Britain’s Human Zoos: Q&A with Nadifa Mohamed and Yasmin Hai

WFTV members are invited to this online panel discussion for the Channel 4 documentary, Britain’s Human Zoos.

The panel will include the documentary’s presenter Nadifa Mohamed, and producer and director Yasmin Hai. 

In this session, Yasmin and Nadifa will discuss the journey of discovery they undertook making the film, the revelations the team uncovered and the wider conversation it opens about how (and why it's important) that we understand and face our history; and what place our cultural archives have in modern-day Britain.

The Q&A will be moderated by Nadia Denton. There will be an opportunity to ask Nadifa and Yasmin questions during the last 15 minutes of the session.

Event Schedule

18:25: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:30: In conversation with Nadifa and Yasmin, moderated by Nadia Denton.

19:15: Audience Q&A

19:30: Finish

Britain’s Human Zoos

Britain’s Human Zoos is a revelatory and moving documentary produced and directed by Red Bicycle’s Yasmin Hai and presented by acclaimed Somali-British author, Nadifa Mohamed.

Airing on Channel at the end of this month, the shocking exposé, features never before seen archive footage, audio and stills, and sees Nadifa investigate the stories of the people brought to Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The film will show disturbing instances of how these people were subject to pseudo-scientific experimentation and traces how the legacy of this now shocking phenomenon lives on in modern Britain.

Nadifa Mohamed

Nadifa was born in Hargeisa, Somaliland, in 1981 and moved to Britain at the age of four. Her first novel, Black Mamba Boy, won the Betty Trask Prize; it was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the PEN Open Book Award. Her second novel, Orchard of Lost Souls, won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Prix Albert Bernard. Nadifa Mohamed was selected for the Granta Best of Young British Novelists in 2013, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. The Fortune Men was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize and the Costa Novel Award and won Wales Book of the Year. Nadifa Mohamed lives in London.

Yasmin Hai

Yasmin Hai is an author, broadcaster and television producer. She has written columns and articles for the Guardian and Sunday Times and made documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC. Her television work includes The Hunger Business, an investigation into the abuse of aid; An Indian Affair, a revisionist history series about the British Empire and The True Face of War, presented by Jon Snow.

​

She has also published a memoir, The Making of Mr Hai’s Daughter (Virago), which was serialised in the Daily Mail and broadcast on the BBC as part of Radio 4’s 'Book of the Week' strand. Yasmin has presented and produced shows for BBC Radio 4.

How will the online event work?

This event will be live streamed via Zoom.us. Viewing details will be sent via your confirmation.

Attending participants will not be visible to others and will be muted throughout the session. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask their questions to the panel by using the Q&A feature.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr , please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk

At WFTV, we want our events to be accessible for everyone. If you have any access requirements, please let us know in advance and we will do our best to accommodate you. Please contact admin@wftv.org.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.