Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, this year Africa in Motion Film Festival and the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) worked in partnership to develop a young programmers project entitled ‘Reviving Scotland’s Black History’. We brought together five young aspiring film programmers from different backgrounds to take part in lectures, walking tours, site visits and seminars exploring black heritage in Scotland and the UK. Through this project they discovered Scotland’s links to slavery, through for example Glasgow’s architecture, learnt about the various race riots that have taken place in Scotland from 1916 onwards as well as about Scottish activism against racism.
From the knowledge they acquired the young programmers were then tasked with programming four events taking place during Africa in Motion Film Festival and Black History Month. These screenings and events are inspired by what they learnt, combined with their own life experiences and passions.
Events included a package of short films curated by Jo Reid, looking at LGBTQ+ stories from across the Africa. This event was entitled ‘Queer Africa: Stories from across the continent’ and took place at the Flying Duck bar. ‘The Journey of Antonio’ curated by Tinofara Fombe which drew inspiration from her Grandfather’s journey from Portugal to Mozambique during the period of liberation there, and included a storytelling by her and a screening of ‘The Murmuring Coast’. The third event ‘Colourism’ curated by Wacera Kamonji took place in the Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh curated and looked at cultural conceptions of skin, race and body beauty through a package of short films and was followed by a discussion. The final screening ‘De-Colonising the Image’ was curated by Alasdair Campbell and explored films made during the colonial era by African’s living in France.