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During the 1960s and 70s, Balsall Heath and Sparkbrook were a destination for South Asian film audiences from across the Midlands.A little cluster of cinemas around the Moseley Road and the Stratford Road were true pioneers, sharing films from India and Pakistan with communities seeking a place to get together and a connection with home. This conversation event is an opportunity to go behind the scenes at two of these lost picturehouses, with special guests the Randhawa family - who ran the Waldorf on Walford Road up until the early 80s - and Amarjit Sidhu, whose father Jaswant opened one of the UK's first full-time South Asian cinemas at the Imperial in Balsall Heath in 1961.
Presented in partnership with Birmingham Indian Film Festival, and hosted by BIFF head of cinema Dharmesh Rajput.
This event is part of Wonderland, a new project mapping the city's picture-palaces past and present and exploring the stories associated with them. Wonderland is presented by the Birmingham 2022 Festival, supported by Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, produced by Flatpack Festival.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (UK), Chamberlain Square,Birmingham, United Kingdom
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