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1.      Lack of Communication: BFI management has not been in recent or ‘close contact’ with the Steering Committee. The last communication from senior manager Stuart Brown was on 9th August and films were not mentioned.
2.     Ignoring the Steering Committee’s advice: Since June this year the management have repeatedly ignored the Committee’s advice to keep the only person with 17 years of African diaspora film experience at the BFI and the 48 weeks of work that specifically produces events for Black, Asian and refugee groups. They have ignored requests for a Race Equality Impact Assessment, a basic indicator of good governance. HERE
3.     Pre-planning of events: Current African Odysseys events through to January 2025 were planned at least six months ago, in line with BFI scheduling. The Committee has been unable to plan films past January as the person with the expertise to run them and the actual job itself will no longer exist if the cuts/redundancies go ahead. At least ten film events are not on the schedule due to the proposed cuts.
4.      No ‘Celebration’: Without the African Odysseys co-founder and programme manager the Committee has stated that there can be no ‘celebration’ in 2026. This should be self evident. For the above and below reasons, the BFI’s petition response on 29th October is either uninformed or misleading.
5.      Risk of losing Steering Committee:  the BFI is at risk of losing the Steering Committee and the huge, diverse audience the Committee has built since 2007 when the BFI was seen as a white, middle-class enclave, where Black filmmakers like Menelik Shabbaz were not welcome. Some BFI members are considering cancelling their membership. A REIA is crucial to highlight the impact of this loss, let alone the key role within the BFI that supports the African Odysseys programme.
6.    Previous race relations: This petition was initiated by the Steering Committee who had fought against racial issues during Black Lives Matter in 2020 and warned that the cuts/redundancies would be disastrous as soon as they were announced.
7.     BFI response is patronising: The BFI’s response dismisses the Steering Committee’s understanding of how the institution works. However, the petition is backed by directors, producers, academics, and race equality experts, including Professor Gus John, who sent a detailed open letter to the BFI’s CEO on 1st of October. HERE
8.     Support for petition by key figures: Terry Jervis, a high-profile media figure and previous collaborator with the BFI, has worked with major celebrities, like Quincy Jones and broadcast to billions. He was introduced to the BFI by the Steering Committee, assisted with the Black Star programme in 2016, and produced from ‘Hackney to Hollywood’ at the BFI in February 2024. HERE
9.       Steering Committee and Network’s value: The Steering Committee comprises a network of experts whose voluntary work for the BFI is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. The BFI’s treatment of these partners, especially regarding race equality issues, and its disregard for the 12,500 strong petition is alarming.
10.      BFI’s attitude to the public’s feedback: The BFI only responded to the petition after media coverage (Screen Daily, 25th October HERE  and attempted to remove the petition instead of addressing the issues raised. Substantive issues raised by the Steering Committee have been repeatedly ignored from the original petition and the update of 27th October. This demonstrates a lack of respect for public feedback. 
11.    Questionable Commitment and ‘dedicated resourcing’: The BFI’s claims of future "dedicated resourcing" for African Odysseys are questionable. For instance, they have never funded a single trailer to promote the programme in the last 17 years. Committee members' family have voluntarily filmed Q&A sessions to ensure valuable archives were recorded as the BFI had ‘no resources’ to do so.
12.    Statements of ‘support’ are dubious: The BFI previously committed to showing the @hopenothate, anti-racist film 'Undercover: Exposing the Far Right' at the London Film Festival but cancelled it last minute, damaging the film’s release. This raises doubts about the BFI’s commitment to supporting anti-racist work. In 1975 the BFI refused to screen a film about race called 'Pressure' by Trinidadian Horace Ove. The film is now a classic HERE This petition is supported by Ove's daughter Indra who has written in the comments section.
13.      Reversal on Race Equality Impact Assessment: The BFI agreed to do a Race Equality Impact Assessment after meeting the Committee on 4th July but on 5th August senior manager Stuart Brown stated via email that no REIA would happen. There is history of failing to follow through on commitments related to race equality.

• ·       Racism of the institution:  racial controversies at the BFI have a long history predating 2020. Just three weeks ago they publicly apologised to Asian filmmaker, Faisal Querishi for racism HERE. The 6-month long refusal to run a REIA is astonishing and added to the last-minute withdrawal of ‘Undercover’, is deeply disrespectful to marginalised communities who were being violently attacked in the streets just three months ago.
• ·       Why refuse to do A REIA? This assessment is both internal and external facing. It should be carried out on the impact of public, communities, stakeholders etc. Public awareness about the BFI’s refusal to do this assessment has caused outrage. Even BFI staff have protested the redundancies.  
• Call for the BFI to reverse its decision on redundancy: the petition requests that the taxpayer-funded BFI, supported by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, immediately reverse the decision to eliminate key roles and respond directly to questions posed by the petition, particularly regarding the Equality Impact Assessment and exactly who is responsible for the restructuring, given the prospect of  further damage to the 17 years of community relations and engagement.