Undercover: Exposing the Far Right

This is compelling storytelling. It clearly demonstrates the violent lengths various groups of men who feel disenfranchised will go to in the pursuit of feeling in control and having power. These groups think up rationalisations such as the much misused 'scientific evidence' for genetic supremacy to support their narratives in an almost desperate attempt to sound legitimate and sane. Unfortunately some charismatic members manage to use the peddling of fear to manipulate others and convince people to believe in hateful sentiments. It is sad to watch and also brave. This is important viewing and we applaud those involved for staying the course.

It was reasonably put together for the first half, but quite quickly started to fall apart. It seems to draw in countless elements such as British Fascism from the 1920s, British nationalism from the 1970s, social disorder from contemporary times, 'race science' enthusiasts from the same period, Tommy Robinson, far-Right political groups, a nod to Hitler's SS etc etc and in the end, apart from the emotivism, one is left with a jumbled mess. The danger seems to be 'everywhere' and everything the filmmakers shine their camera or their outrage archeology archive footage researcher on. The lack of focus, the lack of a consistent underlying argument meant it will be quickly forgotten.

A very well put together film which follows some extremely brave people from the UK based antifascist charity Hope not Hate. They film undercover, infiltrate the far right groups and disclose despicable and revealing conversations by UK fascists at their meet ups and rallys.

The film focuses in part on the Human Diversity Foundation who are manipulating genetic data in very wrong and evil ways.... ie: scientific racism. They want to use this false data to argue for what they call 'remigration' ( reversal of immigration).

Some far right media savvy tactics are explained. How they feed on fear and disbelief and shift the general view of what's acceptable and normal using the concept of the Overton window.

A film that clearly shows how close the surface modern fascism is. A very educational and gripping film.

Love the way the doc is led by the journalists sharing their skills with each other and us. As the undercover journey throws up moments of uninhibited misogyny and racism, the film drops in the motivation behind each member of the team's commitment to Hope not Hate. Their personal stories pepper the thrilling unfolding narrative. They are diverse voices that reinforce the breadth of opposition to violent far right hatred. Their humanity emphasises the narrow mindedness of the fascist groups they are exposing and diminishes their posturing.

This gripping filmmaking shows in real time what positive action looks like.

This is a remarkable film, following for the first time the young undercover "operatives" from Hope Not Hate that infiltrate far right racist groups to monitor and expose them. They have the earnest intent of charity geeks, but using all the tools of spy thrillers, and putting their lives very clearly at risk. There's no bravado here - these are very likeable characters, the hope in the face of race riots and death threats that hang over the film. There's a satisfying exposé of repellant advocates for race scientists (no spoilers), all in all making a very compelling film. It seems insanely cowardly that the London film festival apparently backed out of showing this - for fear of the thugs - but do watch at home - they deserve eyes on their important work.