Memory Room 451

Name: Memory Room 451
Rating: 4.5

Not Rated Science Fiction Documentary

Starring: N/A

Writer: N/A

Release Date:
January 1, 1996

Ratings:
4.5 / 10

Director:
John Akomfrah

Companies:
Black Audio Film Collective

Overview

The subject matter of Memory Room 451 is the cultural and historical significance of 20th-century hairstyles – the Afro, the conk, dreadlocks – in Black communities on both sides of the Atlantic. Akomfrah has disguised this exploration as a science fiction story – in the manner of the groundbreaking writers profiled in The Last Angel of History – while providing a bravura display of the aesthetics of video art in the 1990s. The tale of visitors from the future who gather dreams from unwitting subjects in order to construct a history of the Black diaspora both defamiliarizes Akomfrah’s ongoing project and points to the danger that extracting history from memory can be a kind of expropriation.

For the best experience, use an Adblocker.