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FOUND FOOTAGE

The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975, by Swedish director Göran Olsson, is one of the jewels of the 2011 BAFICI program. In a series of images and testimonies from the past, the film features unique footage of the activities of the radical group Black Panthers, the strong words of its founding fathers Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, together with other figures who fought for civil rights in the United States at the end of the sixties. Among them, the thought and image of philosophy professor Angela Davis (photo) stands out. Born from the curiosity of Swedish national television for that emerging movement—including images that depict everyday life in the ghettos—the documentary goes further beyond and explores what happened to those aspirations. It also features prominent figures in African-American culture today: among them, actor-singer Harry Belafonte, professor Robin D. G. Kelley, poetess Sonia Sanchez and musicians Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli and ?uestlove. Today, Monday, is an excellent opportunity to see this film at 6.15 pm at Arteplex Belgrano: tickets go on sale at the movie theater at 10.00 am.

Olsson reduces the main anecdote of his movie to a simple story: “I found this footage in the archives of the Swedish national radio. So I turned to national television and told them ‘If you give me this material, I give you a film,’” Apart from the twist of fate, his work is much more important and complex than just editing archive footage. He brings the images to their own context and enriches them with valuable present testimonies, from some of the most important contemporary figures in African-American culture. In this way, he creates a fresco of a particular time and place, which would later influence and inspire the entire world.