Documentary about the influential left-wing intellectual Stuart Hall, one of the founding fathers of Cultural Studies. His work was a major influence on artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien.

Jamaican-born Stuart Hall, like many others in the Commonwealth, moved to the UK in the 1950s. Here, he soon became a renowned academic as well as a public speaker. As such, he became one of the founders of Cultural Studies, an academic movement exploring the socio-historical dynamics of popular and contemporary culture. His appearances on television made him a nationally known intellectual.

Director John Akomfrah takes the viewer on a kaleidoscopic journey through both the history of the twentieth century and Stuart Hall’s personal life and thought. For this documentary, released a year after his death, Hall made his personal archive available, including photographs and home videos. These are combined with songs by his musical hero Miles Davis and historical events narrated by Hall. These include turning points such as the independence of Jamaica, the Hungarian uprising and the Vietnam War, as well as the rise of neoliberalism under Margaret Thatcher.

The film will be introduced by Eliza Steinbock, Professor of Transgender Studies, Art and Cultural Activism at Maastricht University. They are director of the Centre for Gender and Diversity, a platform that aims to connect researchers in the fields of gender and diversity studies, to facilitate networking with societal partners, and to enhance public-facing scholarship.​ Eliza specializes in the study of visuality and material culture, focusing on questions of transgender cultural production and the intersectional analysis of inclusion/exclusion mechanisms.



This Film& Talk  is a part of the Isaac Julien in Context project organised by Bonnefanten Museum and Lumière Cinema. What Freedom Is To Me, by the internationally renowned artist Isaac Julien, is the biggest presentation of Julien’s work to date and his first retrospective in a Dutch museum.

On the occasion of Isaac Julien's exhibition What Freedom Is To Me at Bonnefanten, Lumière is screening five films and documentaries that provide context to the work of the globally celebrated British artist. Check out the following films on the Lumière website:
-Double Bill: Baadasssss Cinema + Shaft. Friday 21 June
-Looking for Langston + Panel discussion. Tuesday 2 July
-Young Soul Rebels. Saturday 20 July
-Paris is Burning | Open Air