The Hard Stop

The Hard Stop + Q/A

An intimate documentary reflecting on the killing of Mark Duggan, a young, black British man, at the hands of London’s Metropolitan Police in 2011.

It reveals the real story, away from media coverage, of Mark Duggan’s friends and family following his death. He was shot and killed in a ‘Hard Stop’ police procedure, sparking the most violent riots in British history. For 28 months, director George Amponsah (The Fighting Spirit) filmed around Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, where Duggan grew up, capturing his family’s distress and focusing on two of his best friends, Marcus and Kurtis. We follow the men as they attempt to get on with their lives, look for a job, talk about the daily discrimination they still experience and the impact Duggan’s death has had on the community.

Duggan is present throughout, in peoples’ heartfelt testimonies and news broadcasts. What emerges is a profoundly humane, thought-provoking and topical testament, which gives a voice to people who are rarely heard.