VIDEO REELS

Black Londoners of Canada: Digital mapping reveals Ontario’s Black history and challenges myths. Aurelia Jones was a prominent member of the Black community in mid-19th century London, Ontario, Canada, and the spouse of Abel Bedford Jones, a Black entrepreneur and religious and political leader. After A.B.’s death, Aurelia moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The archival traces of her life tell the story of a migration from one Black community with British and American affiliations to another with strong Caribbean influences. As research associates on the Black Londoners Project at Western University, we are finding historical clues about people like Aurelia Jones and exploring the Black history of London, Ont., by using a digital mapping approach. This methodology helps to understand the mov...

‘American Fiction’ is a scathing satire that challenges pop-culture stereotypes of Blackness. In this episode, Vinita sits down with two experts to break down the many layers — and Black stereotypes — in the much anticipated new film, American Fiction. The lead character of the new movie American Fiction is Monk. He’s a Black man but never feels ‘Black’ enough: he graduated from Harvard, his siblings are doctors, he doesn’t play basketball and he writes literary novels. Directed and written by former journalist Cord Jefferson, American Fiction won this year’s People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it has its much anticipated North American release in theatres this month. It’s been called an “incisive literary satire” by the Guardian. The film, star...

‘Good Times’: 50 years ago, Norman Lear changed TV with a show about a working-class Black family’s struggles and joys. I loved watching Norman Lear’s trailblazing television shows when I was growing up in Dalzell, South Carolina, in the 1970s. “Good Times,” my favorite, debuted on Feb. 8, 1974 – nearly 50 years ago. CBS aired the show about the daily struggles and triumphs of the working-class Evans family until Aug. 1, 1979. Lear, who died at 101 on Dec. 5, 2023, forever changed sitcoms. His characters were more diverse, and their predicaments included situations that had previously been out of bounds for humorous TV programs, such as child abuse, unemployment and alcoholism. As a result, they more accurately reflected modern life in America than their counterparts that predominated ...

How movies use music to manipulate your memory. Around one in five American adults manage to squeeze in watching a movie on a daily basis. It’s a great way to escape the daily grind and unwind with loved ones. But, what can you actually remember about last night’s film? You may be able to remember the title, the rough story outline or the Hollywood star who acted in it. But dig a little deeper. How easily does a specific movie sequence come to mind right now? And more importantly, can you hear or recognise the film’s musical score? Filmmakers have long used music to try to make movies, scenes and characters more memorable. Now psychological research has started to uncover the science behind this process. Music is so closely ingrained in our cinematic experience that we sometimes end up ...