Curatorial collaborators Mosa Mpetha (Black Cinema Project, Hyde Park Picture House), Darragh Amelia and Jesse Gerard (Ajabu Ajabu) present five recently digitised or restored works from the Global South that are written by and about women: Sambizanga (Angola), Maangamizi: The Ancient One (Tanzania), Door to the Sky (Morocco), De Cierta Manera (Cuba) and Araya (Venezuela). Surrounding each film from this selection exists a uniquely challenging story of ownership and distribution, opening up discussion around the imbalance of power within film cultures perpetuated globally and locally — particularly imposed upon female storytellers and hindering open and inclusive access to their narratives.
Black Cinema Project is an evolving space set up by Mosa Mpetha and Samra Mayanja to bring people together with care, to meaningfully watch and discuss Black films and the landscape they are situated within. Ajabu Ajabu is a collective of audio-visual practitioners based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania working on the preservation, production, and presentation of audio-visual art. Their work is centred around curatorial interrogations related to deconstructing bias across film cultures, platforming underrepresented narratives and modes of storytelling, and promoting amateur and experimental practice.