WHEN THE WORD “Africa” is bandied about as if it is a single country, a place where “Africans” come from, thinking people recoil.

The idea of hundreds of ethnic groups people on a huge continent being considered as one  is hard to grasp, so a screening in a Hackney jazz club of films by 14 directors is welcome.

Digital Africa will include an sound and visual session exploring life in a Cameroon city, as well as a short film with, say the organisers, “a sarcastic take on the current climate of Islamophobia, terrorist rhetoric and the culture of fear”. “Sarcastic”? A promising hint of controversy there.

Other shorts will look at cultural heritage, gender, identity, history and activism. The evening is part of a year-long programme of events by the Hackney arts organisation that runs Open Source Festival and the Dalston Music Festival. The organisers of both promises “a big music and arts event” later this year.

Look out @LovingDalston on Twitter for news of that one.

Hamish Scott 240517

* Digital Africa, screening of work by 14 African filmmakers, at the Vortex, Gillett Square, Dalston N16 8AZ, Thurs 25 May 2017, at 7pm

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