BFM International Film Festival (IFF) is the largest black world cinema event in the UK. The 10th Anniversary festival will take place at venues across London which includes the BFI Southbank, the British Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Stratford Circus.

This year’s festival takes a new direction, reflecting predominantly British work and a high proportion of UK premiers. The festival will also showcase films from across the globe featuring strands of African Cinema, Caribbean Cinema, foreign language, historical titles and short films.

Rich Mix is showing the following films as part of this year's festival.

Saturday 15 November | 12.00 | Cinema 2

UK Premiere - A Charmed Life with Q&A
Dir: Ros Williams & Patrick Vernon
50min | 2008 | UK
A story of the life and times of Eddie Martin Noble. Born in Jamaica in 1917 he volunteered at the age of 25 to serve in World War II. When he came over to Britain in 1943 he was stationed in East Anglia at a RAF base. The documentary examines Eddie’s perspectives and values of inspiring young people and gives a historical perspective on the issues around colonisation of the Caribbean, racism in the RAF during the War, the colour bar and racial inequality in post-war Britain.

UK Premiere - School Dinners
Dir: Charles Da Costa
6min | 2005 | UK
A quirky animation where a West Indian elder talks about her life growing up in London during the second World War.

Saturday 15 November | 14.00 | Cinema 2

UK Premiere - Return
Dir: Damani Baker
A fascinating documentary which follows two African-Americans as they journey to South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Senegal to investigate the practices of traditional medicine men and reconnect with their ancestry. Features an interview with Malidoma Somé, acclaimed author of Of Water and the Spirit. Winner of the best documentary, Independent Black Film Festival 2007.

UK Premiere - Les Eaux
Dir: Kapwani Kiwanga
15min | 2008 | France/Benin
Les Eaux navigates the sacred realm of Vodoun and oral histories in Southern Benin looking into the mystery that surrounds ‘mammywater’. French with English subtitles.

Saturday 15 November | 16.00 | Cinema 2

African Shorts Programme with Q&A

UK Premiere - Africa ’s Daughters
Dir: Natalie Halpern
25min | 2007 | US/Uganda
The story of two Ugandan girls with big dreams, defying the odds in a country where a high school education is generally reserved for boys. Hoctavia is one of 31 children, most of whom dropped out of school. Ruth lives in a tiny apartment in a Kampala slum with her mother and three siblings. Graduating from high school is the only way they can lift themselves and their families out of poverty. Like millions of girls in Africa who will never move beyond primary school, their challenges are not unique but their journey is.

UK Premiere - A Short for my Niece (the Yaa Asantewaa Story)
Dir: Akua Ofosuhene
17min | 2007 | Ghana | UK
The story of the valiant Ashanti Queen Mother who took up arms in defence of her nation.

UK Premiere - The Slave Coast: Inside Old Calabar
Dir: Charles Aniagolu
22min | 2008 | Nigeria/UK
A glimpse into the Atlantic slave trade from an African perspective. For almost three hundred years, Old Calabar dominated the slave trade in the Bight of Biafra, turning the area into one of the most intensely trafficked slave-trading regions in Africa. Over the course of the trade, approximately ten million men, women and children from Africa were captured, sold as slaves and transported to the new world. The film examines the communities that traded along old Calabar and tells the story of their important role in facilitating the Atlantic slave trade; the largest forced migration in human history highlighting the complicity of the chiefs and institutions of Old Calabar.

UK Premiere - Blood Money
Dir: M. Martin Ngongo
7min | 2007 | France
Two young African Students in the late 60s in Paris are dreaming about the evolutions, the progress that will bring independence in their country. Twenty years later, one kills his former friend.

Saturday 15 November | 18.00 | Cinema 2

UK Premiere - The Disciple (Repeat)
Dir: Rodney Charles
102min | 2008 | USA/UK
Four trans-cultural friends: Pete, an American mid-westerner; Jud, a Black European; and Lisa, a first generation Polish-New Yorker, who share a house in Los Angeles. Together with their South African friend Mary, the group is coaxed into temporarily escaping the complex lies they live and the façade of happiness when Michael, Jud’s estranged ex-military cousin, comes to visit from London. As they abandon their protective façade, however, tenuous boundaries begin to fray, secrets are revealed and the friends are forced to evaluate volatile personal truths and confront their suspicions about the deadly nature of Michael’s visit.

Saturday 15 November | 20.00 | Cinema 2

UK Premiere - Cover with Q&A
Dir: Bill Duke
98min | 2007 | US
When someone is murdered on New Year’s Eve, the prime suspect is Valeris Mass, a church-going home maker whose life unravels when she discovers that he husband of many years has been leading a double life. Her strength of character and faith keep her going as the revelation of her husband’s betrayal threatens to destroy all that they have known. Stars Vivica A Fox, Lou Gossett Jr, Aunjanue Ellis and Raz Adoti. Screening will be followed by a Q&A with the producer Corey Redmond and Raz Adoti.

Monday 17 November | 19.00 | Cinema 2 | CLOSING NIGHT SPECIAL

World Premiere - Tic with presentation with discussion with director and selected actors from the film
Dir: Keith Parmer
40min | 2008 | US
Gripping heist drama starring Lennie James, Treva Etienne, Gary McDonald and Anthony Howard. Set in LA with flashbacks to 90s London, C-Note and Anton, hustlers from London's East End seek to avenge the death of one of their crew.