Dir. Cherish Oteka, 2021

As part of their new nationwide programme Testimonies, celebrating the work of Black British women and non-binary documentary filmmakers, We Are Parable and Aya Films present a screening of BAFTA-nominated short documentary The Black Cop.


The Black Cop is an intimate portrait of Gamal 'G' Turawa, an ex-Metropolitan police officer, exploring his memories of racially profiling and harassing black people and homophobia in his early career. Now an openly gay man, Turawa’s story is a multi-layered one and sits in the centre of three pivotal moments in recent British history, from the black communities’ resistance of oppressive policing, to the push for LGBTQIA equality and the aftermath of the west African 'farming' phenomenon, where white families took care of black children outside the remit of local authorities.

The screenings will be followed by a Q&A and there will also be opportunity for filmmakers, artists and documentary fans to connect and share experiences at Testimonies networking drinks.

 

There is a small travel fund available to assist filmmakers and others interested in documentary to come to the screening and networking event who could not otherwise afford to attend. If you would like to apply for a travel bursary, please contact carmen@weareparable.com.

 

Speaker Bios

  • Cherish Oteka (they/them)

    Cherish Oteka began their career in broadcasting, working across content selection, acquisitions and content curation for leading broadcasters. Cherish has since made documentaries with a range of well-known brands and broadcasters including BBC, London Live, SBTV, Tate, Stonewall and most recently BFI and The Guardian.

    Cherish has been selected on well-respected talent schemes including Edinburgh Television Festival’s One’s to Watch, Sheffield Documentary Festival’s Doc Next and The Grierson Trust’s Doc Lab.

    In 2016, Cherish won UKTV’s Rising Star Award. The following year they also won Best Documentary at the Movie Screen and Video Awards. Cherishs' latest project, The Black Cop has been nominated for a BAFTA.

  • Marc Thompson (he/him)

    Marc Thompson is an activist, content creator, health promotion specialist and podcaster.

    He has been living with HIV since 1986 and has been at the forefront of HIV activism and prevention in the UK for 30 years. His work has focused on Black and queer communities, sexual health, and HIV with a particular interest in the intersection of race, sexuality and HIV.

    He currently co-curates the digital archive ‘Black and Gay, Back in the Day’ documenting Black LGBT life in Britain since the 1970s and hosts the new podcast series We Were Always Here. Telling the story of the UK HIV epidemic through unheard voices.

    Marc has recently featured in the BBC2 series Saved by a Stranger and The Guardians Outspoken series, Freddie Mercury The Final Act and the new Sky series Positive.

  • 'G' (he/him)

    Gamal Turawa or ‘G’ as he prefers to be called is the founder, managing director and Lead facilitator for Purple Frog Connections.

    Purple Frog Connections has been set up to share the knowledge and experiences that his remarkable career and life has given him which he now uses to empower, enable and inspire others to find their own truths and direction.

    His remarkable life has taught him to be compassionate, empathetic and respecting of the stories that make us who we are both collectively and individually.

  • Titilayo Farukuoye (they/them)

    Titilayo Farukuoye is an Austrian-Nigerian writer, organiser and anti-racist educator based in Glasgow. Titilayo co-directs the Scottish BPOC Writers Network and organises with Yon Afro and the Anti-racist Educator Collective. Striving to dismantle oppressive structures, Titilayo interrogates race and gender constructs through their work and explores climate justice and community care. Titilayo curated Our (In)visible Strengths (2018), a visual exhibition celebrating Scottish African and Afro-Caribbean communities, their poetry featured at Fringe of Colour Films among others. Titilayo has also been recognised for their journalistic work (Media4Change, 2019 and Future News Worldwide, 2019).

  • Tolu Ajayi (he/him)

    Tolu Ajayi (he/him), is a multi-disciplinary artist, community organiser & consultant who's an avid believer in framing co-production through an intersectional lens. His work is mainly geared towards advocacy, empowerment and celebration of queer, trans and intersex people of colour (QTIPoC).