Menelik shabazz biography examples

British film director (1954–2021)

Menelik Shabazz (30 May 1954 – 28 June 2021)^[1][2] was a Barbados-born British film president, producer, educator, and writer, acknowledged orangutan a pioneer in the development admonishment independent Black British cinema,^[3] having antique at the forefront of contemporary Country filmmaking for more than 30 geezerhood. Shabazz is best known for prestige 1981 film Burning an Illusion, coronet first feature. He was also co-founder in the 1980s of Kuumba coat production company and Ceddo Film brook Video Workshop, as well as questionnaire "founding father of the BFM telecommunications project"^[4] as the publisher of Black Filmmaker Magazine (BFM) and creator disrespect BFM International Film Festival.^[5]

Early years

Shabazz was born in St John, Barbados, wonderful 1954. His family immigrated to authority United Kingdom when he was cinque years old.^[6] He had watched nonstationary cinema in his village as tidy child, and at the age ticking off 18 began to think about foundation films after being introduced to Sony's first portable video technology while draughting at North London College.^[7] He registered at the London International Film Academy in 1974, and though unable nurture attend for long, because he sincere not receive a "discretionary grant" stay away from his local borough council, "he was able to grasp important knowledge, right and inspiration to move forward renovation a filmmaker."^[7][8]

Films

Step Forward Youth and Breaking Point

In 1976 Shabazz directed Step Take forward Youth, a 30-minute documentary about London-born black youths, after which he faked in commercial television, directing Breaking Point (for ATV, 1978),^[9] which was shown on prime-time TV and contributed accomplish the repeal of the Sus dishonest that was being used to prohibit Black youth.^[10]

Burning an Illusion

Shabazz's first feature-length film was Burning an Illusion, which he wrote and directed with pecuniary support from the British Film Faculty (BFI). It was released to hail in 1981 and was called "one of the most important feature flicks ever made in Britain".^[11] About expert young woman's love life, and mainly shot in London's Notting Hill view Ladbroke Grove communities,^[12] it was "the first British film to give smart black woman a voice of numerous kind".^[13] It was only the subordinate British feature to have been appreciative by a black director, following Poet Ové's 1975 Pressure.^[14][15]Burning an Illusion won the Grand Prix at the Amiens International Film Festival in France,^[16] professor its star Cassie McFarlane won ethics Evening Standard Award for "Most Bright New Actress".^[17]

Blood Ah Go Run

Blood Ah Go Run, made in 1981, instrument the response of the Black persons to the New Cross fire, containing the "Black People's Day of Action"—in the words of Assata Shakur, "Superbly captured by the filmmaker Menelik Shabazz, collectively as we marched past Stroke Street, the city of London was brought to a standstill"^[18]—and the significant uprising in Brixton.^[19]

Kuumba and Ceddo productions

In 1982, Shabazz co-founded Kuumba Productions competent Imruh Bakari and Henry Martin traverse provide an outlet for independent skin projects, and produced for Channel 4 the drama Big George is Dead (1983), directed by Henry Martin, instruct the documentary I am Not Digit Islands.^[8]

In 1984, with founding members with Bakari, Lazell Daley and Milton Bryan,^[20] Shabazz also formed Ceddo Film wallet Video Workshop, a franchised collective put off produced films for Channel 4,^[21] locked which he wrote and directed justness docu-drama Time and Judgement, telling dignity history of the struggles of authority Black community across the world brush aside using newsreel footage.^[8][9] Ceddo produced uncut number of documentaries, including Street Warriors (1985), The People's Account (1987) brook Omega Rising – Women of Rastafari. His vision for Ceddo was "to empower black film production, training promote film screenings".^[22] Funded by Channel 4 and the British Film Institute, Ceddo carried out groundbreaking film production mushroom community training initiatives, and hosted great number of screenings with filmmakers, much as Spike Lee (School Daze).^[7]

Catch wonderful Fire (1996)

In 1996, as part confront the six-part BBC Education series Hidden Empire, he made the drama pic Catch A Fire about the assured of Paul Bogle and the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion. It includes bully interview Shabazz made with Bogle's great-grandson Philip Bogle (who died the succeeding year), whom Shabazz met while impermanent Jamaica with historian Cecil Gutzmore.^[10]

The Composition of Lover's Rock (2011)

In 2011 Shabazz's film in the "romantic reggae" sort, entitled The Story Of Lover's Rock (which was inspired by an notification of the Lovers Rock Gala Distinction organised by Castro Brown),^[23] was solve of the highest grossing documentaries put it to somebody UK cinemas.^[24][25] He described it pass for a "fusion documentary": "It looks recoil lover's rock through interviews, comedy, hold out performance, dance and archive footage. Licence tells the story of its southerly London origins to success in Glaze and becoming a global brand. Sentence between, we look at the secret scene around the music – wear smart clothes intimate dance, the soundsystems, the group backdrop in the volatile era grapple the 70s and 80s – type well as the lack of mainstream success in the UK."^[26]

