Imruh Bakari

Last updated
Imruh Bakari
Imruh Bakari.jpg
Born1950 (age 73–74)
St Kitts
Other namesImruh Bakari Caesar
Imruh Caesar
Alma mater National Film and Television School
Occupation(s)Film maker and writer
Notable workRiots and Rumours of Riots (1981); Mark of the Hand (1986)

Imruh Bakari (Ishaq Imruh Bakari) is a film maker and writer born in 1950 on St Kitts, who is also referred to as Imruh Bakari Caesar or Imruh Caesar. [1] He currently teaches Film Studies at the University of Winchester. [2] He works in the UK and a number of African countries in the area of culture and the creative industries.

Contents

Film and TV work

Bakari worked in film and theatre projects in Bradford at the Art College and then attended the UK National Film and Television School. His graduation film was Riots and Rumours of Riots in 1981. [3] This documented the history of immigration from the Caribbean to the UK from the Second World War until the 1958 Notting Hill riots. The film looked at that period against the background of the 1981 riots in the UK. [4] [5]

He worked with Menelik Shabazz on Step Forward Youth (1974), which documented the lives of black youth in Britain, and in 1982 on Burning an Illusion and the short Blood Ah Go Run. [6] Bakari formed Kuumba Productions with Menelik Shabazz and Henry Martin, and was a founder member of Ceddo Film and Video Workshop, [7] an outlet for new young, primarily black, talent. Bakari produced I Am Not Two Islands (1983) for Channel 4.

He then made Street Warriors in 1985, and The Mark of the Hand in 1986 for the Arts Council of Great Britain on the work of Caribbean artist Aubrey Williams. [8] The latter "was a pioneering work and to this day, sympathetic and sensitive documentary film studies of Black British artists, such as Mark of the Hand, remain a rarity. One hugely important aspect of the film is the exploration of Williams’ respect and fondness for the indigenous peoples of the Guyana interior. In this regard, the film positively complicates and challenges assumed notions of Caribbean identity." [1]

In 1992, Bakari directed Blue Notes and Exiled Voices, about the experiences of exiled South African musicians during the apartheid era, featuring Hugh Masekela, the Brotherhood of Breath, Louis Moholo and Pinise Saul. [9]

Between 1999 and 2004 Bakari was Festival Director for the Zanzibar International Film Festival. [10] [11] In Tanzania, together with Beatrix Mugishagwe and lecturer Augustine Hatar, he cofounded the Tanzania Screenwriter's Forum in 2001, running a monthly scriptwriting workshop at the University of Dar es Salaam. [12] Bakari also participated in the industry organisation, the Tanzania Independent Producers Association (TAIPA). Between 2005 and 2008, he produced in Tanzania the short film series African Tales. He was the producer of Mwalimu – The Legacy of Julius Kambarage Nyerere (Mnet, Great Africans Series, 2009). [13]

Favourite films

In 2022, Bakari participated in the Sight & Sound film polls of that year. It is held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, by asking contemporary directors to select ten films of their choice. [14]

Bakari selections were:

Theatrical work

He has acted and directed in the theatre. During the 1970s, he worked at the Keskidee Arts Centre, where his performances included the lead role in the first production of Alem Mezgebe's Pulse in 1977, directed by Rufus Collins. In 1985, Bakari worked on Compound Images, Coming Up for Air, and The Balmyard in 1986 with Don Kinch's Staunch Poets and Players. [15]

Writing

Bakari writes on African and Caribbean cinema and the creative industries. His articles have appeared in publications including the 1993 and 1994 Ecrans d'Afrique , [16] Screen, [17] Black Filmmaker and Black Film Bulletin. [18] He is the joint editor, with Mbye Cham, of African Experiences of Cinema. [19] In 1996, he wrote "Memory and Identity in Caribbean Cinema" for New Formations . [20]

He has also published the collections of poetry Sounds & Echoes (Karnak House, 1981), [21] Secret Lives (Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications, 1986), [22] and Without Passport or Apology (Smokestack Books, 2017). [23] He has performed his work on London's Southbank Centre. [24]

Bibliography

Selected filmography

Related Research Articles

The modern-day African Great Lakes state of Tanzania dates formally from 1964, when it was formed out of the union of the much larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the coastal archipelago of Zanzibar. The former was a colony and part of German East Africa from the 1880s to 1919 when, under the League of Nations, it became a British mandate. It served as a British military outpost during World War II, providing financial help, munitions, and soldiers. In 1947, Tanganyika became a United Nations Trust Territory under British administration, a status it kept until its independence in 1961. The island of Zanzibar thrived as a trading hub, successively controlled by the Portuguese, the Sultanate of Oman, and then as a British protectorate by the end of the nineteenth century.

