Rebel Dread traces the rise of legendary British filmmaker, musician, DJ, and political commentator Don Letts, an iconic figure who traversed punk and reggae cultures and was at the forefront of 1970s and ‘80s counterculture. He directed music videos for infamous groups like The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, and The Psychedelic Furs before co-founding Big Audio Dynamite with lead guitarist of The Clash, Mick Jones. (William E. Badgley, 2022, DCP, 86 minutes)
Produced by the Newsreel Collective, Divide and Rule Never explores working class Londoners experiences of racism. With the use of archival footage as well as testimonies of ex-National Front neo-Nazis and First and Second generation Asian and Caribbean immigrants, the film explores the power of rock and reggae music in the fight against state racism. (Newsreel Collective, 1978, 16mm, 41 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.