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John Akomfrah
John Akomfrah | |
|---|---|
 Akomfrah at Artes Mundi 7, Cardiff, October 2016 | |
| Born | 4 May 1957 |
| Alma mater | Portsmouth University |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, artist, curator |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Notable work | Handsworth Songs (1986) Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993) The Unfinished Conversation (2013) Purple (2017) |
| Awards | Artes Mundi Prize |
| Website | www |
Sir John Akomfrah CBE RA (born 4 May 1957[1]) is a Ghanaian-born British artist, writer, film director, screenwriter, theorist and curator of Ghanaian descent, whose "commitment to a radicalism both of politics and of cinematic form finds expression in all his films".[2]
A founder of the Black Audio Film Collective in 1982, he made his début as a director with Handsworth Songs (1986), which examined the fallout from the 1985 Handsworth riots.[3] Handsworth Songs went on to win the Grierson Award for Best Documentary in 1987.[4]
With Lina Gopaul and David Lawson, his long-term producing partners, Akomfrah co-founded Smoking Dogs Films in 1998.
In the words of The Guardian, he "has secured a reputation as one of the UK's most pioneering film-makers [whose] poetic works have grappled with race, identity and post-colonial attitudes for over three decades."[5] In the 2023 New Year Honours, he was the recipient of a knighthood in recognition of his services to the Arts.[6]
Akomfrah was chosen to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2024.[7]
- ^ "British Film Institute ScreenOnline biography".
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Sandhuwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Childs, Peter; Storry, Mike, eds. (2002). "Akomfrah, John". Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. London: Routledge. pp. 18–19.
- ^ The Grierson Trust. Archived 25 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (7 January 2016). "John Akomfrah: 'I haven't destroyed this country. There's no reason other immigrants would'". The Guardian.
- ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N2.
- ^ Adams, Tim (7 April 2024). "Interview'Another layer of pigment needed adding to the canvas': artist John Akomfrah on changing the narrative, from Windrush to colonialism". The Observer.
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