Crowdfunding for a short film focussing on Brixton activist Olive Morris stands at £12,000 – £3,000 short of the £15,000 target with three days remaining. The Ballad of Olive Morris is a proposed ten minute film looking at a single incident involving the civil rights activist.
If successful, The Ballad of Olive Morris will tell the story of how the Black Panther Party member intervened to stop a Nigerian diplomat from being arrested in Brixton in 1969. He was wrongly accused of stealing his own car:
“The Ballad Of Olive Morris will follow events based on an incident that happened in 1969, where 17 year old Olive Morris bravely stepped in at great personal risk to herself, to try and prevent a Nigerian diplomat named Clement Gomwalk from being arrested and assaulted under false pretences by police officers in Brixton.
While this incident barely scratches the surface of Olive’s incredible life and accomplishments, it serves as an introduction as to the core values that made her such a remarkable person and leader and also is arguably an “origin story”, in the sense that this incident could be considered a strong inciting point that galvanised her activism for the rest of her life.”
Alex Kayode-Kay is the Director hoping to shoot the film. His short The Solution was nominated by the prestigious Edinburgh TV Festival’s New Voice Awards for Best Pilot Award in 2019.
Olive Morris packed plenty of Brixton activism into her short-lived life. She fought for squatter’s rights, alongside her socialist principles and belief in revolutionary struggle. Olive died at the age of 27 in 1979 from non-Hodgkinson’s Lymphoma disease.
The crowdfunder would welcome any funding from £1 to £1,000 before it closes on Sunday. Different levels of rewards are offered to anyone offering support.
You can make a pledge over here.
Lambeth Council has some money for community developments related to the botched demolition of OMH . ,This is conscience money . They should be able to cough-up £3000,