June Givanni, film curator, writer and programmer of African and African diaspora cinema and founder of The June Givanni PanAfrican Archive, will be presented with BAFTA’s Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award at the BAFTA Film Awards in February.
The award is presented to an individual or organization that has made a significant and inspiring contribution to film through a particular project or work – with focus on recognizing work that might not otherwise be eligible in BAFTA’s competitive awards categories.
The London-based June Givanni PanAfrican Archive is a volunteer-run archive founded by Givanni as part of her wider curatorial work and is dedicated to preserving the history of pan-African and Black British cinema and culture. It comprises over 10,000 rare and unique artefacts documenting the development of filmmaking across Africa and the African diaspora and has grown to become one of the largest independent archives in the U.K.
Givanni began her career as the co-ordinator of Third Eye London’s first Festival of Third World Cinema. She went onto set up and run the African Caribbean Film Unit at the BFI and was co-founding editor with Gaylene Gould of the quarterly “Black Film Bulletin.” She also programmed Planet Africa at The Toronto International Film Festival over four years. She has worked as a film curator on five continents programming for TV channels and festivals. Givanni has also published several books including the edited volumes “Remote Control: Dilemmas of Black Intervention in British Film and TV” and “Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema: Audiences, Theory and the Moving Image.”
Jane Millichip, CEO of BAFTA, said: “June has been a pioneering force in the preservation, study and celebration of African and African Diaspora cinema and Black British cultural heritage. The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive, developed over 40 years, is now one of the world’s most important time capsules of the ideas, stories and creative output of an essential part of British and global film history, and a valuable resource for inspiring future generations. We are so pleased to be able to shine a light on June’s work at the BAFTA Film Awards next month, including her extraordinary archive and the filmmakers and stories within it.”
Givanni added: “I was shocked and am honored to receive such recognition from BAFTA for work that I have been privileged to be able to do with some of the most inspired and inspiring people in the world of cinema generally and Pan African cinema and culture in particular; especially with the energies of the younger generation of thinkers, curators and artists who bring dynamic energies to working with, and discovering, the archives of the moving image from a pre-digital age. We are also grateful for the support of the Freelands Foundation who have given us some crucial space to dream. Thank you.”
David Tennant will host the awards on Feb. 18.
