We’re introducing Night Mode … Try it out with the sun/moon icon at the top left. Or change font settings with the ‘A’ to make the site work for you.
Got it
ICA is closed from the 30 May – 3 June inclusive.
0 / 256
UK PREMIERE
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956
Institute of Contemporary Arts
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956 (Chroniques fidèles survenues au siècle dernier à l’hôpital psychiatrique Blida-Joinville, au temps où le Docteur Frantz Fanon était chef de la cinquième division entre 1953 et 1956), dir. Abdenour Zahzah, Algeria/France 2024, 90 min., Arabic and French with English subtitles


Book tickets

Set in 1953 at a psychiatric clinic in Blida, Algeria, and shot on location, the film follows Frantz Fanon (Alexandre Desane), a young black psychiatrist, as he is appointed head doctor. A student of Francesc Tosquelles, Fanon challenges the inhumane, racist, colonial psychiatry of the clinic and replaces them with methods that allow patients to reclaim their individual identities and sense of agency and break down established barriers between doctors and patients, and between Christians and Muslims. 

Algerian filmmaker Abdenour Zahzah’s latest work is an illuminating portrait of the lesser-known yet critical early work of a physician, renowned politician, and decolonial activist, who conceived visionary social therapy methods during his time in Algeria. Abdenour Zahzah’s cinema - sincere, non-judgmental, sober - invites the audience to follow Fanon as he grew into activism, driven but a sustained sense of care for people’s wellbeing and social justice.

The UK premiere, on Sunday 3 November, is followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Abdenour Zahzah, hosted by academic and author James S. Williams.
James S. Williams is Professor of Modern French Literature and Film at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of numerous works on contemporary French and African cinema, including Space and Being in Contemporary French Cinema (Manchester UP, 2013), Encounters with Godard: Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics (SUNY Press, 2016), Ethics and Aesthetics in Contemporary African Cinema: The Politics of Beauty (Bloomsbury, 2019), Frantz Fanon (Reaktion, 2023), and Xala (BFI Film Classics, 2024).
 
Book tickets
04:20 pm
Wed, 13 Nov 2024
Cinema 2
06:30 pm
Thu, 14 Nov 2024
Cinema 2
04:30 pm
Sat, 16 Nov 2024
Cinema 2
04:15 pm
Sun, 17 Nov 2024
Cinema 2
08:50 pm
Tue, 19 Nov 2024
Cinema 1
08:50 pm
Wed, 20 Nov 2024
Cinema 1
04:40 pm
Thu, 21 Nov 2024
Cinema 1
Ticket information
  • All tickets that do not require ID (full price, disabled, income support) can be printed at home or stored in email
  • For aged-based concession tickets (under 25, student and pensioner) please bring relevant ID to collect at the front desk before the event.
Access information
Cinema 1
  • Both our Cinemas have step free access from The Mall and are accessible by ramp
  • We have 1 wheelchair allocated space with a seat for a companion
  • All seats are hard back, have a crushed velvet feel and they do not recline
  • These are our seat size dimensions: W 42 x D 45 x H 52
  • Arm rest either side of the seat dimensions: L 27 x W 7 x H 20
Please email access@ica.art
for the following requirements:
  • We have unassigned seating. If you require a specific seat, please reserve this in advance
  • Free for visitors where ticket prices are a barrier, please email

Cinema 2
  • Both our Cinemas have step free access from The Mall and are accessible by ramp
  • All seats are hard back, have a crushed velvet feel and they do not recline
  • These are our seat size dimensions: W 42 x D 45 x H 52
  • Arm rest either side of the seat dimensions: L 27 x W 7 x H 20
Please email access@ica.art
for the following requirements:
  • We have a removable seat to create a wheelchair allocated space, please contact to organise this prior to the date and time of the screening
  • We have unassigned seating. If you require a specific seat, please reserve this in advance
  • Free for visitors where ticket prices are a barrier, please email

Red Members gain unlimited access to all exhibitions, films, talks, performances and Cinema 3.
Join today for £20/month.