Small Axe, created and directed by Steve McQueen
Director: Steve McQueen. Review by Rebecca Hardy
Artist-turned-filmmaker Steve McQueen has built a career out of truth-telling. Moving from his acclaimed art, which earned him a 1999 Turner Prize, to his celebrated film work, the west London-raised son of Caribbean parents has always been drawn to depicting the truth, the raw truth and nothing but the truth. Sometimes this goes in some surprising directions – witness Deadpan (1997), in which he reenacted a famous stunt by Buster Keaton. Other times it is disturbingly raw. His groundbreaking 12 Years A Slave (2013) made him the first black director of an Academy Award-winning best picture (2014), and earned plaudits for its unflinching look at slavery.
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