A young Indian boy who dreams of film stars sees his favourite actress come to Birmingham. Written by Tara Prem, this was one of the first British TV productions to feature an entirely Asian cast. The screening will be followed by an in-depth and illustrated career interview with Tara Prem hosted by Chantelle Lavel Boyea.
Tara Prem started her career as an actress and director in the theatre. She then joined BBC TV English Regions Birmingham based Drama department and wrote the first film with an entirely Asian cast to be made and broadcast by a British TV company.
As producer of Second City Firsts, a series of half hour dramas by writers and directors new to television, she challenged the status quo, supported stories of under-represented people and championed diverse talent. Her production of Michael Abbensetts’ Black Christmas starring Norman Beaton, led to the commissioning of the series Empire Road.
Chantelle Lavel Boyea is a curator of television at the BFI Archive, responsible for selecting and acquiring programmes from streaming platforms including Netflix and Amazon Prime UK. She joined the team in March 2023, having previously worked as TV Assistant in the BFI Cinema’s Programming team, clearing TV screening rights for regional venues and contributing to the year round programming of TV screenings at the BFI Southbank since 2019. She has contributed to many projects at the BFI, including hosting, programming and delivering content for BFI Radio Times Television Festival, writing for the BFI website and was part of the core team working on the BFI’s 100 BBC TV Gamechangers List.
She has programmed TV sessions for BAFTA Guru Live and gave support to a number of BAFTA TV masterclasses. Chantelle has a BA in Film Studies from the University of Kent, Canterbury and MA in Screen Documentary from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her areas of interest are contemporary TV series, music documentary and children’s programmes.
A TOUCH OF EASTERN PROMISE
Director: Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Producer: David Rose
Script Editor: Barry Hanson
Written by: Tara Prem
Film Cameraman: Michael Williams
Film Editor: Oliver White
Cast
Dev Sagoo (Mohan)
Jamila Massey (Shalini)
Zareen Kamal (Lata)
K. S. Matharu (Balraj Kumar)
Charan Kaur Matharu (Mrs Kumar)
A. Jetley, Jurmitkaur Jutle (shoppers)
Sam Chowdhary (Rajesh Lal)
Surinder Singh Malhi (Romi)
Jagdish Kumar (Shalini’s manager)
Albert Moses (assistant manager)
Allam Jahangir (photographer)
BBC2 tx 8.2.1973
UK 1973
30 mins
Total running time 100min
TARA PREM: REPRESENTING THE UNSEEN
A Touch of Eastern Promise + Q&A with Tara Prem
Sat 21 Oct 15:15
Black Christmas + intro by Tara Prem + Second City Firsts: Jack Flea’s Birthday Celebration + Second City Firsts: Glitter
Sat 21 Oct 17:40
Play for Today: Vampires + Play for Today: Thicker Than Water
Sat 4 Nov 17:20
Resurrected
Sat 11 Nov 18:10
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Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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