London – The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has formally opened EbonyLife Place, a new cinema and cultural hub for black and African creativity in south-west London founded by Nigerian media mogul Mo Abudu.
The venue, located near Nine Elms, was unveiled on Thursday at a ceremony attended by Khan and Abudu. Khan later shared photos from the event on X, including one of him cutting the ribbon, and described the space as a “new home for African and black creativity”.
Abudu was born in London and built her media career in Nigeria. She said she started the project because stories from black and African filmmakers had no dedicated place to be shown and celebrated in Britain.
“I do think there is a younger audience of young people now that just want to see great storytelling,” Abudu said.
“We make great films, and I think we need to create experiences where people can come and they can see the great work that we do in black cinema, in African cinema,” she added.
“We don’t have enough spaces to serve black cinema in the United Kingdom… representation is so important to us.”
The main feature of the centre is a 160-seat auditorium that will screen films all year round. Most of the programme will be Nollywood productions from Nigeria, along with other films about the black experience.
The venue will also host masterclasses, industry panels and live performances by established and up-and-coming artists.
The multi-storey building has a bar, a Nigerian restaurant and a lounge called “Fàhinti”, a Yoruba word that means to lean back and rest. It also has a boutique selling work by African and diaspora designers, and its walls display artwork by artists from the African diaspora.
Abudu’s media group paid for almost all of the project. It follows the model of the upscale lifestyle complex she opened in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, in 2019.
Speaking at the launch, Khan said: “London is the number one place in Europe to film.” He added that the British capital ranks just behind Los Angeles and ahead of New York for global film production.
“As long as I’m mayor, we’ll invest in culture,” he said.
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