A ground breaking film by Menelik Shabazz. Based in Thatcher’s Britain which overshadowed the birth of Southall Black Sisters.

It is a sensitive exploration of the race/gender intersection in the Caribbean community,when a young black woman treated contemptuously by her work-shy boyfriend changes the dynamics of their relationship after he is falsely arrested and beaten by the police.


UK Asian Film Festival are showing this film as a nod to the early hopes for post-colonial black unity which shaped SBS’s politics and remains a political impulse to this day.

This screening will be followed by panel discussion Struggle not Submission

4.30pm – 6pm
In association with Southall Black Sisters
Chaired by Yasmin Alibhai Brown
Guest speakers: Kiranjit Ahluwalia, Pragna Patel, Rahila Gupta, Rohit Sanghvi and Menelik Shabazz.

‘Struggle not Submission: Black Women’s tradition’ – a slogan that encapsulates 40 years of campaigning by Southall Black Sisters. Against all the odds, Kiranjit Ahluwalia was released from prison for killing her violent husband after a successful campaign run by SBS. The panel will discuss the commonalities of experience faced by Asian, African and Caribbean women and the early hopes for post-colonial black unity which shaped SBS’s politics and remains a political impulse to this day. Kiranjit’s journey from victim to someone in charge of their destiny in Provoked is shared by Pat in Burning an Illusion, having to deal with sexism from black men against a backdrop of institutional and societal racism.


See our full festival line-up here