The Independent Cinema Office (ICO) is a registered charity who exist to bring non-commercial films to audiences who may not normally have access to them.
In collaboration with the British Film Institute, ICO has launched Britain on Film on Tour – a brand new series of archive film programmes featuring extraordinary treasures from archives across the UK, available to the British public for the first time. As part of this collaboration, ICO is delighted to present Britain on Film: South Asian Britain.
This fascinating collection explores the history of Britain’s South Asian population touching on disparate communities originally from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Featuring films from 1902-1989, the programme contains an unusually early study of London’s multiculturalism in 1924, a festival at Britain’s first mosque and Indian regiments being mobilised for the Second World War; 1959 Indian Independence celebrations in Leicester, a beautiful Sikh wedding, and Asian fashion and jewellery workshops; Bangladeshi migrants to ‘70s East End facing a hostile reception and second generation youths in the 1980s exploring the roots of their culture in music and dance, alongside deeper questions of what it means to be a young British Asian.
The aim of Britain on Film on Tour is not to make a profit – it is to ensure these films reach greater audiences. For this reason, ICO wants to make Britain on Film: South Asian Britain available to libraries, museums, galleries, as well as community groups, centres and spaces across the North West to hire from as little as £20+VAT – a reduction of 80% of the commercial rate.
For more information, contact Jemma Buckley, Britain on Film on Tour – Project Manager, on 020 7079 5950 or email jemma.buckley@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk.
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