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Sylwan + two films by Madubuko Diakité (15*) + Recorded Introduction by Awa Konaté

Un/Seen Spectres

,Cinema 2
A group of people stand on a stage in the street, reading and playing accordion

Three shorts that meditate on the joins and traces of Black people’s presence within Sweden, through Pippi Longstocking, experimental jazz, and the haunting malaises of colonialism.

In the first Un/Seen Spectres programme, we present artist Salad Hilowle’s Sylwan (2022), which conjures the life of actor Joe Sylwan, who played a central part in the first film adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking. A film that poignantly meditates on Black people's experiences in this region of Europe. 

Next, two powerful documentaries from activist and human rights lawyer Madubuko Diakité. The Invisible People (1972), co-directed by Afro-Swedish filmmaker Diakité, offers a biting and uncompromising political treatise on the conditions of African migrants in Sweden, laying bare the haunting malaises of colonialism.

In For Personal Reasons (1972), also by Diakité, experimental jazz and radical Black activism, drawing on the Black Panthers, collide through the tense heights of a 1970 protest as fertile ground for Black revolt.

Tagged with: Cinema Unseen/Spectres

Please note: this programme includes references to racism and racist violence.

Programme

Sylwan
2022 Sweden, Somala Dir Salad Hilowle 15 min

The Invisible People (Det osynliga folket)
1971 Sweden Dir Nordal Åkerman, Madubuko Diakité, Gary Engman 30 min

For Personal Reasons (Av personliga skäl)
1972 Sweden, USA Dir Madubuko Diakité 29 min

Cinema 2

Location
Barbican Cinema 2 & 3 are located on Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican’s Silk Street entrance. From Silk Street, you’ll see a zebra crossing that will take you across the road to the venue. 

Address
Beech Street
London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.