BFI documentaries to highlight Black British injustices by police

The BFI has announced a new season of documentaries which spotlight the injustices experienced by Black British communities at the hands of the police.

The season called African Odysseys Presents: Injustice has been created by the BFI African Odysseys Steering Committee and will take place until October 6, as well as online for UK-wide audiences via BFI YouTube.

The season will feature eight titles including Mangrove Nine, a rarely seen documentary about the 1970 Black Power march in Notting Hill against police harassment.

An independent community documentary, The People’s Account, about the Broadwater Farm uprising which took place after a woman died during a police search and BAFTA nominated The Hard Stop which relates to Mark Duggan who was shot by police in 2011 will also feature.

There will also be a look at international features from Australia and Brazil which will add additional context around the global nature of the recent anti-racism protests.

The season comes during a time where calls for action against racism have reignited movements around the world and galvanized a new generation of activists.

BFI Southbank African Odysseys Steering Committee members Tony Warner and Kunle Olulode, said: “Utilising the expertise of community activists the African Odysseys programme has long dealt with the subject of police brutality and institutional racism.

“The reaction to the murder of George Floyd has catapulted these issues back into the mainstream agenda. However, the UK is not ‘innocent’, and independently produced civil rights films from Ceddo and Migrant Media featured in this season were routinely banned.

“For these reasons we revisit the Black British struggle for human and civil rights and link it with the international fight against racial injustice, with titles from as further afield as Australia and Brazil.”