Honouring Our Communities - Black History Month at Watershed
Posted on Mon 28 Sept
October is Black History Month in the UK, a moment to where organisations and institutions across the country will honour the contributions of Black people to Britain’s past, present and future.
This year’s Black History Month theme “Honouring Our Communities”, invites us to recognise the individuals whose everyday contributions shape, support and sustain Black life across the United Kingdom.
Watershed’s 2026 programme seeks to do just this – showcasing and celebrating some of the brilliant creatives we are proud to work with including:
The Dominican Front Room (throughout October) invites audiences to peek through the walkway window into an intimate world of nostalgia – a front room full of real Caribbean keepsakes contributed by families who settled in Bristol. Curated by award-winning broadcaster Sherrie Eugene-Hart and supported by the longest serving former Black Police Officer Beverley Douglas, The Dominican Front Room project launches a vision for a Windrush celebration in Bristol.
On Wed 21 Oct we will be celebrating the prolific and original creative force that is Lawrence Hoo, who showed his first film, Inner City Tales, at Watershed in October 2006 – twenty years ago this month. Alongside an anniversary screening of Inner City Tales (2006), Lawrence will be reading his poetry and sharing stories from his work. We hope you can join us to mark the enormous contribution that Lawrence continues to make to art, equality and talent development in Bristol and beyond.
Finally on Thu 29 Oct we are screening the premiere of First Born Second: Voices of the Children of the Windrush Era. Created by award-winning filmmaker Michelle Pascal and writer and curator Roger Griffith. This raw, triumphant and personal documentary explores the joys and pain of growing up Black in 1970s and 1980s Britain. Sherrie and Bev (from The Dominican Front Room) both feature in the film, alongside Professor Shawn Sobers, Latoyah McAllister-Jones, Delroy Hibbert, Vernon Samuels and Roger Griffith – sharing their unapologetic journeys from the shadows of the Windrush era to the frontlines of cultural leadership. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with both the crew and some of the cast.
Whilst October is a brilliant opportunity to focus on Black creativity, our year round programme demonstrates a commitment to working with and for the Black communities of Bristol and beyond. In the last 12 months, we have been particularly proud of Reframing the Frame – a report we commissioned from Professor Shawn Sobers which looks into Watershed's role in the past and future of Black filmmaking and exhibition in Bristol. We hope to see you at one of these special events and screenings during October.