James McCune Smith PhD Scholar, curator, critic and film programmer with experience in the management of film festivals, film exhibition, and arts venue audience engagement. In 2022, she was invited to be a Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow, Acumen Fellow and BAFTA Connect member. She is an alumnus of the Independent Cinema Office's Women's Leadership programme, and a Berlinale Talent alumni.
She has served on international film festival juries including the Royal Anthropological Insitute (RAI) Film Festival, Cork International Film Festival, and the One World Media Awards. In her years as a marketing specialist, she created bespoke campaigns for special and grassroots audiences. She focused on independent films about disenfranchised communities living on the margins, such as BAFTA-winning "Bait" (2019) and Cannes award-winning "The Ciambra" (2018).
Her research work looks at connecting people through the power of film while reimagining ourselves and the environment.
Projects
- No Direct FlightNo Direct Flight is a global partnership project linking East Africa, the UK and the US supported by the BFI and the British Council. Through exhibition, discussion, commissioning and publishing, the project explored the impact of internet culture on African and African diaspora moving image practices from aesthetics to new forms of collaboration. I programme produced a wide number of aspects on the project including film clearance rights, film transport management, talent schedules and travel
- BAITA truly handmade film, "Bait" (directed by Mark Jenkin and produced by Early Day Films) tracks the arguments that generate a tragedy, as Martin Ward, a fisherman without a boat, clashes with almost everyone in his Cornish fishing village. Conflicts grow as he tries to honour his family legacy, in a village sold to tourists. In hand-developed 16mm images in shimmering black and white, Bait tells a narratively unconventional story of structural change in a picturesque fishing village in Cornwall:
- Sweet CountryProject management and grassroots support/regional marketing campaign in Bristol for the film "Sweet Country" (distributed by Thunderbird Releasing). The film was released in the UK on March 9th 2018. A sweeping, historical epic set against the brutal backdrop of a stunning Australian landscape in 1920s Alice Springs, SWEET COUNTRY follows the story of Sam (Hamilton Morris), a middle-aged Aborigine man who becomes a wanted criminal after a violent altercation with a bitter war veteran. When Sa
- The CiambraProject management and grassroots support/regional marketing campaign in Bristol for the film "The Ciambra" (distributed by Peccadillo Pictures). The film was released in the UK on June 15th 2018. Executive-produced by Martin Scorsese, THE CIAMBRA is a neo-realistic coming-of-age drama set within Italy's marginalised Roma community where the lines between childhood and adulthood are blurred out of necessity and survival. Invoking the spirit of THE BICYCLE THIEVES, THE CIAMBRA is a must-see accla
- Black Star SeasonAs part of curating collective Come the Revolution, I was one of the curators of a two-month UK-wide celebration of the range, versatility and power of Black actors taking place in venues across Bristol. The film season is dedicated to some of the most magnetic performances ever to grace the cinema screen. To promote the films, I produced a variety of social media and digital content to highlight key moments. In keeping with Bristol's graffiti heritage, we worked with local PR practitioners to
- NO B/S! A Comedy Genius Film SeasonAs part of the Come the Revolution collective, we curated a season of films and events that celebrate the many tones of Black comedy. The programme encourages audiences to look behind the laughs and the role of Black comedy to challenge, heal and reveal much of what is wholesome and what is problematic in our transatlantic society. The season is part of Comedy Genius, a nationwide celebration of comedy on screen, led by the British Film Institute, the Independent Cinema Office and BFI Film Audi
+ View all
Work history
L
L
Lead Programmer, Louis le Prince International Short Film CompetitionLeeds Internatinoal Film Festival
Leeds, United KingdomPart Time
Oscar® and BAFTA-qualifying Shorts Film Competition named after the French pioneer who made the world’s first moving images in Leeds in 1888.
B
B
Berlinale Talent Press - CriticBerlin International Film Festival (Berlinale)
Berlin, GermanyInternship
Selected by an international jury as one of 8 film critics from across the world to participate in the 13th edition of the Berlinale Talent Press at the 66th Berlin Film Festival. The Berlinale Talent Press is a platform for young film critics created in collaboration with FIPRESCI and the Goethe-Institut.
Mentors this year included Giovanni Vimercati (Celluloid Liberation Front), Aily Nash, Alin Taşçıyan (FIPRESCI president), Kevin B. Lee and Oliver Baumgarten (editor).
I produced five pieces of writing that can be found here - http://talentpress.org
+ Show more
Skills
- Adobe Photoshop
- Writing
- Social Content
- Film Criticism
- Film Festivals
- Film Programming
- Film Marketing
- Film Journalism
- Film Critic
- Curation
Education
U
U
PhDUniversity of Glasgow
Glasgow, United Kingdom
U
U
CuratingUniversity of the West of England
- Bristol, United Kingdom
Masters degree in Curating.
+ Show more