Black history and modern-day architecture intertwine in a meditative new film about Manchester. Created by the visionary British artist and filmmaker Jenn Nkiru, THE GREAT NORTH pays homage to the people and cultures that make up a city.

Taking Manchester’s industrial history as a starting point, THE GREAT NORTH moves through the city’s Black communities and spaces – from living rooms in Moss Side to social clubs and community centres in Hulme. THE GREAT NORTH is the story of Manchester told through its Black, Asian and Irish communities, spanning outwards to the North of England and the rest of the world.

Nkiru weaves together new footage and archival material from Manchester’s cultural and historical institutions – set to a soundtrack of the city’s underground music scene featuring Barry Adamson, A Guy Called Gerald as well as London-based Lord Tusk.

Grounded in the history of Black music, Afro-surrealism, experimental film and the Black arts movement, Jenn Nkiru has developed her own style of filmmaking, switching between eras and locations in a process she describes as “cosmic archaeology”.

THE GREAT NORTH was commissioned for Virtual Factory – a series which invited artists to create works inspired by the architecture and site of Factory International’s new cultural space, Aviva Studios.