BFM

Editor(Menelik Shabazz)

Fiction is an important area of focus, at a time when we are witnessing an upsurge in the number of black writers, directors, producers and technicians, who have been trained, and are trying to gain a foothold in the film industry.

However this talent is finding itself largely ignored by the British film and Broadcast industry. Very little has changed since Horace Ove, directed the first feature film Pressure, twenty years ago. Black British talent, today, continues to be marginalised and virtually excluded from the mainstream. The few who have broken through into feature films, particularly directors, are quickly overlooked and discarded. This has happened to successive generations of our talented filmmakers from Horace Ove, myself, Isaac Julien, Ngozi Onwurah. This consistent pattern denies our best talents the opportunity to develop their craft and a body of work, like many of their contemporaries.

One hears of different arguments by financiers, distributors and producers, saying that Black film projects are not marketable. These comments underlie the attitudes and false perception, that exits within the industry. Currently Black culture is at the leading edge of urban British culture, in music, fashion and language. Black music brings millions into the economy at home and abroad. The London Carnival alone, attracts an estimated �40 million in the space of two days. Black artistic expression has proven marketability, once given the opportunity. In film the potential and talent is there, but must be nurtured on a consistent basis.

This is an important moment in British cinema, when unprecedented amounts of money have been invested in the industry. The lottery alone has invested �29 million in three franchised companies, in addition to its own film fund. There is also the Broadcasters, BBC, Channel 4, Granada and other consortiums pouring large sums into the industry. This in theory should create more space for a wider range of projects, but I fear, unless changes are instituted from the top, with Government sending out the right signals and providing proper monitoring safeguards, the pattern of marginalisation will continue, across the board.

As a multi-cultural society, cinema and television must reflect and redefine this reality, both in front and behind the camera. Without British Black talent consistently participating in this process, it is all a sham.




Editorial Editorial Stephen Bourne looks at the 'secret' history of black Actors in British cinema Julian Henriques of "Baby Mother" interview Amistad Review (c)Black Filmmaker Publications 1998: All right reserved			Editor(Menelik Shabazz) Fiction is an important area of focus, at a time when we are witnessing an upsurge in the number of black writers, directors, producers and technicians, who have been trained, and are trying to gain a foothold in the film industry. However this talent is finding itself largely ignored by the British film and Broadcast industry. Very little has changed since Horace Ove, directed the first feature film Pressure, twenty years ago. Black British talent, today, continues to be marginalised and virtually excluded from the mainstream. The few who have broken through into feature films, particularly directors, are quickly overlooked and discarded. This has happened to successive generations of our talented filmmakers from Horace Ove, myself, Isaac Julien, Ngozi Onwurah. This consistent pattern denies our best talents the opportunity to develop their craft and a body of work, like many of their contemporaries. One hears of different arguments by financiers, distributors and producers, saying that Black film projects are not marketable. These comments underlie the attitudes and false perception, that exits within the industry. Currently Black culture is at the leading edge of urban British culture, in music, fashion and language. Black music brings millions into the economy at home and abroad. The London Carnival alone, attracts an estimated �40 million in the space of two days. Black artistic expression has proven marketability, once given the opportunity. In film the potential and talent is there, but must be nurtured on a consistent basis. This is an important moment in British cinema, when unprecedented amounts of money have been invested in the industry. The lottery alone has invested �29 million in three franchised companies, in addition to its own film fund. There is also the Broadcasters, BBC, Channel 4, Granada and other consortiums pouring large sums into the industry. This in theory should create more space for a wider range of projects, but I fear, unless changes are instituted from the top, with Government sending out the right signals and providing proper monitoring safeguards, the pattern of marginalisation will continue, across the board. As a multi-cultural society, cinema and television must reflect and redefine this reality, both in front and behind the camera. Without British Black talent consistently participating in this process, it is all a sham.