Windrush Caribbean British Film festival at The Riverfront

Last year (2023) marked the 75th year since people from the Caribbean came to the UK to fill post-war labour shortage. Now, The Riverfront in Newport is holding a two-day festival which aims to explore the complex relationship between film & TV, and the Windrush migrants from the Commonwealth.

Along with interactive workshops and Q&A events, films such as Falsehood, Spirits Run Deep, Asunder, Black & White Duppy, Concrete Garden, Our Grief, Dread Beat and Blood, and Black and Welsh, will be shown throughout the day at varying times.

The Riverfront in Newport city centre will host the two-day festival. (Image: File)

Films will be screened from across the span of the 75 years of Black British Cinema.

The cinematic experience will once again highlight the artistic, political and social contribution of the original pioneers of the Windrush movement, as well as their descendants who are shaping Britain today, forming their own cultural and political narratives and identities.

The Riverfront is also the only venue in Wales that is hosting the Windrush Caribbean British Film festival, while also playing in English cities such as Southampton, Bristol, Birmingham and London.

The festival will run from Sunday, June 16 to Tuesday, June 18.

Exhibition

In The Riverfront foyer for the duration of the festival will be an evocative exhibition 'The Unsung Heroes' curated by Newport resident and photographer, Carl Connike.

Carl Connike said this about his exhibition: "The Unsung Heroes is about telling the story of the Windrush generation- they may be the last chain in the link that stretches back hundreds of years - we need to capture their images and stories before it’s too late."

There will also an installation entitled The Living Room curated by Mr Connike of a typical Caribbean living room, of which the radio-gramme is the centre piece.  These pieces belonged to Pill resident Alvin Howells and his family have allowed them to be shared on display.