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Black Theatre of Brixton

Black Theatre of Brixton

Documentary about how a number of black social workers and playwrites struggle to open a theatre workshop in the London black ghetto of Brixton. In spite of the desparate opinions of the community and lack of funds, the nucleus of the workshop succeeds in involving growing numbers of people in a theatrical context to express some of their deepest emotions, both social and political.

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Black Lives

Portraits of public and private lives against the shifting social climate of 20th century Britain.

Black communities, like many Global majority groups, have long been ill-served by a mainstream British media accustomed to reflecting predominantly white, middle-class lives - a problem entrenched in the second half of the 20th century with the rise of television. Yet a rich tapestry of work from across the boundaries of fiction and non-fiction, film and TV, made for (though not always by) black people, does exist. This selection contains many surprises – some joyous, some sobering, some heartbreaking – and highlights the often painfully slow progress in addressing negative representations and stereotypes on screen. Impassioned and sometimes violent dispatches from the front line in the fight for racial equality can be found here, but so too can records of progress: in the pioneers breaking new ground in culture, politics and sport, and in the more mundane glimpses of everyday life. And this story is not just London’s story: the selection takes a journey around Britain, to a Nigerian wedding in 1960s Cornwall, an ‘African village’ in Essex and a Caribbean restaurant opening in West Bromwich; Newcastle

48 videos in this collection

The turbulent life and death of championship boxer Randolph Turpin.
1

Sixty-four Day Hero: A Boxer's Tale

  • 1985
Bringing the tastes of Montego Bay to a wintry West Bromwich.
2

Caribbean Restaurant

  • West Bromwich
  • 1986-02-16
A stark reminder from Handsworth of the intolerance and hatred that darkened the streets of 1960s Britain.
3

Burning Cross Race Attack

  • Handsworth
  • 1965-06-10
The Gay Black Group - reasserting culture and identity on two levels.
4

Gay Black Group

  • Bloomsbury
  • 1983-06-26
5

Black Theatre of Brixton

  • 1975-01-01
The beginning of a Mancunian tradition - could this be the first Moss Side Carnival?
6

Alexandra Park Pageant, 27 June 1970

  • Moss Side
  • 1970-06-27
In Gloucester in January 1964, Astley Lloyd Blair makes history by becoming the first black special constable in Britain.
7

Black Special Constable

  • Gloucestershire
  • 1964-01-31
Black police officers? What a ridiculous idea! Attitudes from England's colonial past linger on in the Midlands of the 1960s.
8

Vox Pops on Black Police Officers

  • 1966-02-08
In an age when using the term ‘coloured' was deemed acceptable, Anglia TV ask Councillors in Mildenhall why it is considered a problem to house migrants in the overspill town.
9

A Suffolk RDC turn down housing for migrants

  • Mildenhall
  • 1965-01-01
West London echoes to the sound of reggae and steel pans in this kaleidoscopic record of the 1980 Notting Hill Carnival.
10

Grove Carnival

  • Notting Hill
  • 1981
Young working class Londoners fight racism with the power of rock and reggae in this anarchic documentary.
11

Divide and Rule - Never!

  • 1978
Tough times on the tracks - the railway workers who kept the trains moving through the big freeze.
12

Cold Railway Workers

  • 1963-01-23
An extraordinary and unexpected snapshot of rural life in wartime in which a young black girl is crowned Queen of the May.
13

Springtime in an English Village

  • Stanion
  • 1944
If your interests happen to include rainwear, concrete in Africa, science in Sevenoaks, and gbedu drum music, then this is your lucky day...
14

London Line No. 113

  • Sevenoaks
  • 1966
A Ghanaian fashion student and a Nigerian squash player are among the Africans making a life in 70s Britain in this edition of the magazine show.
15

London Line No 373

  • Westminster
  • 1971
Despite having to work in an office for a living, Wolverhampton's Tessa Sanderson is tipped to be the greatest javelin thrower ever.
16

Tessa Sanderson

  • Wednesfield
  • 1977-11-10
Stephen Dwoskin brings together members of the Ballet Negres dance company, founded in London in 1946.
17

Ballet Black

  • 1986
New houses for a new future? A self build housing project for Afro Caribbeans is introduced in Birmingham.
18

Afro Housing Self Build Scheme

  • Small Heath
  • 1974-11-28
Ghanaian led Afro-Caribbean band spread infectious rhythms of world music at Plymouth's Frankfort Gate.
19

