Previous screenings
Season 2016/17
They have to Kill us first / Johanna Schwarz (2016)
8th of May 2017 - The Montpelier Pub
In 2012, jihadists took control of Northern Mali, imposing one of the harshest interpretations of sharia law in recent years and, crucially for Mali, banning one of the key parts of their identity and culture, music. Radio stations were destroyed, instruments were burnt and overnight, Mali's musicians were forced into hiding or exile. The film follows these musicians, from the cultural icons and activists hunted and in hiding, to the bands brought together by the atrocities happening in their home country, in their fight for freedom, and their right to sing. In the words of the Malian activist Disco, in order to stop Mali's music, "they will have to kill us first".
Don't Tell Anyone / Mikaela Shwer - USA (2015)
28th of February 2017 - Juju's Bar & Stage
In a community where silence is often seen as necessary for survival, undocumented activist Angy Rivera steps out of the shadows to share her parallel journey of being an undocumented immigrant and a victim of sexual assault.
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Halfway / Daisy-May Hudson - UK (2016)
22nd of February 2017 - King's Cross Impact Hub
HALF WAY is an immersive documentary about a homeless family in the processes of being re-homed.
The Occupiers / Chloe Ruthven - UK (2016)
22nd of November 2016 - Brick Lane
On October 15th 2011, activist and film-maker Chloe Ruthven joined a demonstration in the City of London in solidarity with the global anti-austerity movement. Three weeks later, realising that something of historic significance was unfolding within the tent city the demonstrators had erected outside St Paul's Cathedral, she brought her camera along and started filming.
By the time the camp was evicted in February 2012 she had accumulated hundreds of hours of footage of a contemporary grass-roots political movement in action. With humour and sensitivity, the Occupiers offers a thought-provoking, unflinching and ultimately sympathetic insight into the politics, the dramas and the conflicts of life in the protest camp that shook the City.
Tashi & the Monk / Johnny Burke - UK/US (2014)
10th of November 2016 - Peckham Rye
On a remote mountaintop a brave social experiment is taking place. Buddhist Monk Lobsang was trained under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama but 8 years ago he left behind a life as a spiritual teacher in the United States to create a unique community in the foothills of the Himalayas which rescues orphaned and neglected children. 5 year-old Tashi is the newest arrival.
Lobsang has channeled his own unhappy childhood into an opportunity for other ‘uninvited guests of the universe’ to avoid a similar fate. But can the community’s love and compassion transform Tashi’s alienation and tantrums into a capacity to make her first real friend?
Transit Zone / Frederik Subei - UK (2015)
13th of October 2016 - Peckham Rye
Transit Zone is an authentic insight into the life of a refugee in the jungle of Calais in Northern France. The filmmaker spent 3 months during the winter in the camp, living with the refugees in makeshift tents.
'Teefa' has fled the regime in Sudan with the dream to start a new life in the UK. But sneaking onto a truck to cross the border is difficult and the harsh conditions of the camp are taking its toll. Teefa begins to question the greatness of Britain and looks at other options instead.
We are many / Amir Amirani - UK (2014)
10th of September 2016 - Peckham Rye
We Are Many tells the story behind and legacy of the largest protest in history, on 15 February 2003, when close to 30 million people in nearly 800 cities around the world demonstrated against the Iraq War.
Described by The Guardian as "the one to watch doc by the new Michael Moore on the block", and by the Huffington Post as "the only film I have ever watched where the audience started clapping half-way through
The Divide / Katherine Round - UK (2015)
10th of September 2016 - Peckham Rye
The Divide tells the story of 7 individuals striving for a better life in the modern day US and UK - where the top 0.1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%. By plotting these tales together, we uncover how virtually every aspect of our lives is controlled by one factor: the size of the gap between rich and poor.
Fear and Desire / Ludovica Fales - Italy (2014)
7th of September 2016 - Brixton
“Fear and Desire” is an event, combining a live performance and documentary screening, about dance, self-development and social integration. The audience is invited to undertake the journey of small group of international performers travelling to South of Italy.
The experimental event will be an opportunity for everyone to express their inner spirit, experimenting a new meaning of dance, which doesn’t stop at professional practice.
Season 2015/16
A Town of Runners / Jerry Rothwell - Uk (2012) - '70
21th of June 2016 - Peckham Rye
Town Of Runners is a feature documentary about young runners from Bekoji - an Ethiopian highland town which has produced some of the world's greatest distance athletes. Made by award-winning director Jerry Rothwell, the film tells the stories of three teenagers as they try to run their way to a different life.
