The British Urban Film Festival (BUFF) is putting on a dedicated Africa season, set to showcase up to 20 African films annually across the UK, following the BFI deciding to pause its long-running African Odysseys stand.
The season will begin on July 25 with the world premiere of Ireke at Odeon Greenwich, marking the directorial debut of Emmy-nominated BBC journalist Peter Macjo. The film delves into the complexities of African involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and explores a Nigerian family’s entanglement in slavery during the colonial era.
The Africa season will feature a curated selection of contemporary and classic African films, with filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions and networking events.
The BFI’s 17-year African Odysseys strand was created to bring African diaspora content on the BFI Southbank. The BFI confirmed to Screen in March the strand had been put on hold, after the African Odysseys programmer and co-founder David Somerset was made redundant and left the organisation at the end of January.
The BFI said at the time it had been unable to “agree on a shared approach to managing” the strand going forward with the voluntary steering committee that helped found it.
BFI CEO Ben Roberts said it ”will reserve a space in our monthly programme for African Odysseys to return”.
Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, BUFF founder and co-chair, stated: “For 20 years, BUFF has stood at the intersection of Black British and African storytelling. The BFI’s decision to end African Odysseys is a significant loss, but BUFF is proud to step into that space with a renewed commitment to African cinema. We are especially thrilled to open the season with Ireke, a film that exemplifies the depth and complexity of our shared histories.”
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