Britain on Film: Welcome to Britain

Inspired by the 1981 race riots, director Imruh Caesar explores the origins of radical Black consciousness in 1980s Britain by charting the experience of the preceding generation by layering audio-visual archive material with recorded testimony.

An extraordinary tour of a multicultural London rarely acknowledged by early filmmakers. Venturing off the beaten track, from the hodgepodge of Soho café culture to the “dim and mysterious” district of Limehouse – home to Chinese, Asian and African seamen – it’s an eye-opening look at the melting-pot metropolis of the 1920s.

In May 1937 just over 3,800 children from Northern Spain arrived in Southampton, in what was at that time the largest single influx of refugees into the UK. This home movie captures the children at Stoneham Camp in Hampshire, set up and run by volunteers, where they were housed before being dispersed to host families around the country.

Set up in 1948, llford Park Polish Home in Devon was a resettlement camp for Polish ex-service men and women who fought under British command in the Second World War, and welcomed Poles who had survived war, deportation and labour camps. By 1964 Ilford Park was a functioning community with a church, a priest, a doctor and a shop.

Opening scenes capture the busy atmosphere as priests and their congregation arrive for Sunday service at the Our Lady of Czestochowa Parochial Church in Devonia Road, Islington.

Created by Ealing and Hammersmith Council as an introduction for South Asian people moving to the UK, this pithy documentary sets out the basics of adapting to life in England.

London Me Bharat (India in London) – the first Hindi-language film made in Britain – presents a distinctive and sometimes surprising view of Southall, home to one of Britain’s largest Indian communities.

In 1991, Ireland provided the bulk of all new immigrants to Britain, with the borough of Brent home to the largest population of Irish people in London and the South East. This documentary, funded by Brent’s Race Relations Unit, focuses on the Irish community and the issues that confront them.

TV reporter Lawrie Quayle is at Heathfield Resettlement Camp at Honiton in Devon to report on the resettlement prospects for Ugandan Asians.

One of the top TV stars of 1981, David Yip, returns to his home town to trace the hidden history of Liverpool’s Chinatown.

Though a settlement existed in Roman times, Manchester’s Italian community grew in earnest from the early 19th century. Craftsmen, artisans and unskilled workers escaping dire poverty at home flocked to what became known as ‘Little Italy’. This film records the community at its Edwardian peak, taking part in the annual Whit Walk procession.

6,000 miles from home, these five children in a Birmingham department store at Christmas in 1978 are amongst those that survived the dangerous sea crossing to escape from the turmoil that gripped Vietnam following the Communist take-over.

This charming 1938 amateur film offers a snapshot of a new life for the Eisner family, who had recently emigrated from Romania to a Derby suburb. In 1941, Romania entered the war on the side of Nazi Germany and large scale persecution of Jews began, with thousands murdered in that year’s Iași pogrom. The Eisners escaped just in time.

This punk-infused documentary by the Newsreel Collective invites young working class Londoners to discuss their experiences of racism. First and second generation Black and Asian immigrants paint a detailed picture of discrimination in 1970s Britain.