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Steve McQueen 'so proud' film on race clashes to open BFI London Film Festival

Dave Benett
Dave Benett

Steve McQueen today said he is “proud” that his drama about Seventies race relations in Notting Hill will open this year’s BFI London Film Festival.

McQueen’s film Mangrove tells the story of the Mangrove 9 — a group of black Londoners who clashed with police during a protest in 1970. The 55-day, highly-publicised trial that followed became the first judicial acknowledgement of racially-motivated hatred within the Metropolitan Police.

The film, which stars Black Panther actor Letitia Wright, will have its European premiere on October 7, opening the 12-day festival. For the first time, the festival will be part-virtual and national — with screenings available online and in some cinemas across the UK.

Speaking to the Standard, McQueen, 50, — whose film 12 Years A Slave won the Oscar, Bafta and Golden Globe for best picture in 2013 — said opening the festival was an “acknowledgement” of a story that had been “swept under the carpet” in recent years.

To the fore: Mangrove covers 70s race relations in Notting Hill
To the fore: Mangrove covers 70s race relations in Notting Hill

He said the film, which also stars Shaun Parkes and Malachi Kirby, gave those involved in the protest credit for the “sacrifice” that they had made for liberty. McQueen said parallels could be drawn between race relations then and now.

He added: “What is interesting about the Mangrove 9 is how similar it is today. In how people have mobilised, be it the Black Lives Matter Movement or the MeToo movement. We can only do things if we mobilise together.”

The full programme for the festival, in partnership with American Express, will be announced at an online launch on September 8.