Kasi Lemmons joins us to talk about her trailblazing career and the making of Harriet: a rousing biopic of slave turned abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman, brilliantly portrayed by Cynthia Erivo. Starting out as a child actor, the St Louis, Missouri-born Lemmons subsequently appeared in such US television staples as Murder, She Wrote and ER, while also scoring big screen supporting roles in Spike Lee’s collegiate musical School Daze (1988), the cult Nicolas Cage black comedy Vampire’s Kiss (1988), multiple Academy Award winner The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and horror classic Candyman (1992). Having enrolled in the film program at New York’s renowned New School for Social Research, she made an unforgettable directorial debut with the hugely acclaimed Eve’s Bayou: a lyrical, multi-layered and avowedly feminist family saga set in early ’60s Louisiana. Hailed as the best film of 1997 by Roger Ebert, Lemmons’ landmark first outing behind the camera was recently selected by America’s Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. She reunited with Eve’s Bayou star/producer Samuel L. Jackson for twisted mystery The Caveman’s Valentine (2001); won both the African-American Film Critics and NAACP Image Awards’ Outstanding Director prizes for second feature Talk to Me (2007, starring the equally garlanded Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor); and most recently directed Angela Bassett to an NAACP Image Award Outstanding Actress prize with 2013’s Langston Hughes adaptation Black Nativity.
LFF For Free is a new initiative for 2019, with 30 exciting free events to complement and expand the Festival fun. The BFI Southbank becomes a Festival Hub for the public, with free events concentrated over the two weekends in the BFI London Film Festival, October 4th -6th and October 11th-13th. The LFF For Free programme offers an eclectic, thought-provoking and creative mix of events for all ages and families, and for audiences of all tastes.
Tickets for this event are FREE but should be booked in advance from the BFI Box Office in person or by calling 020 7928 3232. Tickets will be available to BFI Champions/Patrons Friday 4th October 10:00, BFI Members 11:00 and to the public from 16:00. Max 2 Tickets per person. Seating will be unallocated.
In person: BFI Southbank Office: 11:00 – 20:30
Telephone Bookings: +44 (0)20 7928 3232 between 10:00 – 20:30
