Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Amandla! Steve McQueen's Black Power doccie series now on Showmax

02/07/2022

Amandla! Steve McQueen's Black Power doccie series now on ShowmaxOscar-winning filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen documents the real-life stories of resistance and injustice in 3 documentaries.

by Nokuthula Ngcobo

02-07-2022 08:00

in Entertainment

Oscar-winning filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen documents the real-life stories of resistance and injustice in 3 documentaries. Image Supplied

The BBC documentary collection Resistance in a Hostile Environment, from Oscar-winning filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave), is now streaming on Showmax.

--

UPRISING' The omnibus includes Uprising, which won the 2022 BAFTA Award for Best Factual Series, and Black Power: A British Story of Resistance, which was nominated for a 2022 BAFTA for Specialist Factual. Both have 100% critics' ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.

The documentaries examine the systemic racial injustice that shaped what it meant to be Black in Britain from the late 1960s to the early 80s, and trace the real-life stories of resistance that inspired McQueen's five-film anthology series Small Axe, which won BAFTA and Critics' Choice awards among many, many others.

As IndieWire puts it, Small Axe grew out of a desire to shed light on Black resistance movements in Britain So, too, [do the] documentaries which chronicle pivotal stories from recent British history largely ignored by media. Viewed collectively, the films make it clear that McQueen almost single-handedly aims to disrupt the preferred timeline with films that detail tumultuous crusades for change that cross borders, and still very much resonate today.

--

In addition to producing the omnibus as a whole, McQueen and BAFTA nominee James Rogan (Stephen: The Murder that Changed a Nation, Putin: A Russian Spy Story) co-directed Uprising, which examines three intertwined events of 1981 that would go on to define race relations in the UK for a generation: the New Cross Fire, which killed 13 young Black people; the Black People's Day of Action; and the Brixton riots.

Guardian called the three-part miniseries brilliant and furious and human, while the Rotten Tomatoes critics' consensus says, Honest, harrowing, and heartbreaking, Uprising is an incredible feat of documentary storytelling from Steve McQueen.

ALSO READ: The Wife': Inside Khanyi Mbau, Zikhona Sodlaka, Mondli Makhaba's exits

--

BLACK POWER' BAFTA nominee George Amponsah (Enslaved) directs Black Power: A British Story of Resistance, narrated by Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah). The feature documentary looks at the 60s and 70s through the eyes of the young Black people who refused to take racism as a part of the natural order of things in the UK, examining the socio-cultural movement that helped fuel hope and resilience, mobilised in protest of the apartheid system in South Africa, and ultimately started Britain on the road to being a more inclusive and diverse society.

Black Power draws on interviews with activists like Linton Kwesi Johnson, as well as archive footage of civil rights leaders, from Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Darcus Howe and Roy Sawh to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., to trace the rise of organisations such as the British Black Panthers, R.A.A.S. and The Fasimbas.

Does anybody remember learning about these prominent figures and crucial events in British Black history in school? asks Black Girl Nerds, saying, It's maddening that this entire movement has been overlooked for decades.

Black Power: A British Story of Resistance, they say, is truly a history lesson we need. Many of these important people have been forgotten or are completely unknown, but this documentary honours their legacies by shining a light on them. You'll be surprised at just how much we didn't know.

SUBNORMAL' The final documentary, Subnormal: A British Scandal, directed by newcomer Lyttanya Shannon, examines one of the biggest scandals in the history of British education (and the inspiration for Education, the final film in the Small Axe anthology): the unofficial but widely accepted segregation policy of the 60s and 70s, which saw hundreds of Black children in Britain labelled as educationally subnormal and wrongly sent to schools for pupils deemed to have low intelligence, until Black parents, teachers and activists banded together to expose the injustice and force the education system to change.

The Guardian says Subnormal is a chronicle of systemic racism that ruined people's lives. The activists, academics and psychologists here all talk with a sense of steady fury about what was allowed to happen This is a sobering story, told with skill and compassion, and it is a compelling and devastating account.

As McQueen told IndieWire, These stories are now out in the world, so no one can claim ignorance anymore. A generation decided it would no longer condone how British society defined it, and fought back. That was very important for me, that they are tightly interwoven into the fabric of British history.

If you know your rugby, you could win R1 000 in cash! ENTER NOW & WIN
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/entertainment/amandla-steve-mc...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

10/06/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Team Whistle's Joe Caporoso on Building World Cup Content Around Fans, Culture, IRL Experiences

DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...

