Britain on Film: Black Britain

Apr 1, 2017

1h 31m

★ 0.0

Overview

Featuring footage spanning from 1901 to 1985, this little-seen footage has been found from all across the UK. This programme allows an exploration into stories of migration, community and also the struggle against inequality, while also providing the opportunity to celebrate black British culture and life on screen. Films in the programme include: Miners Leaving Pendlebury Colliery (1901), Hull Fair (1902), For the Wounded (1915), From Trinidad to Serve the Empire (1916), Hello! West Indies (1943), Mining Review 2nd Year No. 11 (1949), To the Four Corners (1957), Black Special Constable (1964), Black Police Officers (1966), Cold Railway Workers (1964), Nigerian Wedding in Cornwall (1964), Coloured School Leavers (1965), London Line No. 373 (1971), African Student Families (1975), Liverpool 8 (1972), Blood Ah Go Run (1982), The Jah People (1981) and Grove Carnival (1981)

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Independent Cinema Office

BFI

COI

Britain on Film: Black Britain Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self (segment "Mining Review 2nd Year No. 11")

Paul Robeson

Self

Learie Constantine

Self

Reg Harcourt

Self (segment "Miners Leaving Pendlebury Colliery")

Albert Sedgwick

A look at Britain's beloved canal network via a fact-filled cruise along the first superhighways of the Industrial Revolution. In the age before mechanisation, a frenzy of canal-building saw a new army of workers carve out the British landscape, digging out hundreds of miles of waterways using picks, shovels and muscle.

7.3

Britain and the Blitz

May 5, 2025

Documentary looking back at a Britain during the darkest days of WWII using stunning new archived footage and interviews with people who lived through it.

7.0

The Intruder: He's Watching You From Within

Apr 8, 2024

In the blistering hot summer of 1984, a sadistic predator is terrorising rural Britain. This is the story of the desperate police manhunt for The Fox, one of the most prolific and depraved offenders in British criminal history.

0.0

Reaping the Whirlwind

May 11, 2025

In the final weeks of WW2, as the Nazis are on the verge of surrender, a young British stenographer is faced with a difficult decision when his commanding officer orders him to write a letter authorizing an airstrike that could result in thousands of civilian deaths.

No Image Available

0.0

Mark of the Hand

Jan 1, 1987

Guyanese painter Aubrey Williams (1926-1990) returns to his homeland on a “journey to the source of his inspiration” in this vivid Arts Council documentary, filmed towards the end of his life. The title comes from the indigenous Arawak word ‘timehri’ - the mark of the hand of man - which Williams equates to art itself. Timehri was also then the name of the international airport at Georgetown, Guyana's capital, where Williams stops off to restore an earlier mural. The film offers a rare insight into life beyond Georgetown, what Williams calls “the real Guyana.” Before moving to England in 1952 he had been sent to work on a sugar plantation in the jungle; this is his first chance to revisit the region and the Warao Indians - formative influences on his work - in four decades. Challenging the ill-treatment of indigenous Guyanese, Williams explored the potential of art to change attitudes. By venturing beyond his British studio, this film puts his work into vibrant context.

4.0

TV in Black: The First Fifty Years

Jan 1, 2004

Discover how television has reflected the African American experience in this retrospective of the medium's first half-century. Actors, writers and historians discuss the image of black America on television from Amos and Andy to the present day. The interviews accompany clips from groundbreaking shows and performances by entertainment pioneers that create a timeline of the portrayal of African Americans throughout TV history.

No Image Available

0.0

Breadline Kids

Jun 9, 2014

Over 300,000 children were given food aid in the UK last year. While politicians argue about why so many kids are experiencing food poverty, we ask the children themselves to tell us why they think the cupboards are bare.

No Image Available

6.0

There Go the Boats

Jan 1, 1951

An historical account looking at how Britain's canals were used, and declining, in 1951.

