The BFI National Archive unveils a black and South Asian workshop remasters at the BFI London Film Festival with the world premiere of Hotel London in 4K.
The BFI is excited to announce that Ahmed Alauddin Jamal, co-founder of the Retake Film and Video Collective, will debut the newly remastered 4K version of his film HOTEL LONDON (1987) at the BFI London Film Festival. Screening on 16 October with the director/scriptwriter, Ahmed Alauddin Jamal, in attendance. HOTEL LONDON explores the housing crisis that plagued the city in the 1980s (still painfully relevant today). It shows racial discrimination and the South Asian experience of trying to make a home in Britain.
HOTEL LONDON is part of a wider BFI National Archive remasters project in recognition of the cultural/political significance and enduring legacy of the highly influential Black and South Asian British Workshop movement. This includes Retake, who were actively producing collaborative independent filmmaking throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Known for their issue-driven films working across drama, documentary and experimental modes. These collective groups made urgent, searching films about the multiplicity of the Black and South Asian experience in the UK. The workshops successfully developed partnerships with funding bodies such as the BFI, Arts Council, and local authorities. They also worked with voluntary organisations and the newly established television broadcaster Channel Four.
THE WORKSHOPS ERA
The fertile Workshops era was instrumental in bringing Black and South Asian British stories to wider public audiences through the medium of film and television. This change occurred at a time when there was little media representation. Often, it was only in stereotypes. This wider representation was also reflected behind the camera. It nurtured a network of emerging Black and South Asian British creative talent. This included Ahmed Alauddin Jamal, John Akomfrah, Maureen Blackwood, Isaac Julien, Menelik Shabazz, and D. Elmina Davis.
HOTEL LONDON
Underpinning HOTEL LONDON’s premiere at the London Film Festival is the BFI National Archive’s ambitious plan. They aim to remaster the breadth of the workshop canon. This includes films made by Retake, Sankofa, the Black Audio Film Collective, Ceddo, and Birmingham Film and Video Workshop. Amongst others, 14 remasters are already underway. HOTEL LONDON serves as the second title in this project and will premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. The 4K remaster of THE PASSION OF REMEMBRANCE (1986), a groundbreaking debut co-directed by Maureen Blackwood and Isaac Julien, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. It was also featured at the New York Film Festival in 2022.
Made for the International Year of the Homeless, HOTEL LONDON follows a Bangladeshi family faced with the harsh realities of temporary, unstable housing in London. It presents a drama that blends fiction with video activism. Placed in a bed and breakfast by the local authority, the family encounters others from various backgrounds awaiting housing. Their plight is depicted with sensitivity, irony, and humour. Jonathan Pryce plays an Irish rough sleeper who drifts around London. The filmmakers shot the scenes in a real bed and breakfast after spending months conducting research with homeless individuals. The film remains timely almost 40 years on. It weaves an urgent political message into its emotionally resonant, character-driven narrative. The British South Asian film collective fuses education, training, and production.
We have newly remastered HOTEL LONDON in 4K, using the original 16mm negative A & B rolls and the 16mm sound negative preserved by the BFI National Archive. 4K scanning and picture remastering by Silver Salt Restoration. Sound scanned and remastered by the BFI National Archive.
THE EMERGENCE OF THE BLACK AND SOUTH ASIAN WORKSHOP
The emergence of the Black and South Asian workshop filmmaking came out of a wider workshop movement. This occurred during a period of intense social and political unrest and civil uprisings in the UK. The ACCT (now BECTU) Workshop Declaration of 1982 came in the same year as the launch of broadcaster Channel Four. It gave financial support and a platform for championing independent, contemporary storytelling from a range of underrepresented voices in the UK. Those collectives working under the rules of the ACTT Declaration became Franchised Workshops. They operated as non-profit distributing companies with at least a minimum of four full-time paid workers.
RETAKE FILM AND VIDEO COLLECTIVE
Retake Film and Video Collective was Britain’s first all-Asian collective. It was also one of the first Black or Asian workshops to be set up as a ‘franchised workshop’ in the early 1980s. Its work brought British South Asian stories to television audiences. This was at a time when Asians were unrepresented onscreen in contemporary culture, film and television. Retake’s members adhered closely to the ideals of working collaboratively. They focused on being democratic and making cultural-political films.
Retake outfitted film and video editing rooms, camera and sound equipment. They also offered production courses and courses on the history of cinema. The very name ‘Retake’ spoke to a broader collective effort. They aimed to retake the means of representation and define what it meant to be Black and South Asian British in contemporary Britain. Retake earned the Arthur Young BFI Award for Independent Film and Television in 1988 in recognition of their outstanding work.
MAJDHAR
MAJDHAR, Retake’s first film release, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 1984 and aired on Channel Four in the UK in 1985. This film played a crucial role in shaping diasporic cinema and opened the door for later projects like Stephen Frears’ MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE (1985) and the Black Audio Film Collective’s HANDSWORTH SONGS (1986). Retake used its camera equipment to film HANDSWORTH SONGS, and member Sebastian Shah worked as the lighting cameraman on the project.
FILMS CURRENTLY BEING REMASTERED AT THE BFI
The BFI National Archive is actively remastering the following titles:
MIRROR MIRROR (1980, Yugesh Walia, West Midlands Arts). SWEET CHARIOT (1981, Yugesh Walia, Birmingham Film and Video Workshop). BLOOD AH GO RUN (1982, Menelik Shabazz, Kuumba). AFRICAN OASIS (1982, Yugesh Walia, Birmingham Film and Video Workshop). MAJDHAR (1984, Ahmed Alauddin Jamal, Retake). STREET WARRIORS (1986, Imruh Bakari, Ceddo). OMEGA RISING (1988, D. Elmina Davis, Ceddo). PERFECT IMAGE? (1988, Maureen Blackwood, Sankofa). TIME AND JUDGEMENT – A DIARY OF A 400 YEAR EXILE (1988, Menelik Shabazz, Ceddo). BLUE NOTES AND EXILED VOICES (1991, Imruh Bakari, Ceddo). FAMILY CALLED ABREW (1992, Maureen Blackwood, Sankofa). HOME AWAY FROM HOME (1993, Maureen Blackwood, Sankofa)
HOTEL LONDON
Director-Screenwriter Ahmed Alauddin Jamal
With Jonathan Pryce, Alpana Sengupta, Aftab Sachak.
UK 1987. Colour. 52min. 4K Digital. Remastered by the BFI National Archive.
Courtesy of First Take Limited.
Tickets go on sale on 16 September. BFI Members book early on 9 September, and American Express® Cardmembers can access presale from 12 September.
www.bfi.org.uk/lff (BFI Members) / www.bfi.org.uk/amex (American Express® Cardmembers)
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