WHITE RIOT

SYNOPSIS

Rubika Shah’s award-winning and energising film charts a vital national protest movement. Rock Against Racism (RAR) was formed in 1976, prompted by ‘music’s biggest colonialist’ Eric Clapton and his support of racist MP Enoch Powell.

White Riot blends fresh interviews with queasy archive footage to recreate a hostile environment of anti-immigrant hysteria and National Front marches. As neo-Nazis recruited the nation’s youth, RAR’s multicultural punk and reggae gigs provided rallying points for resistance. As co-founder Red Saunders explains: ‘We peeled away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika’.

The campaign grew from Hoxton fanzine roots to 1978’s huge antifascist carnival in Victoria Park, featuring X-Ray Spex, Steel Pulse and of course The Clash, whose rock star charisma and gale-force conviction took RAR’s message to the masses.

SUMMER TOUR POSTER: BY LITTLE WHITE LIES

In partnership with Little White Lies, a White Riot summer tour poster and series of visual assets were created to promote virtual screenings and music festival partnerships. The design aimed to replicate summer music festival posters and advertisements usually disseminated throughout London city— listing the ‘tour’ line-up and basic information, alongside engaging visuals and fonts. Due to the pandemic and closure of music festivals, the White Riot summer tour poster would ultimately bring the spirit of these summer festivals and partnerships into an online/virtual realm.

VIRTUAL SCREENING + PARTNERSHIPS

White Riot was released theatrically in cinemas and on virtual platforms across the UK and Ireland. Third Party virtual partners included Curzon Home Cinema, BFI Player, IFI@Home and Showcase At Home.

A total of XXX were made; XX of which were physical screenings and XX virtual screenings (played across 3 months as PVOD).

A variety of physical and online discussions and events— curated in collaboration with cinemas, music festivals and cultural/music organisations— drove audience engagement and interaction with the film. Occurring physically in cinemas and live on Facebook, each of these events invited audiences to listen to the director talk with various guests and hosts, as well as giving them the opportunity to ask questions and watch the film.

EVENTS

THE SUMMER TOUR: VIRTUAL EVENTS AND Q&As

Ahead of the official September release of WHITE RIOT, a variety of virtual events (originally physical) were held to promote and drive audience engagement towards the film. The White Riot Summer Tour was made up of a series of exclusive preview events in partnership with UK music festivals and music organisations including Love Music Hate Racism, All Points East, Isle Of Wight, Glastonbury and Spiritland.

Held online in the form of Facebook Live Q+As, discussions and live DJ sets, the events aimed to create discourse around key themes and topics within the film including; the Rock Against Racism movement, 1970s London as well as current trends and politics within the music industry today. A variety of guests— from those affiliated with the film, Rock Against Racism and 1970s London, to present-day musicians and artists— were invited to the events to discuss their ideas around the film and to create greater traction towards the exclusive virtual screenings.

Guests included; Celeste Bell (Director, Musician, Author) Tom Robinson (Musician and Broadcaster), Mykaell Riley (Musician and Academic), Zak Cochrane (Love Music Hate Racism), Roger Huddle (RAR co-founder), Jenny Hamada (Festival Manager, All Points East), Bengi Unsal (Director, Meltdown Festival), Gary Powell (The Libertines Drummer), Jamz Supernova (BBC 1xtra), Julian Temple (Filmmaker) and Billy Bragg (Musician/Activist).

SEPTEMBER RELEASE + EVENTS WITH: TOGETHER FILMS

Working alongside Together Films, over 100 grassroots organisations and music/cultural partners were contacted prior to and throughout White Riot’s official September release for both physical and virtual partnerships/collaboration. Adopting an impact PR/niche outreach approach, these organisations were contacted with the ultimate intention of targeting specific audiences with interest in the film’s themes and topics (e.g. music, racism on the music industry, London’s late 1970s music scene, Rock Against Racism etc.). Setting up virtual screening rooms for these organisations drove audience engagement with the film, as well as awareness of themes and topics within the film, ultimately encouraging discussion around the film in a broader online setting. Organisations contacted for partnership included;

Crash Records, Henry’s Cellar Bar, MacArts, Muse Music and Love Cafe, Pavilion Mid Wales, Public Pressure, Red Robbins Records, The Africa Centre, The Lexington, The Louisiana, Village Underground and EartH + more.

PUBLICITY

Following release, WHITE RIOT featured in a variety of reviews and articles in online and print media publications, including: NME, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times, The Sun, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Time, Sight & Sound, Little White Lies and The Arts Desk, as well being featured in a handful of broadcast talkshows, including BBC Radio 5 (inc. The Film Review and BBC 5 Live, Kermode & Mayo Show), Channel 4 News, Totally Wired Radio and more.

★★★★★ Camden New Journal | ★★★★ Evening Standard | ★★★★ Irish Times★★★★ The List |
★★★★ Little White Lies | ★★★★ Metro | ★★★★ Mojo | ★★★★ The Sun | ★★★★ The Sunday Times
★★★★ Time Out | ★★★★ Total Film

★★★★★ “lifts the lid on the genesis of the RAR movement and the result is
one of this year’s most engaging rock docs”
— Linda Marric, NME

★★★★ “inspiring story of how punk and reggae gave racism the finger in ’70s Britain”
— Time Out

★★★★ “smart, spirited”
— Simran Hans, The Observer

★★★★ “excellent brief documentary about a heroic grassroots political movement”
— Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“timely look back to the birth of Rock Against Racism…brilliantly uplifting”
— Mark Kermode, BBC Film Review

”White Riot - how Rock Against Racism was born”
— Danny Leigh, Financial Times

“irreverent and thrilling”
— New Statesman

“Black Lives Matter, ‘70s punk style”
— The Face

100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

See here for the full Margaret PR publicity roundup.

ONLINE SURVEY

Overall survey results displayed an older skewing audience, including 76% over 50 years olds— a result which could be directly affiliated with the film’s subject matter and time period. 67.9% of the audience were male whilst the remaining 30.9% were female (with 1.2% preferring not to identify). Data indicates that 58% of those who purchased a ticket to the film would have preferred to have watch it in the cinema whilst 7.4% would have preferred not to and 16% were unsure.

93.8% of the audience were encouraged to watch the film due to its subject matter— many of whom expressed their affinity towards the subject due to its relevance (“Fascinating piece of history, extremely relevant today” and “We still need the spirit of RAR”). A large portion of the audience also expressed their affiliation to the subject matter/RAR movement/1970s London (“Took me back to my teenage years” and “brought back good memories”). 

Whilst 58% would have preferred to watch the film in cinemas 66.7% said that they would likely use the virtual cinema model again— many expressing the enjoyment of being given the opportunity to watch the new release during Lockdown/social distancing (“I loved it and it was a welcome distraction during lockdown - thanks!”).