Grammy-winning filmmaker’s film “The Great North” premieres at Aviva Studios

Nigerian-British Grammy-winning artist and visionary filmmaker Jenn Nkiru premiered her new film, The Great North, at Aviva Studios this Friday 4th October as part of Factory International’s celebration of Black History Month. This was followed by a Q&A with historian David Olusoga.

Grounded in the history of Black music, Afro-surrealism, experimental film and the Black arts movement, Nkiru was interested in “putting medicine in ice-cream”, presenting important messages of identity and “lofty ideas” in a piece where people can find their entry point.

The Great North was originally commissioned by Factory International as a short film to be in conversation with the creation of their new building designed by architect Rem Koolhas, but instead expanded to a feature length film presenting the histories and peoples of Manchester, and the many Manchesters around the globe. For Nkiru, it became a “love letter to the city” of Manchester, in collaboration with its people, and that was clear in both her work and how she spoke of it.

Nkiru uses Manchester’s industrial history as a Cottonopolis where cotton doesn’t grow, as a starting point, and she tells the story of the Manchester working class through its Black, Asian, and Irish communities. Her storytelling moves the audience through the city’s Black communities and spaces, from social clubs and community centres in Hulme, to living rooms in Moss Side, spanning outwards to the North of England, and the rest of the world.

The Great North is a story made through “cosmic archaelogy”, switching through eras and locations, presenting archival material from Manchester’s cultural and historical institutions, weaved together with new footage, backed with a soundtrack of the city’s underground music scene featuring Barry Adamson, A Guy Called Gerald as well as London-based Lord Tusk.

The Great North is set to come out in 2025 online at Factory+. More information can be found at: https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/jenn-nkiru-film/