"Suppressed" film wins award
01 August 2002
Ken Faro and Tariq Mehmood, the co-directors of the film Injustice, an uncompromising documentary produced by Migrant Media which examines black deaths in police custody, won the prestigious BFM (Black Filmmaker Magazine) best documentary film award at the end of September. The film, which highlights the struggles of families to gain justice after the death of a family member in police custody, was officially launched in August 2001, but cinemas were immediately pressurised by the Police Federation to cancel or face a lengthy and expensive legal action.
The "ban" was broken when in August 2001, at a viewing at Conway Hall, London, the film was shown as part of an Inquest and United Friends and Families Campaign public inquiry into deaths in custody. Then the audience barricaded the exits and took over the projector, showing the film in full, despite attempts to disrupt them. The film, highlights the deaths in police custody of Shiji Lapite (see Statewatch vol. 5 no. 1, 4 and vol. 6 no. 1) and Ibrahima Sey (see Statewatch vol. 6 no. 3, vol. 7 no. 6), both of whom were found to have been unlawfully killed by inquests. A third case is that of Brian Douglas (see Statewatch vol. 5 no. 3, vol. 6 no. 4) and the film presents compelling evidence for the prosecution of two named police officers involved in his death. The film also documents the campaigns of numerous other families, many of which have been covered in Statewatch, over a five year period.
The BFM award describes Injustice as:
a breathtaking piece of cinema [that] has reduced audiences to tears with its moving portrayal of the struggles for justice by the families of people who have died at the hands of police officers. On its release... the police tried to censor the film by threatening cinemas. Months of fighting by the film-makers and the families in the film, ended in victory with the police backing off and the film screening across the UK, Europe and the USA.
Despite the films impressive reviews, television producers in the UK have refused to show the film.
For information on screenings of Injustice and articles about the film email info@injusticefilm.co.uk, or visit their website: www.injusticefilm.co.uk;