MISAN HARRIMAN, the first black man and only the second black person to shoot the September issue cover of British Vogue, has captured the stars of Steve McQueen’s Mangrove to mark the film opening the 64th BFI London Film Festival.
Mangrove tells the true story of the Mangrove 9, the group of Black activists who clashed with London police during a protest march in 1970 and their highly publicised trial that followed. The trial was the first judicial acknowledgment of behaviour motivated by racial hatred within the Metropolitan Police. This August marked the 50th anniversary of the Mangrove March.
The film is one of five McQueen has made as part of his Small Axe anthology series.
Lovers Rock, another film in the series, will also screen at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.
Nigerian-born Harriman, who only picked up a camera three years ago, has captured the mood of the current anti-racist movement with his photographs of this year’s Black Lives Matter protests. His striking black and white photographs of director McQueen and the cast members of Mangrove in London’s Notting Hill, where the film is set, are a fitting way to mark the moment.
Harriman said: “Activism in the black community of the UK is nothing new and the story of the Mangrove 9 is a testament to that. It fills me with great honour to have been chosen to shoot Steve McQueen and the cast with the hope that we never forget those that came before us.”
Take a look at some of Harriman’s stunning shots from the series below:
Small Axe will premiere on BBC One and iPlayer this autumn and air on Amazon Prime Video in the US.
The 64th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express runs from 7th-18th October.
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