bfmmag.com, founded by Floyd Webb and Menelik Shabazz, grew out of bfm magazine which was a groundbreaking, innovative initiative originally published in the UK by Shabazz from 1998 to 2008, becoming an internationally recognized print publication as the only voice for black filmmakers distributed in the UK, USA, and Europe.
“I am very excited to relaunch the brand partnering with Floyd Webb. We are both practicing filmmakers and we know the ins and outs of the business and how important it is to have your work seen and recognized,” says Shabazz. “The black independent sector in the U.S. and internationally is really vibrant, especially with the digital platforms expanding opportunities in all areas.”
Filmmakers are more empowered than at any time previously, but at the same time often remain invisible and marginalized. There are so many amazing talents out there nationally and internationally, often isolated from each other. bfm wants to be the meeting point.
“Menelik and I hit it off at our first meeting way back in the day when he was at an activist newspaper in London. Since then we have worked together on projects, attended each other’s film festivals and met up at festivals in Africa. I am proud to be part of this new venture,” says Webb.
About Menelik Shabazz and Floyd Webb
Menelik Shabazz is a Barbados-born, UK-based writer/director/producer. He is seen as a pioneer of Black British cinema. His seminal award-winning work includes, Burning An Illusion (1981), Catch A Fire (1996, BBC 2), The Story of Lover’s Rock (2011). He is also the founder of the BFM International Film Festival (1999 – 2011).
Floyd Webb is a Chicago resident born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. His experience includes global work in cinema, photojournalism, publishing and advertising. He founded the Blacklight Film Festival in 1982 in cooperation with Chicago Filmmakers and Richard Pena. Webb has been a consultant/programmer to the Raindance Film Festival and BFM Festival in London and taught classes for the Zanzibar Film Festival in East Africa. He presently curates the 16 year old Black World Cinema program in Chicago and is head of the annual Afrofuturism Film Competition.
He was producer for Paris-based Effervescence Production’s Future Mag series for France Arté, 2017-18; consultant for the THE MARCH, director John Akomfrah’s 50th Anniversary March on Washington produced by Robert Redford, (March 2013); associate producer of the award-winning Julie Dash Film, Daughters of the Dust (U,S.1992); local producer of the American Masters film, The World of Nat King Cole (2006); producer and director of music videos, short documentaries, augmented reality and 3D animations projects.
