News / Edward Colston
BBC Two documentary ‘Statue Wars’ follows Marvin Rees after Colston toppling
An hour-long documentary made by David Olusoga’s production company follows Marvin Rees in the period after the toppling of the Edward Colston statue.
Statue Wars, due to be shown on BBC Two on June 10, promises to follow Bristol’s mayor “through a turbulent year in the city”.
Olusoga – who has spoken previously of his admiration for Rees – is one of the executive producers for the programme.
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It is made by Uplands Television, the production company founded by Olusoga and Mike Smith with a Bristol office on King Street, which specialises in bringing history to life.
Statue Wars will come to the small screen one year and three days after Colston’s statue was pulled down and thrown into the docks during a Black Lives Matter march.
“This dramatic action in Bristol thrust the city onto the global stage and put it at the forefront of last summer’s bitter culture wars,” is how the BBC describe the start of Statue Wars.
“Caught in the eye of this storm was Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees, the first directly elected mayor of Black African heritage of a major European city.
“Born and bred in Bristol and himself a descendant of enslaved people, how would he hold the city together in the face of rising tensions that threaten to explode into violent confrontation?”
Produced and directed by Francis Welch, Statue Wars is narrated by Noma Dumezweni, the actor who portrayed Hermione Granger in the original West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Main image: Uplands
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