Date and Time
- Saturday, Jan 16, 2027 2pm - 4pm
Location
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission St
Details
Join us for an afternoon screening of Menelik Shabazz’s Burning an Illusion (1981). Burning an Illusion places a Black female character at the centre of the narrative in a way that was unprecedented in British cinema up to that point. The film’s focus is on Pat Williams (Cassie McFarlane), a 22-year-old office worker who narrates her story of love, strife and political awakening in early 80s London. Pat’s thoroughly conventional aspirations are dramatically challenged after an incident of police violence results in the incarceration of her boyfriend (Victor Romero Evans). Her progress is at once specific – rooted in her lived experience as a Black woman at this time – and archetypal, constituting a classic journey of self-realisation that takes the character from a state of innocence to experience.
Enjoy the film and free snacks, hand-picked by the series curator. Come early or stay late to visit our galleries—free admission is included with your ticket!
