Part of a series of shorts in response to Black Lives Matter

Channel 4 is to air a short film about comedy sketches from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

The as-yet-untitled film will is part of a series airing at 7.55pm every night this week under the banner Take Your Knee Off My Neck.

Expected to air on Friday, it will compare the archive clips with related comedy today, but no further detail about the content has been released. Producers Milk And Honey have not yet responded to Chortle’s request for more information.

Each of the five shorts in the series will be made by a black British film-maker, with other episodes including people recalling the first time they were racially abused and a look at the shadow of slavery in Europe.

The series joins other, longer, commissions Channel 4 has ordered in response to the killing of George Floyd in the US and its impact on black Britons.

Commissioning editor Sacha Mirzoeff said of the shorts: ‘These were designed as films of protest, not films about protest. There’s no greater international issue out there and it felt key to respond quickly. 

‘Milk and Honey have worked around the clock to make films of the highest quality which do not flinch away from some painful truths.’

Published: 15 Jun 2020