War veteran to star at screening of acclaimed documentary

Veteran Sam King will be guest of honour tonight at a special screening of The-Latest's much praised documentary film about African Caribbean and British Second World War service personnel.

It is part of a community rolling out of Divided by race, united in war and peace that includes an educational programme that has been successfully launched in Southwark, south London, secondary schools and is soon to go London-wide.

Tonight's screening is at the Telegraph Hill Community Centre, south London, and has been organised by Sanjit Chudha, who helps run it alongside his work with Talawa Theatre. It will be followed by a question and answer session with Sam King, a Jamaican who volunteered to serve in the Royal Air Force in 1944 along with 16,000 other Caribbeans and later became the mayor of Southwark, and the film's producer and director Marc Wadsworth, editor of The-Latest.

Sanjit told The-Latest: "I'm delighted to be putting on this screening because the film makes an important contribution to uncovering a hidden history about the contribution Black people made to helping Britain win the Second World War and keep this country free from nazi rule. The filmmakers are to be congratulated for bringing to public attention the amazing testimonies of the veterans featured in the documentary. The film deserves to be viewed widely, including in schools and colleges."

Wadsworth said: "Sanjit and his colleagues at St Catherine's church, which houses Telegragh Hill Community Centre, are to be praised for organising the screening. It follows on from screenings hosted by the mayor of Southwark for council staff and a very well-received screening I did as far away as Kenya for university students as part of the Samosa film festival this month."

He added: "The-Latest will not tire in our efforts to bring this vital piece of history to the public all over the world and I'm pleased to say it is being particularly well received in schools."

The film was an "official selection" at the prestigious Tri-Continental human rights film festival in South Africa last October and broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation on Remembrance Sunday the following month last year. Since then The-Latest has signed a distribution deal for the whole of Africa with Mauritius-based Atlantic Pictures, which means the film is avaliable for acquisitiion by broadcasters throughout the continent.

Also, The-Latest has reached agreement with BBC TV after lengthy talks to do a remake of its film with the working title Fighting for freedom. Wadsworth and his deputy Deborah Hobson are producers of the new film. It will be available for broadcast on BBC Four in January.

Details of the Telegraph Hill screening can be found here in the events listings.