Today black Canadians are becoming a creative force in the world of film and video production. For over 4 centuries, Africans have been integral to what is today known as Canadian culture. In the early 1600's an African, Mathieu Da Costa, travelled as a MicMac interpreter with Samuel Champlain to Nova Scotia. In 1628 the first African slave to be sold in Canada was 7-year-old Oliver Le Jeune from Madagascar.

Canada was a fabled land of freedom for black Americans fleeing
slavery from the US on the Underground Railroad in the early 1800s. In 1858, the Canadian gold rush and socio-political changes in California resulted in a massive influx to western Canada by the black American mer-chant class. In the 1960s, Canada benefited from the arrival of Caribbean professionals seeking a better world for their families.

Yet the history of black people in Canada has been invisible - from British Columbia's first police force, the all-black African Rifles; to Ontario's legendary classicalcomposer Nathaniel Deft; to Nova Scotia's singing sensation Portia White; to Quebec's breathtaking jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Black people have had a long struggle towards visi-bility in Canadian art, particularly film. Native black Canadian film and video-makers' work has tended to reside mainly in the archives of Canada's National Film Board (NFB), libraries or specialist educational distributors.

In the 1970s, the first black pioneers to make sub-stantial inroads in the Canadian film and television industry were Claire Prieto, Roger McTair and Jennifer Hodge Da Silva. In the early days of black Canadian filmmaking, many tended to produce documentaries, particularly through the NFB. Prieto, who has just finished supervising the last set of Canadian Film Centre (CFC) shorts, is an inspiration for many emerging artists.

Co-founder of the Toronto-based Black Film and Video Network (BFVN) Prieto says, "You always judge because you're struggling with a very small pot within a not very large filmmaking community. Certainly the last 10 years there have just been more filmmakers of colour. Quite a few people moved directly to drama, while originally a lot of people began in documentary."

In the 1970s documentaries could be made with limited resources, with a crew of two people. This influenced the type of films being produced by black filmmakers in the 1980s and 1990s when producers, directors and writers like Christene Brown, Damon D'Oliveira, Sylvia Hamilton, Selwyn Jacob, Karen King, Glace Lawrence, Anthony Sher-wood, Michelle Mohabeer and others were becoming established in film and television, making everything from documentaries to music videos. Lawrence says, "We came together because of a common need. Funding agencies didn't have black people on board but that has changed through the efforts of BFVN, Full Screen and the Film Centre labs. With funding cutbacks, things have changed but I think representation is still there."

Prieto says that while more people are moving into producing dramas, there are still not a lot of people making films or directing. However, today there are more than one or two black Canadian filmmakers whose work is acclaimed in Canada and internationally.

One such person is Clement Virgo who has two groundbreaking award-winning feature films to his credit. His first, Rude, was presented by invitation at the Cannes Film Festival, and his second, Love Come Down, has received rave reviews world-wide. Virgo, like many black filmmakers in Canada, is based in Toronto and is a graduate of Norman Jewison's pivotal Canadian Film Centre, which is where many black filmmakers have been able to take their creative visions to another level. Virgo, Stephen Williams, Glace Lawrence, and many others have grown through their involvement with the Centre's programmes while inspiring a new generation of filmmakers.

While other Film Centre graduates have not yet seen the same level of notoriety as Virgo, Stephen Williams, Alphonse Adetuyui and others have been experi-encing success in the television industry. Film and video artist Quammie Williams, ex-director of Toronto's new Reel World film festival, has worked in the Canadian industry since 1985. He is also an active participant in independent pro-duction centres like Trinity Square Video where many young filmmakers are honing their skills. Williams sees a continuous growth in the empowerment of black filmmakers. "There is a new breed of artist who have had the oppor-tunity to go to film school or those like Christene Brown who feel empowered to tell the stories they want to tell. They're going after private and public funds and they're working together."

Almost 15 years ago, the Black Film and Video Network began as a strategic resource for black Canadian film-makers. Creating workshops, seminars and screening programmes, BFVN began at a time when there was a flurry of activity with several groups establishing local and national community organisations for Canadian artists of colour. Many no longer exist but filmmakers like award-winning director Louis Taylor suggest that the needs of black filmmakers have changed. Louis Taylor has been an actor in Canada for 21 years. Recently he has become highly visible for his work behind the camera with his hugely successful and hilarious film, Esther, Baby and Me. A founding member of now-defunct Artists Net-working Together (ANT), Taylor has a unique perspective about filmmaking in Canada: "What's fascinating for me is seeing the creation of a black Canadian film industry. The black community in Canada is now established to a degree."

Also here are filmmakers coming from other directions, who are known mainly for their work in other disciplines, like dub poet Ahdri Zhina Mandiela, playwright/actor Djanet Sears, and writer/singer Diana Braithwaite. Holness, producer of Black Stage Women with Ahdri Zhina Mandiela, says "When you come from another medium, you need to present your projects to broadcasters in a certain way. It's doubly difficult crossing mediums. The money people, the broadcaster, the distributor, and the financiers limit you. It's amazing how much you have to fight for and you may still lose the battle (in order to get the film made). Each one has a different kind of standard."

So what does it take to move from being a starving artist to a paid working filmmaker in Canada? While their work is being developed at a time of greater oppor-tunity, Canadian filmmakers have to get their work into places like Toronto Film Festival's Canadian Film prog-ramme and Planet Africa programme (originally programmed by leading film critic Cameron Bailey and June Giovanni, formerly of BFI); BFVN's annual Reel Black awards; get funding to travel to international festivals to promote their films; and get as much media coverage as they can through campus/community and other media sources. Holness says "Reality-based programming has created more opportunities for us to work in TV as a result of our background in documentary filmmaking. But for writers, producers, directors to work in TV, you need to build a body of work. The cumulative effect of more experience makes it easier to make proposals to broadcasters. You have to be aware, as well as be able to negotiate. If you aren't versed in this, your success rate getting projects off the ground will be dismal."

Claire Prieto says that it's always hard to get financing but more black filmmakers are working. Some are working in the US as well, like Prieto who has co-produced Love Songs with acclaimed director Charles Fuller for Showtime Network. Prieto also has films in development, continuing to work as a production manager and consultant while supervising at the CFC. She says, "In a lot of cases, to be able to stay in it and to be successful

you have to go beyond your borders. In some cases I know people are looking at co-productions in the UK for instance. Unless you stay in the short film arts council arena, once you move beyond that you have to have the funds and the distribution.The Canadian filmmakers continue to prove that they have the know-how and drive to keep making films and videos. Sutherland and Holness go to camera in September with their first feature Eating the Bones. Louis Taylor is working on a couple of film scripts and is shooting a short drama called David and the Conglomerate. Quammie Williams is developing projects and works with Trinity Square Video to assist new artists learning the business of film and video. Glace Lawrence is developing a short drama Hold On Sistah' and a documentary about women behind the camera.

To be a commercial success, some-times filmmakers have to make com-promises to achieve their goals. They work often gruelling schedules but they're passionate about filmmaking for the simple reason that they love what they do. After more than 20 years behind the camera, Prieto says, "There's still nothing more wonderful to me than being on a set. You can't make films in a vacuum. I hope people don't get disheartened. Filmmaking is a glorious thing to do. It takes a lot but gives a lot back too."