June Givanni to receive Bafta’s outstanding British contribution to cinema award

June Givanni, the pioneering film curator and writer of African and African diaspora cinema, will be awarded the outstanding British contribution to cinema prize during the 2024 Bafta film awards.

As the founder of the June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive (JGPACA), she will receive one of Bafta’s highest accolades following a career dedicated to preserving the history of Pan-African and Black British cinema and culture.

The special award, which recognises a significant and inspiring contribution to film through a particular project, will be presented to Givanni during the Bafta film ceremony on February 18 at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London.

Givanni said: “I was shocked and am honoured to receive such recognition from Bafta for work that I have been privileged to be able to do with some of the most inspired and inspiring people in the world of cinema generally and Pan African cinema and culture in particular; especially with the energies of the younger generation of thinkers, curators and artists who bring dynamic energies to working with, and discovering, the archives of the moving image from a pre-digital age.”

London-based JGPACA is a volunteer-run archive comprising more than 10,000 rare and unique artefacts which document the development of film-making across Africa and the African diaspora.

It has grown to become one of the largest independent archives in the UK over the past 40 years, Bafta said.

Jane Millichip, the chief executive of Bafta, said: “June has been a pioneering force in the preservation, study and celebration of African and African Diaspora cinema and Black British cultural heritage.

“The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive, developed over 40 years, is now one of the world’s most important time capsules of the ideas, stories and creative output of an essential part of British and global film history, and a valuable resource for inspiring future generations.

“We are so pleased to be able to shine a light on June’s work at the EE Bafta film awards next month, including her extraordinary archive and the filmmakers and stories within it.”

Previous recipients of the award include actors Andy Serkis and Sir John Hurt, as well as the Harry Potter films and film directors Sir Ridley Scott alongside his brother Tony Scott.

The Bafta film awards, hosted by David Tennant, will be broadcast on BBC One on February 18.