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Still from Roy Ward Baker's Flame in the Streets (1961) courtesy Cinematic Collection / Alamy Stock Photo

Flame in the Streets preceded by Jemima and Johnny

Burning Illusions: British Film and Thatcherism

  • Sunday, February 19, 2023
  • 2:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
  • East Building Auditorium
  • Films
  • In-person
  • Registration Required

Registration is required.

Based on Ted Willis’ controversial 1958 play Hot Summer Night, Flame in the Streets depicts the racial pulse of post-war Britain by interweaving narrative tropes of a contested interracial romance, labor unrest and racial violence directed at the burgeoning West Indian community. Filmed in cinemascope, Willis received a BAFTA Nomination for best screenplay. (Roy Ward Baker, 1961, 35mm, 93 minutes)

Preceded by Jemima and Johnny, a cinematically allegorical short film set against the 1958 London race riots helmed by South African actor and director Lionel Ngakane. Centering the exploits of two children—Johnny, the son of a white supremacist and Jemima the daughter of West Indian Immigrants—who run off to play together on the streets of West London, the film explores the dynamic and contradictions of British race relations. Winner of the Golden Lion at the 1966 Venice Film Festival. (Lionel Ngakane, 1966, 35mm, 29 minutes)