Director's Winter
Reading List 2024

Smoke and Ashes traces the transformative effect the opium trade had on Britain, India, and China, as well as the world at large. Ghosh finds opium at the origins of some of the world's biggest corporations, of America's most powerful families and prestigious institutions, and of contemporary globalism itself.

A documentary film looking at the inspiring story of British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food - to heal the soil, benefit our health and provide for local communities.

On June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and the impact was immediate: by 2024, abortion was virtually unavailable or significantly restricted in 21 states. In Undue Burden, reporter Shefali Luthra traces the unforgettable stories of patients faced with one of the most personal decisions of their lives. Luthra examines abortion not as a footnote or a political pawn, but as a basic human right, something worthy of our collective attention and with immense power to transform our lives, families, and futures.

Listen to the Chinke! Orchestra, Europe's first majority-Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, play Juba Dance, the emphatic third movement from Florence B. Price's Symphony No.1, at the Lincoln Centre in New York. Price was the first African American woman to be recognised as a symphonic composer.

From the author of the acclaimed Deacon King Kong comes a breathtaking literary whodunit that explores themes of poverty, immigration and the American Dream through the discovery of a corpse in 1970s Pennsylvania.

Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium are the six most crucial substances in human history. They took us from the Dark Ages to the present day. They power our computers and phones, build our homes and offices, and create life-saving medicines. But most of us take them completely for granted. Conway shows why these substances matter more than ever before, and how the hidden battle to control them will shape our geopolitical future.

Stories from the Center of the World gathers new writing from the greater Middle East (or SWANA), a vast region that stretches from Southwest Asia, through the Middle East and Turkey, and across Northern Africa. The 25 authors featured in the book create a unique collection of voices and viewpoints that illuminate life in the global Arab/Muslim world.

Why are some nations more prosperous than others? Why Nations Fail sets out to answer this question, with a compelling and elegantly argued new theory: that it is not down to climate, geography or culture, but because of institutions. Acemoglu and Robinson blend economics, politics, history and current affairs to provide a new, powerful and persuasive way of understanding wealth and poverty.

In Edible Economics, Chang makes challenging economic ideas more palatable by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world. He uses histories behind familiar food items - where they come from, how they are cooked and consumed, what they mean to different cultures - to explore economic theory.

Director Mati Diop blends the metaphysical with documentary to follow 26 of over 7,000 devotional and royal stolen objects from the Kingdom of Dahomey as they are repatriated from Paris to Benin. Dahomey captures the debate, anger, pride, joy and grief of the reunion.​

Purpose chronicles the work that Katherine Trebeck and Lorenzo Fioramonti have been doing to introduce "Wellbeing Economics" into politics. Their ambitious political projects aim to create a real alternative to the destructive logic of our current economic model. "System Change Not Climate Change" is one of the key demands of the climate movement. Purpose shows what that looks like in reality.

These are the messages, thoughts, and findings of Zeinab (not real name), a local resident and citizen social scientist from Newham, and Abdul, a long-time resident and citizen social scientist from Coventry Cross. Conducted as part of the Prosperity in east London 2021-2031 Longitudinal Study, the findings come from an interview and focus group discussion conducted by Abdul, with members of his community, as well as an interview that Zeinab conducted with Abdul on the obstacles to prosperity in Coventry Cross.