ANNA'S FILMS — FILMS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

ANNA’S FILMS

Anna Hall has been investigating the gang grooming phenomenon for nearly 30 years. For the first time all her films on this subject have been brought together in one place.

Head to our YouTube to watch these films here: https://www.youtube.com/@CandourDocs

EDGE OF THE CITY
2004

Filmed over two years with inside access to Bradford Social Services, Edge of the City transmitted in August 2004. With 4 different complicated stories, Nancy Banks-Smith in The Guardian called it "the best defence of social services I've ever seen ". Edge of the City is best known for its exposure of the gang grooming story.

Britain’s Sex Gangs
2010

6 years after her first film on the subject, Anna directed a film just as the first gang grooming trials were coming to court. The elephant in the room remained: why was this pattern of grooming happening and what did members of the British Pakistani community think about it?

The Hunt for Britain’s Sex Gangs
2013

Three years following West Mercia Police's Operation Chalice investigation. The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs transmitted in May 2013, just as Thames Valley Police's Operation Bullfinch was in The Old Bailey. This film galvanised action on how appalling the court process was for victims of child sexual abuse. 9 defence barristers cross examined our victim with 27 defence barristers in court. A few weeks later the MOJ announced the pilot of cross-examination of victims in Judges' Chambers - a pilot which ran over several years and has now become law - known as section 28 evidence so victims' cross examination can be video recorded privately and played in court so victims are spared the trauma of multiple defence barristers cross-examining. The Bar Council also announced compulsory training for Defence Barristers in the cross examination of vulnerable victims a few months after the film transmitted. The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs was nominated for a BAFTA in Current Affairs & won The Royal Television Society Journalism Award for Best Domestic Film. It also won an Asian Media Award for Best Investigation.