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Of Great Events and Ordinary People: The House on Coco Road

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Venue: Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square

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Taking its title from that of a 1979 TV documentary by Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz, Of Great Events and Ordinary People is a programme of two recent, acclaimed films, The House on Coco Road (Damani Baker, 2016) and Memories of a Penitent Heart (Cecilia Aldarondo, 2016). Highly personal documentaries both, and featuring the potent use of an array of archival material, The House on Coco Road and Memories of a Penitent Heart focus on historically marginalised subjects from or in the Caribbean, in an attempt to illuminate previously hidden or untold narratives that intersected with some of the major events of the 1980s. The House on Coco Road pivots around an African-American family, led by Fanny Houghton. In 1983 Fanny moved the family (including her young son, Damani Baker, the film's director) from California to Grenada to take part in that country's socialist revolution, a move that came to an abrupt end when Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was killed and the US military invaded the island. In his film Damani seeks to piece together an understanding of his family's history, and in the process uncovers a history of female-led black activism and resistance. This programme is presented in association with Third Horizon Caribbean Film Festival.

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Contact phone: 020 7631 6115