Top Deck

1962
Silent
29m

A woman bus conductor struggles to ignore her black American army officer lover.

A tale of love won and lost told through a changing, often jaunty, soundtrack and location filming. Marlene collects tickets on a leafy suburban bus route. Swaggering Johnny is her easy-going but over-confident boyfriend and when he angers her, he refuses to let her be. Made in 1962, the interracial relationship in Top Deck is unusually upfront in its presentation of sexual attraction and passion.

The brief relationship between two people who meet daily on a bus, and the conflict arising from the motives of their mutual attraction.

Black Britain on Film

Striking, illuminating and sometimes surprising images of black culture, community and characters, spanning over a century of British film and TV.

From some of the earliest appearances at the dawn of the 20th century to groundbreaking postwar documentaries and contemporary features, this collection charts changing attitudes and hidden histories. Here are the trailblazers, the icons, the stereotypes, the controversies. These richly varied films uncover sometimes surprising histories of black culture and community. They tackle troubling issues of race, representation and identity. And they highlight some of the best of black British filmmaking, from the work of pioneers Horace Ové and Menelik Shabazz to later innovators John Akomfrah and Ngozi Onwurah