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A new cultural hub dedicated to African cinema and Black culture has opened its doors in London, with Nigerian media mogul Mo Abudu hoping to bring stories from Africa and its diaspora to a wider audience.
EbonyLife Place London features a cinema, a restaurant and a boutique showcasing designers from Africa and its diaspora. The project aims to create a destination where visitors can experience different aspects of Black culture without having to travel abroad.
For Abudu, the centre is the result of a long-held ambition to give African stories a permanent home in the British capital. “The idea has probably been buried in my subconsciousness for the longest time. I know how important it is for stories to travel. I know how important it is for culture to travel. And I just felt that we needed to have a destination point to where this culture could travel to and that's really what got me started on this journey,” she said.
A cinema dedicated to Black storytelling
At the heart of EbonyLife Place London is a cinema designed to showcase African films and productions celebrating Black actors and stories.
The programme will include Nollywood films from Nigeria, alongside international productions that explore the Black experience. Abudu said the cinema would also screen major American releases featuring Black talent.
Abudu believes African culture deserves greater visibility in international markets. Rather than waiting for audiences to discover it elsewhere, she wants to make it more accessible in one of Europe's major cultural capitals.
“We have consumed so much of the world. How much of the world has consumed us? And I'm not waiting anymore for anyone to take a six-hour trip from London to understand what it is to watch a Nigerian film, or to see Nigerian fashion, and so on and so forth. It's right here in London,” she said.
The initiative also reflects a personal ambition for Abudu, who was born in England and says she grew up without a place to watch Black films.
“I think it's important for us to know that if I didn't create this moment, it wouldn't exist. So if it's the moment or if it's not the moment, I mean, I am 62 years old. I was born in England. I lived in England for many years. I could never go anywhere during my youth to go and watch a black movie. No one in my time thought they should have done that. It's taken this long for someone like me to do this."
Making African cinema mainstream
Abudu's ambition extends beyond opening a single cultural centre. She wants African and Black cinema to become a familiar part of the entertainment landscape, with more venues offering audiences access to films, art, fashion and food from across the diaspora.
“Then years from now, we shouldn't be here saying, this is the first black cinema, which it is. Ten years from now, it should just be, there's another cinema. There should be several others opening. So, cinemas, you know, culture hubs, food, fashion, art, bringing it all together."
With EbonyLife Place London, Abudu hopes to help create an environment in which African stories are not treated as a niche interest, but as an integral part of mainstream culture.