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Welcome II the Terrordome

About the Film
Year Released: 
1995
Running Time: 
90
Documentary/Fiction: 
Fiction
Synopsis: 

Welcome II The Terrordome is a fast paced, vibrant, action thriller set in the decaying and racially segregated city of the near future. Employing a powerful mixture of historical narratives, the film charts the life of the McBride family over three traumatic centuries. Running parallel to the main themes of the simmering sexuality and interracial love are underlying stories of gang violence, police brutality and revenge. The visual style is strong and unflinching, the message biting.

(“Onwurah Filmography" - http://brit-black-pack.tripod.com/id1.html)

Poster Image: 
Director
Film Director: 
Ngozi Onwurah
Production Info
Reported or Estimated Budget: 
£5,000
Location: 
UK
Other Interesting Production Info: 
Director Ngozi Onwurah struggled for three years to get funding for this film (IMDB). Her brother Simon Onwurah produced it.
Categories About the Film
Genre: 
action
drama
sci-fi
Keywords: 
family
history and memory
interracial relations
state violence and security
urban life
Racial/Ethnic Affiliation: 
African
British
Filmmaking Team
Writer's Name: 
Ngozi Onwurah
Producer: 
Simon Onwurah
Cinematographer: 
Bruno de Keyzer, Dean Semler
Primary Cast: 
Suzette Llewellyn, Saffron Burrows, Brian Bovell, Felix Joseph
Exhibition/Distribution Info
Distributor: 
Delta Entertainment Corporation, MTI Home Video (2001, USA), Metro Tartan Distribution Ltd.
Where to find it/How to get it: 
DVD widely available
Festivals/Awards: 

1995 Verona Love Screens Festival in Italy (Audience Award), Birmingham International Film Festival (1st Prize), Cologne Film Festival (1st Prize)

Links
Link to the official film website: 
Welcome II the Terrordome (1995) - IMDB
Links to Official trailer: 
Welcome II the Terrordome Trailer
Links to interviews (written) with Director/Filmmakers: 
Ellerson, Beti. "Ngozi Onwurah," from Sisters of the Screen: Women of Africa on Film Video and Television (2000). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Link to notable film reviews: 
Elley, Derek. "Welcome II the Terrordome," from Variety. 12 Feb 1995.
Jackson, Kevin. "Cinema these days - it's a riot," from The Independent. 19 Jan 1995.
Analysis
Personal Film Review and Cultural Context: 

In Ngozi Onwurah’s drama Welcome II the Terrordome, the Nigerian-British filmmaker melds past and present, filmic and factual as she explores race relations in the futuristic dystopia of Terrordome.  A drug- and gang-ridden community caged off from the white world, Terrordome is home to Anjela, her brother Spike, and his expecting white girlfriend Jodie.  When Jodie’s white ex-boyfriend discovers that she had “crossed over”, he returns to the Terrordome for revenge.  His revenge results in an all-out race war as Anjela transforms from nurturing mother to militant fighter.  Onwurah’s film captures the plight of the female protagonists as they are faced with the violence incurred not only by the limitations of race, but also the challenge of crossing colored boundaries.  Welcome II the Terrordome recognizes the role of women while demonstrating how the future is compromised when history has not yet been reconciled.  Screened from the Verona Love Screens Film Festival in Italy to the Cologne Film Festival in Germany, this political action thriller is one of the first independent Black British feature.  It captures Onwurah’s experimental and (auto-)ethnographic essence evident in her other works such as Coffee Colored Children (1988) and The Body Beautiful (1991).

(Jacinda Tran, 2012)

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