Motivate, Elevate and Celebrate - MOBO Season 2016 announced 

Acclaimed playwright Kwame Kwei Armah and London’s Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal to deliver inaugural MOBOvation Talks

MOBO partners with NHS Blood and Transplant to launch a ground-breaking campaign

Following on from the successful MOBO Awards Nominations which saw Kano and Laura Mvula reign supreme, MOBO Founder and CEO Kanya King MBE together with acclaimed playwright and artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah launched the MOBO Season today at BFI Southbank, London.

Now in its 21st year, MOBO continues to motivate, elevate and celebrate excellence, through a series of agenda-setting cultural events, a social action campaign and pivotal partnerships leading up to and beyond the MOBO Awards which, this year, will take place on Friday 4th November 2016 at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro, broadcast live on ITV2 and repeated on ITV.

Amongst the activities planned for MOBO Season are a series of MOBOvation Talks featuring high profile speakers, the launch of a ground-breaking health campaign with NHS Blood and Transplant, a string of curated films with the 60th BFI London Film Festival, theatre productions with the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Court, and the return of the Paving the Way Awards with ITV2 to inspire future generations of creative talent. 

MOBO Founder and CEO Kanya King said “I’m delighted to be launching this year’s MOBO Season, with the support of so many truly great organisations such as CIF, BFI, ITV, the Mayor’s Office, Donmar Warehouse, The Royal Court and of course NHS Blood and Transplant among many others. Twenty years in, the MOBO organisation has always had a social and cultural responsibility to motivate, elevate and celebrate creative talent and inspire future generations. MOBO, champion of diversity and inclusion, are recognising talent within music, culture, arts, fashion, media and larger society as a whole. Something that is much bigger than music alone - that is what the MOBO Season is about.”

Kwame Kwei Armah delivers first MOBOvation Talk ahead of Rajesh Agrawal  

Long-time advocate for diversity in the arts, Kwame Kwei-Armah - currently in London to direct One Night In Miami at the Donmar Warehouse - tonight launched MOBO Season, delivering the inaugural MOBOvation Talk followed by a Q&A hosted by the CEO of the Creative Industries Federation, John Kampfner. 

Kwame is the first of a series of speakers to headline the MOBOvation Talks succeeded by London's Deputy Mayor, Rajesh Agrawal. They are amongst the most inspirational and influential game changers who are defying stereotypes and reshaping society around them. There will be various other names confirmed for further MOBOVation Talks in the coming month.

Commenting on the launch of MOBO Season, Kwame Kwei Armah said “Art does not exist in its fullest self without investing in new talent; diverse talent. So it's a huge honour to launch the MOBO Season this year because the platform that MOBO has provided in its 21 year history across British music and culture and creative industries is not only unique, but has been a game changer. Big up to MOBO!” 

#Represent - MOBO partners with NHS Blood and Transplant to recruit a new generation of donors

MOBO and NHS Blood and Transplant have partnered on a uniquely created campaign #Represent, which has been designed to make a positive impact in driving blood donation amongst the young black and south Asian communities.  

Explaining why the campaign was needed, Ian Trenholm, chief executive, NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "I am delighted NHS Blood and Transplant will be partnering with the MOBO Organisation in order to highlight the need for more black and South Asian blood donors.  Only 1 per cent of people who donated blood in the last year were from black communities and yet donors from these communities are more likely to have rare blood types and have conditions such as Sickle Cell Disease, which require regular blood transfusions. For people with these conditions, blood from donors of the same ethnic background can provide the best chance of a match and clinical outcome. By developing this new campaign with MOBO, an organisation which has done so much to bring black music and culture into the mainstream, we hope we can do the same for blood donation, engaging and inspiring a whole new generation of blood donors to become lifelong lifesavers." 

The #Represent campaign will be a social media led competition to win VIP MOBO Awards tickets via a GIF Grab competition to raise awareness. At the focus of the campaign will be a special #Represent film, starring talent from the British black music scene, to be revealed next month.  Register today and book an appointment at www.blood.co.uk  or call 0300 123 23 23. 

Films celebrating diversity as part of the BFI’s 60th London Film Festival in partnership with American Express

MOBO Season also shines a spotlight on a special selection of films within the 60th BFI London Film Festival (5th – 16th October 2016).  These include Chi-Raq, directed by Spike Lee and starring Samuel L Jackson, Angela Bassett, Nick Cannon and Wesley Snipes. Chi-Raq is this year’s LFF Sonic Gala, in association with MOBO Film. Spike Lee’s dazzling, rage-fuelled, in-your-face hip hop musical re-purposes Aristophanes’ Lysistrata – a comedy about a Greek heroine who leads a sex-strike to prevent war, against the backdrop of Chicago’s South Side. 

Other BFI London Film Festival films include City Of Tiny Lights starring Riz Ahmed; Stockholm My Love starring Neneh Cherry, as well as Fonko, A Moving Image, White Colour Black, Daughters Of The Dust and 76.  

The Festival also screens Gala presentations of A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante and starring David Oyelowo; and Queen of Katwe, directed by Mira Nair and starring David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o. The full line-up of films is listed on the BFI London Film Festival website at http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff .

Commenting on the partnership with MOBO, Tricia Tuttle, Deputy Head of Festivals, BFI said: "MOBO is associated with quality and diversity and the organisation works with the BFI to help bring new audiences to a great selection of rich and varied films in the Festival. We can't wait to work with MOBO again this year to shine a light on some truly wonderful new cinema from around the world."

The BFI’s Black Star, from October 17th to 31st December, is the UK’s biggest ever season of film and television dedicated to celebrating the range, versatility and power of black actors. MOBO will partner with the BFI on ‘Hip Hop Stars Weekend’ from 4th – 6th November. The weekender will focus on the 1990s when hip hop artists crossed over to film, presenting a range of popular classics at BFI Southbank and partner venues. These include John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood featuring Ice Cube, which the BFI is releasing UK-wide in association with Park Circus and Sony Pictures and supported by MOBO, which will receive a special screening in Glasgow the week of the MOBO Awards. Other movies as part of the weekend are Set it Off featuring Queen Latifah and Juice featuring TuPac Shakur.  

Paving The Way Awards to return to ITV2 for a second year

This year’s Paving The Way Awards will see several British trailblazers follow in the footsteps of last year’s winners, Grime artist Wiley and actor Sir Lenny Henry - who last year laid paving stones in Bow (East London) and Dudley (Birmingham) respectively, to pay tribute to an area that inspired and encouraged them in their chosen career paths. MOBO and ITV2 will reveal the details of this year’s Paving The Way Awards soon.

MOBO Fellowship Initiative

The MOBO Season’s mantra is demonstrated by the results of this year’s MOBO fellowship initiative. It is a talent development programme that creates opportunities for exceptional talent. This year, there have been a number of Executive Fellowships at long-time media partner ITV as well as the London Theatre Consortium.

Theatre Productions with Donmar Warehouse and The Royal Court

MOBO has partnered with Donmar Warehouse for Kwame Kwei Armah’s One Night In Miami, Kemp Powers’ fictional account of a real night, taking us to the heart of a pivotal moment in the history of a nation. 

MOBO has also teamed up with The Royal Court for Father Comes Home From The Wars, a trilogy of short plays which follow one African-American family through generations up to the present day. Written by Pulitzer Prize winner, Suzan-Lori Parks.