A longer episode than usual in which we are joined by Media Fund Strategic Coordinator Thomas Barlow. Among the many other things he does is conducting anti-fascist history tours in his home city of Manchester!
Tom chose to focus on themes of revolution and social change in sci-fi, with a particular focus on Elysium, The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica. We discuss how the film and series creators depict the agents of change, the use of a single hero-like protagonist as opposed to the class of workers or oppressed characters taking things into their own hands. We touch on the lionisation of individual figures and the problematic lack of representation of collective action, which brings us to older representations of working class characters in UK and US TV in the 1970s and 1980s, how shows in the 1990s such as Deep Space 9 depicted UN-like diplomatic unions as the answer, cynical superhero series and escapism in films like The Matrix, and the links with conspiracy theorists.
We've got a slightly longer top picks section - We look at Miss Juneteenth , independent horror (?) film Saint Maud, UK/US series Utopia, Nora From Queens, available on BBCiPlayer, Keenie Meenie, an investigative doc about Britain's largest mercenary company and quickly flag The Haunting (and not The Curse!) Of Bly Manor on Netflix and Grayson Perry's Big American Road Trip. Phew!
As mentioned in the podcast, you can find our reviews of our Encounters Film Festival top picks on our website!
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About
Top Picks is hosted by two of film programmers and social researchers behind myDylarama. We use postcolonial, afro-pessimism, and Bourdieusian theories to discuss race and class in drama, documentary, mystery, and horror films. Now in its 10th year, myDy champions independent film using the medium as a platform for underrepresented and oft-ignored voices. myDy is official partner of the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival, and collaborates with The Media Fund, ByWire, and Emerging Filmmakers Night.
Abla Kandalaft, co-founder of myDylarama, is a trilingual film programmer, researcher, journalist and translator. She is passionate about economics, environmental issues, migration, and politics; and has worked with BBC, Cannes Film Festival, and BFI. Coco Green is an aspiring academic and armchair critic. When not discussing racism in film, both on Top Picks and in the streets, she is writing about black counterpublics in hopes of completing her PhD.
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