Anthony Andrews

Set up in 2013, We Are Parable was conceived to give Black audiences across the UK the chance to see themselves represented on the big screen, to feel like independent cinema is for them and to showcase new Black voices in UK filmmaking. To celebrate ten years, co-founder Anthony Andrews remembers the highs of the past decade and shares its big plans for the next one. It was Eddie Murphy who first inspired me and my co-founder, Teanne, to launch We Are Parable. We both loved ‘Coming to America’. We’d watched it countless times on VHS – don’t let the skincare routines fool you, we’re old – and on the telly, but had never seen it on the big screen in London. We wanted to change that – to show just how much this film means to a whole generation of us who grew up with it. So we did. Our very first event ten years ago involved rose bearers throwing petals on the audience in the movie, as well as drummers and dancers performing in the foyer of Stratford East Picturehouse. It was about redefining what it meant to go to the cinema and having fun, but more importantly, about creating a community to experience great films together.  And that’s still our mantra: ‘Experience Over Everything’. We’ve always prided ourselves on creating experiences around Black Cinema that celebrate our culture. It can be via arts exhibition, music, movement or spoken word performances – or even just a conversation. Photograph: We Are ParableRose bearers at We Are Parable’s inaugural screening of ‘Coming t