The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive, in collaboration with the Garden Cinema, are pleased to present a screening of short films followed by a discussion between writer and director, Amani Naphtali and film curator Dr June Givanni.
Le Bohemian Noir et le Renaissance de l'Afrique (1990) 26 mins
A stylised docudrama which looks at the emergence of an Afrikan movement among black British artists in the 1980s. This film evidences that creativity cannot be prescribed, predicted or contained within established artistic conventions. The panel will discuss the decades that followed and how they determined to change the terms of the game and their place within it.
The Rural Black History Project (2021) 18 mins
Working with professional and community artists, The Rural Black History Project has built fictionalised biographies for those in the records, that are presented alongside a broader exploration of the region's
Black British history.
Circles of Fire (1997) and (2022) 17 mins
A ritualistic folk tale which first opened at The British Short Film Festival (1997). This surrealist fiction short was reedited and remastered in (2022). The story revolves around a family of nomads, two women have been kidnapped by a violent male aggressor. The nomads under the leadership of a strong matriarch, respond by initiating her youngest son into the rites of the Circle of Fire. His task is to confront the aggressor with the ancient mystical sciences of his ancestors, the power of the eternal disk, and the circle of fire, a spherical talisman that has the ability to destroy and to regenerate forms of life. Shot in black and white by Russian cinematographer Alexander Ilkovski and edited in Moscow at the state television centre.
The film exemplifies Amani's love for African films such as Yeelen (1987, Souleymane Cissé) and Yaarba (1989, Idrissa Ouedraogo) and his admiration for the films of Sergei Eisenstein, and the wonderful creative steps made at Mosfilm.
Amani Naphtali is a trained dramatist, writer, director, and filmmaker. He was the founder member and Artistic Director of the ground-breaking Double Edge Theatre Company. He is a dedicated exponent of the African Ritualistic genre and a pioneer of Multi Genre interdisciplinary practice. Naphtali has directed musicals, films, and dance productions, including his seminal reggae musical, Ragamuffin, which was first staged at Oval House. Amani also wrote the book for the West End musical Daddy Cool. In addition to Ragamuffin, his theatre productions also include The Remnant, Valley of the Blind, Song of Songs, and Vibes from the Scribes.
The June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive holds a unique collection of artefacts and archival material that has at its core the interest of Pan-African cinema and its relationship to Black British cinema and culture. JGPACA's events and projects reveal histories and ideas in African and African diasporic film, bringing together the work of filmmakers, artists and writers around a wide range of themes, debates and interests.