10/06/2026

Clear-Com Appoints Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager

Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...

10/06/2026

Caretta Research: 2026 World Cup Revenue Growth Due to More Matches; Rights Revenue Up 32%

An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...

10/06/2026

Women Without Boundaries Awards Are Back!

The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...

10/06/2026

On Eve of World Cup Kickoff, FIFA and HBS Offer Deep Dive into IBC Operations, Commentary, and Ref Cam

Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...

10/06/2026

SES Supporting World's Biggest Soccer Tournament Broadcast Distribution Worldwide

SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...

10/06/2026

BirdDog Achieves Full NDI 6.3 Compatibility Across Entire Product Line

NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...

10/06/2026

Emmy Award-Winning Audio Team To Present at SVG Audio Symposium

Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...

10/06/2026

FOX One Set to Deliver World Cup in 4K; Personalization via AI Drives Experience

FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...

10/06/2026

PWHL Scales Broadcast Operation in Season 3, Relying on World-Feed Model and Key Vendors

Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...

10/06/2026

NFL Films Application Deadline for Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship, Augusts 26-29 in Mount Laurel, Closes June 18

The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...

10/06/2026

NBAs In-House Broadcast Ops & Engineering Teams Power Global Finals Coverage From NYC, San Antonio

The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...

10/06/2026

MoonPay X Games League Winter Draft Set for September 16 at Cosm Los Angeles

The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...

10/06/2026

University of Oklahoma and Learfield Extend 30-Year Partnership, Announce Sooner Evolution Center

The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...

10/06/2026

VSF Releases RIST Satellite-Hybrid Out-of-Band Specification

The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...

10/06/2026

Riedel Artist Intercom Powers Live Neurovascular Conference in Lisbon

Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...

10/06/2026

Sundance Film Festival 101: Films by LGBTQ+ Directors

A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute) By Lucy Spicer Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...

10/06/2026

GearExpo UK: Interfaces & Mic Preamp Update

Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...

10/06/2026

MONO Music Conference 2026

November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...

10/06/2026

ebbandflow launch with deFORM

Debut instrument free for limited time deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...

10/06/2026

Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast

Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast 10 June, 2026 Media releases WATCH THE TRAILER Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...

10/06/2026

DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH 50 YEARS OF DEADLY

DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...

10/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS

Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...

10/06/2026

MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern driver assistance systems

MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...

10/06/2026

NFVF CALL FOR FUNDING APPLICATIONS: PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT 2026/27

Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...

10/06/2026

Nielsen launches Four-Screen Ad Deduplication measurement on YouTube campaigns in Japan

Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...

10/06/2026

Ecoflow X Launches as Experimentation Arm for Sustainabil...

Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...

10/06/2026

Frequency Appoints James Smith as General Manager - Monet...

Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...

10/06/2026

Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurova...

At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...

10/06/2026

Globecast Unveils Content Exchange Platform Powered by Or...

Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...

10/06/2026

Venues and integrators shift toward professional recharge...

Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...

10/06/2026

VSF Releases Specification for RIST Satellite Hybrid Out-...

The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...

10/06/2026

Microphone Maker Audix Adds Eric Reese as VP

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/06/2026

How to watch every ICC Womens T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports

Wednesday 10 June 2026 How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...

10/06/2026

PRLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care TV campaign to screens nationwide with Sky

Wednesday 10 June 2026 P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...

10/06/2026

Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upcoming crime drama Fightland

Wednesday 10 June 2026 Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...

10/06/2026

Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference

Wuppertal June 10, 2026 Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...

10/06/2026

Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC

Back to All News Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC Product 10 June 2026 GlobalSouth KoreaJapan Link copied to c...

10/06/2026

Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions

Back to All News Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions Business 10 June 2026 Global Link copied to clipboard Download all assets N...

10/06/2026

June 10, 2026

Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...

09/06/2026

Kiswe Expands Partnership With ONE Championship To LaunchGlobal Subscription Platform

Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...

09/06/2026

SiriusXM to Carry All 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 Matches via FOX Sports Commentary

SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...

09/06/2026

EVS Broadcast Equipment Rebrands as EVS

EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...

09/06/2026

FOX and NFL Announce Multi-Year Agreement for NFL Coverage in Mexico Starting in 2026

Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...

09/06/2026

FOX Sports and ReachTV to Carry All 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 Matches Across U.S. Airports

FOX Sports and ReachTV, an airport media network, have announced an agreement to...