Uprising

In the early hours of 18 January 1981, in a house in south London, a birthday party ended in a fire. Thirteen young black British people died. The fire and its aftermath would ignite an uprising by the black British community. This film tells the stories of the young people who were at the party and the events that led up to it.

After the New Cross fire and the Black Peoples Day of Action, tensions between the community and the police escalated when a massive stop-and-search operation was launched, targeting black people on the streets of Brixton. In April, the situation boiled over into one of the biggest riots in British history. Buildings were burned down and hundreds of police injured. Riots then flared up all over the country, from Southall to Toxteth, but by the years end, the people of New Cross were no closer to knowing who started the New Cross fire or why - and a lack of answers and justice has lingered over the case ever since.