White Riot (15) Film Screening

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Please be aware: this documentary contains very strong language, and archival footage of violence and racism.

Part of our Joyful Noise 2026 Programming

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, Rock Against Racism's multicultural punk and reggae gigs provided rallying points for resistance. As co-founder Red Saunders explains: 'We peeled away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika'.

White Riot left me with a sense of hope that I haven't felt for a long time. The barrage of bad news that follows us at every waking hour, and the dominance of racist rhetoric, can make us feel powerless. But if there's any one message to be taken from Shah's film, it's the belief that if a group of punks and reggae fans could unite to fight back against hatred in the 70s, anyone could do the same now. (Stephanie Phillips, BFI)
Documentary (2019)