Topher Campbell is a filmmaker, artist and writer who has created a range of works in broadcasting, film,

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

and

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

. His works focus on issues of sexuality, masculinity, and the city, particularly in relation to race, human rights and climate change. Campbell is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, and a past recipient of the Jerwood Directors Award (2005). He holds an honorary doctorate from the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

for his work in the arts and Black LGBTQ advocacy. He is currently Programme Director of the Collaborative Theatre Making programme at

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipli ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Early life

Campbell was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

, England, to a Jamaican mother and a man he did not know. Campbell has referred to his parents' relationship as "a love affair between his mother and a handsome stranger". His mother abandoned Campbell at the age of one and he would not reunite with her until he was 13 years old. He was raised in foster care in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. As an adolescent, he participated in the "club kid" scene in London, Paris and New York City, and also worked as a model. He was the first member of his family to go to University, attending the University of Sussex and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in

intellectual history Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

. In 2017, he was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

by the University of Sussex for his work; it is the first Honorary Doctorate to be given to an openly gay Black man in the UK. Campbell has described himself as "acutely shy throughout is20’s and into is30's", which caused him to learn to establish himself as "commanding decisive and clear" in "professional settings".

Career

As an actor he has starred in Isaac Julien's ''Trussed'', Campbell X's ''Stud Life'', and Ian Poitier's ''Oh Happy Day''. He is a former artistic director of

The Red Room Theatre Company The Red Room Theatre Company is a theatre company based in London, United Kingdom. In the 1990s, it was an important venue for new play writing. Description It was founded in 1995 by Lisa Goldman as a voluntary organization and became regularl ...

and past chair of the Independent Theatre Council UK. In 2000, he co-founded rukus! Federation a Black LGBTQ Charity. In 2017, he was longlisted for the

Spread the Word Spread the Word: Inclusion is a global campaign working towards inclusion for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It started as Spread the Word to End the Word, a US campaign to encourage people to pledge to stop using t ...

's inaugural Life Writing Prize for his forthcoming memoir ''Battyman''. He is a patron of Switchboard.

Film

His films have appeared in festivals worldwide. At the age of 24, he participated in the Regional Theatre Young Directors Training Scheme, which led to his first film, ''The Homecoming'' (1995). Created with artist/photographer

Ajamu X Ajamu X (born 1963 in Huddersfield) is a British artist, curator, archivist and activist. He is best known for his fine art photography which explores same-sex desire, and the Black male body, and his work as an archivist and activist to docume ...

through the Black Arts Video Project,^:282 ''The Homecoming'' is a meditation on Black masculinity and sexuality, themes Campbell has continued to explore throughout his work.

''Fetish'' (2018)

In 2018, he created ''FETISH'', a piece inspired by the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat. In ''FETISH'', Campbell walks naked through the streets of New York City. He described the process that led to the creation of the film:

FETISH came about because I wanted to express more complex, nuanced and creative notions of my space in the world whilst also honouring the fallen. It’s a film that I willed into being as a place for me to reflect on all the different masculinities and femininities inside of me and to offer a vision of humanity and humanness; amongst all the violence and degradation.

The work reflected the challenges of walking through the city, and generally navigating space as a Black person. He considered the work a dual journey, a protest on the streets of Manhattan, as well as an artistic journey for the audience viewing the film. It was created in collaboration with 2014

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

winners

Young Fathers Young Fathers are a Scottish band based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2014, they won the Mercury Prize for their album ''Dead''. History Formed in Edinburgh in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings, the group starte ...

rukus! Federation

In June 2000, he and Ajamu X co-founded rukus! Federation, a Black Queer arts charity dedicated to presenting the best in work by Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (BLGBTQ) artists.^:277; The name, which "is a derivative of the word 'raucous and also draws on the name "Rukus

. . . The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...

a well-known African-American porn star" was chosen in order to "present he artists'politics more playfully".^:277 In 2005 the rukus! archive project was launched. Originally, they "wanted to call it the Black, Lesbian, and Gay ''Queer'' Archive" but the Charity Commission "objected to the word queer, because some people might find it offensive" and the name was changed. Housed at the

London Metropolitan Archives The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London: it is the largest county record office in the United Kingdom. It was established under its pr ...

, Campbell and Ajamu X founded the archive to

collect, preserve, exhibit, and otherwise make available for the first time to the public historical, cultural, and artistic materials related to the Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities in the United Kingdom.

It is the UK's first and only archive dedicated to Black LGBTQ artists. In 2008 it received the London Metropolitan Archives' Archive Landmark Award. rukus!archive projects include the play ''Mangina Monologues''.

Influences

Cambell has cited

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

and Isaac Julien as important influences on his work.^:282 He has also drawn on academic thinking "around Black mainstream identity politics around hybridity, and notions of difference and diversity, as defined by Black artists", for example,

Sonia Boyce Sonia Dawn Boyce, (born 1962) is a British Afro-Caribbean artist and educator, living and working in London. She is a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London. Boyce's research interests explore art as a social practic ...

.^:282 He has also cited the influence of works by sci-fi authors such as

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His fic ...

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowsh ...

and

Sheree Thomas Sheree Renée Thomas is an African-American writer, book editor, publisher, and contributor to many notable publications. In 2020, Thomas was named editor of '' The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction''. Career Thomas is the editor of the ' ...

Radio

*''Talking Huck Finn'' (2001) –

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

*''Facing Leicester Square'' (2002)

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The st ...

Plays

*''Blood Knot (Derby Playhouse)'' (1990) *'' Woza Albert'' (1991) *''Necklaces (Talawa Theatre Company)'' (1992) *''Flamingo Theatre London'' (1992) *''Moor Masterpieces (West Yorkshire Playhouse)'' (1996) *''Wicked Games – (West Yorkshire Playhouse)'' (1996) *''Good Copy – (West Yorkshire Playhouse)'' (1996) *''Jar the Floor – (West Yorkshire Playhouse)'' (1997) *''Pantheaon of the Gods – (Young Vic Theatre)'' (2001) *''Dead Funny – (Nottingham Playhouse)'' (2001) *''Unstated'' (2008) *''

Oikos The ancient Greek word ''oikos'' (ancient Greek: , plural: ; English prefix: eco- for ecology and economics) refers to three related but distinct concepts: the family, the family's property, and the house. Its meaning shifts even within texts. The ...

'' (2010) *''

Protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histor ...

'' (2010)

Filmography

As director

As actor

As writer

*''For Coloured Boys'' *''Black and Gay in the UK'' *''On Freedom: Powerful Polemics by Supporters of Belarus Free Theatre'' *''Brothas 2.0 part or Outlaws to Inlaws'' (Kings Head Theatre London)

As executive producer

*''Oikos, a Journey in Wood'' (2010)

Awards

*Jerwood Directors Award (2005) *

Award (2008) *Small Projects Award (2010) *Nominated for the Urban Intervention Award 2010 *Nomination for the AKA Theatre Event of the Year Award