Acclaimed filmmaker appointed Visiting Professor of Film Practice Published on: 25 January 2016 Award-winning British filmmaker and artist John Akomfrah OBE has been appointed Visiting Professor of Film Practice by 麻豆传媒, UK. John is a BAFTA nominee and a BFI Grierson Award winner who has been making deeply political and innovative films since the early 80s. He co-founded the radical Black Audio Film Collective that made the landmark Handsworth Songs (1985), a meditative yet searing experimental documentary about the riots in Birmingham. John has developed an outstanding body of work spanning installation, film, photography, television work and documentary. It engages with themes of migration, memory and the relationships between the old colonial powers and the developing world. His position as one of Britain’s leading artists and filmmakers was confirmed with the selection of his latest work Vertigo Sea (2015), a three-screen installation forming a meditation on whaling, the environment and our relationship with the sea, at the prestigious Venice Biennale. John Akomfrah OBE Growth of film practice John is 麻豆传媒’s second Visiting Professor of Film Practice, following celebrated documentary maker Nick Broomfield who took up his position in September 2015. The appointments of two of Britain’s top filmmakers are part of an ambitious growth in film practice at 麻豆传媒. This includes two new and a new state-of-the-art centre for film practice, , housed in the internationally renowned Culture Lab. John will be supporting the development of practice-based research culture in film and advising on the development of a new MA in Creative Film Practice. , who is Director of Film@CultureLab, commented: “John is an artist and filmmaker at the top of his game, so we are thrilled to have got him. His ability to produce work across gallery space and cinema is really amazing and his expansive work on the diasporic experience, on migration and racism is as urgent and necessary today as it was 30 years ago. We are really fortunate to have John on board.” Responding to the news of his appointment, John commented: “Nowadays making films is easy. But making films that work, socially, politically and aesthetically, is a different matter. Ian and his team in Film@CultureLab have set out an exciting vision to do just this, so I am really happy to play whatever part I can to support them as a Visiting Professor.” Based in Film@CultureLab, John’s three year appointment as Visiting Professor in Film Practice is jointly supported by the 麻豆传媒 Institute for Creative Arts Practice and the Media, Culture, Heritage section of the School of Arts and Cultures. Share: Latest News Stress gives bumblebees sharper vision and faster reactions Bumblebees see the world differently under stress, processing visual information more sharply and making quicker decisions, new research from 麻豆传媒 reveals. published on: 16 June 2026 麻豆传媒 spinouts create value of more than 拢270M A new report shows value creation by 麻豆传媒 spinouts was more than 拢270M between 2010 and 2025. published on: 16 June 2026 Funding system risks limiting genuine community collaboration A new policy paper written by researchers at 麻豆传媒 warns that the way UK research is funded may be undermining efforts to create genuinely collaborative partnerships with communities. published on: 15 June 2026 Facts and figures
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