Rapture Film Club - Screening Precious Hot

Rapture Monthly Film Club

Rapture (www.rapturefilmclub.com) was launched by Anointed Productions at the Coronet Cinema in Notting Hill in July 2009, and aims to capture untapped audiences with its new, unique monthly event.

Anointed Productions is a grassroots social enterprise, locally made for the people, by the people and also capable of producing work on a global stage.  Anointed Productions were boosted by Princes Trust Social Enterprise funding in 2004 and won the 2005 Newham Short Film Production Fund.  Most recently, it was awarded the UKFC’s First Light Pilot Scheme to produce a hip-hop documentary and has been funded by Film London to create a free screening programme for disengaged young people in the community. Since then, Anointed Productions has gone from strength to strength providing low cost edit suite hire, free media training and producing content for TV & online channels amongst many other accomplishments over the years.


What is Rapture?

Priscilla Igwe, Director of Anointed Productions explains the thinking behind Rapture, saying: “Rapture provides a platform for everyone to come together regardless of race or religion, to watch a film that also provides relevance to the world we’re living in. Some faith audiences can be limited in the choice of social events that they feel comfortable with.  Rapture screens secular and faith films providing entertainment for all.” 

An objective of Rapture is to bring sacred and secular audiences together so that they can learn from each other and share what they have in common.  Rapture plans to eventually grow to attract mainstream and multicultural audiences.  At the moment, it is dominated by black women and, with populist screenings featuring high profile black actors, there is a bit of a ‘Sex and a City’ feel to it and can be viewed as a ‘girls night out’.


Event Format

The format of the evening is the film screening, followed by a panel discussion and closed by a short acoustic performance from local talent. 

The performances after the screening and panel are to elevate the entertainment value. Furthermore, add a venue for artists on the gospel circuit.


Rapture 2010

Rapture is relocating to Stratford Picture House cinema from May 2010.  Each monthly event is hosted by one of Britain’s leading talents; comedienne, writer, actor and director, Angie Le Mar (BBC’s The Real McCoy, Channel 4’s Get Up, Stand UP, Choice FM), and is followed by a panel discussion which will looks at themes and messages within each film.  The panel discusses subject matters sometimes hidden within the black community or considered taboo.

The Spring/Summer 2010 programme consists of Precious, Good Hair and The Blind Side tackling topics of abuse, self-image and adoption respectively but done competently in a cultural context provided by the line-up of experts from relevant agencies, celebrities and the church community including Kwame Kwei-Armah, Eddie Nestor, Dr Robert Beckford, Slim, and Quincy all of whom are donating their time to Rapture Film Club.

Examples of screenings in 2009 are Soulmate, the groundbreaking US documentary film directed by Andrea Wiley on the growing trend of Christian black women remaining single, and Not Easily Broken starring Morris Chestnut and Taraji P. Henson with themes of fidelity, marriage and the male/female money dynamic in relationships.