As we get closer to the end of Black History Month, we want to make sure you make the most out of these remaining days of celebration. We encourage you, as usual, to check out the events in our Black History Month page, and get involved with your peers.

But if you’re feeling like a change of scenery, or simply want to explore other BHM events close to campus, we’ve got you covered! On Wednesday, 30^th October, grab some popcorn and head to Shoe Lane Library (only a 10-minute walk away from Strand campus) for their next film screening event of The Other Side of Carnival, with a Q&A with the director Charysse Tia Harper! You can get your tickets here, and the event is completely free to attend. This is an unmissable opportunity to watch an award-winning filmmaker's captivating, eye-opening documentary.

Harper explores the behind-the-scenes dynamics of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, collecting testimonies about Carnival’s impact on the local workforce, sexual education, and social relations. This documentary has collected several awards: just to mention some, it won in the category for Best Cultural Documentary at the New York International Film Festival, as well as Best International Short Documentary at the ITN Distribution Film and New Media Festival.

We don’t want to spoil you the content of the documentary – you will want to save your attention for the 45-minute-long screening of it at the Library this Wednesday. However, we want to help you brainstorm some questions for the director ahead of time! It can be difficult to be caught on the spot trying to think of something, so we have compiled a list of spoiler-free questions to think of during the screening. These are most definitely not mandatory topics – just something to help you gather your thoughts before your chat with the director!

1. Were you thinking of an intended audience when you were filming the documentary? And if so, who is it?
   
   You will notice, as you watch the documentary, that Harper is careful in including local voices in her documentary, from bystanders to University professors. You might be asking yourself: is the intent of the documentary to inform foreigners and tourists about the impact of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago? Or is Harper’s reading of the Carnival more directed towards the local community who takes part in the celebrations? (Or both?)
    
2. The documentary has a very interesting section on the importance of sex education: do you think the situation has changed over the years?
   
   Harper collects many interviews about the dangers of unprotected sex during the Carnival celebrations, and campaigns for greater awareness on this topic. But, if we time-travel from 2010 (the year the movie was directed) to 2024, we may notice some changes on how we talk about sex ed and the platforms where that is available through social media. It would be curious to ask Harper whether she has noticed a growing awareness of the importance of protection now, compared to when the movie was directed.

1. The movie mentions Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago as a unique celebration of ethnic differences, different from any other societal context – how can we include that perspective in the context of Black History Month?
   
   You might find this to be one of the most inspiring bits of the documentary – the interviews about Carnival as a potential to unify society. Many people confess that they love Carnival because of the sense of unity and acceptance of each other’s differences: a unique feature of the celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago. It would be interesting to ask the director, who is Trinidad-American, how she understands that cultural difference.

We hope you will come to the screening! And if you don’t want to go alone, sign up through this form to meet with other students at the event. It’s a great way to get to know other people and discuss the themes of the movie!

Last but not least, as promised in our last BHM article, here's your findings of Acacia Tree book covers! Thank you so much to all of you who have participated in the experiment by submitting these pictures. Checking out bookstores around London, you have managed to find books that still replicate some cliché displays of African geographies. We hope this challenge helped encourage awareness around issues of representation!