BURNING AN ILLUSION
dir. Menelik Shabazz, 1982
United Kingdom. 100 mins.
In English.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – 7:30 PM
ONE NIGHT ONLY! Menelik Shabazz IN PERSON for Q&A!
(This event is $10.)
“I was 22. Not doing too bad. I had my own flat, a steady job. But that wasn’t enough. I wanted to settle down. Somehow, though, I never seemed to meet anybody I could really feel – you know what I mean?”
Ahead of a broader survey of Caribbean cinema in 2019, Spectacle is thrilled to invite trailblazing filmmaker Menelik Shabazz to our humble microcinema for a one night only presentation of his landmark 1982 drama BURNING AN ILLUSION. The second British film by a director of color (the first being Horace Ové’s equally seminal PRESSURE), ILLUSION centers on the life of a twentysomething Brit named Pat (Cassie McFarlane), born to parents from the famous Windrush generation – wherein thousands of Caribbean and West Indian migrants came to the United Kingdom between 1948 and 1971. Pat finds herself torn between imperfect options when she falls in love with Del (Vic Romero), a hotheaded toolmaker who has difficulty keeping steady work.
As the film’s scope moves beyond their meet-cute to include Pat’s struggles with sexism and police racism, McFarlane’s moving lead turn anchors the film (and audience) in a quietly riveting drama of the day-to-day. BURNING AN ILLUSION deserves a slot alongside Britain’s social-realist “kitchen sink” dramas like THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER and A TASTE OF HONEY. Shabazz’ film is a vibrant depiction of working class life in the Thatcher Era slowly coming into a rightful second renown – not just as a landmark but as a classic too.
Barbados-born, MENELIK SHABAZZ is an internationally acclaimed and multi-award director and producer. He has worked in the British film industry for over 35 years in both documentary and fiction. He has produced work for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and is also a key pioneer in the development of contemporary black British cinema. He is best known for BURNING AN ILLUSION, which continues to be shown and taught in universities. His BBC2 drama/doc CATCH A FIRE won the Prized Pieces/National Black Programming Consortium Award (1996/USA.) More recently, Shabazz’ feature-length documentary THE STORY OF LOVER’S ROCK won the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Trinidad International Film Festival in 2012, after becoming one of the highest-grossing documentaries in British cinemas the year before. Shabazz’ most recent work is the feature documentary LOOKING FOR LOVE, about black love, relationships and sex in the UK.