Hello July
We know many of you probably had holiday plans coming up in the next month which have now been cancelled, but it's important to still take some time for yourself away from work and stress even if you're staying home. So we have some recommendations for you to try while you swap beaches for back gardens or city breaks for reading that pile of books that have been waiting on your bedside table!
What Are We Up To?
Our short film Coming out for Christmas has been selected for the Thessaloniki International LGBTIQ Film Festival! We’re so proud of our small film made in the North East heading over to Greece! It’s also an incredible honour to be featured in a festival that celebrates stories alike to COFC, we’re very excited for the screening and will keep you updated.
We’re delighted to announce that we’ll be producing a short documentary Shades of Blue. The documentary explores mental health within the black community, navigating topics such as race trauma and the lack of non-white counsellors within the mental health industry. The film makers Damie Lemomu and Sophie Abramovici are hard at work on completing the final stages of post production and then the film will be heading on it’s film festival journey! Look out for more news later this summer.
Our team has also grown! We’ve welcomed ten additional members to the Rianne Pictures team who have been working hard on our development projects, managing our podcast and aiding in preparation for our Women X event in October. Being a volunteer run organisation, we’re always grateful for the help we receive and we couldn’t be happier with the incredible mix of people who have joined us this past month. So welcome to Joanna, Isabelle, Laura, Holly & Holly (Yes we have two) Charlotte & Charlotte (Oh we have two of those two!) Alex, Brioni and Ashleigh.
We’ve had an influx of new listeners on the Not Having It All podcast since our BBC Radio interview. We’ve had some great episodes over the past few weeks including our spotlight on Regina King and Ava DuVernay. In July you can look forward to episodes on Transgender representation including a full review on Disclosure the latest Netflix documentary, as well as Parts 2 and 3 of our 00’s rom com series and a spotlight episode on how Asian America has been shown on screen in the past five years. You can catch up here.
Our early deadline has now passed for Women X submissions, but you can still submit your film up until August 19th. We’ve not had many submissions from women of colour or many LGBTQ films, so if you know any film makers you think would suit our festival, let them know! We want to represent a variety of stories. The world is still in an uncertain time and it can be hard to look forward to planned events, but we’re keeping positive and have back up plans in place, so rest assured Women X will be coming to you soon!
Our Team’s Top Picks
Film
Rafiki - BFI Player
Available to rent on BFI Player, Rafiki is a beautiful queer film from director Wanuri Kahiu focusing on two women falling in love in Kenya. The film comments heavily on the political landscape of Kenya and the persecution of LGBTQ+ people there but also offers a touching romance and a lot of hope. The colour palette and soundtrack of the film are also wonderful - I highly recommend giving this film a watch.
Rafiki - BFI Player
Pain and Glory - MUBI
Pedro Almodóvar’s 2019 film Pain and Glory stars Antonio Banderas as a film director in ill health who is reflecting on his life. Banderas won Best Actor at Cannes for his portrayal and you can now catch this brilliant film over on MUBI. If you listen to our podcast, Not Having It All, you’ve probably heard our producer and co-host Neha rave about this film - and now you have a chance to watch it!
Disclosure - Netflix
Disclosure - Netflix
An amazing recent addition to Netflix, Disclosure is a fantastic documentary which chronicles the history of transgender people on screen. The film screened online as part of BFI Flare 2020 and Caris and I have both watched it and highly recommend. It stays with you and you want to watch it again, as well as research to learn more. An important documentary and incredibly made - the creators hired trans crew members and when they couldn’t hire a trans person for a specific role, they had the crew member mentor a trans person, creating opportunities in the industry.
At The Heart of Gold - Sky
This documentary from Erin Lee Carr takes an unflinching look at the US Gymnastics scandal, including the cover up and the aftermath. It may not be an easy watch but it’s definitely an important one as At the Heart of Gold gives a platform to survivors to share their voices.
Love Birds - Netflix
The rom-com starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani was one of our most anticipated cinema releases of 2020, but thankfully for us it’s landed on Netflix so we haven’t had to miss out. Centering on a couple who are facing an ultimate break up, they are thrown into a wild night of unexpected events which makes them question their relationship and where they are in life with their personal development. It’s a good laugh and refreshing to have two non white leads in the genre.
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2020
I adore Sheffield Doc/Fest and sadly their 2020 festival could not go ahead as planned last month, however their programme this year js brilliant. I’ve been watching a few of their films and a highlight so far has been the harrowing Welcome to Chechnya. It is an amazingly powerful documentary following LGBTQ+ activists as work undercover, risking their lives to help others escape persecution. Doc/Player is available til August so you can still check out passes here.
Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness
Books
Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness
The fabulous JVN of Queer Eye released a book last year about his life and experiences and Caris is loving it right now. His story is amazingly inspirational; he has been through so much and wrote a beautiful book on self love and recovery. Even if you never watched Queer Eye, this is a fantastic read and it’s hard not to be moved by Jonathan’s story.
