Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe

Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe is the founder and Chairman of the British Urban Film Festival (BUFF), which became a BAFTA-winning festival in February 2025 for its short film "Rock, Paper, Scissors." I also co-founded BUFF Studios in Halifax, West Yorkshire, where I serve as Executive Producer. In 2019, I was awarded an MBE for services to the Black and Minority Ethnic film industry and received my medal from HRH Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 2020.

With 24 years of experience, I’ve worked with Channels Television News, BFM (Black Filmmaker Magazine), and the Screennation Awards. I’ve also written for The Voice and The TV Collective and produced film programs for Colourful Radio and Choice FM UK.

I founded BUFF in 2005 to showcase urban independent cinema and have screened over 1000 films, facilitating platforms for Black and urban filmmakers. BUFF became BAFTA-qualified for British Short Films in 2020 and streamed exclusively on Apple TV the same year.

In 2017, I co-founded BUFF Studios, which produced my debut feature, No Shade, released in 2018. The film made history with Clare Anyiam-Osigwe becoming the sixth Black British female director to secure theatrical distribution. BUFF Business Group was recognized by the BeyGood foundation in 2023 with a grant for Black-owned businesses.