Salisbury Cathedral to host screening of award-winning Rock against Racism documentary

Tuesday, 27 January 2026 11:02

As part of its creative theme for 2026, Joyful Noise, Salisbury Cathedral will be screening the 2019 documentary ‘White Riot’ by Rubika Shah on Thursday, 12th February.

The documentary looks at the national protest movement: Rock Against Racism, which was active in the 1970s, after an increase in racist attacks on UK streets and increasing support for far-right movements.

The documentary blends fresh interviews with, at times, uncomfortable archive footage to recreate a hostile environment of anti-immigrant hysteria and National Front marches. As neo-Nazis recruited the nation’s youth, Rock Against Racism’s multicultural punk and reggae gigs provided rallying points for resistance. As co-founder Red Saunders explains: ‘We peeled away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika’.

Following the screening, there will be an opportunity for a Q&A with the documentary’s Director, Rubika Shah. This was Shah’s first feature film which won her the Special Mention Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Grierson Award for Best Documentary. It was also nominated for Best Documentary at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) and longlisted at the BAFTAS in 2021. She currently runs the independent production company Smoking Bear Productions alongside Ed Gibbs.

The Revd Kenneth Padley, Canon Chancellor, said, “This year’s theme at the Cathedral is ‘Joyful Noise’.

"The phrase comes to us from the Psalms in the Bible and is a reminder of the sheer diversity of human creativity. Joyful Noise is about praise - but also protest: how music and word and art can be harnessed as vehicles for truth and justice. I look forward to this screening and conversation with the Director as a challenging opening event in our celebrations of Joyful Noise.”

Tickets are now available for White Riot (15) Film Screening and Director Q&A on Thursday, 12th February. Head to the Cathedral website at salisburycathedral.org.uk for more information and to purchase tickets.

Please be aware: this documentary contains very strong language and archival footage of violence and racism.

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