News

Hope, Tragedy, Myths—British Library throws the book at the Russian Revolution

The British Library’s new Russian Revolution exhibition has some fantastic artefacts but a poor conclusion, writes Sarah Bates

Diffusion—Cardiff photography festival humanises tragedy and revolt

On 1 August 2016, 118 people were rescued from a rubber boat drifting in the Mediterranean Sea, 20 nautical miles off the Libyan coast.

Josephine Baker biography celebrates the rebel behind the singer

Josephine Baker is most recognisable to some in her iconic skirt of rubber bananas as the “first black star of the world stage”.

Reviews—Sleaford Mods film will do well ahead of the elections

This portrait of the musical act Sleaford Mods goes on national cinema release this week.

Albert Camus’ novel plagued by a disappointing adaptation in new play

A new adaptation of the novel The Plague showing at the Arcola Theatre is disappointing with stilted, unpolished performances

New book on Trump details his crimes but falls short on politics

President Trump Unveiled —Exposing the Bigoted Billionaire by John K Wilson, published by OR Books

New TV drama Guerrilla celebrates a hidden history of united anti-racist struggle

The show portrays the Black Power movement in Britain and the state’s quest to crush it—and it’s well worth watching, writes Moyra Samuels

New play pulls no punches about deaths in custody

Custody is a powerful piece of theatre, which examines the impact on an ordinary family whose innocent son dies at the hands of the police in a “routine stop and search”. Meanwhile a Rock Against Racism posters exhibition is on tour

Neruda film tells the cat and mouse tale of a witch hunt

A new Chilean film is a gripping tale of the manhunt for Pablo Neruda, but it doesn’t bring out the full richness of the Communist poet, writes Mario Nain

People Power—Fighting for Peace exhibit shows strength of anti war movement

Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum showcases the anti war movement through the decades.

Incoming - the ‘othering’ of refugees on a heat-seeking camera

by Richard Mosse

Sound System—music and the fight to change the world

Dave Randall spoke to Raymie Kiernan about his book Sound System and about what role music can play in the struggle for a different kind of society

Get Out - a film that taps into the horror of life in a racist society

This genre-straddling US blockbuster hones in on racism—casual and overt, writes Ken Olende. Also: reviews of Man Down and The Salesman

My Country play brings ordinary voices to the political stage

With six ballot boxes set up on tables towards the back of the stage, My Country—a work in progress, immediately transports you back to 23 June.

The Good Postman—a Bulgarian village where solidarity shone through

The Good Postman documentary is the true story of a missed opportunity.

Hidden Figures offers a high hope that the sky is the limit

Against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, three women in the US space programme defy bigotry in this beautiful film, writes?Saba Shiraz

Reviews round-up

reviews of RAR and an event

If you don’t know Hockney this Tate Britian exhibition is your chance to start

Tate Britain’s huge retrospective on David Hockney that’s just opened shows the artist’s great skill of reaching out to people using art, writes Alan Kenny