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Clare Anyiam-Osigwe joins elite list of Black British female directors to secure UK cinema distribution.

Having become the first Black British female to be honoured by the Queen for services to dermatology in 2017, Clare Anyiam-Osigwe will join another illustrious list next month when she becomes the 6th Black British female director in history to have a feature film released in UK cinemas with her debut feature, No Shade on Friday the 2nd of November.

Historians have to go back over 2 decades to find the first Black British female director to have secured UK cinema distribution – a revelation in itself given that British cinema has had a storied history going back over a century.

In 1995, Ngozi Onwurah secured a release for Welcome II the Terrordome and was seen as a trailblazer in the industry.

Many hoped that this marked the beginning of additional opportunities for black female directors. British audiences had to wait nine years for history to repeat itself, with the 2004 UK theatrical release of Amma Asante’s BAFTA award-winning debut, A Way of Life.

It was another nine years before Asante directed her sophomore feature, Belle (2013), followed 3 years later by A United Kingdom (2016). 2014 saw the release of Gone Too Far, directed by Destiny Ekaragha and in 2015, British audiences saw Debbie Tucker Green become the 4th Black British female director to have a release with Second Coming.

Last year saw the release of BAFTA award-winning I Am Not a Witch by Zambian-born Welsh director Rungano Nyoni.Anyiam-Osigwe (born in Islington) completes the list of 6 and will be releasing No Shade in selected cinemas nationwide from November the 2nd.

Short Synopsis: Adele Oni stars as Jade, a successful freelance photographer who is hopelessly in love with her best friend of 10 years, bar manager Danny (played by Kadeem Pearse). She discovers through several challenging encounters both personally and professionally that the one thing keeping them from happy ever after is her inherent beauty – her complexion and skin tone. Her shade.

 

Starring new British talent, Adele Oni and Kadeem Pearse, the “No Shade” storyline focuses on colourism and is told through the prism of love, relationships, dating and marriage written, directed and co-starring Clare Anyiam-Osigwe. The cast also features Clare Anyiam-Osigwe, Algie Salmon-Fattahian, Jade Asha, Zephryn Taitte, Sharea Samuels, Fred Lancaster, Shone Romulus, Tenisha White, Lonyo Engele, Veronica Jean Trickett, Chris Preddie OBE, Paula Masterton, Joel Grizzle, Justin Chinyere, Kele Le Roc and Judith Jacob.

 

What is Colourism: Prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. 

 

Colourism has become a hot topic of conversation in the United States thanks to the predominantly dark-skinned cast in Black Panther and recent comments made about Beyonce’s skin tone by her father Matthew Knowles, former manager of Destiny’s Child.

 

And with movies such as Dear White People and Get Out coming to the fore, BUFF is looking to explore these themes from a Black British perspective. The move into production suggests that BUFF is diversifying into original programming having exhibited films since its’ inception in 2005.

 

“The release of No Shade, written and directed by Clare Anyiam-Osigwe who also co-stars, is testament to her many talents and the brilliant cast we’ve assembled. We hope that the movie will appeal to film fans not just in the UK but all over the world, from Houston to Holland,” said producer and U.K Distributor of No Shade, Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe.