A CONTROVERSIAL film is set to hit screens in Eastleigh.

Eastleigh Film Festival will have one of the first screenings in the country of ‘Dear White People’ on September 23.

The film is a satirical comedy that wowed audiences at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014.

Tessa Thompson stars as a black film production major who causes a stir by criticising racist practises at her American university - the fictional Winchester University.

Her witty radio show Dear White People is the catalyst for much of the satire in the film; questioning perceptions of race and culture through a darkly comic lens.

Director of The New Black Film Collective, which secured the UK distribution rights to the film, Priscilla Igwe will be at the festival.

Priscilla had to go head-to-head with industry chiefs, who decided against distributing the award-winning movie in the UK, despite its commercial and critical success in the states.

She managed to secure the UK rights with a crowdfunding scheme, and later got support from the British Film Industry (BFI).

Priscilla, said: “This film is not bashing white people. It is holding up a mirror to intolerance between races, gender, sexual orientation and class.

“Race is a tool to divide and conquer by the elite and it is our responsibility to reject it, along with other forms of discrimination and come together instead like we did during the civil rights movement and to free Nelson Mandela along with the system of apartheid.

“We must embrace the conversation and use it as a springboard for change. We can all do something, no matter our background and no matter how small, to make a difference to fight injustice.

“Nobody gets off easy in this film and we must understand that a Black cast should not equal just a Black audience but the telling of a universal story.”

It will be at The Point in Eastleigh at 7pm. Tickets are £8 and can be booked via the website eastleighfilmfestival.com or by calling the box office on 023 8065 2333.