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Feature in
BLACK AFRICA MONTH
At The British Film Institute

A documentary record of a historic event: screening and discussion of
GOODBYE UNCLE TOM
at the BFI Southbank, November 3, 2pm Ð 6pm



For the past decade, the group of 100 Black Men of London has organised independent cinema screenings across London. Its purpose is to challenge media stereotypes at a grassroots level; and provide the Afro- Caribbean community with a regular programme of educational cinema at community centres, colleges and cultural institutions. This includes screenings of acclaimed documentaries and drama that focus attention on the history, experience and representation of black people throughout the English-speaking world.

In response to requests from 100 Black Men, as well as other organisations such as Ligali, the BFI Southbank (the centre of the British film world) has programmed a screening and discussion of Italian production, Addio Zio Tom, or Goodbye Uncle Tom. Its subject is slavery and its particular brand of realism follows a camera crew back in time to observe slavery in the19th Confederate (Southern) US states, just before the American Civil War, and then moves forward to the late 20th Century USA to examine its horrific legacy. A high production-values cinematic spectacular, its impact is the artistic equivalent of ' shock and awe'.

This event in the heart of the British cultural Establishment falls toward the end of the 2007 Commemorations for the bi-centenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade that have taken place across universities, schools and cultural institutions. However, it's not seen as a year for celebration among many in the African Diaspora. After 1807 it was another 30 years before slavery was officially outlawed; many different forms of slavery such as indentured labour continued into the 20th Century in various British colonies - and its legacy is still acutely felt today.
Gualtiero Jacopetti (right) and Frank Prosperi left).

The film, Goodbye Uncle Tom was made in 1971 by two controversial big-screen documentarists, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, whose earlier works, especially Mondo Cane brought documentary to the big screen and the wider public of the general release cinema circuit. Not so this time. On its release Goodbye Uncle Tom was detested by the commercial film world. Established film critics accused it of presenting the worst form of sensationalism. More serious accusations were made about its intent and its likely impact on race relations.

Now, over 30 years later, historians researching slavery have revised earlier accounts that ignored the scale of slavery or the Africans own involvement in hastening its final demise. Goodbye Uncle Tom, for all its artifice, dispassionately captures the industrial scale of slavery and its justification in a racism that endures today. This last year has at least driven discussion about the enormous profit, scale and duration of slavery and the slave trade into pubic debate across the media. For grassroots organisations this film has remained one of the few real attempts to come close to the reality of enslavement, despite the views of both critics and the film industry. Its premise that the legacy of slavery is far from over still resonates powerfully throughout the community.

Scene from Goodbye Uncle Tom

After the film, presenter Colin Prescod, chair of the Institute of Race Relations and key protagonist in the retelling of the story of slavery throughout London's museum world will introduce notable Ghanaian film director, John Akomfrah and film historian Mark Goodall to talk about the film. Brief presentations will be followed by vibrant discussion at what promises to be an emotive and historic event. Many of the audience will be seeing the film for the first time. For some this may be an experience that changes their perception of history as something detached from the present. Taking place in the biggest screen in the BFI Southbank, the 450 seat NFT 1, it will draw a very mixed audience. Ideally, it will present a forum in which open discussion takes place, inspired by a film that pushes the limits of individual experience; from the usual repetition of facts to the true human horror of the ' Slave Trade'.

The film ends with views downstream from the BFI Southbank, the still standing Georgian West India Quay on the Isle of Dogs (today home to Canary Wharf), the location of London's first enclosed docks built in 1802. These brick-built bonded warehouses, now exclusive cafes and flats, originally offered secure storage for the wealth of molasses and rum from Jamaica's plantation trade, and stand as testament to London's enormous profit from slavery.

fiba Editor David Somerset, 21 October, 2007



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Read about the Director of Goodbye Uncle Tom in fiba Spring-Summer 2007 issue:
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