Small Axe (anthology)

Small Axe
GenreDrama
Created bySteve McQueen
Written by
Directed bySteve McQueen
ComposerMica Levi
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes5 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Steve McQueen
  • Tracey Scoffield
  • David Tanner
  • Lucy Richer
  • Rose Garnett
Producers
  • Anita Overland
  • Mike Elliot
CinematographyShabier Kirchner
Editors
Running time405 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release15 November (2020-11-15) –
13 December 2020 (2020-12-13)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Small Axe is a British anthology film series, created and directed by Steve McQueen. The anthology consists of five films that tell distinct stories about the lives of West Indian immigrants in London from the 1960s to the 1980s.[1] Two episodes of the series were selected into the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. The series premiered on 15 November 2020 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on 20 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video in the United States.[2][3][4] The title references a proverb – "Small axe fall big tree" or "If you are the big tree, we are the small axe" – that was popularised by Bob Marley in his 1973 song "Small Axe".[5]

  1. ^ Rose, Steve (18 December 2020). "The 50 best TV shows of 2020, No 3: Small Axe". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. ^ White, Peter (10 September 2019). "'Small Axe': BBC Unveils First-Look At Steve McQueen Period Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. ^ Aquillina, Tyler (19 September 2020). "See John Boyega and Letitia Wright in new trailer for Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc premiere was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Duffield, Charlie (10 November 2020). "Small Axe: Mangrove cast: Who stars in the first film of Steve McQueen's series, and when it's on BBC One". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2020.