Dirty Danger 'Run' by Samuel Taylor

David Knight - 21st Mar 2018

Samuel Taylor's hugely powerful video for Dirty Danger is a rare thing indeed. This close collaboration between the director and the artist shows in a few minutes a palpable reality of life now for many black teenagers in London, where gang culture is rife. It's a white-knuckle thriller that feels utterly authentic. And the message hits you like a hammer. 

Two boys play basketball on a court in a Hackney estate. But just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time makes them targets. Taylor's direction turns this into a gripping chase sequence through the estate, and also brilliantly extrapolates not only the danger the boys face, but also an agonising dilemma that comes at the end of their run for their lives.

This is a really impressive work from Samuel Taylor, now signed to Agile Films for music videos. He and Dirty Danger developed the concept together and spent weeks on the casting, to get it just right, and they were rewarded by superb performances from their two main actors, Ishmel Bridgmen and Josiah Mutupa. The result is heartbreaking, but should be seen as a message to power to do something about this situation.

The last word, rightly, is Dirty Danger's, with a message that also comes at the end of Molly Dineen's remarkable new documentary Being Blacker (now on BBC iPlayer). 

"I'm sick and tired of hearing another black boy has been killed on the streets. Don't digest what they feed you. That's your brother, not your enemy."