Steve McQueen dedicates two Cannes entries to George Floyd and Black Lives Matter

Solidarity: Steve McQueen has dedicated his films Lovers Rock and Mangrove to Floyd
AFP via Getty Images
Harry Fletcher5 June 2020

Steve McQueen has dedicated two new films recognised by the Cannes Film Festival to George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Lovers Rock and Mangrove, which both feature in the list of films that would have played at the cancelled 2020 event, focus on the racism suffered by the UK’s West Indian immigrant communities in the 60s and 70s.

"I dedicate these films to George Floyd and all the other black people that have been murdered, seen or unseen, because of who they are, in the US, UK and elsewhere," McQueen said in a statement released via Variety.

"’If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.' Black lives matter."

Cannes selection: Lover's Rock, directed by Steve McQueen

The statement comes following protests around the world over the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis last week.

The 46-year-old African American was filmed pleading “I can’t breathe” as a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

The two McQueen films recognised by Cannes come from the director's upcoming film series Small Axe. The titles comes from an African proverb widely used in the Caribbean: “If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.” The proverb was immortalised in Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1973 song Small Axe.

McQueen’s Small Axe anthology consisting of five films will air later this year on Amazon Prime and the BBC.

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