Steel 'n' Skin (1979) Online

Former teacher Peter Blackman got together with friends to form Steel 'n' Skin after he found that his black pupils knew little about African culture and indeed found it shocking. Blackman says it was as if he was showing them pornography. Steel 'n' Skin was primarily a music group that blended African and West Indian styles but it also taught all kinds of culture including dance, fashion and tribal skills. Blackman talks interestingly about the group and the film covers a ten day workshop which it led in Liverpool. Everybody seems to be enjoying themselves and the activities are well covered by director/cameraman Steve Shaw, who appears to have done little else. A climactic concert features a fire eater, which does not seem to be a specifically African tradition. Blackman says that ethnic groups can never integrate unless there is mutual respect. In the time since the film was made black and white relations have substantially improved. Now of course some of the white majority has different prejudices. Peter Blackman was awarded an OBE for his work with race relations. He died in 2012.