A Radical Duet

A Radical Duet - Excerpt
Dir: Onyeka Igwe

The film takes London, 1947, as its starting point – a time when the city was a hub of anti-imperialist and Black revolutionary activity, with intellectuals, Marxists, educators and writers such as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Sylvia Wynter, C.L.R. James, Kwame Nkrumah and George Padmore all spending time there. Each was agitating for their respective countries’ national independence – but did they meet? And if they all did, what did they discuss? What did they conjure?
 Intertwining historical fact and fictional narrative, A Radical Duet traces three separate but converging timelines to imagine historical figures inspired by the burgeoning movements for national liberation coming together in London to fight for independence. 
Central to the film are two fictional characters – a Nigerian Christian socialist, women’s rights activist and union leader, Adura Falade, and Sylvie St. Hill, a Jamaican student, dancer and playwright. These women, from different generations and backgrounds, come together to put their fervour and imagination into writing a revolutionary play. Through staged scenes that move between past and present, Igwe’s film depicts the play as a form of political protest, and envisages what it would look like if staged today.

Full Film below