From the neglected heritage of early 1920s British Caribbean, Tony T from Sweet Patootee Arts has crafted Turning Point, a series of four short films inspired by oral histories about the Black Caribbean experience after the First World War.
High-profile actors and rising stars perform Caribbean melodrama and comedy to camera with a backdrop of projected archive footage and a 3D soundscape of community participant voices.
Featuring performances from Paterson Joseph (The Beach, Vigil, Noughts + Crosses), Suzette Llewellyn (Holby City, Eastenders, Surgical Spirit), Ashley D. Gayle and Veronica Beatrice Lewis.
The use of folk culture and comedy reawakens a hidden age of revival and New Negro* rebellion. Real experiences of Black women and First World War veterans have inspired four dramatic vignettes, interwoven with archive imagery, text, and rare folk songs. The result is a call to arms: triumphant Black British heritage waits to be celebrated!
*The use of New Negro relates to a post-First World War shift in the British Caribbean. Game-changing new Black pride and self-esteem of ordinary Black people trapped at the bottom of the social ladder.