3Political struggles of the 1980s

IM’média (est. 1983) and Migrant Media (est. 1989) are, respectively, a communications agency based in France specialising in immigration, urban cultures and social movement, and a collective of film-makers based in London and working to produce documentaries on similar themes.

In both France and England the 1980s saw an upturn in violent crime and police brutality, against a backdrop of economic crisis, mass unemployment and racism against immigrants. Im’media and Migrant Media arose from these tough circumstances, sharing the same commitment to investigating and documenting these crimes, and providing a platform for victims, their friends and their families, while also helping to perpetuate the various forms of political and cultural resistance which emerged from the ensuing protest movements.

Image

Supplément d'IM'média magazine n° 2, printemps 1985 © agence IM'média

IM’média defines itself as a media agency rooted in immigration and working class neighbourhoods. The name itself is a nod to an experiment conducted in the mid-1970s and connected to the Movement of Arab Workers, a group heavily involved with political and cultural activism which inspired various radio projects (Radio Assifa), street newspapers (Le Cri des murs) and dramatic productions focusing on immigration. Not to mention Sans Frontière, a newspaper launched in 1979. IM’media was forged by these experiences and in the specific context of the 1980s, determined to connect with children of immigrants while also maintaining a close connection with the generations who had lived through the 60s and 70s. From the outset, the agency’s members decided to adopt a multimedia approach, taking photography, video and radio as their tools. Their ambition was to tell the stories of second-generation immigrants with the help of an agency which remained rooted in working class neighbourhoods, “describing us the way we are, not the way we’re supposed to be.” (Mogniss Abdallah)

Migrant Media is a collective which brings together directors with roots in different immigrant communities in the UK, united by a certain social, political and cultural vision. They all share a commitment to presenting a different image of these communities, virtually always presented in the mainstream media as either victims or problems. The collective provides a counterpoint to these reductive representations, focusing instead on “the different ways that these communities have organised themselves in response to the problems they encounter in their day-to-day lives: housing issues, the fight against racism etc.” (Ken Fero).

In an enlightening conversation, Mogniss Abdallah from IM’média and Ken Fero from Migrant Media share their recollections of the 1980s in France and England. They also recall their first meeting, and their decision to work together to bear witness and document the movements reshaping immigrant populations. They first met in the late 1980s, at a time when music played a crucial role in their nascent social movements: from the Notting Hill Carnival, a reference point for both agencies, to the inter-cultural parties in working class neighbourhoods which followed the Rock Against Police concerts, co-organised by Mogniss Abdallah. Their shared history also features contributions from figures such as Linton Kwesi Johnson, who has been involved with several of the agencies’ films including their collaborative project Communities of Resistance, an initiative which has already yielded several films about the history of social movements in Germany (Germany: The other story), the UK (Britain’s Black Legacy) and France (Sweet France: the story of the beur movement).

Find out more

IM’média:

• Filmography : https://www.agence-immedia.org/spip.php?article2
• Contact : Mail

Migrant Media

• Viméo : https://vimeo.com/migrantmedia
• Official website for the film Injustice
• Filmography: Porte di Roma (1985), Linked By a Common Thread (1987), Britain's Black Legacy (1991), Germany -The Other Story (1991), After The Storm (1992), Sweet France (1992), Tasting Freedom (1994), Justice Denied (1995), Injustice (2001), Defeat of the Champion (2011), Newspeak (2011), Who Polices The Police (2012), PoPo (2013) et Burn (2014)
• Article available on line :
  • Migrant Media and the road to Injustice
• Contact: Mail