Lifetime Barking residents Susan and Jeff have never said hello to their Nigerian neighbours, insisting that ‘they are not our people’. Dave is so incensed by the influx of non-white faces to Barking he becomes a BNP activist (yet both his daughters have relationships with the very people he is lashing out against). Meanwhile, African Betty and Holocaust survivor Monty form an unusual relationship based on laughter and affection, despite disapproving stares. Director Marc Isaacs is an unseen but prominent presence: questioning prejudices, and prying at preconceptions with remarkable results. The film at times plays like a Mike Leigh comedy, particularly when Isaacs urges the reluctant neighbours to meet up. A charming often funny examination of modern attitudes in an increasingly multiethnic Britain.
Marc Isaacs
Marc Isaacs is a director and cinematographer, known for The Filmmaker's House (2020), Men of the City (2009) and All White in Barking (2007). He has directed more than 10 creative documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4. His films have won Grierson, Royal Television Society and BAFTA awards, as well as numerous prizes at international festivals. In 2006, he had a retrospective at the États généraux du film documentaire de Lussas and his work has been included in numerous documentary books and academic studies. In 2008, Marc Isaacs received an honorary doctorate from the University of East London for his documentary work. He is a visiting professor at the London Film School, the National Film and Television School and the Royal Holloway University.
General sponsor
All is White in Barking
Great Britain
2007, 73', color, video
Directed by:
Marc Isaacs
Cinematography:
Marc Isaacs
Edited by:
David Charap
Music:
Michel Duvoisin
Producer:
Rachel Wexler
Produced by:
Bungalow Town Productions
