African Jim + Discussion [U]

Name: African Jim + Discussion
Released: 2026-09-17T16:50:00+01:00

The Box, Ground Floor
FACT Liverpool, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ
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Runtime: 53 mins

Genre: Drama

Discover a landmark of Black South African archival cinema in a special Black History Month screening followed by a participatory discussion.

Also released as Jim Comes to Jo’burg, African Jim follows a young man who leaves his rural home for Johannesburg in search of work. After a difficult introduction to city life, Jim finds opportunity through music when he meets nightclub singer Dolly, played by legendary South African jazz musician and activist Dolly Rathebe in her screen debut.

Presented as part of FACT’s Black History Month programme.

Doors: 18:30. Screening: 19:00.

The screening will begin at the advertised time without adverts or trailers.

Bookings

Booking Required — £8-10

Wed, 28 Oct

19:00

*£8 tickets are available for anyone who is in full-time education, unwaged, or over 60.

Released in 1949, African Jim was the first South African feature film made specifically for Black audiences. The African National Congress supported its national release, while appearances by Rathebe, The African Inkspots, and other leading musicians offered a rare celebration of Black South African music and culture on screen.

The film remains a complex historical document. Its light-hearted story of urban migration sits alongside outdated language and a censor-approved script that offers little acknowledgement of the racist systems shaping its characters’ lives. Yet moments of resistance and self-expression break through, offering a valuable starting point for thinking about Black representation, cultural memory and the political conditions under which the film was made.

Presented as part of Black History Month, this special screening will be followed by a participatory discussion led by film curator Mosa Mpetha, exploring the film’s creation, context and legacy.

Mosa Mpetha is a curator specialising in Black, African and archive cinema. She founded Cinema Africa!, an ongoing programme at Hyde Park Picture House developed in partnership with local African diasporic communities. An advocate for grassroots and DIY film exhibition, Mosa is involved with Scalarama Leeds Film Festival and mentors emerging programmers.

Her work is driven by a passion for preserving and protecting African film heritage. Alongside distributing newly restored African titles, she is developing her own creative practice using archival film.

A 4K restoration by UK-based R3store Studios, funded by the National Gallery of Canada with thanks to Villon Films.

Part of Cinema Rediscovered on Tour: a Watershed project in association with Wiper & True and in collaboration with principal sponsors Park Circus and StudioCanal. Supported by the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

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