The Screen Nation Award statuette is based on a West African mask and was designed by Jamaican-born sculptor George "Fowokan" Kelly.
A mask takes you from one state into another and in this case from being unrecognized and unrewarded to being recognized and celebrated".
The Screen Nation Film and TV Awards are given at a televised event that normally takes place in October during UK Black History Month.
The awards ceremony—dubbed the "Black BAFTAs" by The Independent newspaper in 2003—brings together actors, actresses, directors and filmmakers from the British and international film and TV industry.
In 2016, Earl Cameron became the first inductee into the Screen Nation "Hall of Frame" at the BFI Southbank, where he was interviewed by Samira Ahmed.