King Carnival + Q&A

Nicole-Rachelle Moore, Curator of Caribbean Collections at the British Library, will join us on stage to discuss the history of Trinidad’s Carnival and its evolution through the years.

Made for the BBC in 1973, King Carnival, directed by pioneering Trinidadian-British filmmaker Horace Ové, is a pulsating deep dive into Trinidad’s famed Carnival celebrations. Beginning with the first colonial encounter between the Europeans and the Indigenous people, the film surveys the bringing of enslaved Africans and indentured East Indians to the island, and the religious and cultural practices they carried with them. These practices, entwining with the masquerade traditions and Catholic rituals of the island’s French elite, birthed a new celebration, rooted in a history of revolt and resistance: the modern Carnival. Ové immerses the viewer in the frenetic spectacle, with all of its costumed colour, the joyful sounds of the steel pan that accompany the revelry of the street parade, and a palpable sense of the collective spirit of creativity that goes into making what Trinidadians call the greatest show on earth.

Preceded by Carnival Fantastique: Directed by Edric Connor | 18 minutes

Primarily held over the two days before Ash Wednesday, Trinidad’s famous carnival is the most anticipated event of the island’s cultural calendar. In this 1960 documentary, Edric Connor shows us the sights, sounds and customs of this glorious event.

Part of our film season, Celebrating the Caribbean on Screen. Click here to see more.