John Akomfrah (b. 1957, Accra, Ghana) hails from a family of Ghanaian political activists. He grew up in London and graduated in sociology from Portsmouth Polytechnic (1982). He cofounded the London media outfit Black Audio Film Collective, a seminal cine-cultural workshop where he directed a broad range of work. In 1986 he debuted with the controversial documentary Handsworth Songs, a film that explores the historical experience of blacks in British society. He also shot other thematically similar, engagé movies, both fiction and documentary, including Testament (1988), Who Needs a Heart? (1991), and Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993), and had success in television (Dr. Martin Luther King: Days of Hope, 1997; The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, 1999). In 2008 he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) for his services to the film industry.
46. IFF Karlovy Vary
