Slam

The London Australian Film Society proudly presented – direct from the Sydney Film Festival – the UK premiere of Partho Sen-Gupta’s Slam (2018), an extraordinary mystery drama about family, identity, and Islamophobia in Australia.

The comfortable life of Sydney café owner and Muslim refugee Ricky (Adam Bakri) is thrown into chaos when his estranged sister Ameena (Danielle Horvat) – a highly politicised, hijab-wearing slam poet – goes missing after a performance. As the search for Ameena intensifies, Ricky is forced to re-evaluate his own identity, whilst doing battle with a right-wing media intent on framing his family as extremists.

Stunningly shot, this complex examination of race and identity in contemporary Australia is aided by a superb ensemble cast led by Rachael Blake ( Lantana, Sleeping Beauty). A tough but honest look at the harsh realities of a ‘multicultural’ nation, this gripping drama invests a necessary complexity in its depiction of Australia’s own ‘hostile environment’.

This special screening was followed by a panel discussion on Muslim screen representation and the broader contexts of Islamophobia in Australia and Britain. Panellists included media activists Sadia Habib & Shaf Choudry (The Riz Test), academic Dr Aurelien Mondon (University of Bath), and poet and author Shagufta K Iqbal (The Yoniverse).

Presented in collaboration with The Riz Test and the Menzies Australia Institute at King’s College London.

FROM THE PROGRAMMER
"When I saw SLAM, I just knew we had to find a way to screen it in London. Like me, Australians will almost certainly find this a tough watch, but it is also a deeply important film that dredges up some harsh truths in the wake of the Christchurch attacks (despite being produced beforehand).

That this is also a superb drama, beautifully shot, and with a host of brilliant performances, only underscores its unflinching examination of some of the social, cultural, and structural issues that serve as a constant challenge to visions of an inclusive nation. In its portrayal of a particularly pervasive form of Islamophobia evident across the media and which seeps into official policy, it is also a film that has a particularly striking resonance for the UK in the contemporary moment."

Dr Stephen Morgan, LAFS Programmer

THE TEASER