From Cable Street to Brick Lane

From Cable Street to Brick Lane is a feature length documentary dealing with the fight against racism and fascism in the East End of London. The film explores how different communities came together in the 1930′s, 1970′s and 1990′s to challenge racism and intolerance. The focus of the project are the two iconic East London streets of Cable Street and Brick Lane. 2011 marked the 75th anniversary of the ‘Battle of Cable Street’, the seminal event in local and labour movement history when the East End’s Jewish population came together with trade unionists and other groups to prevent Oswald Mosley’s ‘Black Shirts’ marching through their community. In the 1970′s the predominantly Muslim Bangladeshi community living in and around Brick Lane was subjected to similar racist attacks by organised fascist groups. This film examines the impact of these interrelated historic episodes and how they relate to contemporary issues in East London.