Accessing Handsworth Songs

11 June, 2023
– 11 June, 2023
12:30pm
Midlands Arts Centre
A grainy black and white image captures a black woman who turns to look straight into the camera while her hand is raised as if she is holding something
Handsworth Songs, Black Audio Film Collective, 1986

In partnership with Midlands Arts Centre, we are delighted to present this special event which documents the journey to make Black Audio Film Collective’s 1986 film more – and differently – accessible.

Made for Channel 4 series Britain: The Lie Of The Land by multimedia group Black Audio Film Collective, acclaimed essay film ‘Handsworth Songs’ was released just one year after the riots in Handsworth, Birmingham and Tottenham. Interweaving archival photographs, newsreel clips and home movie footage, John Akomfrah’s award-winning film takes as its point of departure these violent events and the inability of the British media to go beyond its concern with demonising the rioters and their motives.

‘slow emergency siren, ongoing: Accessing Handsworth Songs’ developed as a year-long collaboration, co-led by LUX and Sarah Hayden, as part of a research project called Voices in the Gallery.

Elaine Lillian Joseph was commissioned to write and perform augmented audio description for the film and invited the Care-fuffle Working Group to develop creative captions. Audio-description and caption-users advised on the translations of sounds and images as they evolved.

Hannah Kemp-Welch worked with the project participants over a year to make [voices surface]: an audio-documentary about Accessing Handsworth Songs. This audio documentary, captioned by Care-fuffle Working Group, will also be launched at this event at MAC.

slowemergencysiren.org.uk

Schedule

12.30pm: Intro

12.45pm: Handsworth Songs screening (audio described + captioned)

1.45pm: Q&A/panel with audio describer Elaine Lillian Joseph, sound artist Hannah Kemp-Welch, academic Sarah Hayden and head of LUX Ben Cook (captioned + BSL interpreted)

2.30pm: Interval

3pm: Hannah Kemp-Welch’s [voices surface]: an audio documentary about Accessing Handsworth Songs (captioned)

Duration includes trailers and adverts. Please note that we do not admit latecomers after the main feature has started and we have a limited food & drink policy. See more information about Relaxed Screenings here. MAC’s cinema programme has been generously supported by BFI Film Audience Network and Film Hub Midlands.

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