Riz Ahmed’s New Documentary Series Sheds Light on British-Asian Resistance
Riz Ahmed’s latest documentary series is gearing up to unveil the hidden history of British-Asian resistance against the violence of the 1970s and 1980s.
Defiance: Fighting the Far Right
Defiance: Fighting the Far Right is a documentary series set to air this April, produced by the Emmy award-winning Rogan Productions and Ahmed’s production company Left Handed Films.
Exploring the Untold Stories
The series delves into the protests that followed the murder of a 19-year-old Sikh boy Gurdeep Chaggar in Southall in 1976, the killing of Aftab Ali near Brick Lane in 1978, and the arson attack in Walthamstow that claimed the lives of Parveen Khan and her three children, including a baby, in their own home in 1981.
Uncovering a Rich History of Defiance
“Sadly, it’s a history that not many people are aware of,” Ahmed revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 4. “One of the aims of this is to take people on this ride and open their eyes to this rich history of defiance in the face of the rising far right,” he added.
Pride in the Project
Ahmed expressed his pride in the series that he co-produced, highlighting the importance of shedding light on a significant chapter in British history. “I was too young when a lot of this was going on, but I’d hear stories from my uncles about really having to fight to survive. We know all about Martin Luther King and the movements in America – but this was our civil rights movement here in Britain,” he emphasized.