Steve McQueen Discusses 'IndIvIdual Stories' Of His BBC Series 'Small Axe'
Steve McQueen Discusses 'IndIvIdual Stories' Of His BBC Series 'Small Axe'
British filmmaker Steven McQueen says he initially set out to make a TV series with "Small Axe" but over the time, each episode of the show became standalone films. "Small Axe" is an anthology series, chronicling five different stories about London's West Indian community that span the late 1960s to the early 1980s.

Los Angeles: British filmmaker Steven McQueen says he initially set out to make a TV series with “Small Axe” but over the time, each episode of the show became standalone films. “Small Axe” is an anthology series, chronicling five different stories about London’s West Indian community that span the late 1960s to the early 1980s.

During an interview with IndieWire, the “Widows” director said the series mainly details the “Black British experience”. “It started as a TV series. But as I developed it, I came to realise that these stories needed to be standalone films. For me, they became individual stories. “But obviously they’re linked, and the connective tissue is the Black British experience, the Black Indian experience. These are historical pieces that we need to come to light,” McQueen said.

The first three episodes of the show — “Lovers Rock”, “Mangrove” and “Red, White and Blue” — will open the New York Film Festival on September 25. They were also included in the official Cannes 2020 selection. McQueen said that it is important for him to tell stories about Black community in the UK as they have been marginalised throughout the history.

“We’re missing two generations or so of Black artists in the UK because that industry was not welcoming to Black people. There’s a hole in our narrative. These stories shaped the history of the UK. “So it’s no small feat in what the West Indian population has done in the UK and the Black population has done in the UK,” he added. “Small Axe” will be available on BBC One in the UK and on Amazon Prime Video for international territories.

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