Midnight Pulp comes to the Midlands
FILM/GAGE presents Midnight Pulp is a new night that arrives this June in the Midlands and before it makes debut at The Mockingbird Cinema we spoke to its founder Omar Hanif.
Omar established the FILM/GAGE International Film to champion diverse and vibrant stories and the festival has grown considerably over the last few years. It now has activities across 3 venues in Birmingham - The Mockingbird, Odeon DeLux Broadway Plaza and the MAC.
The festival activities cover June to October 2022 and showcase the very best in Black and Asian film and alternative viewpoints. And this season will showcase new releases and independent film through unique screenings, Q & A’s and immersive shows.
The festivals founder Omar states, “Representation on screen and behind the scenes is important. Our city is amongst the most diverse in the UK and having a festival that is not representative of that is pointless. The festival is representative of modern Britain in every aspect from our diverse screenings to the wide support from the varied venues we enjoy".
"Film should be challenging and have a sense of activism. FILM/GAGE’s aims to engage under represented audiences with film and challenging ideas across the region. Ultimately, we really want to showcase and champion some amazing stories”, Omar adds.
“A key drive for us is to continue to screen and attract great film talent. We do not want be derivative when talking about diverse viewpoints. It can be easy to forget when producing cultural projects that people from diverse backgrounds can have varying views, journeys and stories. We do not want to pigeon hole anyone and rather let communities tell their own story than be categorized.”
Omar has garnered a reputation as somewhat of prolific producer within the Midlands too. He has produced cultural events that champion and put forward diverse arts, stories and heritage journeys to wider audiences. He has also curated some 22 seasons over the last 2 years and is currently working on the Commonwealth Games as a live site producer.
His debut feature film, The Big Fast, which he also produced and wrote, was a documentary shedding light on the lives of British Muslims during the fasting month. The film was released independently in cinemas and toured the UK thanks to support from the BFI and also broadcast on TV.
Omar continues, “Growing up in the Midlands it was very rare to see any representation in the arts or on film. Rarely did I see anyone on TV who was representative of my family or heritage on screen. Often, I would seek out film or culture from other parts of the world to get a sense of diversity".
This has all been channelled into FILMGAGE’s summer 22 residency at the Mockingbird Cinema. Their new night FILM/GAGE Presents Midnight Pulp is a dark journey through VHS classics and hidden gems. The season aims to shed a light on films that minority communities would watch during the early days of VHS. Outside of films from South Asian cinema, many diverse audiences would enjoy spaghetti westerns, alternative action heroes like Charles Bronson and independent exploitative VHS films. Often such productions were international and often by default had a sense of multiculturalism about them.
Midnight Pulp aims to bring back that late night experience with screenings of Dawn of the Dead (featuring a ground-breaking black male in the lead) to Walter Hills The Warriors – telling the tale of multi racial gangs after dark.
Tickets for FILM/GAGE presents Midnight Pulp are below.
