British Urban Film Festival

The British Urban Film Festival was founded in July 2005 to showcase urban independent cinema in the absence of any such state-sponsored activity in the UK (at the time). To date, the festival has screened over 500 films, securing broadcast platforms for a majority of Black and urban independent writers, actors, actresses, producers and directors on the BBC i-player, Channel 4, Community Channel (now Together TV), Showcase TV and London Live.

In February 2018, BUFF Originals was launched to act as the production and distribution arm of the British Urban Film Festival. Its' debut feature - No Shade - was released in UK cinemas in November 2018, making director Clare Anyiam-Osigwe the 6th Black British female director (to date) to secure theatrical distribution in over 120 years.

Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe is the founder and Chairman of the British Urban Film Festival and officially, one of the 100 most powerful and influential figures in independent film, according to a list published by the UK Power 100 in June 2019. For his work as executive producer of 'No Shade' (BUFF's first, fully funded and independently released feature film), Emmanuel was also listed as 1 of 5 standout inductees by the UK Power 100.