Showroom Community x T.A.P.E Collective: SNAPSHOT Shorts + Intro 18

Black girls coming of age on their own terms. From the suburbs of Essex to the heart of Brooklyn, SNAPSHOT shines a light on Black girls navigating identity, friendships, and self-discovery. Through a mix of radical archive films and contemporary storytelling, this programme captures the multifaceted experiences of Black girlhood—allowing them to dream, define, and grow on their own terms.

Curated by T.A.P.E. Collective, with the support of the BFI and National Lottery, these films celebrate the intimate and universal journeys of Black girls across generations.

This screening will open with an introduction by Chim’Di Ugada, Communities Co-Ordinator, offering a glimpse into this dynamic collection that celebrates Black girlhood through fresh perspectives, historical depth, and unfiltered joy.

Featured Films:

Essex Girls (2022) | Dir. Yero Timi-Biu | Starring: Taya Tower
Flipping the 'Essex Girl' trope, this coming-of-age film explores Black British girlhood and magical female friendships in 2009 Essex.
Official Selection: BFI London Film Festival 2023 (Short Film Competition), Sundance Film Festival 2024.

Picking Tribes (1984) | Dir. S. Pearl Sharp | Starring: Ellie Perry
In a heartfelt, and often hilarious, attempt to be more than ‘ordinary,’ a girl growing up in the 1940s tries to choose between her African-American and Native-American heritages

Home Away From Home (1993) | Dir. Maureen Blackwood | Starring: Cathy Tyson
To ease her homesickness, Miriam recreates an aspect of home in her suburban British garden. Cultural memory exerts a healing power, combatting the rift between Miriam and her Nigerian-British children.

Muna (2023) | Dir. Warda Mohamed | Starring: Aisha Mohammed
A film about teenage dreams, dislocated grief and unexpected connection, following a British-Somali teen navigating a confusing mourning period for a family member she never met.

Flight of the Swan (1992) | Dir. Ngozi Onwurah | Starring: Shauna McDonald
A young girl leaves her Nigerian village to attend a ballet school in England. Fascinated by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, she dreams of performing as lead ballerina Princess Odette, but the girls in her close-minded ballet school mock her ideas of a 'black swan'.

Showroom Community screenings are welcoming to all, celebrating the values, cultures and beliefs of Sheffield’s diverse communities. Please find out more information about Showroom Community here.

Content warning: Please note that viewers may find Picking Tribes upsetting as it includes historical racist language and a brief depiction of lynching in the US. The curators of the programme T A P E Collective carefully considered the inclusion of the film and felt that as it was directed by a Black woman (as are all the films featured in the programme), they wanted to include it to truthfully represent the sentiments, worries and politics of the times.