Black Filmmaker (bfm) International Film Festival (IFF) is the leading and longest running platform for Black World Cinema in the UK. The 11th bfm IFF will take place between 6th – 10th November 2009 at the BFI Southbank, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Rich Mix and Shortwave Cinema. bfm IFF 2009 will feature narratives, documentaries and short films from the UK, Africa, the Caribbean, the US, Canada and Europe.

Aruna Boodram - My audio documentary project is intended to show the pluralities of women that Islam has affected, whether they be practicing Muslims or not… I wanted to know how they understood Islam, how they understood feminism, and determining what the combination of the two would mean for them as Muslim women or those in solidarity with Muslim women. I also wanted to know how Islam has provided the vehicle in which these women have understood and managed realms of empowerment, strength and resistance to globalization, Western discourses and every day problems.
Listen here for the full audio documentary…

We will regularly be presenting a featured artist, writer or performer who is exploring questions of identity and personal narrative through their medium of expression.

The map is your representation. No rigid lines, no defined routes. You direct it on your own account.

We trawl the news media so you don’t have to.

The Globe & Mail, Focus - Friday October 16th 2009 :: Nazem Kadri: Canada’s new game face

I’ve recently moved to London, officially for Academic purposes, but unofficially to bask in the ultimate Global City and take part in it’s exhaustive list of arts and culture and general weekending inside the city’s heart. London is the bastion of mixing and diffusing, home to every culinary cuisine from virtually every corner of the earth, the premiere fashionista hotspot, and global trendwatching in politics, music and the catwalk.

“Lebanon is beautiful, it is my home… but here, I cannot be free. My view from here is blocked and the Lebanese are asleep to all the beautiful things they have to see.”

My appreciation of Lebanon begins with recognizing its style, its ability to meld renegade culture and art, the behind the scenes political discussions, the sporadic displays of cosmopolitanism amidst mental and physical rubble, and even the excesses of the luxurious jet set that lend to its enduring cool. But there are things about Lebanon that are tainted and easily eclipse the joie de vivre the Lebanese purport to specialize in. The things about this country that frustrate are not simply disruptions to my personal comforts – daily electricity outages, ubiquitously slow Internet, dismal public transport, heavy noise pollution and sticky smog. The things that create more discomfort about Lebanon’s mentality as a society is the blatant segregtion of outsiders.

Last month, Nicolas Sarkozy essentially declared that the wearing of the veil by Muslim women was a “sign of subservience” not coinciding with French ideals, and therefore not to be tolerated in France. He went …

It is easier to guard your tongue where there is no one to talk to. On a daily basis I will have a handful of conversations which I more or less will not understand. Language barriers suck, but they also force you to re-evaluate everything you say, and if it’s not necessarily important, you most likely won’t bother.

We will regularly be presenting a featured artist, writer or performer who is exploring questions of identity and personal narrative through their medium of expression.

The map is your representation. No rigid lines, no defined routes. You direct it on your own account.

We trawl the news media so you don’t have to.

This Year’s Model : The Uniform Project :: The New York Times