Menelik Shabazz Writer, Director, Producer

Menelik Shabazz comes to mind with the mere mention of Black independent filmmaking in the United Kingdom. Born in Barbados, Menelik was introduced to the world of video during his teen-age years in London. He attended the London International Film School (1974-76). Since that time he has worked as an independent filmmaker, very conscious of the world around him.

Preceding his first short documentary, Step Forward Youth about London-born black youth, he debuted his first feature film, Burning An Illusion, in 1980, The film, funded by the British Film Institute, won the Grand Prix at the Amien Film Festival in France. This coming of age drama about a woman, who gains a greater awareness of her identity and position in contemporary British society, forged new traditions in British Black filmmaking.

In 1982, Kuumba Productions, a commercial company Shabazz co-founded, became an outlet to create independent projects in London. He produced documentaries: Street Warriors, The People's Account and I Am Not Two Islands. Shabazz is the co-founder of Ceddo Film/Video Workshop in London. Through Ceddo he wrote and directed Time & Judgement, which tells the history of the struggles of the Black community across the world through the use of newsreel footage. In 1996, as part of the six part BBC Education series Hidden Empire, Shabazz completed Catch A Fire which documents the life of Paul Bogle and the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion. Frustrated by how Black filmmakers were being maltreated in the UK, prompted Shabazz's decision to publish the Black Filmmaker Magazine (BFM). In addition to serving as Publisher and editor of this London based magazine, he continues to write/develop projects for cinema and television, and serve as the Director of the BFM International Film Festival.

Lecture Topics: Scriptwriting, Directing, Filmmaking in the UK, and West Indies Cinema

Filmography: Step Catch A Fire (:30 min/1996)
Time & Judgement (87min/1988)
Burning An Illusion (35mm/16mm/Color/107 min/1982)
I'm Not Two Islands (Producer/1982)
Street Warriors (Producer/1985)
The People's Account (Producer/1987)
Step Forward Youth (:30 min/1976)
Forward Youth (30 min./1976)
Burning An Illusion (35/16mm/Color/107 min./1982)