<p>With "Small Axe" -- a five-episode anthology covering Britain's Black history -- Oscar-winner Steve McQueen covers some 20 years of history largely left out of the official record.</p>.<p>Five films and more than six hours of images amount to an epic that will perhaps become one of the British director's defining projects.</p>.<p>Born in London to parents from Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, McQueen, who directed the 2013 film "12 Years a Slave," finds his own roots in the wave of migration from the Caribbean to Britain in the 1950s-60s.</p>.<p>It's the stories of these Brits -- born in colonies that gradually became independent, who left for a life in England -- that the 51-year-old wanted to tell with the mini-series out Friday on Amazon in the United States, and on <em>BBC One</em> in Britain.</p>.<p>"Small Axe" dramatizes real-life stories in some episodes like "Mangrove," while others like "Lovers Rock" try to weave the textured atmosphere of an era.</p>.<p>"I wanted to bring to the screen stories that hadn't been acknowledged. That was so important. Because it was my life, and a lot of other people's, that hadn't been documented," McQueen said during a round table organized as part of the New York Film Festival, which screened several sections of "Small Axe."</p>.<p>"They hadn't been written in history books," he said, though "this was so important to the creating of the UK."</p>.<p>Caribbean culture heavily influenced Britain, he said, the Notting Hill carnaval -- which draws hundreds of thousands of people to west London each year -- being one of the most obvious examples.</p>.<p>McQueen became something of an archivist to make the film, conducting hundreds of interviews: "I was sort of passionate to talk to people to record their stories."</p>.<p>He aimed to show the realities of institutional racism in Britain, which is far less documented in visual media than that of the United States.</p>.<p>A master of realism known for intense, unpretentious cinema, McQueen recreates in the episodes of "Small Axe" key moments in British-Caribbean history, as well as smaller evocations of daily life.</p>.<p>The characters are for the most part ordinary people navigating a society that's largely hostile towards them.</p>.<p>It's the "small axe" of the eponymous Bob Marley song that, with repeated hacks, ultimately overcomes the "large tree" of inequality.</p>.<p>On the production side, McQueen used the project to offer Black actors a showcase.</p>.<p>"In the UK, we have at least two generations of people that have never had the opportunity to shine," he said.</p>.<p>"And that's heartbreaking."</p>.<p>The "Shame" director also fostered a diverse and open team behind the camera, saying Hollywood was far too closed-off.</p>.<p>He dedicated "Small Axe" to George Floyd, a Black American killed in police custody in an incident that triggered mass anti-racism protests beginning in late May 2020.</p>.<p>"I wish George Floyd was here today, but all I can say is that he didn't die in vain," said McQueen.</p>.<p>"These films, 'Small Axe,' are part of the narrative of being a Black person in this world."</p>
<p>With "Small Axe" -- a five-episode anthology covering Britain's Black history -- Oscar-winner Steve McQueen covers some 20 years of history largely left out of the official record.</p>.<p>Five films and more than six hours of images amount to an epic that will perhaps become one of the British director's defining projects.</p>.<p>Born in London to parents from Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, McQueen, who directed the 2013 film "12 Years a Slave," finds his own roots in the wave of migration from the Caribbean to Britain in the 1950s-60s.</p>.<p>It's the stories of these Brits -- born in colonies that gradually became independent, who left for a life in England -- that the 51-year-old wanted to tell with the mini-series out Friday on Amazon in the United States, and on <em>BBC One</em> in Britain.</p>.<p>"Small Axe" dramatizes real-life stories in some episodes like "Mangrove," while others like "Lovers Rock" try to weave the textured atmosphere of an era.</p>.<p>"I wanted to bring to the screen stories that hadn't been acknowledged. That was so important. Because it was my life, and a lot of other people's, that hadn't been documented," McQueen said during a round table organized as part of the New York Film Festival, which screened several sections of "Small Axe."</p>.<p>"They hadn't been written in history books," he said, though "this was so important to the creating of the UK."</p>.<p>Caribbean culture heavily influenced Britain, he said, the Notting Hill carnaval -- which draws hundreds of thousands of people to west London each year -- being one of the most obvious examples.</p>.<p>McQueen became something of an archivist to make the film, conducting hundreds of interviews: "I was sort of passionate to talk to people to record their stories."</p>.<p>He aimed to show the realities of institutional racism in Britain, which is far less documented in visual media than that of the United States.</p>.<p>A master of realism known for intense, unpretentious cinema, McQueen recreates in the episodes of "Small Axe" key moments in British-Caribbean history, as well as smaller evocations of daily life.</p>.<p>The characters are for the most part ordinary people navigating a society that's largely hostile towards them.</p>.<p>It's the "small axe" of the eponymous Bob Marley song that, with repeated hacks, ultimately overcomes the "large tree" of inequality.</p>.<p>On the production side, McQueen used the project to offer Black actors a showcase.</p>.<p>"In the UK, we have at least two generations of people that have never had the opportunity to shine," he said.</p>.<p>"And that's heartbreaking."</p>.<p>The "Shame" director also fostered a diverse and open team behind the camera, saying Hollywood was far too closed-off.</p>.<p>He dedicated "Small Axe" to George Floyd, a Black American killed in police custody in an incident that triggered mass anti-racism protests beginning in late May 2020.</p>.<p>"I wish George Floyd was here today, but all I can say is that he didn't die in vain," said McQueen.</p>.<p>"These films, 'Small Axe,' are part of the narrative of being a Black person in this world."</p>