The Nine Muses

Director: John Akomfrah
2010, UK / Ghana
English
Experimental feature / 92 minutes

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Using Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, as a narrative starting point, and structured as an allegorical fable, The Nine Muses is a stylised and idiosyncratic retelling of the history of mass migration—particularly from Africa and the Caribbean—to post-war Britain. Divided into nine overlapping chapters and blending archival material with haunting images of snow-blanketed landscapes, this is a genre-defying work, a mystifying (and mythifying) tone poem about journeys, migration, memory and the power of elegy.

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Born in Ghana and raised in the UK, John Akomfrah made his directorial debut with the acclaimed Handsworth Songs in 1986. He has made over a dozen films since then. He is one of the founders of the now-defunct Black Audio Film Collective, which was dedicated to examining issues of black British identity through film and media. [/expand]

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Tues 27 Sept 2.00pm + Fri 30 Sept 2.00pm, The Little Carib Theatre