Handsworth Songs (1986)
3.6 of 5 from 46 ratings
1h 1min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In October 1985 Britain witnessed a spate of civil disturbances in the Birmingham district of Handsworth and in urban centres of London. These were violent, tragic events, marked by the death of an elderly black woman, Joy Gardner and a white policeman, Keith Blakelock . 'Handsworth Songs' takes as its point of departure these events and the inability of the British media to go beyond its concern with demonising or rationalising the rioters and their motives, to break the anxiety-driven loop of morbid responses to the presence of blacks in Britain. 'Handsworth Songs' explores the idea that the riots represented less a self contained drama of rage with a single origin and trajectory than a multiplicity of issues, ambivalences , to do with race, longing and belonging - not all of which could be shored up by recourse to a rhetoric of civil disorder. The film's sense of multiplicity extends to a rethinking of black British presence, and a refuting of the idea of a homogenous black community with a single sense of presence characterised by uniformity of ambition and expression... - Actors:
- Joy Gardner, Keith Blakelock
- Directors:
- John Akomfrah
- Producers:
- Lina Gopaul
- Voiced By:
- Pervaiz Khan, Meera Syal, Yvonne Weekes
- Genres:
- Documentary, Special Interest
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