Black Film British Cinema 2017

The Politics of Race in Contemporary Film and Digital Practice

A conference and public programme hosted at Goldsmiths, University of London (Day One) and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (Day Two).

Whether we consider the rise of the concept of diversity, the on-screen representation of identities, the off-screen workforce, the production trends of film institutions, new forms of independent production opened up by new media, or film education and talent development, questions of race and ethnicity remain central to contemporary British film.

This programme will mark nearly 30 years since the original Black Film, British Cinema conference at the ICA and its subsequent publication, which has been a huge influence on scholars exploring race, culture and the politics of representation. Some of its core thinking by Kobena Mercer, Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy and others remains an excellent point to consider what has, and has not, become of black and Asian film and TV production in the UK.

View the original ICA Black Film British Cinema publication from 1988 [PDF]

The aim of this two-day conference is to consider the politics of race in contemporary British cinema and visual practice and reflect on almost 30 years of black film production vis-a-vis the institutional, technological, textual, cultural and political shifts that have occurred during this period. The conference will welcome scholars, early career researchers, postgraduate students and practitioners working at the intersection of film, TV, Moving Image, Media and Communication studies, Sociology, Politics and Cultural Studies.

Purchase tickets for day one of the conference at Goldsmiths College

This conference has been organised by University of Greenwich and Goldsmiths University, and co-supported by the Sociological Review Foundation.