Burning Illusions

British Film and Thatcherism

Burning Illusions: British Film and Thatcherism engages questions of cinematic representations of race, class, and sexuality through examples of moving images rooted in Britain’s contested social and political histories. Titles by filmmakers like Martina Attille, Isaac Julien, and Horace Ové, as well as artist groups like the Berwick Street Collective and Retake, all divulge the weight of nationalism and post-colonial experiences before, during, and after Thatcher’s conservative government. Programmed in collaboration with Reece Auguiste, one of the founding members of the Black Audio Film Collective, in conjunction with the exhibition This is Britain: Photographs from the 1970s and 1980s.