SMALL AXE
2020,
Amazon Studios,
300 min,
UK,
Dir: Steve McQueen
The SMALL AXE anthology consists of five original films by Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen (HUNGER, SHAME, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, WIDOWS). Set from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, the films each tell a different story involving London's West Indian community, whose lives have been shaped by their own force of will, despite rampant racism and discrimination. Even though this collection of films is set some decades ago, the stories are as vital and timely today as they were for the West Indian community in London at the time. SMALL AXE is a celebration of Black joy, beauty, love, friendship, family, music and even food; each one, in its own unique way, conveys hard-won successes, bringing hope and optimism for 2020.