The People's Account (Archive Films)

Ceddo Film and Video Workshop was set up in the 1980s, with support from Channel 4, Association of Cinematograph, Television & Allied Technicians (ACTT) and the Greater London Council (GLC). From 1982-1989 Ceddo’s members were Menelik Shabazz, Milton Bryan, Imruh Bakari, Lazell Daley, Chuma Ukpadi, June Reid, D. Elmina Davis, Glenn Ujebe Masokonane, Vusi Challenger, Sukai Eccleston and Dada Imarogbe. Their work was characterised by a radical left-wing critique of British society’s treatment of Black British people, and an interest in African and Caribbean politics and history.

The collective ran into trouble immediately with this, its first film for Channel 4, The People’s Account, a documentary about the Broadwater Farm uprising in Tottenham. The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) objected to the description of the police as racist, lawless terrorists, and to the description of the uprising as a legitimate act of self-defence. They demanded editorial changes and, when the filmmakers refused, the programme was pulled from the schedules, intended never to be shown on British television.