As part of FACT’s Black History Month programme, discover the intimate and funny My Brother’s Wedding (1983), and landmark of Black South African archival cinema African Jim (1949).
MY BROTHER’S WEDDING
WED 7 OCT / 19:00
TICKETS £8-10
Director Charles Burnett brings warmth, humour and compassion to this story of family, friendship and class. Rooted in the rhythms of everyday life, the film offers an intimate view of Black working-class Los Angeles.
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Following his landmark debut Killer of Sheep, Charles Burnett delivers a powerful counterpoint to the depictions of South Central that would later dominate popular cinema. Originally screened as an unfinished rough cut in 1983, the film remained difficult to see until Burnett re-edited and restored it in 2007. This new 4K restoration continues the work of honouring the filmmaker’s original artistic vision.
AFRICAN JIM + DISCUSSION
WED 28 OCT / 19:00
TICKETS £8-10
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. We’re delighted to host film curator and founder of Cinema Africa!, Mosa Mpetha, for a post-screen discussion exploring its creation, context and legacy.
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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The film remains a complex historical document. Its light-hearted story of urban migration sits alongside outdated language and a censor-approved script that offers little acknowledgement of the racist systems shaping its characters’ lives.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.
FACT's BHM Film Programme is 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.
