This film is part of Free
The British Fascisti
The British Fascist movement holds a 10,000-strong rally in Trafalgar Square the day before Remembrance Sunday
Overview
“Red flag not wanted at Trafalgar Square” reads a headline covering the largest mass gathering of the British Fascist movement. Modelled on Benito Mussolini’s successful Italian counterpart, the British Fascisti (as they then styled themselves) was a radical nationalist party aiming to influence the Conservative Party into becoming an overtly anti-Communist movement. Topical Budget’s camera missed the conclusion, a ceremonial laying of symbolic black and white wreaths on the then-new Cenotaph.
The British Fascisti, or British Fascists from 1924 (the original name was considered too foreign) was Britain’s first explicitly fascist political party, founded by Rotha Lintorn-Orman (1895-1935), a member of the Women’s Volunteer Reserve during WWI whose fiercely anti-Communist views and admiration for Mussolini led her to seek to follow his example. But the 1924 rally may have been the British Fascisti’s high point: riven by numerous schisms and the rise of more successful fascist organisations (notably Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists), the party was dissolved a decade later.
Related
Simcha Simcha
Documentary 2000 12 mins
Extremely rare insight in the role of a Hasidic woman, featuring a mother-daughter team who live in North London.
Some of My Best Friends Some of My Best Friends
Documentary 1969 30 mins Location: Westminster
Jewish people - and a few Gentiles - muse on what it means to be Jewish in 1960s Britain
Chief Rabbi's Emergency Council Chief Rabbi's Emergency Council
1947 19 mins Silent
Poignant postwar appeal for Britain’s Jewry to support orphaned Jewish children rescued from Europe
Jewish Pensioners' Controversial Pools Win Jewish Pensioners' Controversial Pools Win
News 1975 5 mins Location: Southend-on-Sea
All good pals and jolly good company! A syndicate of Jewish pensioners from Southend celebrate their big win on the football pools.
Just One Kid Just One Kid
Factual TV 1974 54 mins Silent
A Jewish Eastender recalls growing up in poverty in the 1930s and being part of a community now long gone
Mr. Emmanuel Mr. Emmanuel
Drama 1944 97 mins
An elderly Jewish man journeys to Nazi Germany to track down a refugee’s mother in this extraordinary drama
Showgirls is a Western Showgirls is a Western
Short documentary 2025 2 mins
In this mini video essay, BFI contributor Maha Al-Badrawi explains why Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls is a rhinestoned, stilettoed Western.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.