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***With apologies for cross-posting*** Exhibition and Film Screening East End Bollywood: South Asian cinema culture in East London Location: Brady Arts Centre, 192-196 Hanbury Street, Whitechapel, London, E1 5HU Date/time: Tuesday 16th September 2014, 6.00pm – 8.00pm. This special event seeks to bring to light the neglected history of South Asian cinema-going in the East End of London. Between the late 1960s and the early 1980s Tower Hamlets was home to four cinemas dedicated to showing movies from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Serving the area’s growing South Asian communities these cinemas offered audiences the opportunity to watch favourite stars, listen to familiar songs and forget about the daily grind. Yet, in addition to film screenings these sites provided an important communal hub; acting as a base for political action against a rising far-right threat, hosting visiting South Asian performers, or simply serving as a place for families and friends to meet at the end of a working week. Presenting oral history interview material recently gathered by Dr Gil Toffell (Queen Mary, University of London), photographic portraits by Rehan Jamil, and previously undisplayed archival material (e.g. posters, photographs, assorted ephemera) this exhibition explores Tower Hamlets’ historic South Asian cinema scene from multiple themes and perspectives. Contextualising the exhibition material as part of a wider national South Asian cinema culture will be a screening of the documentary film 'Kabhi Ritz Kabhie Palladium'. This records Coventry’s South Asian cinema scene and will be introduced by the film’s director Dr Nirmal Puwar (Goldsmiths, University of London). This event is free and does not require registration.