Riots and Rumours of Riots

Radical resistance in the postwar British Caribbean community, from the 1948 Nationality Act to the 1958 Brixton riots.

Inspired by the 1981 'race riots', director Imruh Caesar explores the origins of radical Black consciousness in 1980s Britain by charting the experience of the preceding generation. Part essayistic meditation and part oral history, the film layers audio-visual archive material with recorded testimony. The resulting timeline begins with post-WWII migration following Caribbean contributions to the war effort and ends with reflections on the 1958 Brixton riots sparked by racism.