After Cynthia Jarret died of heart failure during a police search of her home in 1985, the Broadwater Farm estate in North London exploded in an uprising against the police that resulted in the death of police officer Keith Blake. Produced in response to media representations of the Black community, The People’s Account examines the underlying causes of the riot. Though made for Channel 4 Television, the Independent Broadcasting Authority demanded editorial changes, and when the filmmakers refused, the film was pulled from the schedule with the caveat that it never be shown on British television. (Ceddo Film and Video Workshop, 1986, 50 minutes)
Part of the film series Burning Illusions: British Film and Thatcherism, engaging questions of cinematic representations of race, class, and sexuality through examples of moving images rooted in Britain's contested social and political histories.