Programming and audience manager, We Are Parable; programming consultant, Red Sea International Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Durban FilmMart
Carmen Thompson curates for festivals across the UK, Middle East and Africa from her home in Scotland. She started her career in marketing for a VFX company, then worked in TV before “falling in love with the energy of film festivals”.
“Much of my programming work focuses on Black, African and diasporic cinema,” she continues. “It began with a desire to see myself, the people and places I knew represented on screen in a way that felt true to my reality. But from a programming perspective, I believe this is where some of the most interesting, creative and formally inventive work is being made.”
Some of Thompson’s personal favourites in 2023 include After The Long Rains by Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker Damien Hauser, which played Red Sea; Paul Sng’s “tender, personal but also political” Tish at Sheffield; and Andy Mundy-Castle’s White Nanny Black Child, also at Sheffield.
Looking at contemporary cinematic trends, Thompson observes, “It has been wonderful to see the renaissance, of sorts, that documentary has had in recent years. The lives of more and more independent, creative documentaries are extending beyond the bounds of film festivals, with more opportunities for audiences to experience them.
“Some of the most exciting work I’ve seen has been by artists from multidisciplinary backgrounds, blurring the boundaries of genre and experimenting with form,” adds Thompson. “I’m excited to see more and more work that challenges the singular, auteurist view of filmmaking, with filmmakers working in increasingly collaborative ways as co-directors and in collectives.”
Contact: Carmen Thompson
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