For Black History Month, Sheba Soul Ensemble takes a backwards, forwards and sideways look at how racism affects communities and family lives with a series of short film screenings and a creative writing workshop.

Do the devastating and destructive ramifications of slavery trickle through to family dynamics now, as many historians and sociologists suggest? This selection of screenings is intended to get us all thinking.

Films in the programme include:

• Opera (dir: Clare Fung, 3mins) A thought-provoking exploration of back to front racism + Recorded Q&A with Clare
• Ursulena’s Box (dir: Jill Li-Sue, 11mins) A poignant examination of how bereavement imprints itself on our lives
• Cedarwood and Silk (dir: Jill Li-Sue, 14mins) Annsightful exploration of the relationship between a Jamaican mother and her British-born daughter.
• Songs for our Daughters (Jill Li-Sue, 8mins) A different angle on mother/daughter relationships, focusing on how Caribbean mothers knowingly transmit their culture
• Laters (dir: Jill Li-Sue, 10mins) Sticks with the same theme - but here the relationship is one of abuse and so results in the daughter's loss of herself. This film depicts sexual violence
• Co-Power (dir: Professor Florence Ayisi, 15mins) An examination of how COVID impacts on Black communities across the UK in 2022. A major contribution to Co-Power research programme, the film invites us all to see the writing on the wall

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