Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe Feb 2017
Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe is a pioneer in Black and Minority film exhibition (The Voice News Paper 2016). A connoisseur of urban story telling and production, Emmanuel is the go-to guy for bridging the gap between the mainstream and independent talent in European BAME film.
Graduating from The University of West London (based next to the world famous Ealing Studios) and graduated with a 2:1 honours for Media Arts & Video Production in 2002, Emmanuel set-up his first business in 2001 – a production company called IQ Creations – which developed TV formats in the UK and internationally.
In 2002 he worked for BFM (Black Filmmaker Magazine) and programmed the festival during its 5th anniversary year in 2003. He also worked for the Screen Nation awards in 2004 and produced a magazine show celebrating West African cinema.
After his apprenticeship at both companies, he established B.U.F.F (British Urban Film Festival) in 2005 after attending the Urban Music Festival and marvelling over the positive event bringing urban musicians together. B.U.F.F was initially formed to showcase urban independent cinema in the absence of any such state-sponsored activity in the UK. Supported by a board which included actors, journalists, film critics and filmmakers, BUFF stands out as the only festival of its kind with a triple offering of online, on-air and spectator platforms where filmmakers and scriptwriters are presented with the opportunity to have their work showcased to the largest audience reach possible.
Emmanuel was given a 13 week slot on BEN TV in 2006 to produce ‘The Search for BUFF’ to find models to present at the festival. It was a street version of a beauty pageant, asking the public in the form of Vox pops what makes a person ‘buff’ in the traditional sense of attractive, a play on the festivals acronym B.U.F.F.
Since launch, BUFF’s sole objective is to celebrate difference and to champion, embrace, disrupt and accurately reflect the changing cultural mass and demographic make-up of the UK as expressed primarily through film. B.U.F.F responded to the lack of diverse award nominees at BAFTA and Oscar by launching the B.U.F.F Awards in 2015. Since the, B.U.F.F has awarded 20 filmmakers incl. Richard Pryor (posthumously) and Wil Johnson.
12 years on since conception, Emmanuel has formed relationships and sponsorships with several media brands incl. BBC Films, Channel4, Community Channel, Colourful Radio, The Voice Newspaper, London Live, Trace Urban and SKY and B.U.F.F was named the best festival for diversity in the world by Metro Newspaper, May 2016.
Emmanuel received an Icon Recognition Award from CHUB Magazine 2015 for services to film and television and has was nominated for an Excellence in Diversity Award 2016.
Book Emmanuel:
⇒ Guest panelist at your university, college, film event or governmental meetings as a commentator on film exhibition and marketing strategies for black and ethnic films.
⇒ Expert writer/ contributor for topics: Black and Ethnic minority films.
⇒ Speaker online, on air, at events for topics: Black and Ethnic minority films, curating a successful film festival.
