Culture

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At a time when the music industry’s fat cats are once again tightening their grip on the grime scene, Slowthai’s highly anticipated new album defies genre boundaries with a dirty, grimy album of class struggle and resistance.

Fresh off his “99p tour”, the 24 year old’s debut LP, Nothing Great About Britain, is a refreshing injection into the UK hip-hop scene, combining multiple genres that were popular during his childhood in Northampton. This has secured Slowthai (Tyron Frampton) a place at the top of the UK grime scene.

The Flood

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Film

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Nicola Field

The Flood opens with these words: “Currently some 70 million individuals have been forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, and violence around the world… Over 18,000 have died while trying to reach Europe in the last five years alone.”

Based on interviews with migrants and ex-Home Office officials, this dignified and dramatic film describes the horrors and risks endured by people seeking refuge in Europe, and the chilling, politicised calculations of the UK border agency.

A powerful record of resilience

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Pat Carmody

Spent teargas canisters. Hundreds of these dull grey tubes the size of deodorant cans littered the sand on the walk to the contaminated former landfill site in Calais that became a temporary camp for as many as 10,000 displaced people until late 2016. This was the place called Lande or “heath” by the French authorities, but alternatively “The Jungle” by its oppressed inhabitants.

Booksmart

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Film

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Sally Campbell

Molly and Amy are best friends who have spent their high school careers focusing on getting the best possible grades so they can get into the best possible colleges and kickstart their bright futures.

The day before graduation Molly is in a toilet cubicle and overhears some students joking about her nerdy status. She challenges them, boasting that she will be heading off to Yale while they will probably end up in crappy jobs because they’ve spent their time partying.

The hollowing out of Game of Thrones

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TV / DVD

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Simon Guy

The radical critique of class society and colonialism intrinsic to earlier seasons of Game of Thrones was replaced more recently with an individualised tale of psychology, characterised by a deep fear of its original revolutionary potential.

Five things to do or see this month

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Five Things Listing

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The Migrant Festival
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 30 May to 2 June
The Migrant Festival celebrates Birmingham’s diverse roots, welcoming new arrivals to the city. This year’s programme includes designer Osman Yousefzada’s fashion parade, a performance by Syrian Ood Player, Rihab Azar from Celebrating Sanctuary and a tour of the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) exhibition Handsworth Self Portrait: 40 Years On (23 March to 2 June).

Avengers: Endgame

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Film

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Fran Yepes

2019 marks the year of Avengers: Endgame the final instalment in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). After the previous film Avengers: Infinity War audiences were left with the losses of many characters and the uncertainty of what was to come.

Endgame is a three-hour epic that pulls audiences through every emotion there is, from sadness and grief to exhilaration and triumph.

Disrupt? Peterloo and Protest

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Celia Hutchison

This year is the 200th anniversary of the massacre of peaceful protestors at Saint Peter’s Field in Manchester. The People’s History Museum is marking the anniversary with their exhibition “Disrupt? Peterloo and Protest”. The aim of the exhibition is to tell the story of the massacre and examine its relevance today.

Hew Locke: Here’s the Thing

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Noel Halifax

This is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of what I think is one of the most exciting and thought provoking artists around. Like all great art there is much more to it than just the initial response to how it looks; it has layer upon layer of meaning as well as layer upon layer of beads and other reused stuff.

The German Revolution: Expressionist prints

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