Screen Nation Foundation, the charitable arm of the Screen Nation Film & TV Awards, has launched the UK’s first ever hall of fame honoring individuals of African Caribbean heritage who have made extraordinary contributions to UK film & television.
Designed as a legacy project, styled both as a celebratory “In Conversation” career talk and a unique online resource to be known as Screen Nation Hall of Frame, the first Induction is a key event of BFI BLACK STAR, the UK’s biggest ever celebration of black screen talent, which kicks off this month and runs through December.
The inaugural inductee is Earl Cameron CBE, acknowledged by many as one of the first African Caribbean screen actors to break the color bar in the UK. The Induction will celebrate the incredibly robust career of the 99-year-old multi-talented performer with an acting career spanning 70 years, starring in over 90 films and TV productions.
Mr. Cameron will be interviewed and officially inducted as the first member of the Hall of Frame at BFI Southbank, by Brenda Emmanus, BBC News Arts Correspondent, with a rare screening of Pool of London, the Ealing Studios classic thriller that launched Mr. Cameron’s career showing after the presentation.
Charles Thompson MBE, Chairman of Screen Nation Foundation said: ‘’I am proud that the incredible legacy of the extraordinary contributions gifted by these outstanding veteran screen talents to the British film & TV industry can now finally be honored through the Hall of Frame.’’
The launch event marks the start of a series of Hall of Frame Inductions to be held every 6 months over the coming years to honor some of the UK’s longstanding and unfortunately oftentimes under-appreciated veteran black British stars of the screen.
With the constant debate around the lack of diversity across mainstream media channels Screen Nation intends for the legacy created by these inductions to add value and much needed honor to the British film & television landscape, where the contributions by African Caribbean screen practitioners can finally be fully and consistently acknowledged & recorded for future generations.
Part of BFI BLACK STAR, this event is supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London and proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network.
Further information about the Screen Nation Hall of Frame can be found on a dedicated website launching 26th, Sept www.screennation.org.
Below, ahead of his induction, Earl Cameron was interviewed by Channel 4’s (UK) Matt Frei at Kenilworth castle, in a brief conversation that covers Cameron’s early days as a ground-breaker, and his decision to stay in the UK during those very restrictive years (for black actors), instead of heading west to Hollywood to pursue a potentially more lucrative acting career, like his contemporary Sidney Poitier, who he also speaks about here.Watch the conversation below:
