June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive: An Exhibition

Join the June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive team for the culmination of their touring pop-up exhibition, which brings together materials from the JGPACA holdings to Birmingham for a one-day public showcase.

Expect a wide array of film ephemera that speak to a history of Pan-African and Third Cinema in the Midlands and beyond, including posters, programmes, and accompanying audiovisual work.

The exhibition explores two main areas:

Enter That Space: Birmingham’s Black Cultural Infrastructures, 1980s–90s

From pirate radio to film distribution networks and print culture, this exhibition explores infrastructures of Black cultural production in 1980s Birmingham. Bringing together practitioners such as Pervaiz Khan and forums like Third Cinema Focus - featuring Stuart Hall and bell hooks - it maps a politics of location in action. With works by Vanley Burke and Claudette Holmes, alongside films including Sistren in Photography, Rencontres au Noir and Pen Rhythm Poet, as well as archival audio from People's Community Radio, the exhibition emphasises sites of resistance to cultural dominance. The 1988 Midlands Arts Centre dialogue continues to resonate: “To be in the margin is to be part of the whole but outside the main body… Enter that space… Let us meet there.”

Building Community Audiences for PanAfrican Cinema in the Regions

This exhibition brings together materials from across five cities, collected through JGPACA’s national project Building Community Audiences for PanAfrican Cinema in the Regions, supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund. The programme visited Leeds, Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol, and now Birmingham, with each display accompanied by a public screening that invited local communities to explore and respond to the archive. In Birmingham, these city-specific materials come together for the first time, reflecting the richness and connections of Black film culture across Britain.

You'll also find materials related to the screening of Rage & Desire (1992) and Difficult Love (2010), along with reading materials and a contextual timeline to reflect upon, perhaps sparking further questions.

JGPACA recognises the potential that exists to serve a larger and wider community of users, extending beyond its London-centred location and linking its PanAfrican networks regionally and to Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe. Importantly, JGPACA seeks to enable audiences and participants (communities) in the project to develop their cultural awareness, with a recognition of the complexities of Black identities.

This project is created with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.