Osibisa Musical Group

  • Plymouth
  • 1980-02-04
A centre for the "undertones and outcasts". Breaking down cultural and generational barriers at Wolverhampton's first Rastafari centre.
20

Community Centre

  • Wolverhampton
  • 1984-04-08
Children from inner city Brixton in London having fun at Wembury Beach.
21

Seaside Escape

  • Wembury
  • 1983-07-12
"Why Tory?" Bernard Braden asks aspiring politician Cuthbert Gardner, who's standing for election to Merton Council
22

Cuthbert Gardner

  • 1968-05-03
Abyssinian state ministers visit London during Prince Regent Haile Selassie's diplomatic tour of Europe.
23

Regent of Abyssinia in London Topical Budget 672-1

  • 1924-07-10
Nottingham welcomes Britain's first black magistrate.
24

Black Magistrate

  • Nottingham
  • 1962-05-10
He jokes that he's joined the 'chain gang' but there is more than ceremonial robes for Tony Robinson as Nottingham's first black Sheriff.
25

Black Sheriff of Nottingham

  • Nottingham
  • 1989-11-19
Birmingham's lost black generation: undermined by the racism that's stifling the dynamism of a young workforce.
26

Unemployment Crisis for Birmingham West Indian School Leavers

  • Handsworth
  • 1976-02-23
Miss Christie, aged 64, shares her home with eleven foster children, a donkey, three dogs and twelve cats. Anglia TV reports.
27

Foster Mother to Eleven Children

  • 1970-02-11
Nigerian children find a home with the Arnetts in Fremington
28

Fostering Nigerian Children

  • Fremington
  • 1965-02-09
Cinemagazine London Line looks at the support available in London for African students and their families.
29

African Student Families

  • Westminster
  • 1975
Interview with International and Somerset cricketers Ian Botham and Viv Richards
30

Ian and Viv

  • Taunton
  • 1980-09-05
With workshops and performances, Aklowa village in Essex promotes a greater awareness of the richness of African culture.
31

Aklowa African Village, Bishop's Stortford, Essex

  • Takeley
  • 1977-10-17
Welcome to the Multicultural Fortnight in Cambridge where children learn to banish cultural stereotypes learned from TV.
32

Multi-cultural Fortnight in Cambridge

  • Cambridge
  • 1978-08-16
An African sculpture exhibition in a Weymouth school
33

African Sculpture Exhibition in Weymouth

  • Weymouth
  • 1979-03-12
Essex primary schoolchildren share an unforgettable afternoon, living the life of an African villager.
34

Aklowa African Village in Essex

  • Takeley
  • 1986-09-25
Lloyd Reckord stars as a gifted student confronting the race and class divide in 1960s Brixton.
35

You in Your Small Corner

  • Brixton
  • 1962-06-05
With great enthusiasm, the schoolchildren of Stewards Comp in Harlow are inspired to drum, dance, and sing traditional African music.
36

African music at Stewards Comprehensive, Harlow

  • Harlow
  • 1974-12-16
Basil, an East African performer educates school children in traditional dance
37

East African Dance in Weymouth

  • Weymouth
  • 1976-03-30
Monologue about a "nice" West Indian and his descent into postcolonial cynicism, performed by the legendary Norman Beaton
38

Nice

  • 1984
Captivating exploration of a young interracial friendship, set against Lancashire's industrial landscape.
39

Faith and Henry

  • 1969-12-06
A West Indian man working in Britain faces prejudice, suspicion and jealousy in this shocking early TV play.
40

To Keep Our Way of Life

  • 1959-03-27
Tired of being hassled by the police and with no job opportunities, a group of teenage East End lads plan to rob a bank.
41

Tunde's Film

  • Stepney
  • 1973
A collective dedicated to arts, culture and performance
42

Steel 'n' Skin

  • Liverpool
  • 1979
Handsomely-presented drama about a man caught between his privileged Western education and traditional African roots.
43

Men of Two Worlds

  • Pinewood Film Studios
  • 1946-09-09
A powerfully bittersweet image of the loneliness and sacrifice in migration stories, centred on a Nigerian-British family
44

Home Away from Home

  • 1993
Vibrant documentary that captures Trinidad's famous street carnival in 1960.
45

Carnival Fantastique

  • 1960
New law targets discrimination in housing and employment in this eye-opening public information film.
46

Race Relations Board

  • 1969
47

Carnival of Tears Today Special

  • Notting Hill
  • 1976-09-01
48

Notting Hill Carnival

  • Notting Hill
  • 1976-08-01
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