West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty

Mauritanian director Med Hondo’s (Soleil Ô) sophomore fiction feature stages an elaborate investigation into the origins and legacies of slavery and imperialism over three hundred years in the Caribbean. Using a mock slave-ship as the film’s only sound-stage, the narrative jumps through the triangular points of the Middle Passage through detailed and awe-inspiring historical reenactments and dance numbers. Moving beyond the musical genre as pure spectacle, West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty is a radical, sublime rendering of an entire people’s history of resistance and struggle.

This screening will be preceded by a spoken word performance from TK Thomas.