Black Professors ignored @BFI but dogs heard at Picturehouse

The last update  revealed that approximately 19,000 humans are not being listened to by BFI about the monthly African Odysseys film series but there are 16 London cinemas which offer weekly films catered for dogs HERE

Meanwhile the same BFI refused to meet with the human rights/ equality expert Professor Gus John three times to discuss the 20-year-old African Odysseys series. It is unclear how many meetings the dogs had with Picturehouse/Curzon to secure their weekly shows  but clearly 19,000 of them did not have to sign any petitions for their voices to be heard.

Tonight, Wednesday 26th August 6.30pm,  Professor John will  discuss the scandal at the Black Cultural Archives. HERE

The African Odysseys screening  tonight of ‘60 years of Struggle’ sold out the 450 seat BFI Southbank in 2015. The film platformed the talent of local Black British film maker Souleyman Garcia who was a close collaborator with Menelik Shabbaz. It also told an important part of British history which has been ignored by the mainstream. When the BFI decided to cancel African Odysseys, with no public consultation and in breach of the Equality Act 2010 it showed it had no interest in such filmmakers or stories.

Professor Gus John as the 'star' of a film which sold out the BFI's huge cinema should have made him someone the BFI would be happy to meet with as would happen with any white star who featured in  a documentary which put 450 bums on seats on a Saturday at 2pm with no publicity from Sight and Sound.

However, the BFI  refused to meet Professor Gus John three times despite his nine page open letter to BFI CEO Ben Roberts HERE, despite the fact that Professor John is one of the leading experts on race equality in the UK and despite the fact that Professor  John actually wrote the equality laws  and trained institutions  on how to apply them. 

It is even more remarkable that Roberts refused this offer in the same month, October 2024,  that he had to publicly apologise for how the BFI handled Faisal Qureshi's five -year race complaint HERE

BFI also refused to do a Race Equality Impact Assessment as stated in the petition and in Professor Johns open letter. BFI had agreed to do one in July 2024 then went back on their word in August 2024.

The BFI said that there was no need to do one because a consultant they hired said it was ok and 'not that many people would be affected', 19,000 human beings later the BFI has been asked numerous times for the name, experience, qualifications, date and a document to prove their position and for two years BFI's 'People department' has failed to provide any evidence.

Meanwhile these are some of the 25  professors who have signed the petition and  support the need for a R.E.I.A

• Sir Professor Patrick Vernon; creator of Windrush Day and 100 Black Britons campaign, presently assisting the family of Professor Jason Arday
• Dame Professor Elizabeth Anionwu; Sickle cell pioneer and driving force behind the Mary Seacole statue at St Thomas Hospital
• Professor Paul Gilroy;  winner of the the 2019 winner of the Holberg Prize, for "his outstanding contributions to a number of academic fields, including cultural studies, critical race studies, sociology, history, anthropology and African-American studies
• Professor Hakim Adi; First Black Professor of history in the UK
• Professor Adoah Anjoh MBE; theatre director also plays Lady Danberry in Bridgerton and  teaches

No one at the BFI has half the experience of anyone of these people. How can the BFI  ignore their free advice  and 19,000 voices while refusing for two years to authenticate their own position?

The BFI cannot go out in public and say anything about diversity and equality with this track record.

Please continue to sign and share the petition on your social media and look out for more screenings and campaigning resources against racism at the British Film Institute.