Skip to main content
  • Featured
  • Calendar
  • Film
  • Music
  • Dance
  • Opera
  • Kids
  • Visual Art
  • Comedy
  • Classes
  • Galas & Events
  • Community
  • Sign Up
  • My Account
  • Log In
  • Log Out
  • Cart
  • Visit
  • Programs
  • Education
  • Membership
  • Support BAM
  • About
  • Featured
  • Calendar
  • Film
  • Music
  • Dance
  • Opera
  • Kids
  • Visual Art
  • Comedy
  • Classes
  • Galas & Events
  • Community
  • Visit
  • Programs
  • Education
  • Membership
  • Support BAM
  • About
  • Sign Up(current)
  • My Account(current)
  • Log In(current)
  • Log Out(current)
  • Cart(current)

Uncharted Territories: Black Britain on Film, 1963—1986

May 3—May 9, 2024
    Part of
  • BAM Film 2024

Timed to anticipate the run of a new 4K restoration of Horace Ové’s path-breaking 1975 drama Pressure, this revelatory and wide-ranging program collects over two decades worth of vital, rarely-screened work in which filmmakers of African and Caribbean heritage in Britain, alongside some committed outsiders, began to create powerfully resonant images of Black people on screen. From raw social-realist portraits to thrillingly experimental, form-bending flourishes, the films in this series represent an invigorating, politically purposeful, and still-relevant rebellion against a society and media perpetually guilty of marginalizing and misrepresenting Black people. —Ashley Clark, Series Programmer


Films include Menelik Shabazz's Burning an Illusion, John Akomfrah's Handsworth Songs, Isaac Julien's Territories, and more!

Leadership support for
BAM Access Programs provided by
the Jerome L. Greene Foundation

JL Greene

Leadership support for
BAM Film provided by
the Ford Foundation and
The Thompson Family Foundation

  • Film

    Burning an Illusion

    May 3—May 7, 2024

    Burning an Illusion

    May 3—May 7, 2024

    A political awakening inspires a woman to activism in Menelik Shabazz’s landmark of Black British cinema.

    More
    Film

    Burning an Illusion

    May 3—May 7, 2024

    A woman experiences political awakening in this landmark of Black British cinema.

  • Film

    Babylon

    May 3—May 6, 2024

    Babylon

    May 3—May 6, 2024

    Franco Rosso's incendiary film about a young dancehall DJ in South London pursuing his musical ambitions despite facing racism and xenophobia at every turn.

    More
    Film

    Babylon

    May 3—May 6, 2024

    Franco Rosso's incendiary, classic 1980 film about a young dancehall DJ in South London.

  • Film

    Youth and Protest program

    May 4—May 5, 2024

    Youth and Protest program

    May 4—May 5, 2024

    Early short films by Issac Julien and Menelik Shabazz respond to police violence, uprisings and liberation struggles by Black British communities in the 80s.

    More
    Film

    Youth and Protest program

    May 4—May 5, 2024

    Short documentaries respond to liberation struggles by Black British communities in the 80s.

  • Film

    Rare Gems From the 1960s program

    May 4—May 6, 2024

    Rare Gems From the 1960s program

    May 4—May 6, 2024

    Mid-century short films focus on Black British life from class relations to interracial friendship to avant-garde Black Power freak-outs.

    More
    Film

    Rare Gems From the 1960s program

    May 4—May 6, 2024

    Mid-century short films focus on Black British life.

  • Film

    The Passion of Remembrance

    May 4—May 6, 2024

    The Passion of Remembrance

    May 4—May 6, 2024

    The first feature by the renowned Sankofa Film and Video Collective offers a mosaic of Black British experience.

    More
    Film

    The Passion of Remembrance

    May 4—May 6, 2024

    A mosaic of Black experience from legendary Sankofa Film and Video Collective.

  • Film

    Handsworth Songs + The People’s Account

    May 5—May 8, 2024

    Handsworth Songs + The People’s Account

    May 5—May 8, 2024

    Two vital documentaries by trailblazing collectives from the 1980s film workshop movement.

    More
    Film

    Handsworth Songs + The People’s Account

    May 5—May 8, 2024

    Two vital documentaries by trailblazing collectives from the 1980s film workshop movement.

  • Film

    Baldwin’s N****r + Step Forward Youth

    May 5—May 9, 2024

    Baldwin’s N****r + Step Forward Youth

    May 5—May 9, 2024

    James Baldwin speaks to a group of radical West Indian students in Horace Ové’s short doc, and Menelik Shabazz’s first film offers a portrait of Black British youth.

    More
    Film

    Baldwin’s N****r + Step Forward Youth

    May 5—May 9, 2024

    Two short documentaries explore the realities of racism in British society.

  • Film

    Blacks Britannica + Reggae in a Babylon

    May 7—May 8, 2024

    Blacks Britannica + Reggae in a Babylon

    May 7—May 8, 2024

    These films from the 1970s explore the oppression of Black communities in England and the birth of British Reggae.

    More
    Film

    Blacks Britannica + Reggae in a Babylon

    May 7—May 8, 2024

    Two films explore discrimination against Black people and the birth of reggae in Britain.

  • Film

    Black Joy

    May 7—May 9, 2024

    Black Joy

    May 7—May 9, 2024

    An honest and insightful comic drama exposing the lives of unemployed Black Britons and immigrants in a ghettoized London.

    More
    Film

    Black Joy

    May 7—May 9, 2024

    This comic drama centers on unemployed Black Britons and immigrants in a ghettoized London.

  • Film

    Playing Away

    May 8—May 9, 2024

    Playing Away

    May 8—May 9, 2024

    A cricket team in a small English village invites a Black cricket team from South London to play a charity game in Horace Ové’s biting comedy of manners.

    More
    Film

    Playing Away

    May 8—May 9, 2024

    Horace Ové’s biting comedy about cricket, race, and the limits of “polite” British society.

Follow Us

  • Open BAM on Instagram
  • Open BAM on Youtube
  • FAQ
  • Visit
  • Donate Now
  • Membership
  • Press
  • Contact Us
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy

Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@BAM.org
BAM is a 501(c)(3) | EIN 11-2201344​
© Brooklyn Academy of Music, Inc. 2025, BAM®, Brooklyn Academy of Music®, Everybooty®, Next Wave® and Teknopolis® are trademarks of Brooklyn Academy of Music, Inc.