AFRICADELIC2025 X BLACK SOIL X CARRIBEAN CREATIVITY:
WALTER RODNEY: WHAT THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW

May 31 2025

Join us on Saturday, May 31, at LAB111 for the closing night of the Africadelic Festival 2025, when we, in collaboration with Black Soil and Caribbean Creativity, will be screening Walter Rodney: What They Don’t Want You to Know. With an introduction by researcher and archivist Saffa Khalil, who won the Walter Rodney UG Dissertation Award in 2021 (and as such appears in the film!) and the short film A Sweet Pain: The Rebel Synths of Cabo Verde (2019).

This powerful documentary unearths the suppressed story of historian and activist Dr. Walter Rodney, whose life was marked by surveillance, resistance, and an untimely assassination. Exploring Cold War conspiracies, colonial resistance, and Black Power, the film connects Rodney’s work to today’s social movements, showing how his revolutionary ideas continue to inspire. Featuring personal accounts from Rodney’s family, particularly his wife Patricia Rodney, and insights from figures like Angela Davis, Gina Miller, and former President of Guyana Donald Ramotar, the film is a timely reminder of empire’s lasting impact on the world.

About Walter Rodney: What They Don’t Want You to Know
Walter Rodney: What They Don’t Want You to Know is a feature-length documentary that explores the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney and the Cold War conspiracies, Black Power movements, and colonial legacies connected to it — all linking to today’s surveillance, policing, and activism. For the first time, Rodney’s widow Patricia Rodney shares the personal toll of his murder on their family. Highlighting the demand for alternative historical perspectives, the film includes insights from Angela Davis, Gina Miller, and former Guyanese President Donald Ramotar. Premiering at the British Film Institute’s largest screen to a sold-out audience, the film uncovers Rodney’s surveillance from age 19 after his visits to Russia and Cuba, as his academic and activist work was deemed threatening by British intelligence. A secret propaganda unit even financed negative reviews of his landmark book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, which remains influential in modern movements like BLM and Pan-Africanism. Through declassified documents, intimate interviews, and reenactments, the documentary captures Rodney’s enduring global legacy, filmed with local crews in the Caribbean, U.S., Africa, and the U.K. Supported by The Walter Rodney Foundation & The Ameena Gafoor Institute.

“This compelling documentary delves into the life and legacy of Dr. Walter Rodney, a prominent historian, activist, and a champion for the fight against colonialism” (Facets.org).

About A Sweet Pain: The Rebel Synths of Cabo Verde
A Sweet Pain: The Rebel Synths of Cabo Verde is a 2019 short documentary directed by Joe Fletcher that explores the evolution of Funaná music in Cape Verde. The film delves into a local legend about a ship carrying synthesizers and keyboards — brands like Moog, Farfisa, Hammond, and Korg — intended for an exposition in Brazil. This ship reportedly got lost near the Cape Verde islands, where the instruments were discovered by locals. Embracing these electronic instruments, Cape Verdeans fused them with traditional Funaná rhythms, creating a unique sound that became a form of resistance against Portuguese colonial rule. The documentary highlights how this electrified Funaná music played a significant role in the nation’s struggle for independence, symbolizing cultural resilience and identity.

About Saffa Khalil
Saffa Khalil is an interdisciplinary researcher and archivist with a background in History, African Studies, and Memory & Heritage Studies. In 2021, she received the Walter Rodney UG Dissertation Award for her BA thesis Can We Hear the Past? An Analysis of Sudanese History (1820-2019) Through Music, and as the winner of this award, she also appears in the film. Her current research focuses on how intangible heritage, such as musical and oral traditions, contributes to knowledge production, identity formation, and the development of counter-archives.

About Africadelic
Africadelic is a non-profit organization that, since 2016, is committed to the programming and promotion of African and African diasporic cultural creativity, diversity and activism in the Netherlands. Each year on and around International Africa Day (May 25) we organize the Africadelic Festival in Paradiso and various other partner venues across Amsterdam. This year, the 10th edition of the festival will be held from May 21–31, 2025, with a special focus on the 50th anniversary of independence (1975) of five African countries (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé & Príncipe, and the Comoros) as well as Suriname. For more information, visit www.africadelic.com.

About Black Soil
Founded in 2004 as Europe’s first hip-hop film festival, Black Soil has since broadened its focus to celebrate Black culture in all its diversity. The festival showcases a wide range of films from the African diaspora, forming the heart of the emerging Black European art movement. With a rich and varied selection of films – ranging from stories deeply rooted in Black culture to works that explore and embrace it – the festival offers something for everyone. Taking place across three locations in Rotterdam, The Hague, and Amsterdam, Black Soil presents the very best in Black diasporic cinema, music, and talks. For more information, visit www.blacksoilfilmfestival.com.

About Caribbean Creativity
Caribbean Creativity is an Amsterdam-based non-profit organization that is, since 2008, committed to the programming and promotion of Caribbean and Caribbean-themed cinema in the Netherlands and beyond. Over the years, Caribbean Creativity has hosted over 300 screenings in Dutch cinemas and at film festivals, including numerous premieres. In 2020, they launched YardVibes, a streaming platform featuring content from independent Caribbean and African filmmakers. YardVibes currently offers over 100 titles, including feature films, web series, documentaries, and short films, with new content added monthly. For more information, visit www.caribbeancreativity.nl.