4.8

The Quiet One

Sep 1, 1948

A documentary account of the rehabilitation at the Wiltwyck School of an emotionally disturbed black boy who is unwanted, misunderstood, and inwardly tortured.

10.0

Street Fighting Men

Apr 30, 2017

In a rapidly changing America where mass inequality and dwindling opportunity have devastated the black working class, three Detroit men must fight to build something lasting for themselves and future generations.

10.0

Community Patrol

Feb 24, 2018

It’s been widely reported that Detroit is making a comeback, but long-term residents of Detroit’s mostly black neighborhoods aren’t seeing much benefit. Crime, lack of opportunity and infrastructure problems still persist. Community Patrol explores neighborhood self-policing through the eyes of Minister Malik Shabazz, a long-time Detroit activist and community organizer. Determined that more black men don’t end up in jail or killed, the minister confronts drug offenders directly rather than reporting them to the police.

4.0

Out of Darkness

Jan 25, 2016

Out of Darkness is a full length three-part documentary by director Amadeuz Christ (Δ+), examining the untold history of African people, the African cultural contribution to the nations of the world, and the events that have contributed to the condition of African people today. Out of Darkness will explore the Nubian/Kushitic origins of Nile Valley Civilization, contact between Africa and the Americas since the times of antiquity, as well as the influence of the Moors in Europe leading to Europe’s intellectual Renaissance. In addition, the film will analyze the history of modern day racism, the concept of “white supremacy,” the impact of Hip Hop as a social movement, and the idea of nationhood. Out of Darkness is narrated by Prof. Kaba Kamene and co-stars Dr. Umar Johnson, Dr. Claud Anderson, Tim Wise, Prof. James Small, Dr. Joy DeGruy, Anthony Browder, Sabir Bey, Atlantis Browder, and Taj Tarik Bey.

7.2

Eddie the Eagle

Feb 25, 2016

The feel-good story of Michael 'Eddie' Edwards, an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself—even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach, Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic showing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

7.7

The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire

May 5, 2017

At the demise of empire, City of London financial interests created a web of offshore secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it behind obscure financial structures in a web of offshore islands. Today, up to half of global offshore wealth may be hidden in British offshore jurisdictions and Britain and its offshore jurisdictions are the largest global players in the world of international finance. How did this come about, and what impact does it have on the world today? This is what the Spider's Web sets out to investigate.

6.6

A Tale of Two Thieves

Apr 12, 2014

In 1963 in the countryside in England, fifteen men pulled off 'The Great Train Robbery' netting today's equivalent of $85million. This incredible film features Gordon Goody, one of the instigators of the crime, for the first time ever, revealing the identity of the missing mastermind behind Britain's most famous heist- the elusive and mysterious 'Ulsterman'.

0.0

Think of England

Apr 24, 1999

Shown as part of the BBC's Modern Times series. Think of England shows Parr talking to the many people he encountered in the summer of 1999. He innocently asked people what it took to be English, and this simple question provided many revealing answers.

0.0

Roparz Hemon

Jan 1, 2000

The bombings recently carried out by the Revolutionary Breton Army (ARB) have drawn attention to the political and cultural history of the Breton movement. The writer Roparz Hemon is one of its emblematic figures. He was born in Brest in 1900, and died in Dublin in 1978 after thirty years of voluntary exile in Ireland following his trial for collaboration at the end of the war. He had indeed organised the first Breton-language radio programmes under German control. The work of this poet, novelist, and translator of Shakespeare and Cervantes is dominated by the theme of the dream.

0.0

Imperial Sunset

Jan 1, 1967

This short satirical film, created entirely from archival footage, is about the British Empire—on which the sun never sets. The majority of the humour and wit is found in the interplay between image and sound: what we see during the formative days of the Empire, and what famous servants had to say about it. Edited by Oscar®-nominated experimental filmmaker Arthur Lipsett (Very Nice, Very Nice).

Britain on Film: Black Britain

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Britain on Film: Black Britain Trailers