The Darker Side of Black

On the Image Bar, CCIT Building, UTM
18 - 21 April, 2006


Directed by Issac Julien

Gangsta chic, violence and nihilism, the hard edge of Rap and Reggae increasingly dominates the image of black popular culture. This is an intelligent and provocative investigation of the complex issues raised by the genre, such as ritualized machismo, misogyny, homophobia, and gun glorification. Noted experts on black history, such as Cornel West of Princeton University, and Michael Manly, former prime minister of Jamaica, analyze the phenomenon and give insights into its development and meaning.

Filmed in dance halls, hip hop clubs, and using interviews and music video clips, The Darker Side of Black takes us to London, Jamaica and the USA. The film brings together diverse musicians as Buju Banton, Shabba Ranks, and Britain's Moni Love. It is a long overdue examination of the "darker" side of contemporary black music.

20 years old in the Middle East

On the Image Bar, CCIT Building, UTM
10 - 13 April, 2006

Filmed after the fall of Saddam Hussein, 20 YEARS OLD IN THE MIDDLE-EAST traverses the region - from Jordan to Syria, Iran, and Lebanon - to take the pulse of Arab and Iranian youth.

The film offers an opportunity for Western college students to truly understand the lives and attitudes of their Middle Eastern counterparts: how they're different, and how they're the same.
As America becomes more deeply embroiled in the region, 20 YEARS OLD IN THE MIDDLE-EAST offers an indispensable snapshot of the attitudes of a generation that desires liberty over extremism, but at the same time fears that American policies will lead them into ever more warfare, and which - above all - simply wants to pursue their dreams.

"This film should be required viewing for leaders and citizens alike in the Middle East because it not only captures - often with great sadness - the frustration and despair of the Middle East's youth but it also offers solutions to these problems, if we would only listen. It is significant that of all the young people interviewed in the film, it is a young woman who is the most passionate about implementing change. It is not so much an issue of whether she will realize this dream or not. More importantly, she has passion for that dream and she believes she can bring about change." - Arabic Women's eNews

"Recommended. Culled from interviews conducted just two months after the fall of Baghdad in May 2003, TWENTY YEARS OLD... offers a newsworthy picture of a youthful Middle East not all that familiar to Western audiences - and a shame it isn't. More moving than anything is the universal call for more freedom, greater freedom. Thus the effects of oppressive government weigh heavily on the idealistic young; all the more reason to make the film available to often complacent American undergraduates." - Educational Media Reviews Online