Backyard Biennial Film Programme - Whitechapel Gallery

Backyard Biennial Film Programme

  • LCVA BB Film Programme

    Courtesy of the London Community Video Archive (LCVA)

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

Access Information

Film Programme
Backyard Biennial

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 our East End Stories project 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.

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 Paraa, 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.

Lists of films

EAST END STORIES

Webbe Club, (dir. Delfina Davaro) 1:56 minutes

Parallel Lives at Oxford House (dir. Pauline Moon) 2:28 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

Grand Union Housing Cooperative, (dir. Nyahalo Tucker) 3:05 minutes

Process of Being Womxn

Tanjila Biswas MuniaOporanho (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 throughout and explicit references to domestic violence, emotional abuse, rape and sexual assault

Habibur Rahman, Nirvana (2023), 1.42 mins

Humaira Snigdha, Sondesh (2024), 10.15 mins 

Partha Sen GuptaStory of Monsters and Captive Women (2024), 8.15 mins 

Shilvia Mahjabin, PAINT IT, BLACK (2025), 4 mins  


Backyard Biennial has been generously supported by:

Aldgate Connect BID