal the hopes, desires, achievements, shattered dreams and broken promises of a single fictionalised family over four generations.
NOVEMBER 8, 2020 – 7:00pm
AWARDS CEREMONY + FESTIVAL CLOSING
7:00pm
Screening
* Screening will be followed by a talkback session
Inaugural Windrush Caribbean Film Festival to screen in cinemas and art venues from Oct 17th – 8th Nov 2020
Patrick Vernon OBE and Natalie Barnes (daughter of the late Windrush campaigner Paulette Wilson) has joined forces with award-winning film producer and director Frances-Anne Solomon to launch the Inaugural Windrush Caribbean Film Festival.
The six-day digital festival of screenings, discussions and masterclasses aims to celebrate the contributions and impact of the Windrush generation on life in the UK today.
The festival is the brainchild of Solomon whose award-winning film HERO, inspired by WW2 and Windrush hero Ulric Cross, toured the UK to critical acclaim in 2019. Its success was the inspiration for this full-blown festival.
“As a child of the Windrush generation, I am passionate about sharing the stories and struggles of the men and women who paved the way for me and for all of us who are Black in Britain,” said festival co-founder, Garry Stewart of Recognize Black Heritage and Culture.
“Our partners from across the UK have worked tirelessly to turn a planned physical festival into a dynamic virtual event. “
Festival 2020 will also see the launch of the first ‘Paulette Wilson’ Windrush Award to be given in memory of the prominent Windrush campaigner who was wrongly detained by the Home Office, and who went on to become the face of the Windrush Scandal campaign.
The award will be presented to an individual who has been instrumental in advancing the narrative to achieve justice for the Windrush generation.
“We’re thrilled and I know my mother would be too, to have this prestigious award named after her,” said Natalie Barnes, Paulette’s daughter. “My mother was a humble woman but she was passionate about seeking justice for everyone caught up in the Windrush scandal. To see her honoured in this way is truly a wonderful legacy for her to have left.”
WCFF 2020 themes are centred around racism, colonialism, immigration, and cultural contributions, discussing and celebrating to this iconic generation. WCFF is sponsored by Solomon’s Caribbean Tales Media Group, and led by a core team including Stewart, Joy Coker of Alt-Africa as Lead Programmer, Shiloh PR’s Evadney Campbell and Patricia Hamzahee of Integriti Capital, with support from The Funding Network and Unison.
The exciting line -up of films in the festival schedule, will be revealed at the programme launch on the 29th of September the festival runs from October 17 – November 8, 2020. For more information go to the festival website here.