This film is part of Rentals
White Riot
Revolution rock! Rubika Shah’s vital documentary profiles punky reggae protest movement Rock Against Racism, from grassroots beginnings through to a major multicultural event.
Director: Rubika Shah
Overview
Expanding her 2017 short, Rubika Shah’s energising film charts a vital London protest movement. Rock Against Racism (RAR) was formed in 1976, prompted by ‘music’s biggest colonialist’ Eric Clapton and his support of racist MP Enoch Powell. White Riot blends fresh interviews with queasy archive footage to recreate a hostile environment of anti-immigrant hysteria and National Front marches. As neo-Nazis recruited the nation’s youth, RAR’s multicultural punk and reggae gigs provided rallying points for resistance. As founder Red Saunders explains: ‘We peeled away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika’. The campaign grew from Hoxton fanzine roots to 1978’s huge antifascist carnival in Victoria Park, featuring X-Ray Spex, Steel Pulse and of course The Clash, whose rock star charisma and gale-force conviction took RAR’s message to the masses.
Related
Ellis Park Ellis Park
Documentary 2024 106 mins Director: Justin Kurzel
Snowtown director Justin Kurzel’s first foray into documentary is an intimate portrait of iconic Australian musician and composer Warren Ellis.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Finisterre Finisterre
Documentary 2003 59 mins Director: Kieran Evans and Paul Kelly
A journey from London’s suburbs to its heart, charting the influence of the city on indie pop band Saint Etienne.
S/He Is Still Her/e: The Official Genesis P-Orridge Documentary S/He Is Still Her/e: The Official Genesis P-Orridge Documentary
Documentary 2024 101 mins Director: David Charles Rodrigues
A raw, intimate portrait of boundary-breaking artist Genesis P-Orridge, captured in their final year by director David Charles Rodrigues.
Bogancloch Bogancloch
Documentary 2025 86 mins Director: Ben Rivers
The life and environment of a solitary man is gently observed in Ben Rivers' intimate, experimental documentary.
E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea
Drama-documentary 2024 90 mins Director: Beatrice Minger
A love triangle of jealousy in the Parisian art scene of the 1930s is brought to life in a stylish docufiction about the iconic artist and architect.
Dreamcatcher Dreamcatcher
Documentary 2014 98 mins Director: Kim Longinotto
Kim Longinotto’s inspirational documentary about Brenda, a Chicagoan charity worker who helps vulnerable prostitutes leave the industry.
Love Is All Love Is All
Documentary 2014 74 mins Director: Kim Longinotto
A hundred years of love and courtship on the silver screen, with music created by celebrated Sheffield singer-songwriter-producer Richard Hawley.
From the Sea to the Land Beyond From the Sea to the Land Beyond
Documentary 2012 73 mins Director: Penny Woolcock
This fascinating and moving film by award-winning director Penny Woolcock is a lyrical portrait of Britain's coastline which features a score by British Sea Power.
I Am Belmaya I Am Belmaya
Documentary 2021 81 mins Director: Sue Carpenter
An inspirational story of rebellion, courage and hope as Belmaya, a young Dalit woman in Nepal, silenced and subjugated for most of her life, takes up the movie camera to tell her story.
Fadia's Tree Fadia's Tree
Documentary 2021 82 mins Director: Sarah Beddington
This striking documentary follows a Palestinian woman living in a refugee camp in Lebanon and her ambition to reconnect with her ancestral homeland.
Independent Miss Craigie Independent Miss Craigie
Drama-documentary 2021 92 mins Director: Lizzie Thynne
Filmmaker Lizzie Thynne tells the story of director Jill Craigie's (1911-99) remarkable career, drawing on her own words and extensive clips from her work.
Ellis Park Ellis Park
Documentary 2024 106 mins Director: Justin Kurzel
Snowtown director Justin Kurzel’s first foray into documentary is an intimate portrait of iconic Australian musician and composer Warren Ellis.
Baby Baby
Drama 2024 106 mins Director: Marcelo Caetano
São Paulo’s streets can offer danger or opportunity, and for Baby, a young gay man carving out his own existence, they deliver both.
Alpha Alpha
Horror 2025 128 mins Director: Julia Ducournau
Julia Ducournau follows her Palme d’Or-winning Titane with this powerful family drama starring Tahar Rahim and Golshifteh Farahani.
The Ceremony The Ceremony
Thriller 2024 92 mins Director: Jack King
When night falls, two Bradford car wash workers are dragged into an escalating moral crisis.
Palestine 36 Palestine 36
Period drama 2025 120 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Acclaimed Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s most ambitious work is a powerful exploration of the events leading up to the Arab Revolt of 1936.
Ghost Trail Ghost Trail
Thriller 2024 106 mins Director: Jonathan Millet
Tense, morally complex political thriller about a man hunting down fugitive war criminals from the Assad regime in Syria, inspired by true events.