64th BFI London Film Festival commissions Misan Harriman to photograph Steve McQueen & the cast of ‘MANGROVE’

The 64th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express has commissioned pioneering photographer Misan Harriman to photograph director Steve M^cQueen and the cast of MANGROVE ahead of the opening of the Festival.

Set against the backdrop of London’s Notting Hill, where the film is set, Harriman has photographed Steve M^cQueen and cast members Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes, Malachi Kirby and Rochenda Sandall.

MANGROVE is co-written by Steve M^cQueen and Alastair Siddons.

This year, Festival audiences have been invited to book tickets to preview MANGROVE for free at venues across the UK ahead of its broadcast on BBC One this autumn.

MANGROVE tells the true story of the Mangrove 9, the group of Black activists who clashed with London police during a protest march in 1970 and their highly publicised trial that followed.

The trial was the first judicial acknowledgment of behaviour motivated by racial hatred within the Metropolitan Police.

This August marked the 50^th anniversary of the Mangrove March.

1 of 13

Nigerian born, Harriman is a photographer, creative director and cultural commentator whose strong reportage style has seen him photograph a number of high-profile names.

It was his recent striking images of the Black Lives Matter march in London in June that caught the eye of Vogue’s editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, making Harriman the first black person in the 104-year history of British Vogue to shoot the cover of its renowned September issue.

The film, alongside LOVERS ROCK, also screening at this year’s Festival, is from the Small Axe anthology series which comprises five original films created by Steve M^cQueen for BBC One.

Small Axe has been executive produced by Tracey Scoffield and David Tanner for Turbine Studios and Steve M^cQueen for Lammas Park. Mike Elliot is producing for EMU Films with Turbine and Anita Overland. The executive producers for the BBC are Lucy Richer, Senior Commissioning Editor for Drama and Rose Garnett, Director of BBC Film. Amazon Studios is co-producing within the US. BBC Studios are the international distributors and are handling global television sales.

Small Axe will premiere on BBC One and iPlayer this autumn and air on Amazon Prime Video in the US. 

The 64^th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express runs from 7th to 18th October 2020.