The politics of Tanzania takes place in a framework of a unitary presidential democratic republic, whereby the President of Tanzania is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The party system is dominated by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Nyerere</span> President of Tanzania from 1964 to 1985

Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, after which he led its successor state, Tanzania, as president from 1964 to 1985. He was a founding member and chair of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party, and of its successor Chama Cha Mapinduzi, from 1954 to 1990. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he promoted a political philosophy known as Ujamaa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Rodney</span> Guyanese politician, activist and historian (1942–1980)

Walter Anthony Rodney was a Guyanese historian, political activist and academic. His notable works include How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, first published in 1972. Rodney was assassinated in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1980.

<i>How Europe Underdeveloped Africa</i> 1972 book by Walter Rodney

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is a 1972 book written by Walter Rodney that describes how Africa was deliberately exploited and underdeveloped by European colonial regimes. One of his main arguments throughout the book is that Africa developed Europe at the same rate that Europe underdeveloped Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musoma</span> Capital of Mara Region, Tanzania

Musoma is a city in the east shore of Lake Victoria of Tanzania. It is the capital of Mara Region, one of the administrative Regions of Tanzania. It also serves as the administrative centre of Musoma Rural District and Musoma Urban District.

Andrew Salkey was a Jamaican novelist, poet, children's books writer and journalist of Jamaican and Panamanian origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Nyerere International Airport</span> International airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Julius Nyerere International Airport is the international airport of Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania. It is located in Kipawa ward of Ilala District in Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. The airport has flights to destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. It is named after Julius Nyerere, the nation's first president.

Godfrey Mwakikagile is a Tanzanian scholar and author specialising in African studies. He was also a news reporter for The Standard — the oldest and largest English newspaper in Tanzania and one of the three largest in East Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Issa G. Shivji</span>

Issa Gulamhussein Shivji is a Tanzanian author and academic, and an experts on law and development issues. He has taught and worked in universities all over the world. He is a writer and researcher, producing books, monographs and articles, as well as a weekly column printed in national newspapers.

Abdulkadir Ahmed Said is a prominent Somali film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor.

The Articles of Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar of 1964 is the main foundation of the Constitutions of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977 and the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government of 1984. The Articles of the Union were signed on April 22, 1964, by the Founders of the Union, Julius Nyerere and Abeid Amani Karume and agreed in 11 matters which later increased to over 22 and are the source of tension and dispute between mainland Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. See Uamsho movement. The original Articles of Union which contain both Signatures from Nyerere and Karume are yet to be found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Nyerere</span> First Lady of Tanzania from 1964 to 1985

Maria Nyerere served as the inaugural First Lady of Tanzania from 1964 to 1985. She was the seventh of nine children of Gabriel Magige, of Baraki, Tareme by his wife Hannah Nyashiboha.

Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications (BLP) is a radical London-based publishing company founded by Guyanese activists Jessica Huntley and Eric Huntley in 1969, when its first title, Walter Rodney's The Groundings With My Brothers, was published. Named in honour of two outstanding liberation fighters in Caribbean history, Toussaint L'Ouverture and Paul Bogle, the company began operating during a period in the UK when "books by Black authors or written with a sympathetic view of Black people's history and culture were rare in mainstream bookshops in the UK." Alongside New Beacon Books and Allison & Busby, BLP was one of the first black-led independent publishing companies established in the UK. BLP has been described as "a small, unorthodox, self-financing venture that brought a radical perspective to non-fiction, fiction, poetry and children's books."

