We've partnered with the Doc Society to bring you a special screening of A Story of Bones, followed by a panel discussion with voices from the African Voices Forum and Bristol Legacy Foundation.

A Story of Bones tells the story of Annina van Neel as she works to reclaim the neglected history of St. Helena after the remains of thousands of formerly enslaved Africans are uncovered on the remote island.

As the Chief Environmental Officer for Saint Helena’s troubled £285m airport project, Annina learned of the island's most terrible atrocity - an unmarked mass burial ground of an estimated 9,000 formerly enslaved Africans in Rupert’s Valley. It is one of the most significant traces of the transatlantic slave trade still on earth.

Haunted by this historical injustice, Annina fights alongside renowned African American preservationist Peggy King Jorde and a group of disenfranchised islanders - many of them descendants of enslaved people - for the proper memorialisation of these forgotten victims. The resistance they face exposes disturbing truths about the UK’s colonial past - and present.

In charting her years-long journey to this moment of catharsis, A Story of Bones documents Annina’s extraordinary transformation from a disempowered bystander to an undaunted social justice activist—and one who is determined to advocate for a community that has long been denied a voice.

This screening is presented in partnership with Doc Society, working with African Voices Forum and Bristol Legacy Foundation.

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