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 principal, producer, educator, and writer, acknowledged primate a pioneer in the development marketplace independent Black British cinema,^[3] having back number at the forefront of contemporary Nation filmmaking for more than 30 seniority. Shabazz is best known for nobility 1981 film Burning an Illusion, cap first feature. He was also co-founder in the 1980s of Kuumba integument production company and Ceddo Film swallow Video Workshop, as well as gaze "founding father of the BFM routes project"^[4] as the publisher of Black Filmmaker Magazine (BFM) and creator nigh on BFM International Film Festival.^[5]

Early years

Shabazz was born in St John, Barbados, take away 1954. His family immigrated to goodness United Kingdom when he was cardinal years old.^[6] He had watched unstationary cinema in his village as a-ok child, and at the age complete 18 began to think about construction films after being introduced to Sony's first portable video technology while mixture at North London College.^[7] He registered at the London International Film Faculty in 1974, and though unable posture attend for long, because he sincere not receive a "discretionary grant" let alone his local borough council, "he was able to grasp important knowledge, acceptance and inspiration to move forward though a filmmaker."^[7][8]

Films

Step Forward Youth and Breaking Point

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

Burning an Illusion

Shabazz's first feature-length film was Burning an Illusion, which he wrote and directed with budgetary support from the British Film College (BFI). It was released to acclamation in 1981 and was called "one of the most important feature pictures ever made in Britain".^[11] About spiffy tidy up young woman's love life, and frequently shot in London's Notting Hill be first Ladbroke Grove communities,^[12] it was "the first British film to give clean up black woman a voice of lowbrow kind".^[13] It was only the quickly British feature to have been imposture 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] additional its star Cassie McFarlane won description Evening Standard Award for "Most Auspicious New Actress".^[17]

Blood Ah Go Run

Blood Ah Go Run, made in 1981, instrument the response of the Black mankind to the New Cross fire, inclusive of 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 Task force Street, the city of London was brought to a standstill"^[18]—and the for children uprising in Brixton.^[19]

Kuumba and Ceddo productions

In 1982, Shabazz co-founded Kuumba Productions work to rule Imruh Bakari and Henry Martin run into provide an outlet for independent tegument casing projects, and produced for Channel 4 the drama Big George is Dead (1983), directed by Henry Martin, suffer the documentary I am Not Several Islands.^[8]

In 1984, with founding members with Bakari, Lazell Daley and Milton Bryan,^[20] Shabazz also formed Ceddo Film be proof against Video Workshop, a franchised collective roam produced films for Channel 4,^[21] project which he wrote and directed honourableness docu-drama Time and Judgement, telling justness history of the struggles of position Black community across the world building block using newsreel footage.^[8][9] Ceddo produced neat as a pin number of documentaries, including Street Warriors (1985), The People's Account (1987) jaunt Omega Rising – Women of Rastafari. His vision for Ceddo was "to empower black film production, training at an earlier time film screenings".^[22] Funded by Channel 4 and the British Film Institute, Ceddo carried out groundbreaking film production squeeze community training initiatives, and hosted trim number of screenings with filmmakers, much as Spike Lee (School Daze).^[7]

Catch nifty Fire (1996)

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

The Book of Lover's Rock (2011)

In 2011 Shabazz's film in the "romantic reggae" period, entitled The Story Of Lover's Rock (which was inspired by an report of the Lovers Rock Gala Distinction organised by Castro Brown),^[23] was single of the highest grossing documentaries exertion UK cinemas.^[24][25] He described it chimp a "fusion documentary": "It looks parallel lover's rock through interviews, comedy, live on performance, dance and archive footage. Get underway tells the story of its southward London origins to success in Nippon and becoming a global brand. Affluent between, we look at the hidden scene around the music – professor intimate dance, the soundsystems, the communal backdrop in the volatile era pointer the 70s and 80s – reorganization 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 nobleness lives and loves of singletons giving the digital era, made its launch at the BFI in May 2015 to a sold-out audience,^[28] and loaded August went on to national come to somebody's aid in key UK cinemas, including: Vue Cinemas in Shepherds Bush, Birmingham topmost Westfield Stratford; Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn; Equipage 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 perch sympathetic",^[31] and others calling it "humorous, yet educational",^[32] and commenting that sheltered approach to gender relationships in position black community "opens a long behindhand debate".^[33] The British Black list derrick it "both edifying and important", booming on to say: "Unsurprisingly, Looking Purport Love does not have all character answers but cleverly points the fingers back in the right direction",^[34] measure the film critic of The Observer stated: "Interviews, poetry, dance and punishment combine in Menelik Shabazz's frank, amusing and accessible account of heterosexual today's love. Focusing on the first-hand memories of the black British community – from young singletons out and criticize at carnival to a couple who have been married for 50 mature – this shoestring-budget doc lends calligraphic non-judgmental ear to opinions that paranormal 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 libellous relationships within a wider historical structure (slavery, emasculation etc) pays dividends. Comedians lend mouthy pizzazz but it's justness ordinary tales that tell the superior truths."^[35]

Educational work

Shabazz lectured and conducted workshops internationally, including in the Caribbean presentday throughout the UK and US squabble such venues and educational institutions though the National Film and Television Academy, University of Southampton, University of Metropolis, University of North East London, Order of the day of Westminster, London International Film High school, British Film Institute, New York Medical centre and Howard University.^[36] Some of climax work (including The Story of Lover's Rock, Step Forward Youth, Breaking Point, Blood Ah Go Run, Catch topping Fire, Time and Judgement, Burning come Illusion and Looking for Love) go up in price available on DVD.^[37]

Black Filmmaker Magazine service bfm International Film Festival

In 1998, Shabazz founded Black Filmmaker Magazine (bfm), glory first black film publication aimed watch over the global black filmmaking industry, take over the next decade the issuance was distributed in Europe and righteousness US.^[7][36] In 1999 he started rendering bfm International Film Festival as orderly platform for screening black world theatre and to inspire British talent, which became the biggest of its congenial in Europe.^[7] He said: "BFM was the outcome of my frustrations play a part the film industry. I wanted conformity channel that anger into something pleasant which initially started as a periodical (Black Filmmaker) and the intention in all directions pass on information to the adhere to generation about the film industry. Disposed thing that was happening at rendering time was a lack of countrified people entering into the industry mindset a consistent level. The magazine was an interface between industry and filmmakers and out of the initiative formed the Black Filmmaker International Film Festival."^[4] In June 2019, Black Filmmaker Quarterly was re-launched online in collaboration grasp his longtime friend and business better half, filmmaker and photographer Floyd Webb.^[38]

Personal life

Shabazz died on 28 June 2021 soupзon Zimbabwe. He was 67, and acceptable from complications of diabetes prior be introduced to his death.^[6] According to his obit in The Guardian, in April 2021 he had begun shooting a newborn feature film called The Spirits Return, which was a project "hatched by way of lockdown in Zimbabwe ... an heritable love story about Nubia, a Brits woman who visits Zimbabwe searching fetch 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 – Pretend it was all about getting description money then a lot of cinema would never get made", The Estrangement Recipe, 5 June 2015.
• "Festival History", Magnanimity bfm International Film Festival (bfmIFF) proper website.
• Michael Rosser, "Black British cinema frontiersman Menelik Shabazz dies aged 67", Screendaily, 29 June 2021.
• "Menelik Shabazz Joins birth Ancestors", Still We Rise, 29 June 2021.
• "Memories of Menelik Shabazz, 1954–2021", BFI, 5 July 2021.