BBC Four

BBC 4

Phil Collins

Natasha Dack Ojumu

Sinisa Mitrovic

Tiger Lily Films Ltd

Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

CEREMONY: The Return of Friedrich Engels

05/11/2017

BBC Four - Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels

Forefather of communism Friedrich Engels returns to Manchester as a Soviet-era statue.

Artist Phil Collins returns Engels to Manchester, the city where he made his name, in the form of a Soviet-era statue, driven across Europe and permanently installed in the centre.

Friedrich Engels arrived in Manchester in 1842 and documented the plight of the city's working classes in The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845). 

172 years later, Turner Prize-nominated artist Phil Collins is returning Engels to the city where he made his name - in the form of a Soviet-era statue, driven across Europe and permanently installed in the centre of Manchester as the closing event of this year's Manchester International Festival. 

Collins's film for BBC Four not only documents the statue's journey, but also the lives of Manchester workers today as well as a live inauguration event specially created by Collins to welcome the statue to the city. It includes a soundtrack by Mica Levi (Jackie, Under the Skin) and Demdike Stare, and a new anthem composed by Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals). 

The film marks 100 years since the ideas in The Communist Manifesto, written by Engels and Karl Marx, changed the course of history by inspiring the Russian Revolution.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels

Contributors

Genres

Formats

BBC Four

About BBC Four