An award-winning director behind films on Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Louis Armstrong will appear in Aberdeen today (Tuesday, March 11).
John Akomfrah, one of the leading figures of Black British cinema, will speak at King's College Conference Centre at 6pm as part of the Director's Cut series at the University of Aberdeen.
Akomfrah's features and documentaries, including Martin Luther King: Days of Hope (1997) have achieved acclaim in the USA and Britain.
His 1986 film, Handsworth Songs, which explores race and civil strife in 1980s Britain, won seven international awards including the British Film Institute's prestigious Grierson Award for Best Documentary.
The emergence of Black Power in Britain was his inspiration for further work such as Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993) and Who Needs a Heart? (1991).
Akomfrah has also directed many television programmes, including The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong (1999) for the BBC arts programme Omnibus.
A critic as well as a film-maker, he has written widely about African cinema. His most recent ground-breaking drama, Wetin Dey (2007), explores social realities facing young people in Nigeria.
Akomfrah is co-founder of the influential London-based media workshop, Black Audio Film Collective. He was awarded an OBE in the 2008 New Years Honors List for his services to the film industry.
"John Akomfrah has produced a wide range of innovative work which is considered to be some of the most distinctive and exciting to be produced in British film culture over the last 20 years," said Alan Marcus, Reader in Film and Visual Culture at the University's Film Studies department.
"His films have achieved international acclaim for their stylish aesthetic and penetrating insight into the human condition, and we're proud to welcome to him to The Director's Cut."
To book your free place visit http://www.abdn.ac.uk/directorscut/ or email href="mailto:events@abdn.ac.uk"><strong>events@abdn.ac.uk</strong></a></p>
Alternatively, call the Events Team on 01224 273 874.