Sankofa Film and Video

Sankofa Film and Video is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit media organization founded in 1983 dedicated to preserving, exhibiting, and producing films and videos by and about the African diaspora. The organization has functioned as an exhibition venue, production company, archive, and education center, collaborating with artists, festivals, museums, and universities. Over decades it has intersected with institutional partners, touring circuits, and community programs to foreground Black independent cinema and diasporic audiovisual traditions.

History

Sankofa Film and Video was established amid the 1980s independent film resurgence alongside institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (New York City), New York Film Festival, Public Theater, and community organizations like Brooklyn Academy of Music and Apollo Theater. Founders drew inspiration from global movements including Black Arts Movement, Pan-Africanism, and cultural debates occurring at venues such as Harlem Cultural Council and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Early programming occurred in partnership with venues like Henry Street Settlement, Tishman Auditorium, and touring salons connected to festivals such as Sundance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and Pan African Film Festival (PAFF). The organization navigated licensing issues related to collections referenced by institutions like the Library of Congress and the British Film Institute while developing archives comparable to collections at Smithsonian Institution and National Film Registry.

Mission and Programming

The stated mission emphasizes preservation of diasporic audiovisual heritage and support for filmmakers associated with networks including Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, National Black Programming Consortium, Women Make Movies, Film Forum, and artist-run spaces like Light Industry and International Center of Photography. Programming traditionally includes retrospectives on figures such as Spike Lee, Julie Dash, Gordon Parks, Kathleen Collins, Charles Burnett, Haile Gerima, Souleymane Cissé, Ousmane Sembène, and Djibril Diop Mambéty; curated seasons referencing movements like Negritude and debates connected to exhibitions at Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of the Moving Image, and Centre Pompidou. The organization has presented film series, panels, and symposia featuring participants from Columbia University, New York University, Howard University, Yale University, and Princeton University.

Notable Productions and Collaborations

Sankofa supported productions and restorations involving filmmakers and institutions such as Haile Gerima, Julie Dash, Charles Burnett, Cheryl Dunye, Isaac Julien, John Akomfrah, Steve McQueen (artist), and Kasi Lemmons. Collaborations extended to archives and museums including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Museum of Modern Art (New York City), British Film Institute, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Cinema Arts Centre. Sankofa’s programming intersected with festival circuits such as Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Venice Film Festival, and partnered with funders and advocates like Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, and Annie E. Casey Foundation. Restorations and co-productions engaged with distribution entities such as Milestone Film & Video, Kino Lorber, Criterion Collection, and broadcasters like PBS, BET, and BBC.

Community Engagement and Education

Community-oriented initiatives connected Sankofa to neighborhood organizations including Bedford–Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, and educational partners such as City University of New York, Brooklyn College, LaGuardia Community College, and Medgar Evers College. Workshops and youth programs drew on collaborations with cultural educators from National Endowment for the Humanities, Young Audiences Arts for Learning, and artist collectives linked to ACT UP and Black Lives Matter. Public programming frequently featured guest speakers and faculty affiliated with Harvard University, Columbia University, New York University, Rutgers University, and Stanford University, and included panelists from documentary communities like POV (TV series) and curatorial networks at International Documentary Association.

Funding and Organizational Structure

Funding and fiscal sponsorship models reflected partnerships with philanthropic institutions such as the Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and municipal arts agencies including New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts. Governance included boards and advisory councils with ties to academia and cultural institutions such as Columbia University, Museum of the Moving Image, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Public Theater. Sankofa engaged fiscal sponsors and distribution partners similar to Fractured Atlas, Jerome Foundation, and National Black Programming Consortium to manage grants, fellowships, and artist residencies, while collaborating with production entities like ITVS and distributors including PBS Distribution.

Category:Film organizations in the United States Category:African diaspora arts organizations Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City