Transforming education with Black diaspora film and filmmaking practice

Abstract

At the first Third World Filmmakers Meeting held in Algiers in 1973, participants resolved that the cinema they envisioned could conscientize audiences and continue Indigenous and African storytelling traditions. Today, there is a robust canon of Black diaspora cinema, which should be preserved, archived and analysed. Yet when coupled with filmmaking practice, it can become living history as a tool in the application of critical pedagogy. This article considers Black diaspora film and filmmaking practice as mechanisms for the radical transformation of education. It examines how oppositional cinematic representations can spark critical consciousness and how filmmaking practice can put emotional intelligence at the centre of learning.