The first (official) screening of Divas Do Film kicks off with Robert Townsend’s musical-drama Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring 19-year-old Beyoncé in her debut acting role.

Based on the 1875 opera Carmen by George Bizet, but more closely resembling - though not in quality - Carmen Jones (1954), the 2001 edition follows straight-laced Philadelphia cop Sgt. Derek Hill played by Mekhi Phifer, as he is seduced from his regular life by Beyoncé’s Carmen Brown. In the throes of their new love, Carmen & Derek have their worlds turned upside down by crooked cop Lt. Frank Miller (played with comic villainy by Yasiin Bey, then known as Mos Def) and Carmen’s dreams of becoming a Hollywood actress are put in serious jeopardy.

Two years before she would break out from Destiny’s Child, teenage Beyoncé at once embodies and bucks against the jezebel stereotype suspending her in a grey area that would follow her around for her entire career.

With songs that aren’t very catchy, editing that could be better and performances that are for the most part much worse, join us for this rare screening of a noughties cult classic!

This screening will feature an extended illustrated introduction from writer and curator Rōgan Graham. Working broadly in film exhibition, her areas of interest are works by Women, Black filmmakers and Pop Divas. She has previously given talks on both Beyoncé and Mariah Carey as auteurs at the BFI.