“This year has been incredible for me,” says Priscilla Igwe, director of Bow-based media company Black Filmmaker (bfm). “I’ve been learning at the speed of light.”
Originally set up by award-winning filmmaker Menelik Shabazz in 1998, the organisation’s primary purpose is to raise the profile of black cinema locally and internationally in front and behind the camera.
For Priscilla, that remit has expanded beyond recognition since she began volunteering and writing for bfm’s respected film magazine in 2002. After rising through the ranks, she split the company into three strategic arms: Bfm magazine, which produces the popular bi-monthly title; bfm Xcel, which handles the group’s flagship projects, including the bfm International Film Festival; and bfm media, which works to engage and support local black media practitioners.
With the London 2012 Olympics site just a stone’s throw from bfm’s HQ at Three Mills Studio, Priscilla is already working to ensure budding media workers from BME backgrounds will capitalise on the broadcasting opportunities that the Games will bring. Until now, poor funding, racism in the industry, lack of mainstream support and unwillingness to address BME under-representation have all contributed to the exodus of many talented UK black media professionals to the likes of America and Asia. But Priscilla is hopeful for the future.
“We’re being to witness a sea change,” she says. “This year, we’re screening at least five feature length black British films. Yes, racism has existed in the industry, but the talent has always been out there. We want to tap into that.”
To maximise bfm’s impact, Priscilla has teamed up with CIDA. She initially attended a number of business-related courses, before enrolling on specific filmmaker-focused initiatives. These, she says, have all proved invaluable to her development.
“It’s good to talk to professionals,” she reflects. “It sharpens your business acumen and helps you to explain what you do. People aren’t going to give you funding just for the sake of it. You have to justify your worth and that you’ll deliver value for investment.”
This was a central message in CIDA’s Festival Focus programme. Led by CIDA’s Cultural Arts Project Manager. Yemisi Mokuolu, the course, which ran from July 2006 to April 2007, helped carnival, festival and mela organisers gain access to specialist advice on business and management development, raise their profile with key funders and potential partners, and participate in strategic planning workshops and seminars to ensure the growth and sustainability of their event.
“Talking to like-minded people about the stresses of running a festival has been excellent,” says Priscilla. “It’s really helped us improve the way we work.”
The 9th bfm International Film Festival will be held this September in Central London. Away from the festival, bfm is also engaged in an exciting online heritage project, which will create a unique database of classic and independent UK black films recorded over the last 50 years. Priscilla has already won a development grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and hopes to secure the main grant this year.
She has also been busy forging partnerships with other funders, public bodies, film organisations and commercial sponsors on both sides of the Atlantic. CIDA have been involved here too, providing a small marketing grant to help spread the word. More recently, a trip to the Cannes Film Festival in France has opened Priscilla’s eyes to even more funding possibilities – on a much larger scale.
Strong growth, she says, remains the number one priority. Back at Three Mills Studio, where she once worked as a lowly runner, the company director now talks passionately about “raising her game” and creating building a globally recognised brand.
“The future is very bright for black filmmakers and bfm,” she insists. “We’re already getting great exposure, and I can’t wait for the challenges ahead. There’s so much more work to be
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