For 28 months, director George Amponsah (The Fighting Spirit) filmed around Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, where Mark Duggan – shot and killed in a ‘Hard Stop’ police procedure in 2011 – grew up. Amponsah captures his family’s distress and focuses on two of Duggan’s best friends: Marcus Knox and Kurtis Henville, following the pair closely as they attempt to get on with their lives, look for a job and talk about the discrimination they experience on a daily basis. Duggan, whose death sparked the most violent riots in British history, is present throughout, his name and legacy evoked in testimonies and broadcasts. A timely and essential work, The Hard Stop is a topical testament that also gives voice to figures all too rarely heard.
Intrigued? Listen to our review of The Hard Stop in this month’s film podcast (7 minutes and 20 seconds in)…