PictureEast Film Festival 2026 showcases powerful films, local voices and creative talent across East London.
Welcome to our special screening of-
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How To Build A Library
Two women in Kenya renovate a rundown library full of junk in central Nairobi. They turn it into a vibrant centre for residents and creative individuals.
Dir: Maia Lekow, Christopher King
Cast: Shiro, Wachuka, King Charles and Prince Philip
Cert: 12A
Dur: 1h 43m
Panel: Tania Sengupta and Shahed Saleem
Tania Sengupta teaches colonial and postcolonial architecture and built-environment history at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. She currently directs the Bartlett's PhD programme in architectural and urban history and theory. Her work focuses on historical landscapes and continuing legacies of colonialism and imperialism, and questions of race, class and gender-based inequity that stem from these. She is co-curator of the curricular resource ‘Race’ and Space: what is ‘race’ doing in a nice field like the built environment? (2020) and her recent co-edited book Reclaiming Colonial Architecture (2024) looks at the material legacies of colonialism today - such as landscapes, buildings, cities and material culture - and how we might critically understand, narrate and intervene in them today.
Shahed Saleem is an architect, author and Reader in Architecture at the University of Westminster. His research and practice explore the architecture of diaspora communities, in particular their relationship to heritage, belonging and nationhood. Saleem’s design and research has been recognised widely. Saleem’s book, ‘The British Mosque, an architectural and social history’, was published by Historic England in 2018 and he co-curated the V&A Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2021.
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Join us for PictureEast Film Festival 2026 (PEFF26)
A dynamic celebration of film, culture and community in East London! Curated by local creative voices and presented by The New Black Film Collective (TNBFC) in partnership with Film London, this festival champions bold cinematic storytelling and community engagement across Newham and Barking & Dagenham.
Admission is on a first come, first served basis.
Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. www.filmlondon.org.uk/film-hub-london