OUR CATALOG

Maureen Blackwood

Maureen Blackwood, of Jamaican heritage, was born in 1960. She attended City and Islington College in London, and then earned a degree in media studies from the University of Westminster. In 1983 Blackwood, along with Isaac Julien, Martina Attile, Robert Crusz, and Nadine Marsh–Edwards, co–founded the Sankofa Film and Video Collective. With Sankofa’s other filmmakers, Blackwood has produced a number of experimental narrative and documentary works that examine black life in Britain from various perspectives. She has been described as “a formidable figure in black filmmaking in Britain” by Gwendolyn Audrey Foster. Blackwood’s first Sankofa film, THE PASSION OF REMEMBRANCE, was an 80–minute project co-written and co-directed with Isaac Julien, which Women Film Directors called “a moving, elegant feast of images.” Blackwood’s next work, also done at Sankofa, was PERFECT IMAGE? in 1988.

Maureen has also worked on many of Sankofa’s other films such as DREAMING RIVERS, and LOOKING FOR LANGSTON. Over the years, Maureen has organized a series of courses for people interested in media careers and worked as a Visiting Artist at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. (1/20)

Isaac Julien

Isaac Julien was born in 1960 in London, where he currently lives and works. While studying painting and fine art film at St Martin's School of Art from which he graduated in 1984, Isaac Julien co-founded 'Sankofa Film and Video Collective' in which he was active from 1983–1992. He was also a founding member of Normal Films in 1991.

Julien was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2001 for his films THE LONG ROAD TO MATZATLAN (1999), made in collaboration with Javier de Frutos and Vagabondia (2000), choreographed by Javier de Frutos. Earlier works include FRANZ FANON: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK (1996), YOUNG SOUL REBELS (1991) which was awarded the Semaine de la Critique Prize at the Cannes Film Festival the same year, and the acclaimed poetic documentary LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (1989), which also won several international awards.

Julien has had solo shows at the Pompidou Centre in Paris (2005), MOCA Miami (2005), Kestnergesellschaft, and Hanover (2006). His film TEN THOUSAND WAVES (2010) went on world tour, and has been on display in over 15 countries so far, and which will conclude at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2013/14. (8/14)

Sankofa

Sankofa is a collective of black, British filmmakers and was founded in the summer of 1983 by then aspiring filmmakers Isaac Julien, Martina Attille, Maureen Blackwood, Nadine Marsh-Edwards, and Robert Crusz. The five young artists were all recent graduates of various art colleges and polytechnics in London and were part of a wave of black independent filmmakers who emerged in the 1980s. Determined to tell their own stories in their own way, they established Sankofa. Sankofa was one of several collectives and film workshops supported by the Greater London Council (abolished in 1986), and the new broadcaster Channel 4, to encourage diversity. Sankofa specializes in distinctive, short films. The Collective’s earlier work includes: WHO KILLED COLIN ROACH? (d. Isaac Julien, 1983), TERRITORIES (d. Julien, 1984) and PASSION OF REMEMBRANCE (d. Maureen Blackwood 1986). The collective’s first full length feature, foregrounds their interest in politics, sexuality and Black British history. Other films such as DREAMING RIVERS (d. Martina Attille, 1988) and LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (d. Julien, 1989,) uncover personal histories with sensitivity and lyricism. In the late 1990s, their production slate broadened to include stories about British Chinese life (YELLOW FEVER, d. Raymond Yeung, 1998) and the work of new writers and directors like Toa Stappard (Strip, 1998) and Mina Courtauld (DUSTY’S STORY, 1998). Among their several award-witting films is ...IS IT THE DESIGN ON THE WRAPPER (d. Tessa Sheridan, 1997), which was awarded the short film Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. (10/09)