Go Back to Your Country – It’s the phrase most of us immigrants of colour have heard at some point in our lives. It always hurts, and it’s particularly crushing once you’re old enough to realise just how racist and dehumanising five simple words, spoken one after the other, can be. So crushing, in fact, I wasn’t too sure how I’d feel about a short film with that title. Would it open old wounds? Amplify the growing division in our world? Do I really need to watch what I already know?
Well, I did it anyway. And I’m here to tell you, Go Back to Your Country from writer, director and actor Islah Abdur-Rahman, is a 7-minute film everyone needs to watch.
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It’s set against the backdrop of the anti-immigration riots which took place in the UK in 2024. Three young girls, Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7), and Alice da Silva Aguiar (9), who were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in Southport had just been killed in a knife attack. Their horrific murders made global headlines, and at the same time, false information began circulating on social media suggesting the perpetrator was a Muslim migrant. Violent riots broke out, calling for Muslims and any non-white-passing immigrants to go back to their countries.
The film opens with Omar, a young Muslim man (played by Abdur-Rahman), and his dad (Jeff Mirza), having a quiet day in their family-run post shop when a stranger (Jay Brown) enters holding a baseball bat. Omar, already on alert after listening to the news, knows straight up this can only mean trouble.
Islah Abdur-Rahman and Jeff Mirza in ‘Go Back to Your Country.’ Image supplied.
It’s what follows that makes Go Back to Your Country stand out – an exchange between two men, so powerful and so vulnerable, Abdur-Rahman and Brown’s performances force viewers to reflect on why such extreme division exists in the UK, or anywhere in the world for that matter, and whether any of us are doing enough to really listen to the “other” side.
“This film is a deeply personal reflection on racial tension and violence, shaped by both my own experiences with racism and the painful history of division in the UK,” Abdur-Rahman says. “Growing up, I faced prejudice, but never to the extent that I feared leaving my house. That changed in 2024 during the anti-immigration riots. For the first time, I truly understood the fear my elders must have felt during the race riots of the 70s and 80s. It wasn’t just stories from the past anymore – I was living it.”
Jay Brown in ‘Go Back to Your Country’. Image supplied.
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Abdur-Rahman, who is also behind the award-winning web series Corner Shop Show, says he felt a responsibility to educate people in the aftermath of the riots, rather than respond with anger.
“I knew that simply highlighting the suffering of immigrant communities wasn’t enough. To truly understand the issue, I immersed myself in research – looking at the history of race riots in Britain, how little had changed, and why these tensions still exist. But I also wanted to explore the other side. I studied British nationalist movements, trying to understand their mindset and fears that drive them.”
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The narrative isn’t one-sided. And there are no clearcut solutions for a society that is becoming more and more divided by the minute. But we do get something far more impactful – seeing two people from what seems like opposite worlds figure out how to see each other.
“I wanted to humanise both perspectives, to show how manipulation, fear and a lack of education continue to fuel hatred. This film isn’t just about violence, it’s about the cycle that keeps repeating itself when we refuse to listen and learn.”
In just 7 minutes, Abdur-Rahman, is making us think beyond our own experiences. Beyond our own hurt. Beyond biases and stereotypes. And, given the state of the world – I think we can all agree, it’s more than a shit storm right now – it might just be exactly what we all need.
Check out Go Back to Your Country on YouTube:
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