MONDAY 24 OCTOBER, 6.30PM
BLACK AUDIO FILM COLLECTIVE:
Who Needs A Heart
Combining fictional dramatisation with documentary, Who Needs a Heart wilfully rejects the conventions of both; and in place of the spoken word is a cacophonous playlist of black music by the likes of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, the Ornette Coleman Trio, Anthony Braxton, Howlin’ Wolf, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Max Roach, James Brown, the Golden Gate Quartet, Ella Fitzgerald, Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
In Black Audio’s hands, the question “Who Was Michael X” becomes an existential, expressionist journey into the fledgling moments of Black radicalism in late twentieth century Britain.
Join us for this rare screening followed by an extended conversation between writer Dhanveer Singh Brar and two artists who were central to its making: lead actor Cassie MacFarlane and writer Edward George.
Organised in collaboration with Dhanveer Singh Brar. Presented in partnership with the Hyde Park Picture House and the School of History, University of Leeds.
Kindly supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.
Image: Who Needs A Heart, BAFC, 1991
Cassie McFarlane graduated from RADA at 19 years old and worked in television, radio, and theatre before receiving the Evening Standard Most Promising Newcomer award for her first film role in Menelik Shabazz’s Burning an Illusion. She later attended film school graduating with a first class honours degree. McFarlane went on to direct in the theatre and on television including a one- off drama Blood in Their Eyes which was financed and screened by Channel 4. It was during that period when she was approached to play the role of Millie in Who Needs a Heart.
Edward George is a writer, broadcaster and photographer. A founder of Black Audio Film Collective, George wrote and presented the ground-breaking science fiction documentary Last Angel of History. He hosts Sound of Music (Threads Radio), and Kuduro – Electronic Music of Angola (Counterflows). George’s series The Strangeness of Dub (Morley Radio) dives into reggae, dub, versions and versioning, drawing on critical theory, social history, and a deep and a wide cross-genre musical selection. The series will form the basis of a book. George’s completed, yet-to-be published photo-poetry book, Dub Housing, forges a relation between photography, architecture and dub against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic. Recent work includes Genealogies of Rock Against Racism, a live broadcast of The Strangeness of Dub at London’s Barbican Centre. Forthcoming projects include The Strangeness of Jazz, a live presentation at London’s Cafe Oto.
When and Where
Monday 24 October 2022, 6.30–9PM
City Varieties Music Hall
Swan Street,
LS1 6LW
Negative Entanglements; Failed Rehearsals
Dhanveer Singh Brar on Black Audio Film Collective’s
Who Needs a Heart.
135 x 210mm, 28 pages, 2022
BUY HERE
Access
All seating areas have lift or step access as City Varieties Music Hall is built over a pub; the lift goes to all levels of the auditorium.
The stairs in the building are very steep in places and the Circle and Upper Circle levels have steps down to the front rows.
Wheelchair spaces are available in the Stalls and Circle areas. To book a wheelchair space online, when viewing the seating plan, please enter the promo-code ‘wheelchair’ to reveal any available wheelchair spaces, which you then will be able to book.
If you have COVID19 symptoms, please do not attend unless you have received a negative result.
Cassie McFarlane graduated from RADA at 19 years old and worked in television, radio, and theatre before receiving the Evening Standard Most Promising Newcomer award for her first film role in Menelik Shabazz’s Burning an Illusion. She later attended film school graduating with a first class honours degree. McFarlane went on to direct in the theatre and on television including a one- off drama Blood in Their Eyes which was financed and screened by Channel 4. It was during that period when she was approached to play the role of Millie in Who Needs a Heart.
Edward George is a writer, broadcaster and photographer. A founder of Black Audio Film Collective, George wrote and presented the ground-breaking science fiction documentary Last Angel of History. He hosts Sound of Music (Threads Radio), and Kuduro – Electronic Music of Angola (Counterflows). George’s series The Strangeness of Dub (Morley Radio) dives into reggae, dub, versions and versioning, drawing on critical theory, social history, and a deep and a wide cross-genre musical selection. The series will form the basis of a book. George’s completed, yet-to-be published photo-poetry book, Dub Housing, forges a relation between photography, architecture and dub against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic. Recent work includes Genealogies of Rock Against Racism, a live broadcast of The Strangeness of Dub at London’s Barbican Centre. Forthcoming projects include The Strangeness of Jazz, a live presentation at London’s Cafe Oto.
