The latest update from Black History Walks Tony Warner on the removal of African Odysseys from BFI. In his words their statement reads. “The BFI’s studied neglect of Global Majority issues is exampled by their lack of interest in deaths in custody six years on from their public statements on George Floyd. Last year they did nothing to recognise his anniversary.
This week is the 33rd anniversary of Joy Gardner’s deportation death in British police custody where she was suffocated by having 13 feet of tape wrapped around her head while handcuffed. HERE
The African Odysseys event to recognise her death and hear from her family takes place at a local community centre in Russell Square on Friday July 31st 6.30pm HERE It should have been at the taxpayer-funded £127 million BFI Southbank on a national stage but for the BFIs 2025 cancellation of African Odysseys against the wishes of 18,400 people on this petition.
The Joy Gardner screening represents the extensive African Odysseys curation on the subject of police brutality/civil rights presented at BFI Southbank in 2020 when the BFI, according the its CEO Ben Roberts was ‘committed to anti-racism’. All of those films, especially the works of Ken Fero HERE , had been championed by African Odysseys at the BFI for decades but were unknown to the overwhelmingly white management there.
Ben Roberts also stated this in June 2020:
We need to embody the change we want to see, and be accountable as a public institution, looking like and reflecting the public we serve…
I took on the role of Chief Executive in February with a commitment to colleagues and our Board that I would put us on a path of radical change. This will mean dismantling the biases and hierarchies that are present within the BFI, and doubling-down on our duty as a public organisation to represent and welcome the perspective of all audiences and filmmakers: through our people, our programmes and collections, and the work we fund. HERE
Where is the ‘radical change’ ? The BFI has gone backwards and defunded African Odysseys despite its 20 year track record of selling out the 450 seater at 2pm on Saturdays and the volunteer curators being worth £6 million HERE
Six years after he wrote that, his Executive Committee remains 88% white. There’s only one Black person at that level, appointed in 2021 in the wake of George Floyd. Roberts clearly cannot be taken seriously on ‘welcoming the perspective of all audience and filmmakers’ or this 18,400 strong petition and its requests for a Race Equality Impact Assessment and continuation of African Odysseys would not exist.
Three weeks ago, in the previous update, HERE evidence was provided that the BFI had in 2023 ‘committed’ to a 20th anniversary season of African Odysseys films for 2026. The document written by BFI staff Justin Johnson witnessed by Stuart Brown, Head of Programme and Acquisitions was known to the Executive including Jason Wood, Executive Director for Public Programmes and Audiences and Harriet Finney Deputy CEO.
The BFI executive and even the governors clearly did not care about the 20 year legacy of Black history films/events that African Odysseys represented. They refused to meet with leading race equality campaigner Professor Gus John three separate times and cancelled African Odysseys by making the only BFI staff member responsible for the educational, monthly series, David Somerset co-founder of AO, redundant and deleting his post, meaning the work could not possibly continue. A total reversal and dishonouring of what was agreed since 2023
The fact that BFI has had no response to evidence of its own documented breach of trust is very revealing. Perhaps the BFI can find some courage to address their multiple failings on race as they have the ability to respond to every update posted on this petition. However out of 30 updates they have only responded to one . That was two years ago and that response had two falsehoods as proven HERE
At a time when MPs like Sarah Pochin are saying ‘they are sick of people of colour on their screens’ and Black people are being burned out of their homes or being deported to their deaths; the BFI’s two years of stonewalling and gaslighting is not merely disinterest, but studied and deliberate contempt for an entire community. Why would any cinema, far less a charity funded by the taxpaying public, ignore what 18,400 people want ?
Tonight 31st of July
