(1957 - )
John Akomfrah was born in Accra, Ghana and moved to England at the age of eight. He graduated in sociology from Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1982 and was one of the founders of the Black Audio Film Collective (BACF) established to examine issues of Black British identity through film, and media. BAFC went on to produce the award-winning ‘Handsworth Songs’, which focused on racial tensions in Britain in the 1980s. Akomfrah’s work has been shown extensively in solo and group exhibitions in key institutions around the world and has featured in many international film festivals, including Sundance Film Festival, Utah, USA (2013 and 2011) and Toronto International Film Festival, Canada (2012). He was awarded the Artes Mundi Prize in 2017 and a Knighthood for services to the Arts in 2023. He has been commissioned to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2024.
