The white Afrikaans inhabitants of Orania in South Africa’s Northern Cape province refuse to be part of the “Rainbow Nation”. Director Tobias Lindner carefully observes this culturally homogeneous society situated in the middle of a multicultural country, and explores the mechanisms behind the societal experiment. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Tobias Linder.
Yemen has one of the world’s highest rates of gun ownership. In this tribal society boys are given guns and expected to become men. The prisons are full of young detainees convicted of murder. Unreported World travelled to Yemen to reveal the stories of these young men locked up in prisons. The screening will be followed by a debate with Channel 4 Unreported World reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Sevag Kechichian from Amnesty International.
For over fifty years Cuba has been following the battle-cry of the revolution: Patria o Muerte, which translates as Motherland or Death. Veteran Russian documentarian Vitaly Mansky centers on the generation born before the revolution. They are devoted to their motherland with heart and soul, yet curse the circumstances in which they are forced to live.
From Cairo to Damascus, Tunisia to Bahrain, Writing Revolution brings together some of the best new writing born out of the profound changes shaking the region. We will be joined by the editors and two of the contributors to talk about their work and how it has been shaped and influenced by the historic events unfolding around them.
Newly crowned RTS Television Journalist of the Year, Alex Thomson was described as “without question one of the UK’s leading correspondents”. He will be joining Vin Ray in conversation to reflect on a career that has seen him spend 22 years at Channel 4 News covering 20 wars across the Gulf, the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan, as well as presenting the programme.
After a 50-year civil war and with a flag, a national anthem and a capital, the Republic of South Sudan became the world’s newest nation on 9 July 2011. State Builders chronicles the first year of independence in which the first foundations of this fledgling democracy are laid. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Florence Martin-Kessler and Anne Poiret.
The screening is organised by BBC Persian Service. Followed by a panel TBA.
Since his election in 2005, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has become the most well-known Iranian since the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini. Produced by the BBC Persian Service, this documentary looks at the rise of Ahmadinejad and explains how this provincial politician with a PhD in traffic management became a personality to be reckoned with.
Chaabi music used to be the heart and soul of cosmopolitan Algiers, uniting Muslim and Jewish traditions. By the start of the Algerian War of Independence in 1954 the two communities were no longer allowed to work together, the music stopped and friendships were forced apart. Half a century later they got together again for an extraordinary concert and the start of a new musical career. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Safinez Bousbia.
Join us with host Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4′s Broadcasting House for our next First Wednesday. A panel of experts, commentators and journalists will be here to tackle the top story of the month and answer your questions.
Paul Conroy will be joining us in conversation with international editor at Channel 4 News, Lindsey Hilsum, to talk about Under The Wire. Offering a testimony of war reportage, and a personal account of the final assignment he embarked on with Marie Colvin, one of the foremost journalists of our generation.
Join fellow Frontline Club members in the club room for social drinks, sponsored by our friends Chivas Regal.
The death penalty was re-instated in the United States in 1976, for every ten people that have been executed since then, one person has been released from death row. One for Ten is a crowd-funded series telling the stories of these innocent people. It is made live on the road; shot in one day, edited the next, and uploaded overnight. The screening will be followed by a debate with co-directors Will Francome and Mark Pizzey, and producer Laura Shacham discussing the pros and cons of creating short web-documentaries, online distribution and crowd-funding.
Ed Law-Yone, was founder of The Nation newspaper and a major player within the political elite in Burma until the military coup of 1962. He was imprisoned and eventually became an exile in the US where he died in 1980. He did not live to see the Burma he dreamed of but he entrusted his daughter, Wendy Law-Yone, to tell his remarkable story. She will be joining us in conversation with the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall to talk about the unique portrait of Burma she discovered in his manuscripts.
This event is organised by Middle East Monitor (MEMO).
Book Launch of Memo to the Editor
A timely, revealing and important book, Memo to the Editor is a compilation of letters authored by Ibrahim Hewitt, the Middle East Monitor’s senior editor, and addressed to the editors of major newspapers on issues of the day. The author will be joined by former BBC Middle East Correspondent, Tim Llewellyn and foreign leader writer for the Guardian, David Hearst. They will be discussing media reporting on the Palestine-Israel conflict, looking at key events in the last decade and the way in which they were portrayed by Western media.
As Barack Obama enters the second year of his second and final term in office, he faces considerable foreign policy challenges. Join us as we dissect Obama’s foreign policy ambitions, exploring the shifts in focus and how they are playing out. Will he achieve his second term goals? Can he successfully pull focus to Asia or will the conflict in Syria direct attention back to the Middle East?
On 12 January 2010 the deadliest earthquake ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere hit Haiti, claiming between 230,000 and 300,000 lives. We will be joined by a panel of experts from the humanitarian aid community and reporters who covered the earthquake and the subsequent reconstruction efforts, to examine why – after three years and $15.3 billion – the country is still in crisis.
Unique, uplifting and heartbreaking, The Network tells the story of Afghanistan’s first independent television network – TOLO TV – and the family behind it. With over 800 Afghans employed producing news, current affairs, drama, comedy, music, and lifestyle programmes, the whole team face their biggest challenge with the impending withdrawal of foreign troops. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Eva Orner.
Over 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union directors Klára Tasovská and Lukáš Kokeš travel back in time on their visit to the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldovian Republic. A separatist region within Moldova with its own passports and stamps, an elected president and a legal system. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Lukáš Kokeš.
The infamous Frontline Club Quiz, round two. Enter your teams today to compete against the cream of Frontline quizzing talent.
Following the presidential election in Iran, we will be bringing together a panel of experts to deliberate the results and what they mean for the future of the country. In association with BBC Persian Service, we will be taking an in-depth look at Iran’s new president, exploring his affiliations and policies at home and internationally.