london

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Sampha: Process – A Journey from Sierra Leone to London

Sampha: Process Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you’ve been watching a lot of films recently, you’ll notice that Sampha: Process is different. Firstly it’s got a lot of music, which you’d probably expect as it’s an extended music video. Secondly, you’ll notice the quick and choreographed cuts (the editing works with the music). Music videos are where Spike Jonze and David Fincher started out, will Khalil Joseph transition to feature films as well?

Why Watch Sampha: Process?
  • Because there’s art in music videos – Director Khalil Joseph made a name for himself with this art/music video to accompany Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and also directed Beyonce’s Lemonade visual album
  • If you like Sampha (you’ll at the very least appreciate his voice if you’re a music fan)
  • It will make you want to go to Freetown, Sierra Leone
  • For some fast cuts and symbolism – exactly what you’d expect from an extended music video
The Breakdown

First off, if you haven’t heard of Sampha, you should check out his latest Mercury Prize winning album Process before you watch this film – give it a listen here. Then you’ll need to know that this album was created after he lost his mum to cancer. He deals with loss in the music, but it is also the focus of this film.

Throughout the film, Khalil Joseph cuts to the image of Sampha’s mum trapped in a chrysalis. Her image appears between the beautiful beaches of Sierra Leone and urban London, connecting the two different cities. As a result, she is the link that connects Sampha to Sierra Leone. Her death, along with her mother’s old age (she’s the last of 14 siblings), threatens the  link.

Image result for sampha process kahlil joseph

Conclusion

Sampha: Process is a film you should watch if you want to see how to adapt a music album into a film. Khalil Joseph takes a brilliant, complete album and manages to add more depth to it.

For more, check out this art/music video Khalil Joseph made for Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City album.

 

 

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Indian Food and the British Asian Experience: A Collection of Short Films

Since the pandemic began, I’ve come across a lot of free films to watch online thanks to Cinema Tropical’s Daily Recommendations, Exmilitary’s collection of apocalyptic Eastern European films, as well as art cinemas like Arsenal Berlin unlocking selections of hidden films weekly. The free collections on the BFI Player are another great place to look. That’s where I came across this selection of short films focused Indian food in Britain and the British Asian experience in the 1970s and 1980s.

I’m British But…

You might know Gurinder Chadha from Bend It Like Beckham and Blinded by the Light but you probably haven’t seen her short documentary portrait of British Asians in the 1980s. It’s well worth watching to hear about what it means to be British and Asian from a selection of young people based in different corners of the country. It’s good to watch to be reminded of the cultural influences from South Asia that British people often take for granted. You’ll also get to actually hear the opinion of British Asians themselves – unfortunately still a rare sight in British film and TV.

London Me Bharat

London Me Bharat (India in London) is the first Hindi-language film made in Britain (1972). It’s a short documentary that feels a bit like a made-for-TV special as the narrator describes everything we see. It takes us from London’s main sights, full of tourists to Southall, a district where tourists probably haven’t heard of, which hosts one of the largest Indian communities in Britain. It’s a perfect short documentary for anyone not familiar with the origins of the Indian community in the U.K. and for anyone interested in seeing the multiculturalism of London.

Indian Sweets & Indian Sweets & Savories

These two short TV documentaries feature white British men raiding South Asian sweet shops in London. The first, Indian Sweets, features an incredibly bad mannered white presenter walking around behind the counter grabbing everything he fancies like he owns the place. After taking a bite of each he asks “what’s this then?” before adding it to the pile of sweets that starts to bulge in his hand. The low-light: when introduced to Jalebi’s, he shouts “Jelly Babies?” after taking a huge bite.

The white presenter in Indian Sweets & Savories is a little better. He at least asks the sweet shop owner before he grabs sweets. Unfortunately he relegates Indian food to unhealthy food you’d eat after a night out, fake burps after eating his Thali, and doesn’t do much to ingratiate himself to the restaurant owners that have invited him in. The behavior of both white TV presenters is a window into the Britain of the 1970s and 1980s.

New Ways

Created by Ealing and Hammersmith as an introduction for South Asian people moving to the UK, this 13 minute documentary sets out the basics for adapting to life in Britain. It makes you wonder how many people watched this before or right after arriving in the UK to start a new life. It hardly develops any kind of excitement for life in Britain as it monotonically emphasizes the cold dull weather. It’s patronizing tone must have drawn a lot of raised eyebrows too.

You can watch all of the short films about Indian Food and the British Asian Experience featured above for free on the BFI Player.