Rentals

Black British Filmmaking

A selection of shorts and features by black writers and directors, from milestones of the 60s and 70s to contemporary hits.

For much of the history of British film and TV, black stories were overseen by white filmmakers. By the 1960s, black writers and directors were demanding to tell their own stories, in their own way. This collection celebrates the work of black storytellers who have enriched our understanding of the black British experience. Landmark features like Horace Ové's Pressure (1975) and Menelik Shabazz's Burning an Illusion (1981) stand beside earlier milestones in short filmmaking by Lionel Ngakane and Lloyd Reckord, and 1990s work by Isaac Julien and Julian Henriques. And you'll find hits by leading lights in new black British cinema, including Noel Clarke, Destiny Ekaragha and Debbie Tucker Green. The collection also highlights the work of Ngozi Onwurah, who became the first black British woman director to get a UK theatrical release with her extraordinary debut feature Welcome II the Terrordome (1995), a controversial dystopian fable unavailable for many years.

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Rent for £3.50

Farming Farming

Drama 2018 107 mins Director: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

A fostered Nigerian boy growing up in Essex loses all sense of identity and joins a racist skinhead gang. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Oz, Lost) directs this powerful drama based on his own, extraordinary upbringing.

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Welcome II the Terrordome Welcome II the Terrordome

Drama 1995 94 mins Director: Ngozi Onwurah

A ferocious dystopian nightmare, this was the first film directed by a Black British woman to receive a UK theatrical release.

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Speak Like a Child Speak Like a Child

Drama 1998 77 mins Director: John Akomfrah

Moving drama about three close friends forever tied to a dark secret from their teenage past.

Currently unavailable

Kidulthood Kidulthood

Drama 2006 91 mins Director: Menhaj Huda

Noel Clarke and Menhaj Huda’s explosive youth film follows the drug, sex and crime-fuelled antics of a group of West London teens over the course of a single day.

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Adulthood Adulthood

Drama 2008 99 mins Director: Noel Clarke

After being released from prison following a murder charge, Sam Peel (Noel Clarke) attempts to reboot his life and seek redemption.

Currently unavailable

Brotherhood Brotherhood

Crime 2016 104 mins Director: Noel Clarke

A decade after the release of Adulthood, Sam (Noel Clarke) is trying to keep his family safe while simmering old grudges threaten to resurface.

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Hush Hush

Thriller 2009 88 mins Director: Mark Tonderai

A tense and terrifying motorway thriller about a man whose girlfriend is kidnapped by a malevolent trucker, directed by former Radio 1 DJ Mark Tonderai.

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Riots and Rumours of Riots Riots and Rumours of Riots

1981 34 mins Director: Imruh Caesar

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

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Generation Revolution Generation Revolution

Documentary 2016 72 mins Director: Usayd Younis and Cassie Quarless

This urgent, impassioned documentary follows a new generation of Black activists as they fight for social and political change in London and beyond.

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Babymother Babymother

Musical 1998 77 mins Director: Julian Henriques

Neeta and her crew rise to dancehall fame in North West London's Caribbean community, in the first Black British musical.

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Dog Eat Dog Dog Eat Dog

Comedy 2001 93 mins Director: Moody Shoaibi

David Oyelowo makes his first feature film role as one of posse of DJs who enrage a local drug baron after stealing his dog.

Currently unavailable

Playing Away Playing Away

Sport 1986 102 mins Director: Horace Ové

A cricketing comedy of manners exploring white and black stereotypes, from pioneering British filmmaker Horace Ové.

Currently unavailable

Blood Ah Go Run Blood Ah Go Run

Documentary 1982 13 mins Director: Menelik Shabazz and Imruh Caesar

This documentary by Menelik Shabazz (Burning an Illusion) about the response to the New Cross Fire in 1981 prefigures the widespread social unrest later that year.

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Sidney's Chair Sidney's Chair

Drama 1995 21 mins Director: Roberto Bangura

What do you do when a Hollywood star makes a film in your neighbourhood? Nick his chair, of course!

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Rooted Rooted

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1997 4 mins Director: Victor Olusola Opeyokun

Animated awakening: a young black man in an oppressive urban environment finds a new outlook by embracing his African roots

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The Weekend The Weekend

Comedy 2016 94 mins Director: Sheridan De Myers

Street-smart Hackney comedy about three friends whose unexpected cash windfall funds the mother of all parties; from the talents behind YouTube hit Mandem on the Wall.

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Smack and Thistle Smack and Thistle

Drama 1989 95 mins Director: Tunde Ikoli

When a young black wide-boy rescues a rich white girl from a heroin overdose – and falls for her – he’s drawn into a world of high-class crime.

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Midnight Breaks Midnight Breaks

1988 113 mins Director: Laurens C. Postma

Big Audio Dynamite’s Don Letts made his acting debut in this gripping, gritty 1990 drama of dreads, drugs, and music business corruption.

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Yardie Yardie

Crime 2018 102 mins Director: Idris Elba

In his thrilling directorial debut, Idris Elba brings to life Victor Headley’s cult crime novel.

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Omega Rising Omega Rising

1988 50 mins Director: D. Elmina Davis

The women of Rastafari talk about their relationship to the movement’s development.

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Coffee Coloured Children Coffee Coloured Children

Biopic 1988 17 mins Director: Ngozi Onwurah

Experimental monologue about the trauma of racial harassment and self-hate that accompanies growing up mixed-race in Britain.

Currently unavailable

Frantz Fanon: Black Skin White Mask Frantz Fanon: Black Skin White Mask

Documentary 1997 70 mins Director: Isaac Julien

Isaac Julien and Mark Nash’s celebrated experimental documentary about the Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist and revolutionary.

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The Nine Muses The Nine Muses

Documentary 2012 92 mins Director: John Akomfrah

John Akomfrah mixes archive material, literary and musical quotations and newly shot silent footage in a wry, rapt meditation on memory and migration.

Currently unavailable

Dream A40 Dream A40

Drama 1965 16 mins Director: Lloyd Reckord

A young gay couple’s relationship is put to the test as a road trip takes a sinister turn in Lloyd Reckord's daring underground short.

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