HCC presents SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ETAT (dir. Johan Grimonprez) + Guests

In fact, one must note that at every moment Black peoples have sought, for themselves, to assert what freedom might mean and look like, those desires and acts toward freedom have been violently interdicted. It is this ongoing interdiction of a potential Black freedom that I have termed the long emancipation.— Rinaldo Walcott, The Long Emancipation: Moving Toward Black Freedom

Because Black history is not a month, Haringey Community Cinema (HCC) invites you to a powerful series of screenings exploring Black histories, politics, culture, and struggle across the globe. As part of this series, we are interested in examining what Rinaldo Walcott framed as ‘the long emancipation’ through the use of moving images. This series brings into focus how colonialism, empire, racism, gender and sexuality have structured the ways Black life and thought are represented, questioned and resisted on screen.

Our programme includes films that centre Black voices and perspectives, alongside works that raise questions about how Black history is mediated and by whom.

We begin with the first chapter of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, read by Ms Lauryn Hill in Concerning Violence (dir. Göran Hugo Olsson). Next, Shari Frilot’s Black Nations / Queer Nations? chronicles the groundbreaking March 1995 conference on lesbian and gay sexualities in the African diaspora. To welcome Spring, we will shift our attention to the crucial role played by music in key moments of the Cold War with Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (dir. Johan Grimonprez). We will close with The Stuart Hall Project (dir. John Akomfrah), reflecting on the work and enduring legacy of Stuart Hall.

For this edition, we have curated a list of readings that we encourage you to explore before the screenings.

Our guest speakers for hosting our community conversations will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Through films, readings, and post-screening discussion, we will engage with questions of power, representation, memory, and history, and with the ongoing fight for justice in our communities and beyond.

As always, our screenings are free to attend and open to all.

This event is funded by the Haringey Council for Black History Haringey 365.

Please only book if you are confident you will be able to attend, as seating at this venue is limited. Due to safety regulations, walk-in entry cannot be guaranteed.

The registration form includes a small number of questions collected for reporting purposes. All data will be anonymised. Each attendee is required to complete the form. If you are booking on behalf of someone else and do not know an answer, please enter or select' N/A' where applicable.

Due to the venue’s limited capacity, the event may sell out.If this happens, you can be added to the waiting list. When a ticket becomes available, you will receive an email to book it, and you will have 24 hours to complete your booking.

If you are unable to attend the event, please cancel your ticket(s) so that your place can be offered to someone else.

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is an Oscar‑nominated historical documentary that uncovers the surprising collision of jazz, decolonisation, and Cold War politics. It revisits the events that drove Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to confront the UN Security Council after the assassination of the Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba, and tracks how the arrival of sixteen newly independent African nations reshaped global power. As the United States scrambles to regain influence, Louis Armstrong is dispatched as a cultural envoy to Congo, part of an effort to divert attention from a CIA‑backed coup. The film offers a sharp, fast‑moving re‑examination of political theatre and the radical force of music.

Trailer

Mahvish Ahmad is an Assistant Professor in Human Rights and Politics. Before joining LSE, she was an A.W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape. She completed her PhD in Sociology at Cambridge. Earlier, Mahvish was a journalist covering military and insurgent violence in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, and co-founded the bilingual Urdu/English magazine Tanqeed with Madiha Tahir.

Deborah Shorindé (b. 1995) is a Nigerian Audio Artist and Writer, raised in South London and Southern Ontario. She is the Founder & Artistic Director of Tiny Lungs, an independent production house based in London. Exploring the intersections between materiality, diaspora & intimacy, Deborah’s practice often centres sound and story. Reflecting the complex landscape of black contemporary life, her work is an investigation into the future of tenderness.

is an independent production house grounded in the small but radical. Home to unruly stories, our projects move fluidly across form, centring community and experimentation.

HCC is run by volunteers and does not receive any funding at the moment. Every donation you make will help us to support local venues and to organise other free screenings.

In a time of rising living costs and persistent barriers for marginalised communities in producing and accessing films that reflect their experiences and aspirations, we are committed to making our screenings free or pay-what-you-can.

Lordship Hub is a vibrant community centre and café at the heart of Lordship Rec, Tottenham’s largest park. The building is fully accessible, but located inside the park. If you need to be dropped off next to the building's main entrance (with the ramp), please contact us early so we can arrange the park's gate to be open. If you have any accessibility needs or questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Haringey Community Cinema (HCC) was launched in April 2025 and is run by volunteers. Inspired by Brixton Community Cinema, HCC is aimed at bringing residents of Haringey together through film. Our mission is to showcase films that challenge, inspire, and spark critical reflection—films that make us think and act. Visit our website.

HCC does not currently have an official COVID-19 policy. However, we remain mindful that many people are still vulnerable to the virus. We kindly ask attendees to take the following precautions to help keep our events safe and accessible for everyone:

• If possible, please take a lateral flow test before attending.
• If you test positive or are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, please do not attend, even if you feel well.
• We welcome and encourage the use of masks inside the venue for those who wish to wear them.
• Please be considerate of others' comfort levels and respect requests for physical distance.

Thank you for helping us create a safer and more inclusive space.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Lordship Hub Co-op, Higham Road, London, United Kingdom

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