Franco Rosso

The Mangrove Nine

Franco Rosso

Andrew Salkey, Darcus Howe

The Mangrove Nine trial resulted from conflict between the police and the Black community in Notting Hill that had escalated from the end of the 1960s onwards. The Mangrove case began when around 150 Black people protested against long-term police harassment of the popular Mangrove Restaurant in Ladbroke Grove. A documentary film, 'The Mangrove Nine' (directed and produced by Franco Rosso), was made in 1973, and includes interviews with the defendants recorded before the final verdicts. The Mangrove Nine film portrays interviews with the defendants recorded before the final verdicts were delivered at the trial, as well as contemporary comments from Ian Macdonald and others.

Dread Beat and Blood

Franco Rosso

Linton Kwesi Johnson

This vibrant portrait of dub poet and political activist Linton Kwesi Johnson transports us back to the turbulent streets of Brixton in the late 1970s. Jamaican-born Johnson explains with precise and powerful eloquence the violence and racism meted out to Black and Asian communities in London and beyond - and how his poetry acts as a weapon in the struggle for justice.

Babylon

Franco Rosso

Brinsley Forde, Trevor Laird

Drama telling the story of Blue, a young man of Jamaican descent living in Brixton in 1980, as he hangs out with his friends, fronts a dub sound system, loses his job, struggles with family problems and has his friendships tested by racism.

The Nature of the Beast

Franco Rosso

Lynton Dearden, Tony Melody

A boy reads about the attacks of a unknown animal on livestock in the town. He plans to run his own investigation. The so called beast however is also used as a metaphor for every day problems the townsfolk face.

Struggle for Stonebridge

Franco Rosso

Documentary on the Harlesden People's Community Council, formed by the people of the Stonebridge estate in Harlesden, Brent, and their struggle to develop a disused London Transport bus terminus into a community complex.

64-Day Hero: A Boxer's Tale

Franco Rosso

Gordon Williams, Dick Turpin

Documentary about the life and career of the 1940s and 1950s boxer Randy Turpin.

Right To Work March

Frances de la Tour, Tony Anscombe

Young Socialists from Glasgow, Liverpool and Swansea march to London and discuss their economic struggles en route. Supporting them are Ken Loach, Corin Redgrave, Arnold Wesker and other leading cultural figures of the left of British politics. The march is intercut with scenes dramatising parallel injustices in the English Civil War era and earlier - featuring Frances de la Tour in queenly mode as Elizabeth I. The film's unconventional structure also features frequent extracts of the rousing pop concert, with the band Slade, which culminated the epic march.