COLD ISLANDERS - BABYMOTHER + THREADS OF MEMORY + Q&A

Cold Islanders, in partnership with The New Black `Film Collective, presents a screening of -

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BABYMOTHER + THREADS OF MEMORY

Babymother:

A single mother determined to make it as a singer puts together an all girl reggae group named Neeta, Sweeta, & Nastie with her friends. Living in a housing project with little support, the odds are obviously against her. Emotionally she struggles too as she learns at her mother's death that her actual mother is the woman she had thought was her older sister. With the help of a female agent, the group starts to get some exposure and rises above their setting.

Dir: Julian Henriques

Cast: Anjela Lauren Smith, Wil Johnson, Caroline Chikezie

Cert: 15

Dur: 1h 20m

Threads of Memory:

Unravelling the enduring influence of West African and Caribbean cultural memory on Black British fashion, Threads of Memory explores how migration, identity and resilience alongside an ever-expanding style and social exchange via moving image, shaped the evolution of a fashion movement that redefines authenticity and challenges stereotypes.

Dir: Juliana Kasumu | 2025 | 17 mins

Through their ‘Our Screen Heritage’ programme, the BFI National Archive is aspiring to reframe the public’s relationship with their vast collections, providing more and better opportunities for people to learn about and access their screen heritage. These compilations bring historical footage from the archive into conversation with contemporary online digital works to encourage new understandings of and conversations around how our individual and collective experiences and stories have been represented and received through moving image - from the earliest days of film right up to the present day.

Q&A:

The Q+A will include a discussion around fashion and identity with artist and filmmaker Julianna Kasumu alongside director and performer Danny Bailey.

Panellists:

​​Danny Bailey is a multidisciplinary artist, creative director, performer, and cultural curator whose work spans film, photography, performance, visual art, and writing. Drawing from his Caribbean heritage, his practice incorporates costume-making, fashion and dance inspired by Afro-Caribbean culture as a vocabulary to challenge oppressive social structures and imagines new possibilities for freedom and existence beyond them.

Juliana Kasumu is a British-Nigerian artist and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary practice spans film, photography, and installation. Through fragmented, non-linear storytelling, she explores identity, memory, and diasporic experience. Her work has been shown internationally, including at the Rencontres de Bamako Biennale, Getty Images Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her installation What Does the Water Taste Like? was featured in the 2022 London Open at Whitechapel Gallery and won the 2021 Aesthetica Emerging Art Prize.

Kasumu’s award-winning short BABYBANGZ premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, earning the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest and multiple festival awards. Other works include Losing Joy, which screened at BFI Flare and Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Adura Baba Mi, which premiered at Camden International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival.

This event is supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

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3pm: Doors open + Intro

3:05pm: Feature film starts promptly

4:25pm: Film ends + short film starts

4:42pm:Short Film ends and Q+A starts

6pm: Exit venue

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Admission is on a first come, first served basis.

Cold Islanders will be donating their proceeds to those affected by Hurricane Melissa.

This film is legally restricted and considered suitable only for persons aged 15 years and over.

Refrehsments will be available for purchase.

Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. www.filmlondon.org.uk/film-hub-london