The Big Picture: Britain’s True Colours? addresses a singular question: When it came to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, why did Black and brown people die in disproportionately greater numbers than white people?
The answer, as is revealed, can be traced to two prevailing aspects of the modern UK: racism and neoliberalism. This film examines the roots of these converging forces.
By mixing documentary storytelling with in-depth analysis, three British journalists, writer/director Sanjiev Johal, reporter Flo Phillips, and assistant producer Hanna Adan, allow history to cast new light on the effect of COVID. They show how structural racism, racialised capitalism and neoliberal orthodoxy were not just central to the pandemic experience, but to the shaping of the UK itself.
Charting post-war British history through to the aftermath of the pandemic, this film explains why rampant inequality and racial injustice remains embedded in the UK today.
Contributors:
Kehinde Andrews - Professor of Black studies, Birmingham City University and author of, Resisting Racism
Gargi Bhattacharyya - Research professor, Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging, University of East London and author of, Rethinking Racial Capitalism
Lee Jones - Professor in international politics, Queen Mary University of London and author of, Societies Under Siege
Meenal Viz - National Health Service (NHS) doctor
