Some great documentaries feel like you’re sitting in the director’s lap. 2017’s Icarus appeared to be a blessing in disguise when cycling doping became an international scandal midway through production. Navalny’s 2022 presidency included the Kremlin’s brutal targeting of President Vladimir Putin’s political opponents. These were fascinating films, but there was a sense that the camera just happened to be in the right place at the right time. In the case of Undercover: Exposing the Far Right, the cameras were on for a very eventful 10 months for Britain, which culminated in this summer’s race riots, providing a cinematic final act. But the Havana Marking film isn’t just a good documentary, it’s a great documentary.
The 90-minute film follows investigators from the organization Hope Not Hate as they hunt down far-right extremists. At first, this seems like an unnecessary effort. It feels like social media is full of “alt-right” people expressing their opinions. The race rioters in the United Kingdom and the United States at Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 and the United States Capitol in 2021 weren’t exactly trying to hide themselves. But as it continues, the importance of their work becomes increasingly clear.
Marking, known for his 2009 Sundance Prize-winning film “Afghan Star,” focuses on two heroic characters in “Hope Not Hate.” Patrick Hermanson is a senior researcher who infiltrated fascists at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, where about 50 people were injured and counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed. Here he is acting as a kind of handler for Harry Shukman, a journalist who is “very interested in the far right,” but has never used hidden cameras before. Shukman acts as a surrogate for the audience, and the more experienced members of the team, led by Hope Not Hate founder Nick Rowles, explain to him the strategy and importance of their mission.
It’s hard work. Mr. Shukman and Mr. Hermansson often feel in extreme danger because hidden cameras could be discovered or exposed if they let slip. These groups don’t know who is infiltrating them, but they know they are being infiltrated.
But just like Laurence Fox in “X,” piling up defamation suit after defamation suit, these guys can’t seem to shut up. Nick Scanlon, the Britain First candidate in May’s London mayoral election, was caught on hidden camera using nearly every slur against black people during a brief conversation with a relative stranger. It was recorded. Activist Eric Ahrens praises the SS as “elite”. The scholar Emil Kierkegaard, while fixated on penis size, spews out the talking points of eugenics. Even the movement’s “respectable” face, the Cambridge-educated Matt Archer, is shockingly cavalier when it comes to the goals of the secretly funded Human Diversity Foundation.
The final reveal of who is handing over the cash to the Foundation is a great moment of triumph for the team, and one of the funniest moments of the film. When Shukman comes back to spill the beans to Hermansson and says, “You’ll never guess who it is,” he’s not exaggerating.
Funny moments aside, this documentary reveals many real dangers. Hope Not Hate uncovers the plot to kill Rep. Rosie Cooper, how far-right thugs are rallying online, and how organizations like the Human Diversity Foundation are influencing policy. It shows what you are trying to do. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, is not about to be elected Prime Minister, but the film shows the ‘Overton Window’ slowly creeping in. In other words, when people are exposed to the most extreme ideas, diluted versions of those ideas emerge. Therefore, the range of policies that are politically acceptable to the mainstream will shift to the right.
It also helps that Mr. Hermansson, who has infiltrated far-right and nationalist groups in the United States and Europe, is a dignified figure who doesn’t rely on hyperbole. This lends weight to the moment when he grimly reflects on the rise of fascism and homophobia elsewhere: “It’s scary because I think the same thing could happen here.”
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This warning feels especially prophetic in light of Britain’s race riots. The events of July 30th to August 10th – people attacked, buildings set on fire, Elon Musk tweeting that “civil war is inevitable” – are painful to watch. As these moments unfold, the film slows down a bit. Find out how Hope Not Hate’s team is tackling the task of breaking through despair to document violence and identify instigators as there are threats against Rowles’ life online.
The film made headlines on Saturday when the London Film Festival canceled its screening due to safety concerns. Mr. Rowles issued the following statement: “Safety must always be our top priority. However, there is no denying that it is disappointing to see the brave work of our staff not being received by as wide an audience as possible.” Now more than ever, we need to expose the true nature of the far right in the UK and abroad.”
At least those watching on TV will see the true nature of the far right – and it will be one of the year’s great documentaries.
Undercover: Exposing the Far Right is on Channel 4
