This is Who We Are.

When we were first approached by the BFI to create a takeover – the first of its kind, where the organisation hands the keys to a third party to create something unique – we asked for some time to mull it over. Not because it wasn’t an incredible opportunity – it clearly was. A chance to create something original on a platform like this doesn’t come around often.

But we took time to think it through because if we were to do this, we had a responsibility to do something that was culturally relevant, innovative and allowed us to be open to the possibility of collaborating with some of the wonderful creatives we’ve got to know in this business. It’s what we’ve done and, hopefully, it’s what we’ll continue to do. With these objectives in mind, we enthusiastically accepted the offer from the BFI.

Straight away, we knew that we wanted this takeover to be a statement. We knew it was something that would be designed to start conversations among film goers and filmmakers alike. And finally, we knew we wanted to represent the varied stories that represent us black people in the UK.

Who We Are was born.

If you know a little something about us, you may have seen what we’ve done when it comes to creating culturally relevant experiences for films like Queen and Slim (2019), Black Panther (2018) or Do the Right Thing (1989). We’ve loved working on those films, and seeing the audience respond to what we do is something I doubt we’ll ever get tired of. But, being a film exhibition company in London, I’d always felt that we should screen and exhibit films that were made by black filmmakers in this country, enabling our audiences to see their own experiences on screen. With a few exceptions, we haven’t shown as many films from the UK as we would have liked.

Who We Are would change that. This was going to be a week-long takeover that explored the artistry, creativity and originality of black British Film. What’s more, we were going to use the abundant resources of the BFI online platforms to shout about it from the rooftops. These are our films. These are our stories. This is our art. This is Who We Are.

When starting to add the individual elements together to start curating the takeover, I realised that I wanted to look at three factors: the past, the present and the future of black British film. I’ll explain how we’ve done that.

Having access to the extensive BFI Player collection and mine out the brilliant films about black British life has been a real honour. There were films that I knew, but hadn’t seen for years (Babymother, Gone Too Far!), films I knew and seen but was too young to really understand them (Pressure) and films that I hadn’t heard of before (Ngozi Omuwah’s Coffee Coloured Children springs to mind).

Given the very limited time I had to produce a list of films, many late nights and early mornings were spent experiencing these films. Themes of family, belonging, identity, prejudice, social justice and systematic discrimination started to appear, in various combinations across different films.

But the selection of films we landed on had something to say about the varied nature and uniqueness of black British experience. We felt that they offered audiences an opportunity to (re)visit, (re)evaluate and (re)discover stories that have shaped us over the last five decades. We can only move forward if we understand what is behind us, to not only understand what to change, but to realise that those before us faced similar challenges, similar resistance. The past matters.

After selecting films that represented the black British canon from the 1960s to the present day, we wanted to hear from black filmmakers who are creating work today and understand their challenges, their triumphs and frustrations with the industry. Therefore, we spoke with Akua Gyamfi, founder of The British Blacklist, producers Stella Nwimo and Fiona Lamptey, and scriptwriter Delia Rene, as they shared their experiences of this industry. Lamptey wondered why there were hardly any science fiction films with black lead actors. Rene says that these stories are being created, but ultimately are being derailed by commissioners who are at pains to say it’s not a marketable idea. Gyamfi talks about the fact that the ability to be whimsical and playful in our stories just isn’t allowed, which leads to creators feeling they have to produce work that will get made, rather than work that represents their true passion.

Emerging filmmakers Anthony Vander, Nosa Eke, Tomisin Adepeju and Stephan Pierre Mitchell are distinctive voices who are all embarking on their first feature and are acutely aware of wanting to create work that reflects them. A shift, it seems, is happening. Whether this shift is fast or big enough at the moment is very much up for debate.

We also spent time with visual artist and filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr, on BFI YouTube on Thursday at 7pm, who talks about the response black artists can have when creating during the time of coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Finally, in our conversation with Dear White People creator Justin Simien, on BFI YouTube on Friday at 7pm, we touched on the fact that his response to the “two pandemics” is to shout his truth even louder, enabling those who need to comprehend the message of his show to truly hear what he’s been saying all along. He also points to the bold vision that Michaela Coel has in I May Destroy You, and how it should empower us to stay true to our creative voice and vision.

These filmmakers, regardless of where they are in their journey, have their own challenges to face, and that’s what we wanted to explore. That, in spite of some of the current adversities, they remain to produce work that we believe will stand the test of time. We wanted the conversations we had with them to be seen as a snapshot of where we are with creating our art in 2020.

In addition, we have once again collaborated with Iyare Igiehon, co-founder of S.O.U.L Film fest, as he shares some of his selections of exceptional shorts, from Femi Oyeniran’s I Am Pilate, Tomisin Adepeju’s Appreciation and Nosa Eke’s Something in the Closet.

We also commissioned writing from cultural commentators and creatives Leon Mayne, Delia Rene and Jan Asante, who share their thoughts on thriving in these times. From Mayne deciding to create content on his own terms, to Rene producing an online platform to mentor emerging writers, to Asante suggesting a cultural reset during these times might be needed – these various activities all represent how we’re presently living.

One thing that we were adamant about when producing this takeover was that it simply couldn’t be a short term thing. We didn’t want to pop up on everyone’s timelines for seven days and disappear. We wanted this project to inspire and to lead – in its own way, to change. The only way that was going to happen was to think of long-term initiatives that can support the next generation of black filmmakers.

That’s when we worked with the BFI Film Academy to create the Who You Are competition for black filmmakers aged 16-19. We want to provide a platform for creators to produce their early work, which hopefully will enable them to continue their careers and continue refining their voices. The winner, which will be chosen by us together with the BFI Film Academy, will have their work shown on BFI Player, a platform that reaches thousands.

Finally, we are working with a number of film organisations to deliver a series of mentoring sessions to provide young people with opportunities to forge various careers in the film industry.

Ultimately, this has been a wonderful project to work on, and the response to it from audiences has been great to see. We feel honoured to work with some of the brilliant creatives who have been a part of Who We Are and given their time and energy to our vision.

However, for us, the hard work begins again on 18 July, the day after the takeover ends. How we respond and how we continue to champion our filmmakers and their art is critical. Who We Are is the start of a debate – our future work will play a part in determining how the conversation evolves.