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This article was published 27/02/2025 (580 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Black filmmakers, musicians and cultural workers assembled Thursday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to announce their bold vision for an annual festival to celebrate the richness of Black experiences in the local, national and global arts industries.

Organizers Rogers Ofime and Gloria Thompson say that next year’s inaugural Black Film and Music Festival will shine the spotlight on the talent, skill and remarkable creative output of Black creators in Manitoba and around the world.

While the date for the 2026 festival is still being determined, Thompson and Ofime say the event’s 10-person executive body will progress toward the event with a series of monthly workshops geared toward skill-building, networking and project development, all the while working to remove systemic barriers to participation for Black musicians and filmmakers.

“We have come together as a body to celebrate the richness of Black culture through creative storytelling and music,” says festival director Ofime, a Nigerian-born filmmaker and producer who’s lived in Winnipeg with his family since 2010.

“We’d like to announce ourselves to Manitoba to celebrate those artists and shine the spotlight on the remarkable narratives of Black filmmakers and musicians.”

Thompson, a film pro and full-time program and policy analyst who serves as the festival’s first director of industry development, says the planned event and its associated programs are being developed to help Black artists by boosting access to funding resources, educational resources and mentorship opportunities.

Those means of entry are often subject to gatekeeping and lack of Black representation at the decision-making level, she says.

Meanwhile, the Ghanaian-born Thompson says, industry professionals with a wealth of experience on the African continent — including her colleague Ofime — frequently have their global experiences discounted, regardless of skill level, training and extensive resumes.

Ofime, 50, was not only an award-winning independent filmmaker in Nigeria, but the producer of Tinsel, the country’s most successful daily soap opera, which began in 2008 and is still running. Even with that experience in hand, the opportunities upon his arrival in Canada tended to fall at the entry level.

That led the Lagosian filmmaker to launch Theatron Media Inc., a binational production company whose recent credits include the gold-mining telenovela Wura, the romantic drama Conversations in Transit, and Mugabe, a 2023 biopic about the Zimbabwean statesman.

In addition to leading workshops and showcasing work in both film and music, the board is also working toward developing a centralized database of Black professionals across creative industries.

“I know we’ve got a huge crop of talent, but we can’t keep waiting for someone to recognize us. Why don’t we come together? We came here with talent, and we can’t let it die,” says Ofime, who has seen dozens of fellow artists abandon their creative pursuits for a perceived lack of opportunity and industry access.

The festival, on Instagram and Facebook, will contribute to a local cultural scene which already includes initiatives such as Black Film Collective Winnipeg, an organization that puts on monthly film shoots and training opportunities; Manitoba Music’s Black Professionals in Music program; and Soul Supreme, the R&B performance series curated by Winnipeg singer Keisha Booker.

More information about the festival will be added to bfmfestival.com, while inquiries can be directed to industry@bfmfestival.com.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com