Riots Reframed – a free film screening

Director Fahim Alam

In 2011, the most widespread case of civil unrest in England for decades took place following the police killing of Mark Duggan, a young African-Caribbean man from Tottenham, north London. The Police response to Mark’s death sparked four days of disturbances which started in London, but soon spread to almost every major city across the nation.

Walking to his grandmother’s home in Hackney, northeast London, Fahim Alam, who studied Law at Oxford, was arrested by police in the midst of the unrest. He was apparently picked out of a crowd and monitored for 25 minutes because he was wearing “an Arabic shemagh, used by the military”. He was held by police for 48 hours, and then imprisoned for six weeks. It took just thirty minutes for a jury to find him innocent of all charges, which included throwing a brick at a police officer. Alam uses his knowledge of the law and state racism, and his experience of growing up in east London, to provide a shocking backdrop for the violence on the streets which dominates popular narratives.

Riots Reframed is a feature-length documentary which reframes England’s 2011 riots through voices of resistance. The documentary takes the viewer through a journey that begins in Tottenham and spirals out to a detailed look at the role of police, power, racism, government, prison, war, resistance and more.

This hard-hitting film is unique both in its scope and the journey that produced it.

Watch a Trailer for the film here.

This film is being screened by students of Free University Brighton’s (free) degree-level course in Social Science and Humanities which includes modules in Criminology. The students have recently been studying the 2011 riots as part of the Critical Perspectives on Crime and Punishment course. Following the film screening the tutors and students will lead a discussion about the subject.

If you would like to join our degree next year, you can find out details here.