Filmed on location across the UK, the pilot was screened at the headquarters of ITV in London's South Bank and made its Christmas Day broadcast debut on BEN Television in December 2005.

The second series also aired on BEN Television from May to August 2007 in addition to the annual staging of the British Urban Film Festival, a unique event as it is the only one of its kind in the UK which is free to attend by the general public.

October 12, 2012, marked the return of the British Urban Film Festival at London's Trade Union Congress headquarters and was presented by actor Wil Johnson.

The two-day event (which was free to attend) also hosted a 12-hour marathon of short films, documentaries, feature-length dramas plus Q&A sessions on October 13 at Oxford House in Bethnal Green.

On 2 May 2013, it was announced that the publisher-broadcaster Channel 4 would be hosting the opening three events of the 8th annual British Urban Film Festival at the company's headquarters in Horseferry Road, Central London.

On 25 December 2013, it was announced that Channel 4 will be hosting the opening 3 events of the 9th annual British Urban Film Festival in September 2014, ensuring that they "continue to seek out the very best creative voices.

On 2 March 2015, it was announced that the award-winning writers of Run Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith were appointed as script judges for the British Urban Film Festival.

As part of the festival's 10th anniversary in September 2015, Abrantee Boateng Capital Xtra & Larushka Ivan-Zadeh Metro will be hosting BUFF's first ever awards ceremony at the Cinema Museum (London).

On 8 October 2015, the festival announced the addition of 2 script judges and 8 new BUFF patrons including the BAFTA award-winning actor Adam Deacon, Femi Oyeniran and director Mo Ali.

On 7 June 2016, it was announced that Colourful Radio signed an exclusive deal to provide live outside broadcasts of the BUFF 2016 press conference and Script Reading competition from Channel 4 headquarters.

On 4 January 2018, it was announced that the 2018 British Urban Film Festival was to take place in the summer for the first time in its history with the BUFF Awards opening the six-day event on Monday 4 June.

On 8 January 2018, Robert Nisbet (journalist) (from Sky News) interviewed Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe (founder of the British Urban Film Festival) to discuss the Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey's "Time's up" speech, Mudbound and issues about diversity.

Airing as part of the Colourful Drivetime show with Julie-Ann Ryan, the broadcast featured interviews on the black carpet with Isaac Tomiczek and Jo Eluka (from "Meet The Critics"), Joel Campbell (From "The Voice" newspaper) executive producer of Black Panther Nate Moore, Femi Oguns (agent to Letitia Wright) and leading cast members including Michael B Jordan, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong'o.

Also starring are Fred Lancaster, Lonyo Engele, Paula Masterton, Veronica Jean Trickett, Joel Grizzle, Chris Preddie OBE, Tenisha White, Zephryn Taitte, Justin Chinyere, Kele Le Roc and Judith Jacob.

[5] Asante will be the first female recipient of the award and the fourth individual to receive the honour following Ashley Walters last year, Wil Johnson in 2016 and Richard Pryor (posthumously) in 2015.

The film marks the directorial debut of writer Gary Young (who also wrote Harry Brown) and stars Cathy Tyson, Katie Jarvis, Dave Johns, Josh Herdman, David Hayman, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Danielle Harold, Neal Ward, Shantelle Rochester-Henry (who also serves as producer) and Vas Blackwood.

On 6 September, it was revealed that BUFF Originals – the production arm of the British Urban Film Festival – announced the streaming release of No Shade in HD on the Vimeo OTT platform and FilmDoo.

On 19 December, director Clare Anyiam-Osigwe was awarded her first major prize for No Shade, winning the women of colour filmmaker competition at the NY African Diaspora International Film Festival.

The opening night film was 'Lara and The Beat' (directed by Tosin Coker) and starring Nigerian actress and singer Seyi Shay (originally from Tottenham, North London).

The closing night film was 'Faces' (directed by Joseph A. Adesunloye) and starring Terry Pheto ('A United Kingdom'), Aki Omoshaybi and Shingai Shoniwa (former lead singer of The Noisettes).

On 7 September 2019, the 5th annual BUFF awards were held, also at Met Film School, Ealing Studios and hosted by radio personality Linda Egwuekwe & the actor & filmmaker Femi Oyeniran.

On 25 December 2020, the 6th annual BUFF awards were held at Met Film School, Ealing Studios and solo hosted by the actor & filmmaker Femi Oyeniran.

Speaking at a virtual Black History Month public lecture series hosted by Anglia Ruskin University on 6 October 2021, Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe announced that he will be stepping down as director of the British Urban Film Festival after serving 2 terms and 16 years.

Other guest presenters included director James Webber, actress Ruby Barker, actors Arnold Oceng, David Ajala, Andre Fyffe and Stephan Pierre Mitchell.

[35] Filmed over a 5-year period, the documentary profiles the aptly named Marvel Opara, the visually impaired mother of British Olympic heavyweight boxer Joe Joyce.

Featuring interviews with close friends, family and boxing figures including Frank Warren and Spencer Fearon, cameras follow Marvel in and around Putney (where she has lived for most of her life) as well as at ringside to be present for Joe's fights to get a sense of how she comes to terms with her disability.

The recipient of the honorary award was prolific British Nigerian filmmaker Obi Emelonye in recognition of his 20+ years contribution to cinema with films including Black Mail, The Mirror Boy, Oxford Gardens and Badamasi.

Episode 5999 (which was aired by Channel 4 on 8 December 2022) was also directed by the former lead script judge of the British Urban Film Festival who was making her directorial debut on network television.

Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe received the cheque from Mathew Knowles (father of Beyonce) at a special luncheon hosted for the first time in London as part of the Black Parade route, co-inciding with the UK leg of the Renaissance tour.

Last year’s edition, the first held outside of London, ran October 14-20 and opened in Leeds with the first public screening of the documentary “Oluwale” plus the UK premiere of “Mapantsula” (4k version) marking the 35th anniversary of the original release in South Africa.