Burning an Illusion + Q&A 15

“More than twenty years on, nothing else quite like it has been made.”

— Ade Solanke

This ground-breaking film charts the political awakening of a young Black woman who has had enough of her job, her boyfriend and Thatcher’s Britain. A pioneering first feature from acclaimed filmmaker Menelik Shabazz, Burning an Illusion marked a coming of age for Black British cinema, as the first British film to give a central voice to a Black woman.

Menelik Shabazz will be joining us In Conversation hosted by writer-journalist Desiree Reynolds after the film screening. Shabazz has been at the forefront of Black British filmmaking for over 30 years and we are delighted to welcome him to our cinema as we revisit his incredible first film.