CINEMATHEQUE

Uprising There's An Uprising Small Axe (Film Anthology)   Dir: Steve McQueen So if you are the big tree We are the small axe Ready to cut you down To cut you down               - Bob Marley     Small axe is a masterpiece from Steve McQueen as all of the five films in the BBC original anthology tries (and wins almost perfectly) not only in expounding the issues faced by the Blacks but acts as a celebration of their eventual triumph over what was and is trying to pull them down. It tells five important stories drawn from the real life experiences of the West Indian community, who lived in Britain  between the 1960s and 80s.    The first film, Mangrove , tells the story of the Mangrove restaurant and the case of the nine people who initiated a protest against the police, who unlawfully seized and created fearful ruckus inside the place, which otherwise served as a cheerful place of community gathering for the Blacks. The co...