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Altab Ali and the Battle of Brick Lane

Altab Ali and the Battle of Brick Lane is a short animated documentary that explores the events surrounding the racist killing of Altab Ali, a young Bangladeshi worker in east London in the late 1970s. It tells the tale of the widespread racism faced by the Bangladeshi community living in east London at the time and how the incident inspired a generation of Bangladeshis to join hands in the fight against the racist forces. Using interviews of the activists involved in the anti-racist struggle and striking contrasting imagery, the film tells the tale of the event that marks a turning point in London's race relations.

  • Diwas Bisht
    Director
  • Dr Emily Keightley
    Producer
  • Kazi Ruksana Begum
    Producer
    Memoriam
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Human rights, Equality, Anti Racism, Protest, Oral History, Animation
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 15, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    500 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital(Animation), Stop-motion
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Diwas Bisht

Diwas Bisht has been a PhD student in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University since Oct. 2017. Before joining the programme, Diwas was working as an Illustrator and Animation filmmaker in India. He holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts (BFA) in Painting from the Delhi University (2010), followed by a MDes in Animation Film Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (2013). Diwas’ research aims to understand the intergenerational transmission of the memories of the 1947 partition of India in the British South Asian community. It focuses on the use of animation and related arts-based methodologies as a primary tool of enquiry. The research is part of the larger five-year research project ‘Migrant Memory and the Post-colonial Imagination (MMPI)’, funded by the Leverhulme Trust led by Dr Emily Keightley.

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