The International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books, often referred to as The Black Book Fair, was inaugurated in London, England, in April 1982 and continued until 1995, bringing together a number of Black publishers, intellectuals and educationalists. It was held on 12 occasions: annually from 1982 to 1991, and then biennially, in 1993 and 1995. The first three Book Fairs took place in different areas of London — Islington, Lambeth and Acton — representing the respective bases of the three founding organisers: New Beacon Books, Race Today Publications and Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications. Additionally, from 1985, there were associated book fairs held elsewhere in England, in Manchester and Bradford (1985–93), Leeds, and in 1993 and 1995 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1987 and 1988, a sister event — the Caribbean Peoples International Bookfair and Bookfair Festival — took place in Trinidad, organised by the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union there.

Menelik Shabazz was a Barbados-born British film director, producer, educator, and writer, acknowledged as a pioneer in the development of independent Black British cinema, having been at the forefront of contemporary British filmmaking for more than 30 years. Shabazz is best known for the 1981 film Burning an Illusion, his first feature. He was also co-founder in the 1980s of Kuumba film production company and Ceddo Film and Video Workshop, as well as being "founding father of the BFM media project" as the publisher of Black Filmmaker Magazine (BFM) and creator of BFM International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of Tanzania</span>

Tanzania's film industry, also known as Swahiliwood or Bongo movie and Bongowood, was established around 2001.

M. Beatrix Mugishagwe is a Tanzanian film director. She is the founder and CEO of Abantu Visions, Tanzania's first independent professional film and production company, and has chaired the Tanzania Independent Producers' Association (TAIPA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry G. Martin</span> Black British independent film maker (1952–2022)

Henry G. Martin was a Black British independent film maker in the 1980s and early '90s. In addition to directing and producing films, he is known for starting the production company Kuumba in 1982 along with film makers Menelik Shabazz and Imruh Bakari, which would then lead to the founding of the noted Ceddo Film and Video Workshop.

References

  1. 1 2 "Imruh Caesar", Diaspora Artists.
  2. ↑ "Teaching Post at the University of Winchester". Winchester.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Riots and Rumours of Riots". The British Universities Film and Video Council. 1981.
  4. ↑ Unknown (Spring 1988). "Film list". Undercut (17).
  5. ↑ "Riots and Rumours of Riots". BFI Player.
  6. ↑ "Imruh Caesar" at IMDb.
  7. ↑ Ogidi, Ann. "Ceddo". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Mark of the Hand: Aubrey Williams", Concord Media.
  9. ↑ "Blue Notes and Exiled Voices (1992)". BFI. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Zanzibar festival showcases arts". BBC News — Africa. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  11. ↑ "Zanzibar International Film Festival". Ziff.or.tz. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Bryce, Jane (2010). "Outside the Machine? Donor Values and the Case of Film in Tanzania". In Saul, Mahir; Austen, Ralph A. (eds.). Viewing African Cinema in the Twenty-First Century: Art Films and the Nollywood Video Revolution. Ohio University Press. pp. 165–72. ISBN   978-0-8214-1931-1.
  13. ↑ "Mwalimu – The Legacy of Julius Kambarage Nyerere". Film.list.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ "Biographical notes". Undercut (17). Spring 1988.
  16. ↑ Bakari, Imruh (1984). "Focus on African Cinema". Ecrans d'Afrique (9/10).
  17. ↑ Bakari, Imruh (Winter 2007). "Colonialism and modern lives in African Cinema". Screen. 48 (4): 501–505. doi:10.1093/screen/hjm051.
  18. ↑ Bakari, Imruh. "African Voices, African Visions". The Black Film Bulletin. 5 (2/3, Summer/Autumn 1997).
  19. ↑ Bakari, Ishaq Imruh; Mbye B. Cham (1995). African Experiences of Cinema (1 ed.). London: BFI Publishing. ISBN   0-85170-511-1.
  20. ↑ Bakari, Imruh. "Memory and Identity in Caribbean Cinema". New Formations. Lawrence and Wishart (30: Cultural Memory). ISSN   0950-2378 . Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  21. ↑ Bakari, Ishaq Imruh (1980). Sounds & Echoes. London: Karnak House. ISBN   978-0907015017.
  22. ↑ Caesar, Imruh Bakari; with an introduction by Faustin Charles (1986). Secret Lives. London: Bogle-L'Ouverture. ISBN   0904521362.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑ Bakari, Ishaq Imruh, Without Passport or Apology at Amazon.
  24. ↑ "Bakari, Ishaq Imruh". Southbankcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.