Free entry
15 Jul - 6 Sep 2026
Zilkha Auditorium & Studio
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 11am–6pm |
| Wednesday | 11am–6pm |
| Thursday | 11am–9pm |
| Friday | 11am–6pm |
| Saturday | 11am–6pm |
| Sunday | 11am–6pm |
The screening programme focuses on East London communities, past and present and includes selections from Four Corners, London Community Video Archive, and OITIJ-JO Collective.
Each programme is approximately an hour with screenings taking place on Tuesday to Sunday from 11am-3pm.
Four Corners presents: EAST END STORIES
This showcase of 15 short films from their East End Stories project which explores radical and little-known East End histories. Made by local participants using archival material from the 1970s onwards, they cover: LGBTQ+ identity, women, class, and migration; to representations of Bengali life, squatting, housing, and young people’s filmmaking. Most of the filmmakers have never made a film before.
The films were created in collaboration with filmmaker Riffy Ahmed, and partners Oxford House archive, Hollie Price (University of Keele), Swadhinata Trust and contributors to the Bengali Photo Archive, Samuel Stevens (Film & Photo League archive), and Grand Union Housing Co-operative.
LCVA presents: Community Action, Community Arts, Community Festival: From the Basement Project to The Big Show (1972–1976)
The London Community Video Archive’s film programme explores the legacy of radical community video and grassroots arts projects in 1970s East London. The programme is divided into 3 focus elements: Basement Project, E1 Festival and THAP.
The Basement Project combined a community arts workshop, an intermediate education centre and a general meeting place. Local community members, mainly young people, were taught how to use video equipment to produce community videos about their daily lives and surroundings.
The E1 Festival was a community-organised festival that took place throughout the 1970s on vacant land in Stepney, East London. Originally set up in protest, to raise money for the Junior Football League, it was a weekend long event of music, performing arts, stalls, and activities for people of all ages.
The Tower Hamlets Arts Project (THAP) emerged from a campaign for investment in locally-led arts rather than externally commissioned public art. Founded in 1976, it championed community participation and celebrated its achievements with a month-long ‘Big Show’ at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, 50 years ago in 1976.
OITIJ-JO Collective presents: Process of Being Womxn
The Process of Being Womxn is a curated showcase of short films, video art and digital photography by Bangladeshi and diaspora creators, presented by Adit Dewan, SHALA_Neighbourhood Art Space, Bangladesh in collaboration with OITIJ-JO Collective.
Inspired by the legacy of Begum Rokeya – author of the 1905 feminist sci-fi short story Sultana’s Dream – this programme honours her vision of defiance and imagination. Through a contemporary lens, these films explore the themes of womxn’s energy, disruption, and renewal. It is a profound exploration of modern womxnhood, confronting entrenched power, embracing upheaval, and celebrating the radical, continuous transformation inherent in the process of being womxn.
Webbe Club, (dir. Delfina Davaro) 1:56 minutes
Parallel Lives at Oxford House (dir. Pauline Moon) 2:28 minutes
No Boundaries, (dir. Nazli Adigüzel), 2:12 minutes
A Breath of Fresh Air, (dir. Nambi Kiyira), 1:34 minutes
Disrupters (dir. Angela Byrne) 3:35 minutes
Women, Work and Class (dir. Zak Crafer) 3:35 minutes
Nighthawks: An Exploration (dir. Amaia Gonzalez) 6.32 minutes
Screenage Kicks, (dir. Amina Khatun) 4:45 minutes
Reflections on Migration, (dir. Ava Majumdar) 3:47 minutes
Photographer Anthony Lam talks about Notes from the Streets , (dir. Helena Velez Olabarria) 2:28 minutes
Rahemur Rahman talks about his family photographs, (dir. Anil Sharma) 5:43 minutes
Julie Begum talks about Women Unite Against Racism, (dir. Ellen Cleary) 1:35 minutes
Memories I Keep Unearthing, (dir. Katia Hiver) 2:40 minutes
Whitechapel Library Aldgate, (dir. Afia Khatun) 3:20 minutes
One on One, (dir. Yulia Fedoryk) 3:30 minutes
On (A)foldable Housing, (dir. Teyé Lee) 4:24 minutes
These will be Rebuilt, (dir. Nyahalo Tucker) 3:05 minutes
All the films produced by Basement Project except Let’s See Action.
Basement Project:
Let’s See Action Basement Writers’ TV Show (1976) (BBC)
The Basement Project by Hazel Turner (1975)
Masks/Self-Portraits (1970)
Us & Crime (1974)
Election ’74 No. 2 (1974)
Conversation’s Over/Liz & Pauline (1979)
E1 Festival:
E1 Festival 1st Community Meeting (1974)
E1 Festival Rock & Roll (1973/74)
Tower Hamlets Arts Project (THAP):
Tower Hamlets Arts Band Big Show – Opening Party (1976)
Tower Hamlets Arts Band Big Show – Building the Exhibition (1976)
Tower Hamlets Arts Band Rock Concert No. 1 (1976)
Tower Hamlets Arts Band Big Show – Drama 4th Night 1st Tape (1976)
Tower Hamlets Arts Band (THAP) Basement Writers’ Lunchtime Show (1976)
Tanjila Biswas Munia, Oporanho (2024), 8.36 mins
Kazi Arefin Ahmed, Could You Be Free Yet Locked In? (2023), 9 mins
Mahamuda Aktar (Monisha), Gaali Kothon — A Tale of Swear Words (2024), 16.06 mins
CONTENT WARNING: This film contains strong language and references to domestic violence, emotional abuse, and sexual assault
Habibur Rahman, Nirvana (2023), 1.42 mins
Humaira Snigdha, Sondesh (2024), 10.15 mins
Partha Sen Gupta, Story of Monsters and Captive Women (2024), 8.15 mins
Shilvia Mahjabin, PAINT IT, BLACK (2025), 4.01 mins
Four Corners believe in film and photography for all. Our work builds upon 50 years of radical, socially-engaged approaches to photography and film. Access to the arts is not equal. We aim to change that, offering free access to participatory projects, alongside artists’ development, and a cultural and exhibition programme.
https://www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk/
The London Community Video Archive (LCVA) collects, preserves and shares community videos made between 1969 and 1994 in London and the South East.
https://the-lcva.co.uk/
Empowering Communities, OITIJ-JO is dedicated to celebrating Bengali arts and crafts while fostering a sense of community, collaboration, and engagement. The organisation focuses on supporting underemployed women, particularly from the British Bangladeshi community, by providing valuable training and creative opportunities.
https://oitij-jo.org/
Adit Dewan is a filmmaker and curator, and the Programme Curator of SHALA, a neighbourhood art space run by Paraa. He belongs to the Chakma indigenous community of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and is the co-founder and current director of the Hill Film Festival, which focuses on indigenous language films of Bangladesh. Adit is a recipient of the Seed Award and Moving Narratives Fellowship from the Prince Claus Fund, Netherlands and the Curatorial Intensive South Asia Fellowship from the Goethe-Institut New Delhi and Khoj. Not Only the Ants’ Story (2024) is his recent film.
SHALA_Neighbourhood Art Space, founded by Paraa in collaboration with Aloki, aspires to be a space of meaning for the future. Through artistic explorations, workshops, participatory fellowships, and collaborative activities, SHALA seeks to build a living archive of shared stories and ideas shaping the future of neighbourhoods and the city.
Backyard Biennial has been generously supported by:
Aldgate Connect BID
