Backlash: The Murder of George Floyd (15)
Directed by Kwabena Oppong
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IT is almost five years since the murder of Geoge Floyd by a white police officer which sparked a major wave of protests across the world and inspired the global movement “Black Lives Matter”.

As the fifth anniversary approaches comes a powerful and detailed documentary by Kwabena Oppong which examines George Floyd’s death and the impact the video showing exactly how he died had, including his last words “I can’t breathe.” 

The film opens with the footage which is heart-stopping and difficult to watch. It  includes groundbreaking interviews with some of the key players involved including members of George Floyd’s family and Chief Medaria Arradondo, the Minneapolis Police Chief who sacked the officers who arrested Floyd and then testified against one of them in court. Boris Johnson’s closest adviser on race Samuel Kasumu is also featured alongside musician Che Lingo, Nathalie Emmanuel and  broadcasters Andi and Miquita Oliver, to name a few. 

It shows how Floyd’s murder was a moment of reckoning in Britain too as the police were accused of being institutionally racist, which they denied at the time. It highlights the cases of Julian Cole, left paralysed and brain damaged after being arrested outside a Bedford nightclub and footballer Dalian Atkinson who died after being tasered and kicked in the head by a police officer.  

Actor John Boyega’s impassioned and moving address at a Black Lives Matter rally in Hyde Park following Floyd’s murder captured the mood and feeling of outrage at that time. 

The film also analyses the backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement with far right wing groups adopting “All Lives Matter” and asks what has changed five years on. 

It is an insightful and thought-provoking documentary and a much-needed reminder that Black Lives Matter. 

MD

In cinemas Friday