Burning an Illusion

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Burning an Illusion
Directed byMenelik Shabazz
Produced byVivien Pottersman
Starring
CinematographyRoy Cornwall
Edited byJudy Seymour
Music bySeyoum Nefta
Production
company
Release date
1981
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Burning an Illusion is a 1981 British film written and directed by Menelik Shabazz, about a young British-born black woman's love life, mostly shot in London's Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove communities.[1] It was only the second British feature film to have been made by a black director, following Horace Ové's Pressure (1975),[2][3] and is described by Stephen Bourne as "the first British film to give a black woman a voice of any kind."[4] Imruh Bakari worked with Shabazz and co-founded Kuumba Productions with him.[5]

Background[]

Giving the history to the film's making, Shabazz wrote on his website (where Burning an Illusion is characterised as "a meeting ground for romantic love and politics"): "Being on the set of Horace Ove's movie Pressure fuelled my inspiration to make Burning an Illusion. I hadn’t known Horace prior but my then business partner David Kinoshi was playing one of the characters in the film and invited me along. Seeing a black director at the helm made me see that creating that kind of film was possible. ... The title Burning an Illusion, as with many of my films, comes from a reggae song. In this case, Culture had a lyric 'Burning an illusion inna Babylon' which became the inspiration for the title."[6]

Burning an Illusion, according to Ade Solanke on the British Film Institute's Screenonline website, avoids "the tradition of placing white males at the centre of a story". It is also rare example of prioritising the personal drama of black woman over the socio-economic and political conflicts, as "it's about black people who aren't radical". Solanke writes: "Like all drama, the film is about characters facing conflicts. ... [F]or most of the story it dramatises personal conflicts, not socio-economic or political ones."[1]

Burning an Illusion is available at the British Film Institute.[7]

Reception[]

Reviewing the film in The Black Scholar, Roland S. Jefferson wrote: "What an eye opening surprise! Menelik Shabazz has given us our first glimpse of contemporary black life in London and it is long overdue."[8]

Main cast members[]

  • Cassie McFarlane (Pat Williams)
  • Victor Romero Evans (Del Bennett)
  • Beverley Martin (Sonia)
  • Angela Wynter (Cynthia)
  • Malcolm Fredericks (Chamberlain)
  • Corinne Skinner-Carter (Pat's mother)

Awards[]

The film won the Grand Prix at the Amiens International Film Festival in France, and Cassie McFarlane won the Evening Standard Award for "Most Promising New Actress".[3]

Burning an Illusion was honoured with a Screen Nation Classic Film Award in October 2011.[9][10]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Ade Solanke, "Burning an Illusion (1981)", BFI Screenonline.
  2. ^ Burning an Illusion, DVD Video Review, 1 September 2005.
  3. ^ a b Marva Jackson Lord, Burning An Illusion Feature, Griots.net.
  4. ^ Stephen Bourne, Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television, A&C Black, 2005, p. 202.
  5. ^ "Memories of Menelik Shabazz, 1954–2021". BFI. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Burning an Illusion: Story Behind the Film". Menelik Shabazz. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Burning an Illusion 1981", BFI Player.
  8. ^ Jefferson, Roland S. (May/June 1985), Review of Burning an Illusion", The Black Scholar, Vol. 16, No. 3, POLITICS AND CULTURE, pp. 51–53.
  9. ^ Screen Nation Honours: Burning an Illusion.
  10. ^ "BURNING AN ILLUSION - CLASSIC MOVIE AWARD 2011". YouTube, 23 October 2011.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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