- Title: Rouch in Reverse and Algeria: Women at War
- Date: Friday 18th October, 18:00
- Venue: Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image, 43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY
- Book: https://www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event/44451/image-music-power-julian-henriques-andparminder-virs-work-in-film-and-television-event-2
Screening of Rouch in Reverse (1995) and Algeria: Women at War (1992). Introduced by the film’s respective directors, Manthia Diawara and Parminder Vir OBE.
In Rouch in Reverse (1995), filmmaker and New York University professor Manthia Diawara introduces a technique that he calls ‘reverse anthropology’. In so doing, Diawara assumes the position of anthropologist or ‘scientist’, to use his exact phrase, while Rouch, who is often described as the ‘father of ethnographic cinema’, becomes the subject to be explored, the ‘informant’. The two filmmakers spend time together, have discussions about the French director’s work, visit his home and various sites in Paris, all of which was shot by Arthur Jafa and Khalid Frikha. Throughout, however, Diawara is alert to Rouch’s attempts to divert him from his task as well as his refusal to engage in serious discussion about politics. In many senses, it is these attempted diversions and absences that form the central problematic of this reflexive essay film. Hence, what is at stake with it is not just an assessment of Rouch’s films, their cinematic achievement, influence and, in various cases, profoundly problematic and racist aspects, but also broader questions about power relations in filmmaking and society more generally. Can anthropology, with its links to paternalism, colonialism and racism, simply be reversed? What possibilities are there for self-anthropology?
Algeria: Women At War (1992) offers a rare insight into the key role Algerian women played in their country’s liberation struggle from the French between 1954 and 1962. Shot in 1992 and broadcast on Channel Four television the same year, this documentary uses a combination of interviews and archival footage to reflect on the position of women in Algeria. The inspiration for this documentary was Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers (1966), an important film about the Algerian revolution that has been praised by many historians and scholars. Nevertheless, the role played by women in the struggle for independence is absent from the account it offers. As such, 10 years after seeing Pontecorvo’s movie, Vir travelled to Algeria to find these women and to document their militant commitment. As She has explained, ‘My film Algeria: Women at War and the publication that accompanied its broadcast… pays tribute to the women who fought in the revolution, their daughters, also fighting for their freedom and their granddaughters. In my film veteran fighters like Aicha Bouazzar, Baya Hocine and Fatima Hakim talk – some for the first time – about their role in the revolution. Their daughters – Houria Bouhired, Khalida Messaoudi and Fadila Chittour – discuss the status of women after 30 years of single-party rule the rise of Islam and increasing political violence.’
Notes
Spanning musical, documentary, agit-prop and essay film, this retrospective looks at some of Professor Julian Henriques and Parminder Vir OBE’s work as directors and producers in film and television over several decades. The programme has been developed with the intention not only of screening a series of important works but also of considering the conditions of possibility, the political, social and aesthetic connections, that make movements and moments possible. The screenings and discussions should appeal to the younger generation looking for inspiration from the film history they’ve inherited as well as those who were there at the time.
The 1980s fundamentally transformed British film and television, witnessing the launch of Channel 4 (1982) and the emergence of an independent Black British cinema. As this series attests, Henriques and Vir were active in both. In 1987, they established the production company Formation Films and made Exit No Exit, a thirty-minute Orpheus-inspired dance drama set in the London Underground, directed by Henriques for Dance on Four.
In the early 1980s, Vir worked at the Commonwealth Institute and, together with Jim Pines, co-organised the Black Film Festival at the Commonwealth Institute in London in 1982. She then began working at Greater London Council (GLC) and, as Imruh Bakari has recently noted, convened the Third Eye: London’s Festival of Third World Cinema (1983) collaborating with others including June Givanni and Lionel Ngakane. As the GLC Ethnic Arts Officer (1982- 1986), Vir developed the policy for funding the Black film and video sector, an initiative that paved the way for funding important workshops in London, including Black Audio Film Collective, Sankofa Film and Video, Ceddo Film and Video Workshop, and Retake Film and Video Collective, as well as independent production companies like Kuumba Productions and Penumbra Productions. These crucial events and initiatives have led to a revolutionary body of work and discourse that artists, curators and scholars continue to grapple with today. In 1986, Vir presented a showreel of Black and Asian filmmakers to the editorial staff in the BBC, where she would be employed, eventually as series producer, until 1994, working with many important filmmakers from across the globe, including Deepa Dhanraj, Gaston Kaboré, Michel Khleifi and Raoul Peck.
During the 1990s, Vir also produced numerous documentaries, including Algeria: Woman at War (1992), a work that combines archival footage and interviews to address the crucial role Algerian women played in their country’s liberation struggle from the French and their equally important place in political life at the time of the work’s making. In this retrospective, the film will be screened alongside Professor Manthia Diawara’s reflexive essay film Rouch in Reverse (1995). In this latter work, for which Henriques and Vir were executive producer and producer respectively, Diawara offers a nuanced and critical account of Jean Rouch, often described as the ‘father of ethnographic cinema’ and precursor to the French New Wave.
Biography
Parminder Vir OBE
With a professional career spanning four decades, Parminder Vir OBE has dedicated her life to amplifying untold narratives and empowering underserved communities. Central to her mission is an unwavering belief in the transformative potential of ideas and stories to ignite profound change. Her work has championed African Entrepreneurship, brought untold stories to film and television, and nurtured creativity in the arts and culture. She is currently writing a memoir that interweaves the many facets of her career.
As CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Advisory Board Member from 2014-2012, Vir designed and led a groundbreaking entrepreneurship programme that impacted over 10,000 entrepreneurs across 54 African nations. She remains a staunch advocate for entrepreneurship as a key driver of Africa’s social and economic development, reshaping the continent’s narrative through the stories of its entrepreneurs. Vir continues to offer strategic guidance as an Advisory Board Member for several African enterprises and promotes structured approaches to African entrepreneurship through writing, speaking engagements, and mentorship.
An award-winning film and television producer with 30 years of experience, Vir has produced for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and more. She co-founded the Cultural Diversity Network (CDN), advocating for greater diversity in UK media. As an investment manager at Ingenious Media, she managed the £40 million World Cinema Fund. Also, she served as a nonexecutive director at Goldcrest Films, advising on a £20 million capital fund for Oscar-winning films.
Vir’s influence extends to government boards, including non-executive roles at the Department of Culture, Media and Sports, the UK Film Council, the UK India Business Council, and the UKTI Asia Task Force, shaping international strategies and policies.
In 2002, Vir was awarded an OBE for her contributions to film and television, and in 2010, she received an Honorary MA from the University for the Creative Arts. Born in Punjab, India, she moved to England at age ten and is married to Professor Julian Henriques.
