Handsworth Songs

Murray Center Visiting Artist Brittany Shyne Presents: Handsworth Songs

Directed by John Akomfrah and made as part of the visionary Black Audio Film Collective, a group of independent Black British filmmakers and artists, Handsworth Songs is an experimental essay film. Examining the myriad number of issues that led to the October 1985 riots and protests in the Birmingham district of Handsworth and in the urban centers of London, this film brings together a collage of archival photographs, newsreels clips, and documentary footage to both challenge the medium of film and bring an ethics of multiplicity to understanding Black British life.

Presented with the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism, this screening will be followed by a conversation with filmmaker Brittany Shyne (Seeds, Official Selection True/False Film Fest 2025) moderated by Robert Greene, filmmaker-in-chief at the Murray Center, exploring how Handsworth Songs has influenced her artistic practice.