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WHITE RIOT

by Rubika Shah

synopsis

Expanding her (White Riot: London) short documentary film, Rubika Shah's energizing film charts a vital London protest movement. Rock Against Racism (RAR) was formed in 1976, prompted by 'music's biggest colonialist' Eric Clapton and his support of racist MP Enoch Powell. White Riot blends fresh interviews with queasy archive footage to recreate a hostile environment of anti-immigrant hysteria and National Front marches. As neo-Nazis recruited the nation's youth, RAR's multicultural punk and reggae gigs provided rallying points for resistance. As founder Red Saunders explains: 'We peeled away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika'. The campaign grew from Hoxton fanzine roots to 1978's huge antifascist carnival in Victoria Park, featuring X-Ray Spex, Steel Pulse and of course The Clash, whose rock star charisma and gale-force conviction took RAR's message to the masses.

international title: White Riot
original title: White Riot
country: United Kingdom
sales agent: Visit Films (US)
year: 2019
genre: documentary
directed by: Rubika Shah
film run: 80'
release date: FR 5/08/2020, NL 17/09/2020
screenplay: Ed Gibbs, Rubika Shah
cinematography by: Susanne Salavati
producer: Ed Gibbs
executive producer: Paul Ashton
production: Smoking Bear Productions
distributor: Les Bookmakers, Periscoop Film

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