Film – A Force For Change

originally posted by: Tippa Naphtali
14th March 2006
Any news or updates listed at the foot of this item

Forward: Tippa Naphtali
4WardEver Campaign UK

July 2005 marked 5 years since the release of INJUSTICE. The film has continued to succeed despite the attempts by the police to suppress it. A spokesperson for filmmakers, Migrant Media, said; “We owe this success through the continued practical, political and spiritual support that many people have given us.”

The following was written by Ken at our request, and we will continue to support this important film through our online services and community events.

Ken Fero – Migrant Media
Co-director of INJUSTICE

Between 1969 and 1999 over one thousand people died in police custody in England. No police officer to date has ever been convicted for any of these deaths. The deaths continue and so does the cover-up. Injustice is the story of the struggles for justice by the families of some of those killed by the police.

Injustice has been seen by thousands of people in many corners of the globe. Millions more have heard of the film and its basic message – that there are human rights abuses perpetuated by police in the UK. On the 6th July 2001 the premier opening of Injustice at the Metro Cinema in London was halted dramatically when two police officers issued last minute legal threats to the cinema owners. News spread about the police action and the ensuing uproar in the cinema. An hour later we were condemning the police action on the BBC Evening News, with a simple message – we would not let the police kill our film.

Five days later, on the 11th July a second attempt to show the film at Conway Hall, a place renowned for supporting freedom speech, was met by more sabre rattling from the police. After it became clear that the manger of Conway Hall was going to cancel the screening a cry from the audience rang out – “Show the film”. The audience took control of the venue; barricaded the doors and projected the film themselves. This action catapulted the story of the attempts to censor the film into the daily newspapers.

Following this screening, the police continued to harass venues that tried to show the film. Publicity increased with every attempt that they made. What the film did was to put a heart and soul to the shocking figure of 1000 deaths through following the struggles for justice of a few families. It was this struggle that the police wanted to silence. Throughout this period the families of those killed by the police stood by us and we travelled the country showing the film and talking about the struggle for justice.

In this fight we were helped by many people – workers, students, lecturers, trade unionists, religious leaders, and anarchists. Every screening was fought for and many won only because of the support of these people. Injustice began to mobilize people to take a stand against police oppression.

The threats by the police officers continued. We showed Injustice to eight police officers who had been involved in the deaths featured in the film and then wrote to them and made it clear that we would go to court to defend the film. If they went forward with a libel trial they would have to stand in court on account. We have not heard from them since.

By late summer news coverage of the attempts by the police to get the film banned had included women’s life style magazine, film periodicals mainstream news and CNN. The Police Federation were taken aback by the favourable press reaction to the film and our struggle to show it. The Police Federation demanded that we make cuts to the film. We refused because we would not censor the voices of the families, and we were also defending the artistic integrity of the film. The Federation went silent.

At the Black Filmmakers International Film Festival, in London on the 10th September 2001 the Curzon Cinema agreed to go ahead with a public screening. Tension was high as the cinema waited for the usual police threat. It never came. The curse of the Police Federation was finally broken. By September 2001 Injustice began to be shown in many renowned Film Festivals and has gone from strength to strength. The international tour of the film also continued.

In a private screening of the film the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith was challenged to meet with the families. As time progressed it became clear that the Government was unwilling to reopen the cases featured within Injustice. Without such a commitment from the Attorney General any review would become another attempt to silence the families.

Channel 4 Television Headquarters In spite of the enormous success of the film UK broadcasters have refused to show it. Channel 4 have claimed that Injustice “raises important issues but could not be broadcast without the serious risk of attracting a number of indefensible libel actions from police officers.” The BBC, after holding onto the film for five years recently stated that the film is out of date, this is despite the fact that every family in the film continue to fight for justice.

It is our firm opinion that it is a matter of public interest that the film is broadcast in the UK.

The social movement that has been generated by the film is evidence of the power of cinema. Change can come through collective determination and as film makers we have tried to play a part in that. This feeling is reflected towards the end of the film by Myrna Simpson whose daughter, Joy Gardner, died in police custody 28th of July 1993 “It’s important for people to fight for justice and don’t stop because there is no other way to get justice but to fight for it, and I am still fighting for justice for Joy and not only for Joy, as I say always but for all. I am fighting for justice for everyone that has been unjustly killed.”

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Related Reviews:

Spiked Liberties
(August 2001)
Why has a documentary film about deaths in police custody been chased out of cinemas across the UK?

The Guardian
(September 2002)
Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood’s documentary – downbeat in manner, polemical in effect – tells a harrowing story.

The BBC
(March 2002)
A film that focuses on deaths in UK police custody has been seen by MEPs concerned with human rights.

Socialist Worker
(March 2004)
Around 150 people attended a showing of the film Injustice at the Prince Charles cinema in central London last week. The powerful film shows families in Britain who have been fighting for justice after their loved ones died in police custody.