A brand new festival, Black to the Future (BttF), will debut this October with the aim of providing a space for ‘visionary imaginings to thrive’ and celebrating outstanding Black artists across literature, music and film. The festival is directed and founded by award-winning London-based, Nigerian-born short story and novel writer Irenosen Okojie MBE and has been produced in collaboration with the British Library and the Royal Society of Literature. Things will kick off in late October when BttF’s film programming will begin at the Garden Cinema with a screening of Saul Williams’ sci-fi punk musical Neptune Frost, introduced by Africa-in-Motion founder Liz Chege and photographer David Kwaw Mensah.
Other highlights include ‘Genre Marauders’, a panel on demystifying genre writing across books and games; a premiere screening of Mami Wata, introduced by director C J “Fiery” Obasi; and a series of ‘Kinetic Discourses’ at The Standard’s Library Lounge in which creators from different industries can learn about each other’s areas of expertise. More is still to be added to the programme – watch this space. In the meantime, you can grab tickets to these initial events below.
Tues 24th October 2023 – Sat 24th February 2024
Various locations in London
blacktothefuture.space