Congo and coltan, personal and political
Congo has long been a victim of Western greed and violence, whether King Leopold’s atrocities; Belgium’s terrorising Force Publique with its mass amputation of labourers’ hands and feet; murderous political chicanery - including the assassination of independence leader Patrice Lumumba; and mining companies’ ruthless political and economic corruption.
A novel way to see moving images
If you plan to see Sir Isaac Julien’s exhibition at Tate Britain, What Freedom Is To Me, you might need to set aside three-and-a-half hours.
Personal and political problems in pre-independence Cameroon
Who in this country knows about the “hidden war” of Independence in Cameroon in the 1950s? Very few people.
From the Black Death to Covid
From the Black Death to Covid, BreaDth sets out to dramatise pandemics and the lives of older people and the racial minorities who care for them.
Documentary that takes us into the jungle on our doorstep
The Calais Jungle was a testament to government neglect but also to human compassion, says volunteer carpenter Thomas Laurence. Now he’s made a film that proves the point.
Lenny Henry’s one-man Windrush play
“… and that’s how I got to be here … in custody.”
And that’s the Windrush scandal, written by and starring Sir Lenny Henry at the Bush Theatre.
Ai Weiwei: Designed to provoke
A huge snake extends across the wall. Pleasingly colourful. But look closer. There’s another element: the serpent is made of scores of life vests.
Taking theatre off-grid
“Let’s take this show off the grid”, says Lydia West as a signal for the Barbican Centre lights to switch off and for 10 on-stage cyclists to start cranking up the power.
Money for nothing: ‘Listen carefully and pay attention’
Why help farmers with seeds, or build wells, or encourage women to join co-ops? If you want to help the poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America, give them cash.
Mass murder at sea: it’s British history
Have you heard the one about the woman who goes into a bookshop to report that a book about a slave trade mass murder is in the wrong place?
Hate radio
Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines played a deadly role in the 1984 Rwandan genocide and its call to kill has become emblematic for hate speech.
Because I’m worth it. Are you sure?
Chinese-Canadian-British playwright Joanne Lau has the last laugh in her comedy drama, Worth.
No man is an island - but many want one
When Francis returns to his remote island home from a spell in South Africa he declares that he has brought a surprise from the outside world.
The nine-year-old who learned to kill or be killed
A nine-year-old boy is captured by a murderous militia and made to watch and later commit gruesome murders. As a child and later a commanding member of the gang he commits atrocious murders, torture, rapes. Should he be treated as a victim or a perpetrator?
The rise and fall of a chainsaw tower
A tower of 700 captured chainsaws is one of the most striking images in Delikado, a documentary about a group of environmental defenders in The Philippines.
The cut and thrust of debate on the anti-FGM movement
Koromousso: Big Sister is a documentary about female genital mutilation - and it’s heartwarming.
Is Africa failing to make room for people’s dreams?
Twenty-six years after he unsuccessfully headed from Nigeria to Europe, Ike Nnaebue set off again, this time to talk to West African emigrants still lured by the vision of a better life on another continent.
The Korean Wave that spread around the world
I don’t like K-pop, which is too corporate, calculated and soul-less for my taste. But I was fascinated by Hallyu! The Korean Wave, the V&A’s latest blockbuster.
Moving meditation on small-boat asylum
The facts are brutal, the performance is a dramatic meditation.
Perilous search for a home from home
‘How Not To Drown’ looks as though it will be another perilous tale of a young migrant making his way by truck and boat to Britain, but it morphs into a heartbreaking critique of our fostering system.