Resistance in a Hostile Environment

Charting the period between 1961 and 1971, this is a searing account of how members of the British Black Power movement challenged police oppression and political prejudice. At the heart of the documentary is a series of astonishing interviews with past activists, many of whom are speaking for the first time about what it was really like to be involved in this revolutionary organization.

While young black adults were getting to grips with the struggle for black power in Britain, there was a question of how society viewed young black children. This disturbing documentary reveals how black children in the 1960s and 1970s were routinely sent to schools for the educationally subnormal, and how parents, activists and teachers came together to fight this injustice.

In the early hours of January 18th, 1981, in a house in south London, a birthday party ended in a fire. Thirteen young black British people died. The fire and its aftermath would ignite an uprising by the black British community. This gripping documentary, directed by Oscar-winner Steve McQueen, tells the stories of those at the party and the repercussions of that tragic night.

As news spread about the New Cross fire, the scale of the tragedy overwhelmed the local community. Amid uncertainty about whether the fire had been a racist firebomb attack, anger mounted at the police investigation and the seeming indifference of the press and the government. The Black People's Day of Action, a mass demonstration, was organized to bring the tragedy to the attention of the nation.

After the New Cross fire and the Black People's Day of Action, tensions between the community and the police deteriorated. This escalated when a massive stop-and-search operation targeted black people on the streets of Brixton. In April, the situation boiled over into one of the biggest riots in British history. Oscar-winner Steve McQueen tells the story of the riots and their aftermath.