Stephen Bourne changed British cinema with his book "Black in the British Frame." It is now out of print.

Mo Abudu, the Nigerian entrepreneur, made headlines this week after the official opening of EbonyLife Place London, a new cultural center dedicated to Black art and culture in Nine Elms, southwest London. The multi-story venue features a 160-seat cinema that, according to its organizers, exclusively programs films by Black filmmakers from across the African diaspora. Abudu explained that […]

Nigerian entrepreneur Mo Abudo made headlines this week after officially opening EbonyLife Place London - a new cultural center dedicated to black arts and culture in Nine Elms, South West London.

The multi-story venue has a 160-seat cinema, which organizers say will exclusively program black films from across the African diaspora. Abode has described the venue as Britain's first "black cinema". This is not The Electric Cinema in Notting Hill was owned from 1993 to 2000 by Kwesi Owusu, Paul Bucknor and Mark Mantuk, three black African and West Indian filmmakers. This space was a popular center for world independent black cinema. RELATED NEWS YouTube Evening News: Meet the Content Creators Making Waves in Europe Raven Banner News Polish Folk Horror 'Òpi' Ahead of US Festival Kickoff

Nevertheless, EbonyLife Place London is a welcome addition to the British cinema scene, which would be impossible to imagine without decades of important work on black filmmaking in Britain, such as Stephen Bourne's essential book Black in British Frames. Watch on Deadline

The Black Book in a British Frame, first published in 1998 and updated in 2001, was one of the first mainstream books to document the historical experiences, representations and participation of people of African and Caribbean descent in British film and television. This book covers a huge part of the history of British cinema (1896 to 2001), which each chapter reveals and illuminates. The careers of the early pioneers of the black screen. Figures depicted in Bourne's book include: Ernest Trimmingham, the formerly "lost" black pioneer of the British silent film era; Paul Robeson, African-American actor, who spent most of the 1930s working in Britain, where he was highly prized. and Carmen Monroe, the legend of stage and cinema born in Guyana.

Black in the British Frame has been a mainstay of British screen scholarship since its publication. You can find this book on most school reading lists. But now it is almost impossible to find new or old versions.

In a lengthy interview from his home in south London, Bourne tells Deadline that the book is out of print. Bloomsbury Publishing, which took control of the book after merging with Bourne's previous publisher, returned the rights to the author.

"I resisted because I wanted them to republish the book, but they refused," Bourne said. "It was a terrible experience. The book is with me now."

Bloomsbury confirmed that the rights to the book had returned to Bourne in a brief statement. He is now looking for a new publisher.

Bourne has been writing black British history books for over 30 years. Alongside Black in the British Frame, he is best known for Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War (2014), playing Gay in The Golden Age of British Television (2019) and Deep Are the Roots – Trailblazers Who Changed Black British Theater (2021).

In 2017, Bourne received a Screen Nation Honorary Award (often referred to as the "Black BAFTAs") for his decades of work documenting black British film, television and social history. Earlier this year, she released her memoir Thursday's Child: Life Between the Lines through Jacaranda.

Below, Bourne explains how and why Black in the British Frame went out of print. The author also discusses why it is important that the book finds a new home.

Bourne said: "The book isn't about me, it's about the people in it. If people can't access it, we're living in a very sad world."

DEADLINE: Stephen, what's the story? How did we get here with a black print in a British frame?

Stephen Bourne: Black in the British Frame was published by Cassell in 1998 and was highly influential. It was a watershed year for black British history books. Trevor Phillips and Mike Phillips publish their book Windrush. Sam King published his autobiography, Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain. and Geoffrey Green published Black Edwardians. It was also the 50th anniversary of the Windrush, so Black British history and culture received a lot of media attention.

The book did well and universities selected it for reading lists. I received very good feedback from students and general public. It didn't get as much attention as I expected, but it found its readers and sold quickly. One of the reasons it sold so well was a young black woman in Castle's press office we got along with and she told me that everyone in the office was white and middle-class and didn't know how to market the book. He printed hundreds of small pamphlets, which I distributed in bookstores, trains, and buses. This is how you sell a black British history book - and it worked.

Castle was then acquired by publisher Continuum. The new editor, just three years later, asked me to revise and update the book to 2001. Once again, it attracted the attention of the public and the study list of universities. The students responded positively and used it in their work. Eventually Bloomsbury took over the Continuum catalog. I approached them because I wanted the book to be published. They said they would only do it if I updated it. This was four or five years ago. I thought about it carefully, but after 2001 the landscape of filmmaking through video and digital media had changed dramatically. Updating the book required a huge amount of research, and I felt it detracted from the original book, which covered the period 1890-1990.

Bloomsbury does not accept this. They said they will return the salary to me. I resisted because I wanted them to republish the book, but they refused. It was a terrible experience. The book sits with me now. I referred to several academic journals. They either rejected it or said "update". I don't want to update it.

Deadline: I'm surprised. This book is one of the most important books in the history of British cinema. Is this common?

Bourne: I don't know if it's common or not. I could never get an agent. The agents have always rejected me. They are very white and middle class and not interested in black history. Some have actually told me that. "There's no market for black British books in this country," I was told early on.

I practically begged Bloomsbury to let me come in and meet them, but publishing doesn't work that way anymore. I know what you say is true because many black people have told me how much this book means to them. There are very few used copies available online. It is allowed to disappear. It shows how apathetic the film world, Bloomsbury's film catalog and the wider industry are. Bloomsbury did this with five of my books, four of which were about black cinema.

Deadline: Do you think this is a specific British problem? I can hardly imagine this happening in the US with a major book on African American cinema.

Bourne: My impression is that African Americans are more united. There would be an uproar if something happened to the classic African-American film history book by someone like Donald Bogle. We don't think like that in this country. The BBC, the BFI, the London Film Festival and the publishing world have always been dominated by the white middle class. Occasionally they make a move to include a black person, but that's not real change.

Deadline: I always thought Black In The British Frame was so popular because it was so accessible. I first read it when I was very young and trying to understand my own relationship with cinema as a black person in Britain.

Bourne: That was my goal. I am not an academic or theoretical writer, so the book is free of academic jargon and theory. I also didn't want to just write about racism. There is colonialism and racism in some of the early British films with black actors, and I didn't shy away from that, but I wanted the book to be a celebration as well. I wanted to convey the work of the older generation of black actors that I had the chance to interview and how proud they were of them. When I started interviewing actors like Carmen Monroe and Norman Beaton in the 1980s, I realized that they weren't simply playing prostitutes or pimps. They had done quality work and that work was never recognized.

Books like mine try to give a balanced account and respect an older generation that has done important things. Paul Robeson's films from the 1930s are sometimes problematic and can reinforce colonial ideas about black people. Sanders of River is a clear example. But Robson consciously distanced himself from that, and with his sixth and final British film, The Proud Valley, he largely achieved what he set out to do. The Proud Valley is a wonderful film about working class people in a Welsh mining village. Robeson integrates into that society, which was surprising for a British film in the 1940s. Hollywood never gave Robson that respect, but British cinema did. He was very popular with British audiences and appeared in the top ten box office stars alongside Will Hay, George Formby, Gracie Fields and Jesse Matthews.

Deadline: You currently own the rights and are ready to reprint. If people see this and are interested, should they contact you?

Bourne: Yes, but I don't want to leave it to anyone. I want a bona fide publisher. I am open to offers and suggestions.

Deadline: Where should people contact you?

BOURNE: Through the contact page of my website. I don't have an agent. Some people try to contact my publishers, who sometimes forward messages, but I prefer people to come through my website.

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