Rare Super 8 footage of Brixton Riots to be screened

Watch here for an exclusive preview
Amy Ashenden25 February 2017

Rare Super 8 footage of Brixton in the sixties and during the aftermath of the 1981 Brixton Riots is to be screened at a gallery in Old Street.

Self-taught filmmaker and Pentecostal preacher Clovis Salmon began filming Brixton in 1959, documenting the community's church, activism and struggles with racism.

Salmon was among the first generation of migrants from the West Indies to the UK, and arrived in London in November 1954.

Having run his own bike shop in Jamaica, he working repairing bicycles at Holdsworth Cycle Co. in London and earned the nickname ‘Sam the Wheels’.

Brixton in 1981, following the riots
Autograph ABP/Clovis Salmon

Armed with a hidden camera, Salmon documented the aftermath of the Brixton Riots on April 10 to 12, 1981.

The extraordinary footage provides a unique insider account of the riots and a look into south London life from the sixties to eighties.

Aftermath of the Brixton Riots
ABP Autograph/Clovis Salmon

“Black and white youths were fighting with the police and petrol bombs were being thrown everywhere,” said Salmon.

“No one on Railton Road felt safe in their beds, and my place was evacuated that Friday night when the riots kicked off.”

Nine films will be screened at the Autograph ABP gallery, including footage of Brixton market, a local wedding, a church choir and preacher, and Brixton Road.

Watch the videos above for a sneak preview of the rare footage to be screened at Rivington Place until April 22, 2017.

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