WCFF: Beautiful Polarity

Transitions & Travels - The Journey Continues
Caribbean history is punctuated by archetypical movements - From villages to towns, from islands to Metropoles. By ships and planes. A festival of transitions and journeys in film and narratives. This is particularly embodied in the history of the Windrush ship that brought Caribbean people, their hopes and dreams to the UK and their journeys ever since, from home and in the European space they made their own.

Who We Were, Who We Became (Darshan Gajjar, UK, 2023); 11m 2s
Who We Were, Who We Became, is a short poetry film threading together the memories, faith and culture of the Windrush generation, forming a new window into the Windrush immigrant story.

Burnt Milk (Joseph Douglas Elmhirst, UK, 2023); 9m 43s
As Una takes a moment of solace to make her traditional condensed milk pudding, 'Burnt Milk', she is flooded with spiritual imagery that takes her back to Jamaica. There is an ominous undertone to the past and present colliding, a sinister power to the strong pull of the island and an intensity to the rituals that summon her back in. While she continues to make her simple sweet dish, there is a complex darkness and hypnotic beauty to the duality of the worlds.

Rèd (Fabienne ORAIN-CHOMAUD, France/Guadeloupe, 2023); 25m 45s
Once upon a time... there was a young girl whose kindness was matched only by her beauty. She lived in the Mortenol city, in Pointe-à-Pitre, with her mother. She was very attached to her grandmother who lived far from the city, in the deep Abymes. As she prepares to parade at Carnival, draped in a red satin hat, Rèd receives a call from her grandmother who wants to give her a magical object before she makes her first parade. Night will soon fall, the road to the deep sea is long and Pointe-à-Pitre is full of dangers. But Rèd sets off without delay...

Mosiah (Jirard, USA, 2023); 40m
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a Jamaican-born political activist and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), is on trial in New York in 1923. Following the leadership of J. Edger Hoover & the BOI (later, the FBI), the government has charged Garvey with mail fraud in connection with selling stocks for the Black Star Line - a shipping line designed to forge a link between North America and Africa. Garvey sees the trial for what it is: an attempt to end the movement by way of character assassination. Realizing his counsel is not up to the task, Garvey fires him and resolves to defend himself. As the trial plays out, flashbacks show glimpses of Garvey's life before the trial and his relationship with his wife Amy Jacques Garvey. This is the first-ever narrative film about his life.

Windrush75: Forging Ahead (r., UK, 2023); 22m
Windrush75: Forging Ahead is a documentary which features three young London based creatives of Caribbean heritage speaking about their lives, artistic expressions and visions for the way ahead. Their thoughts are woven with the stories of their family’s earlier generations, those who immigrated to the UK from the Caribbean. It highlights their aspirations and determination for a new life in Britain along with their experiences of racism, resilience and strong community bonds.