Private Project

Future Tense: Conversations at Manchester Museum

Future Tense: Conversations at Manchester Museum approaches the museum as a lively still life in a continuation of Nii-Kwate Owoo’s You Hide Me (1970) and Chris Marker’s Les Statues Meurent Aussi (1953). Using Manchester Museum as a local case study, the film traces the lingering presence of colonial violence at the heart of many museum collections across the United Kingdom. The current debate around the restitution and repatriation of looted objects comes into focus through the experiences of two individuals; Dr. Njabulo Chipangura, the museum’s Curator of Living Cultures; and Councillor Erinma Bell MBE, a community peace activist and Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester.

Chipangura and Bell share their approaches to collaborative community work and their visions for decolonising the future of Manchester Museum’s Africa collection, which remains out of sight in the building’s basement stores. The film features a creative intervention by Manchester-born artist and poet Rochá Dawkins that ties together the museum’s past, present, and future.

  • Ero Sevan
    Director
    BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
  • Ero Sevan
    Producer
    BLKNWS: Terms & Condirtions
  • Rochá Dawkins
    Writer
  • Njabulo Chipangura
    Participants
  • Erinma Bell
    Participants
  • Rochá Dawkins
    Participants
  • Ero Sevan
    Editor
  • Ero Sevan
    Cinematography
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Essay Film
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 29, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Manchester
  • St.Mortiz Art Film Festival (SMAFF)
    Saint Moritz
    Switzerland
    September 14, 2024
    Swiss Premiere
    Official Selection
  • RAM Film Festival (Roverto Archiologia Memoria)
    Roverto
    Italy
    Italian Premiere
    Nuovi Sguardi Award (New Looks Award)
  • Society for Visual Anthropology Film & Media Festival (SVAFMF)
    Tampa, Florida
    United States
    US debut
    Official Selction
  • Museum of Modern Art in Poland
    Warsaw
    Poland
    November 10, 2024
    Polish Premiere
  • World Cultures Film Festival: Madrid Audiovisual Anthropology Exhibition (MAAM) X
    Madrid
    Spain
    November 21, 2024
    Spain Premiere
    Student Award
  • NIAMOS Radical Arts Centre
    Hulme
    United Kingdom
    October 28, 2023
  • Black History Month: A Portrait of Kano Durbar at Manchester Museum
    Manchester
    United Kingdom
    November 15, 2023
    UK debut
  • Africa Day at Manchester Museum
    Manchester
    United Kingdom
    May 25, 2024
  • Watersprite Film Festival
    Cambridge
    United Kingdom
    March 7, 2025
    2025 Social Impact Award Shortlist
  • Berlin Kiez Film Festival
    Berlin
    Germany
    German Premiere
    Best Student Film
Director Biography - Ero Sevan

Ero Sevan (they/them) is an American artist with a studio background in drawing and painting. After receiving a B.F.A. with honours from the Roski School of Art and Design, they spent 10 years working in galleries, museums, and artist studios across Los Angeles to support projects from the Black and Indigenous Diaspora. They are best known as a senior contributing member of BLKNWS, an ongoing project by the American filmmaker Kahlil Joseph, and as a creative director for the American poet, artist, and scholar Robin Coste Lewis. Sevan received a Master of Arts with distinction in Visual Anthropology at The University of Manchester in 2023.

Add Director Biography