Curating with PanAfrican Cinema Archives – A Traineeship Programme

The JGPACA Fellowship, Curating with PanAfrican Cinema Archives is an 8-week traineeship with bursary opportunity in Pan-African Film and Archive Curation for three people between October and December 2025 in Glasgow.

In conjunction with the Building a PanAfrican Screen Heritage programme, this collaborative training programme, developed by the June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive and Curate-It (led by Justine Atkinson), offers participants a unique opportunity to explore film curation through the lens of a globally significant Black-led archive.

Structured around the eight-step Curate-It model — Watch-it, Analyse-it, Curate-it, Finance-it, Market-it, Execute-it, Evaluate-it, and Screen-it — the programme guides fellows through the foundational skills, politics, and practices of film curation.

This year’s edition focuses on curatorial reflection, inviting fellows to produce creative, critical, and reflective responses to films and materials from the JGPACA. These reflections will contribute to an evolving online curatorial dialogue, amplifying the archive as a living, collaborative resource for curators of the future.

This is an opportunity to learn all about PanAfrican cinema, how to curate a film event and how to work with archives.

Created with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

About the training opportunity

Trainee bursary

Each trainee will be allocated a bursary of £784, inclusive of tax. There are no travel or other expenses included, but trainees will be provided with learning resources. Trainees can apply to the BFI Individual Skills Fund for travel and other expenses.

This bursary is based on a £14 per hour hourly rate, for 56 hours over the 8 weeks. Your total learning hours in the weekly sessions will be 47.5 hours, so you have a remaining 8.5 hours to contribute towards your optional weekly film screenings and local event attendance.

The bursary will be paid in week 4 of the training, once you submit an invoice. You are responsible for your own National Insurance and tax contributions. If you need support creating an invoice, we can help.

How will this help me?

This training will help you understand PanAfrican Cinema and the global significance of Black British cinema as a diaspora cinema. It will help you to understand relevance to transnational histories with African diaspora communities, and to develop skills & knowledge in film programming & working with archives

It will be useful to you if you are considering going into a career in film programming, working with archives or putting on your own cultural events.

Who is it for?

The training is for individuals based in Glasgow, who have a curiosity and interest in learning about Pan-African Cinema. You do not need to have work experience in film or archives, or any experience in film. You just need to have a curious mind and an enthusiasm to learn.

This curatorial traineeship aims to increase opportunities in the film and archive sector for Black people in the Glasgow area. JGPACA recognises that the film and archives sector is hugely underrepresented by Black people, even though there is a gradual increase in interest in Black film content.

Where will it take place?

The training will take place in on Zoom and in person, with in-person meetings taking place at Gilmorehill, Glasgow University.

How do I apply?

To apply for this opportunity please click on the link below and answer the questions. The application form has some questions about your contact information, and only one application question which is ‘why you are applying for this opportunity?’

APPLY HERE:

You must submit your application by 5pm, 8 September 2025.

Application form here.

What happens next?

Once the application deadline has passed, we will shortlist the applicants and invite a selection for an informal conversation online. This will take place w/c 15 September.

We will then select the three trainees and let them, and the unsuccessful trainees know by 22 September. 

The three selected trainees will start on 14 October.

What if I have a question?

If you have any questions, you can get in contact directly with Justine Atkinson (j.atkinson@ayafilms.org)

For more information see here: Curating with PanAfrican Cinema Archives-Glasgow