African cinemas within the city: Archives, Exhibition and Circulation

PhD in Culture, Media and Creative Industries
​

Background and context ​
​As African countries gained independence in the 1960s, cinema became a powerful tool for liberation and decolonisation (Dovey, 2015, Petty, 2025). This period marked the emergence of African film festivals in the continent, including the pioneering Journées Cinématographies de Cartaghe (JCC), founded in Tunisia in 1966, and the Festival Pan-Africain du Cinéma et de la Télévision de Ouagadougou (FESPACO), in Burkina Faso in 1969. Despite these festivals and productions, the transnational circulation and recognition of African films remain limited. Film festivals continue to serve as vital platforms for exhibition, often adopting innovative approaches to build African audiences for African cinemas (Sendra, 2023). Beyond the African continent, several regionally focused initiatives have also worked to promote African cinema internationally. In the United Kingdom, London has played a leading role in this effort (Sendra and Steedman, 2025). The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive (JGPACA) is a key institution preserving the history of African film exhibition globally, offering valuable insights into its transnational trajectories. 
Area of research ​
​The project offers an opportunity to examine spaces of circulation of African cinema in Britain since the 1980s to the present, in the context of seasons, programmes (such as Africa 1995) or more recent festivals, such as Film Africa in London, or any UK-based festival within the TANO network, such as AiM in Scotland, Afrika Eye in Bristol, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Watch-Africa Cymru in Wales.

​The research could include not just programmes that have opened up spaces of circulation of African cinema, but also, the closing down of many of these initiatives, and the changing ways of showing African cinema in the UK. There are also archives of the work that Dr June Givanni has done with Channel 4 and the BFI. There is also a key concern about the sustainability of the modes of showing and distributing African cinema in the UK, and the basis on which relationships between involved partners are funded. 

Project Code: 2627-ACBB1
​

Entry Requirements

This project leads to the award of a PhD in Culture, Media and Creative Industries. Before you apply, please check the specific entry requirements and once ready, complete the application via King's Apply. Remember to include the Project Code in your application.

Supervisors

​Dr Estrella Sendra, Lecturer in Culture, Media and Creative Industries Education (Festivals and Events) 
Dr Johan Andersson, Reader in Urban Cultural Geography, Department of Geography

Project Partner

The June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive (JGPACA) holds a unique collection of artefacts and archival material, which has at its core the interest of PanAfrican cinema and its relationship with Black British cinema and culture. PhD candidates would have access to this collection and be supported in the selection of materials for data collection purposes, both the PhD supervisors and project archivists at JGPACA. The partnership further offers the opportunity to consider knowledge exchange from the beginning to its completion, through curated exhibitions or film screenings both at JGPACA and King’s College London. 
Keywords
  • African cinema and the city
  • African film festivals
  • Archives of African Cinema
  • Building audiences for African cinemas
  • Distribution and exhibition of African cinema in the content and/or diaspora
  • Creative/cultural cities
Expected outcome ​
By bridging knowledge and expertise across the Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Public Policy, the project will contribute to our understanding of African creativity – specifically film - to the UK creative economy and society. The project can also contribute to the UK and international creative and cultural economies through a better understanding of cinema viewing experiences and exhibition contexts in the city. It should also offer insight into best curatorial and exhibition practices, exploring how to engage local and transnational audiences with African cinemas. During the completion process, there will be a focus on knowledge exchange and public engagement, bridging the gap between the industry and Higher Education, through the partnership between the  June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive and King’s College London.
 
Suggested readings