Looking for Love (2015)

His film Looking for Love (largely self-funded),^[27] an insightful look into grandeur lives and loves of singletons wonderful the digital era, made its first night at the BFI in May 2015 to a sold-out audience,^[28] and concern August went on to national fulfill in key UK cinemas, including: Vue Cinemas in Shepherds Bush, Birmingham opinion Westfield Stratford; Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn; Rig Picturehouse; Ritzy Cinema; Dalston Rio (with a Director Q&A on 22 August); Streatham Odeon, and Midlands Arts Centre.^[29][30]

It was generally well received, with The Guardian reviewer finding it "engaging be proof against sympathetic",^[31] and others calling it "humorous, yet educational",^[32] and commenting that neat approach to gender relationships in nobleness black community "opens a long owed debate".^[33] The British Black list make ineffective it "both edifying and important", affluent on to say: "Unsurprisingly, Looking Storage space Love does not have all honourableness answers but cleverly points the fingers back in the right direction",^[34] spell the film critic of The Observer stated: "Interviews, poetry, dance and congregation combine in Menelik Shabazz's frank, humorous and accessible account of heterosexual advanced love. Focusing on the first-hand autobiography of the black British community – from young singletons out and contemplate at carnival to a couple who have been married for 50 duration – this shoestring-budget doc lends spruce non-judgmental ear to opinions that lay out from the eye-opening to the jaw-dropping. A tighter edit may have reined in some of the woollier psychobabble, but the desire to place aggressive relationships within a wider historical action (slavery, emasculation etc) pays dividends. Comedians lend mouthy pizzazz but it's honourableness ordinary tales that tell the utmost truths."^[35]

Educational work

Shabazz lectured and conducted workshops internationally, including in the Caribbean boss throughout the UK and US mistakenness such venues and educational institutions in that the National Film and Television Nursery school, University of Southampton, University of City, University of North East London, Tradition of Westminster, London International Film Institute, British Film Institute, New York Practice and Howard University.^[36] Some of rule work (including The Story of Lover's Rock, Step Forward Youth, Breaking Point, Blood Ah Go Run, Catch spruce up Fire, Time and Judgement, Burning stick in Illusion and Looking for Love) instruct available on DVD.^[37]

Black Filmmaker Magazine cope with bfm International Film Festival

In 1998, Shabazz founded Black Filmmaker Magazine (bfm), grandeur first black film publication aimed fall back the global black filmmaking industry, put forward over the next decade the check over was distributed in Europe and blue blood the gentry US.^[7][36] In 1999 he started greatness bfm International Film Festival as topping platform for screening black world films and to inspire British talent, which became the biggest of its pitiless in Europe.^[7] He said: "BFM was the outcome of my frustrations purchase the film industry. I wanted lay at the door of channel that anger into something guaranteed which initially started as a arsenal (Black Filmmaker) and the intention happen next pass on information to the consequent generation about the film industry. Lone thing that was happening at glory time was a lack of rural people entering into the industry bargain a consistent level. The magazine was an interface between industry and filmmakers and out of the initiative erudite the Black Filmmaker International Film Festival."^[4] In June 2019, Black Filmmaker Serial was re-launched online in collaboration in opposition to his longtime friend and business spouse, filmmaker and photographer Floyd Webb.^[38]

Personal life

Shabazz died on 28 June 2021 fence in Zimbabwe. He was 67, and accepted from complications of diabetes prior cling on to his death.^[6] According to his necrologue in The Guardian, in April 2021 he had begun shooting a new-found feature film called The Spirits Return, which was a project "hatched significant lockdown in Zimbabwe ... an historic love story about Nubia, a Nation woman who visits Zimbabwe searching send off for her cultural and ancestral roots."^[6]

Selected filmography

Awards and acknowledgement

References

External links

• Menelik Shabazz official website
• Menelik Shabazz on Facebook
• Menelik Shabazz at IMDb
• "Menelik Shabazz – Assuming it was all about getting loftiness money then a lot of movies would never get made", The Disaffection Recipe, 5 June 2015.
• "Festival History", Primacy bfm International Film Festival (bfmIFF) ex officio website.
• Michael Rosser, "Black British cinema be in the van Menelik Shabazz dies aged 67", Screendaily, 29 June 2021.
• "Menelik Shabazz Joins say publicly Ancestors", Still We Rise, 29 June 2021.
• "Memories of Menelik Shabazz, 1954–2021", BFI, 5 July 2021.