Watch the trailer here // Book your ticket here
The Price We Pay / Harold Crooks - Canada 2014 (93')
15th of June 2016 - Brixton
The Price We Pay is inspired by Brigitte Alepin’s book La Crise fiscale qui vient. Director Harold Crooks (who co-directed Surviving Progress with Mathieu Roy) blows the lid off the dirty world of corporate malfeasance with this incendiary documentary about the dark history and dire present-day reality of big-business tax avoidance, which has seen multinationals depriving governments of trillions of dollars in tax revenues by harboring profits in offshore havens.
Watch the trailer here // Book your ticket here
Honey at the top/ Dean Puckett - UK (2015) - '54
12th of May 2016 - Peckham Rye
Honey at the Top is a film about the Sengwer forest people of the Cherangani Hills, Kenya, being evicted from their ancestral land in the name of conservation. Filmmaker Dean Puckett lived in the Embobut forest and filmed an intimate portrait of this community at a crossroads, facing international pressure from organisations like the World Bank, a corrupt Kenya Forest Service who are burning their houses and attempts to turn the forest into a commodity through carbon offsetting schemes. The film centers around father of two Elias as he works with his community to try and hold onto their culture and resist the evictions.
Watch the trailer here // Book your ticket here
Archipelago / Benjamin Huguet - UK (2015) '41
5th of May 2016 - Peckham Rye
The inhabitants of the stunning Faroe Islands pride themselves on their self-sustainability and respectful affinity with their environment. As director Benjamin Huguet films, in sometimes shocking scenes, they are used to raising and hunting their own food. But when whaling protestants descend on the island, they have to question the future of their traditions.
Watch the trailer HERE // Book your ticket HERE
Barolo Boys / Paolo Casalis - Italy (2015) - '62 / (DOC&WINE series)
28th of April 2016 - Haggerston
Life off Grid - Canada (2015) - '52
16th of March 2016 - Peckham Rye
Life Off Grid is a two-year journey exploring the lives of Canadians in every province and territory who have made the choice to disconnect. Life Off Grid is a film about people who have chosen to build their lives around renewable energy, with beautiful, inspiring, and often challenging results.
Jungle Sisters / Chloe Ruthven - UK(2015) - 80'
18th of February 2016 - Peckham Rye
In 2008 the Indian Government launched an initiative to train 500 million of the rural poor to work in its growing industrial sector. Jungle Sisters follows best friends Bhanu and Bhuntu as they make the journey of their lives. Travelling 1000 miles to find a new future in Modi’s business-friendly India, they take their place in the ranks of factory workers. Overseeing them is Orlanda, a British academic employed by a local skills providing company, who believes passionately in helping the poor. But as the reality of life on the factory floor forces all three of them to make some dramatic decisions, the film becomes an epic tale of love, conflict and social justice.
Epicly Palestine'd / Philip Joa & Theo Krish - UK (2015) - 26'
14th of January 2016 - Peckham Rye
A small group of Palestinian teenagers gain the attention of the skateboarding world when they create a skate scene from scratch in the heart of the West Bank - a place where you can't even buy a skateboard - whilst facing the challenges of living under a military occupation.
Watch the Trailer here // BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE
England Your England / Matt Hopkins - UK (2014) - 60'
3rd of December 2015 - Peckham Rye
England Your England is an ongoing documentary series showcasing powerful stories from real people across the UK. The project aims to present the diversity of personal stories that define us as individuals, communities and as a nation. The films usually based on a single character, aim to challenge perceptions of individuals and groups in modern Britain.
Some of the stories are featured here // BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE
A Land of Transit / Paolo Martino - Italy (2014) - '54
5th of November 2015 - Peckham Rye
After a dangerous journey from Iraq, 27 years old Rahell arrives in Italy. From there he planned to reach Sweden, the country where his family obtained political asylum years before and lives happily. But Rahell finds out very soon that, according to the European asylum regulations, his destiny will always be bound to the country where his finger prints were first taken. Like thousands of asylum seekers in Southern Europe, Rahell finds himself stuck in a “land of transit” without means to start a decent life. Through intimate interviews, this documentary follows Rahell’s attempts to reach Sweden and shows how European asylum and immigration policies urgently need to be reformed.
Watch the trailer here // BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE
