Black Threads Short Films in Dialogue

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Join us for a special evening of film and dialogue that weaves together histories, memories, and the legacies of Black and diasporic creativity. 

The programme features two short films that are within the Moving Image Collection at iniva. 

• Still Life – Green Textile (Dir. Grace Ndiritu, UK, 2007) – a meditative performance work exploring stillness, ritual, and the politics of representation. 

• Legacy (Dir. Campbell X) – a powerful reflection on identity, inheritance, and the personal and collective stories that shape who we are. 

These films will be shown in conversation with Threads of a Memory by Juliana Kasumu, a poetic film exploring the interlacing of heritage, womanhood, and remembrance. 

Following the screenings, Juliana Kasumu will be in conversation with Pawlet Brookes, offering insights into the creative process, the politics of cultural memory, and the power of visual storytelling to connect past and present. 

This event is co-presented by Serendipity – Institute for Black Arts and Heritage as part of their Digital Blackcentric Week and iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts), continuing its commitment to platforming artists and filmmakers whose work reimagines identity, culture, and belonging through contemporary visual practice. 

This event is happening with the support of BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding. 

The Films

Still Life – Green Textile, Dir. Grace Ndritu, UK, 2007, 5 min  

Still Life: Green Textiles is one of the four videos that use West African textiles in a sensual and, at times, unnerving physical performance by the artist to camera. Ndiritu wraps, conceals and reveals her body, creating and controlling tensions within the fabric to provoke different emotional responses. 

Legacy by Campbell X 

Legacy, Dir. Campbell X, UK, 2006, 17 min, Doc/Drama
Legacy is a film about memories, ghosts and ancestors. It questions the lasting effects 400 years of slavery has had on the traditions and intimate relationships of people of African descent in the Americas. This personal film focuses on the relationship Inge Blackman, the filmmaker, has with her mother and the challenging issues that they have confronted privately together, now projected into a public space. 

About the Project

The Visualising Contemporary Art Histories project shines a light on underrepresented voices and stories from the Global Majority, with a particular focus on the Global South, by celebrating and preserving iniva’s rich moving image archive. 

The unique collection of mixed media materials, document iniva’s rich programming history and addressing themes such as Black diaspora perspectives, migration, cultural memory, race relations in Britain, desire, and personal migrant experiences. The collection allows engagement with films that provide critical reflections on the Black British experience, post-colonial identity and community resilience; documentaries on socio-political issues; as well as poetic and artistic films that explore displacement and environmental climate change. 

By cataloguing and sharing these moving image works iniva’s project ensures that these critical cultural narratives are preserved, accessible, and celebrated. It highlights the ongoing relevance of these themes, fostering dialogue with contemporary filmmakers and increasing knowledge for future audiences. 

About the Artists

Grace Ndiritu 

Grace Ndiritu is a British-Kenyan (Maasai Kikuyu) artist born in 1982. Concerned with the transformation of our contemporary world, Ndiritu works across film, painting, textiles, performance and social practice.  

Ndiritu is a recipient of the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Foundation – Visual Arts Award (2024). Her films and videos, textiles, photography, performances, paintings and architectural installations have been widely exhibited, most recently, in her mid-career survey entitled Healing The Museum at SMAK, Ghent in 2023. 

Her films Black Beauty and Becoming Plant have been selected for prestigious film festivals including 72nd Berlinale (2022) FIDMarseille (2021) and BFI London Film Festival (2022). She is a member of BAFTA and also the winner of the Jarman Award in association with Film London (2022). 

Campbell X 

Campbell (formerly Inge Blackman) is a Trinidad-born, London-based filmmaker, writer, and cultural curator whose work centres on Black queer identities, diaspora, and radical community storytelling.  

His debut narrative feature, Stud Life (2012), explores the intricacies of friendship, sexuality, and belonging in East London. He has also directed Different for Girls (2017) and worked across genres in both short and feature formats.  

Campbell’s latest film Low Rider is a tale of self-discovery, resilience, and the unexpected roads that lead us home. He has also directed and produced the short film DES!RE about joy and sensuality for men (trans and non-binary) and masculine women i.e. studs/butches and the documentary VISIBLE about reclaiming QTBIPOC UK history.