"Bang! There was this incredible cultural explosion going on." Film Movement has released an official US trailer for an acclaimed rock doc titled White Riot, which originally premiered at the London Film Festival last year. It also played at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and a few other fests. Their description of White Riot: "From The Clash and Joy Division to The Specials, a host of British bands joined forces in 1978 to counter the rise of the neo-fascist British National Front and increasing racial violence. Under the Rock Against Racism (RAR) initiative, they staged special concerts and took a decisive stand against marginalisation. Punk rock’s influence on this anti-fascist movement proved to be very effective. With a nod to the aesthetics of fanzine culture and featuring previously unreleased archival concert footage and interviews with activists, the film examines the context in which the movement arose while drawing striking parallels to our current situation." Of course, we're still experiencing racism today, and this film connects these events of the 70s to today and reminds us how we can fight back in creative and punk ways. Hell yes.
Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Rubika Shah's documentary White Riot, direct from YouTube:
Britain, late-1970s. Punk is exploding. The country is deeply divided over immigration. The National Front, a far-right and fascist political party, is gaining strength as politicians like Enoch Powell push a xenophobic agenda. Outraged by a racist speech from Eric Clapton, music photographer Red Saunders writes a letter to the music press, calling for rock to be a force against racism. NME, Melody Maker, and Sounds all publish the letter. Flooded with responses, Red discovers many share his views. Teaming up with like-minded creatives Roger Huddle, Kate Webb, Syd Shelton and Australian graphic designer Ruth Gregory, the team bands together to create Rock Against Racism ("RAR") and a fanzine, Temporary Hoarding. Speaking directly to the youth, the zine reports stories and issues that the mainstream British media ignores, like immigration, the Catholic side of the Northern Ireland conflict, and also the police’s controversial "suspected persons" (sus) powers. They give a voice to the voiceless. White Riot is directed by British filmmaker Rubika Shah, making her first feature after directing numerous short docs previously. This first premiered at the London Film Festival last year, and also at the Berlin Film Festival this year. Film Movement will debut Shah's White Riot in select US theaters + "virtual cinemas" on October 16th this fall.
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