A World Is Turning

1948
Sound
40m

A lost chapter in black British film: extraordinary rushes from a documentary showcasing talented members of the black community.

Six tantalising reels of rushes are all that remain of this unfinished film showcasing talented members of Britain's black community. These scenes, often in multiple takes, include legendary jazz singer Adelaide Hall rehearsing and performing at London's Nightingale Club, a black poet speaking in verse as an African dance troupe performs, and a black surgeon operating on a white patient.

While these dramatised scenes may now appear rather awkward, this is a rare treasure - a forgotten attempt to highlight the contribution of black men and women to British society at a time when they were struggling for visibility on our screens. It's possible that A World is Turning was planned to coincide with the arrival of the first large group of West Indian immigrants on the Empire Windrush in June 1948, but filming appears to have been halted when the director fell ill.

Before Windrush

Precious glimpses and surprising rediscoveries: snapshots of black Britain in the decades before the great postwar migrations.

There was a substantial black presence in Britain long before the Empire Windrush arrived from Jamaica in June 1948. Some of the earliest moving images of black Britons survive in the extraordinary Mitchell and Kenyon collection from the dawn of the 20th century. WWI newsreels offered occasional glimpses of black soldiers from Britain - or more likely the Empire. In WWII the contribution of black servicemen and women was more prominently acknowledged in newsreels and documentaries. Between the wars, black performers began to make a splash, from music hall entertainers Scott & Whaley to Britain's first black screen star, US-born actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson. Stars like these had an easier time than many, but still faced unthinking stereotypes and prejudice. But they forged a path for others to follow. The films in this selection span some five decades, serving as a vital record of a much longer history of black people and culture in Britain than is often remembered.