SOUL TO SOUL: BUSHMAN
Black History Month 2026
What does it mean for Black worlds separated by slavery, colonialism and migration to encounter one another again?
Sandpit Collective in partnership with The Rose Hill present, as part of the Other Asias Film Programme, Soul to Soul: Cinematic Routes of Return, a three-film season tracing routes between Africa and its diasporas through independence, migration, belonging and return.
The second film in the season, Bushman follows Gabriel, a young Nigerian living in San Francisco, as he navigates an America fascinated by his Africanness while remaining profoundly uncertain about where and whether he belongs.
Bushman
David Schickele, 1971
USA
Running time: 80 mins
Moving between fiction, documentary and the lived experience of its lead actor, Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam, David Schickele’s remarkable Bushman is playful and perceptive before taking an unexpected turn. The film exposes the gap between romantic ideas of Africa and the realities of race, migration and state power in America.
Made in the same year as Soul to Soul, Bushman reverses its transatlantic journey. Where African American musicians travel to newly independent Ghana seeking connection with Africa, here an African travels to America and encounters the racial categories and borders of the diaspora.
Placed together, the two films complicate easy ideas of homecoming, solidarity and belonging. Bushman asks a question that remains strikingly contemporary: who is permitted to belong, and who has the power to decide?
The screening will be introduced (15 mins) and will be followed by an informal facilitated discussion.
Schedule: Wednesday 14 October 2026
Doors: 7pm
Introduction: 7:30pm
Film starts: 7:45pm
Post-film discussion and snacks: 9:15 pm
Tickets
Individual screening: £12 standard | £8 concession | £15 on the door | PWYC from £5
Want to see all three? Get a Three-film season pass: £28 standard | £20 concession tickets available here
Short description blurb
The second film in our Black History Month season, Bushman follows a young Nigerian navigating life in 1971 San Francisco. Moving between fiction, documentary and lived experience, David Schickele’s remarkable film reverses the transatlantic journey of Soul to Soul, exploring race, migration and the uncertain boundaries of belonging. Who is permitted to belong and who has the power to decide?