TV Shows
The Politican Season 2 - Netflix
The second season of Ryan Murphy’s The Politician hit Netflix last month and Caris has been loving it! The show stars Ben Platt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Zoey Deutch amongst many others and is a brilliant comedy drama following a high school student who dreams he will one day be President of the United States. Season 2 turns the drama up a notch - this is a show that you may definitely begin to binge watch. It’s your typical Ryan Murphy madness.
Cable Girls Final Season - Netflix
The final season of Cable Girls is arriving early this month! It’s a fantastic Spanish show set in the 1920s, following four women as they start working for a telecommunications company. Neha has watched the previous four seasons in the last couple of months and highly recommends you join her. Definitely one to add to your Netflix list and actually get around to watching!
Perry Mason - Sky
The reboot of Perry Mason is now out and available to watch on Sky Atlantic. The series follows a down and out private investigator in 1930s Los Angeles. The cast includes brilliant actors such as Matthew Rhys, Chris Chalk and Tatiana Maslany and is worth checking out whether you are a fan of the original or if you’re completely new to the story.
Insecure - HBO/Sky box sets
Issa Rae’s amazing comedy drama series Insecure follows two African-American women in their twenties as they attempt to find their way in the world, navigating their careers and relationships. You can find all four seasons on Sky box sets at the moment and it is definitely worth diving into. It’s funny, witty and breaks down stereotypes in the best way. Check out Kemi Alemoru’s fantastic article on gal-dem about the series!
Insecure - HBO
Big Zuu’s Big Eats - Dave/UKTV Play
Grime artist Big Zuu and his mates cook for various comedians after their shows in the fun and easy watch on Dave/UKTV Play. Ashton is a big fan and tried making his Lion Bar Banoffee Pie on Father’s Day which was a big hit in her house! If you fancy something funny and chilled to watch, this is it.
Mr Iglesias - Netflix
Another of Ashton’s picks this month is this sitcom from one of her favourite comedians, Gabriel Iglesias. His show Mr Iglesias follows a good natured teacher in a heartwarming and hilarious story as he teaches ‘the dumb-dumb class’.
Taco Chronicles - Netflix
This six-part docu-series is exactly what it says on the tin - it’s all about tacos! The show is both entertaining and educational, exploring the history and culture behind various kinds of tacos. Neha is obsessed and learnt a lot from it - expect random taco facts in podcast episodes to come…
Music
Six the Musical
Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
Lauren did recommend Phoebe Bridgers last month too but that was before her brand new album dropped! So she has once again landed herself shout out in our monthly post as Punisher is a great album with some brilliant songs. album Punisher. It is beautifully sad and wonderfully written.
Six the Musical Soundtrack
Though I haven’t seen the musical yet (fingers crossed when theatres open I will be able to go at some point) I have been listening to the soundtrack on repeat for the last few weeks and I adore it. I never thought the story of Henry VIII’s wives and pop music would go together so well but here we are! So many of the songs are absolute bops - my personal favourites from the soundtrack are Don’t Lose Ur Head, Ex-Wives, Heart of Stone and Six.
Other
Learning British Sign Language
A couple of months ago I started a British Sign Language class on a Facebook group for sharing skills during lockdown. For a small donation to The Trussell Trust (if you can afford to) you can share your skills with others and learn skills shared by others! The skills on offer vary but I decided to start learning BSL as I have been meaning to for a long time now. I am learning so much and it’s been a great way to keep busy during lockdown as well as learning a new and important skill.
FutureLearn Course
Ashton has just started a course on FutureLearn called Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Identify the patterns undermining your confidence. It sounds like a brilliant course; the topic is something I think would help most of us! It’s free and only just began on 29 June and you can check it out here.
A History of Black Academy Award Winners and Nominees
Over on our Instagram we’ve compiled a list of all the black winners and nominees at the Academy Awards along with some education facts about the records that these artists have broke. You’ll see how long we had to wait for Halle Berry to win Best Actress and how John Singleton became the youngest director in history to be nominated for his work on Boys N The Hood.
With lockdown measures being relaxed in the UK by the government, public places are opening and getting busier. It can be difficult for many right now and we must be safe and be careful when we do go out. There has been pressure for people to start ‘going back to normal’ but make sure to look after yourself in this time! If you aren’t ready to go and meet people yet, try not to pressure yourself into it. We must look after our mental wellbeing and also keep safe - and remember to wear a mask when out in public!
ANTI-RACISM RESOURCES
Last month we included a link to anti-racism resources and we have shared this link again along with a couple of others. It’s so important that we actively take a stand to eradicate racism and anti-blackness - just because Black Lives Matter may not be trending, it doesn’t mean the issues have gone away. Black Lives Matter is a movement, not a trend, and there is no end point to learning. We must educate and continue learning our whole lives. Please take a look at the links below, share them, bookmark them and donate to good causes if you can.
