The Forum Blog
Among the Believers: Ideological Battles Shaping Pakistan
On Friday 11 March 2016, the Frontline Club held a screening of Among the Believers, a documentary directed by Hemil Trevedi and Mohammed Naqvi. The screening was followed by a Q&A with Naqvi and producer Joseph Goodman Levitt.
The Search for Balkan War Criminals – Justice, Peace and Reconciliation
On Wednesday 9 March, the Guardian‘s world affairs editor Julian Borger was joined by a panel of experts to discuss the search for Balkan war criminals as detailed in his new book, The Butcher’s Trail – How the Search for Balkan War Criminals Became the World’s Most Successful Manhunt.
In Pictures: Granta – The Legacy of Communism
On Wednesday 24 February 2016, journalist and author Oliver Bullough was joined by Peter Pomerantsev, writer and senior fellow at the Legatum Institute, and author Philip Ó Ceallaigh to discuss the legacy of communism in eastern Europe. The event marked the release of Granta magazine’s new edition – No Man’s Land.
No Man’s Land: The Legacy of Communism
By Isabel Gonzalez-Prendergast On Wednesday 24 February, a panel of experts met to discuss the legacy of war and communism in eastern Europe. A full house convened for the event to mark the release of the latest edition of Granta, No Man’s Land, which focuses on the ground between opposing forces, twenty five years since the fall of […]
Cuba for Sale: Cuba’s Housing Crisis
On Tuesday 23 February, the Frontline Club hosted a preview screening of Cuba For Sale, a new film by Al Jazeera. Following the screening, journalist and historian Richard Gott moderated a panel discussion with reporter and filmmaker Juliana Ruhfus; LSE fellow Helen Yaffe; national secretary of the Cuba Solidary Campaign Bernard Regan; and assistant director at the […]
Documentary Shorts: Methods and Inspiration
A panel of experienced filmmakers came together at the Frontline Club on Monday 15 February to give an insight into their creative processes when making short documentary films. The panel consisted of award-winning filmmakers Liam Saint-Pierre, Chloe White, Marc Silver, and Gemma Atkinson, with documentary programmer and DocHouse producer Jenny Horwell moderating the discussion.
Revolutionary Egypt: Podcast and Photos
On Wednesday 10 February 2016, a panel of experts joined an audience at the Frontline Club to discuss Revolutionary Egypt Five Years On. Speakers included Jack Shenker, journalist and former Egypt correspondent for the Guardian; Dr Omar Ashour, an associate fellow at Chatham House and senior lecturer in Security Studies in the Institute of Arab and […]
Sicario: Mexican Drug Cartels & the US-led War on Drugs
Journalist and writer Ed Vulliamy was joined by Empire film critic Dan Jolin on Friday 5 February at the Frontline Club, to watch and discuss Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario. The Academy Award-nominated film, the title of which translates to ‘assassin’, tells the story of the inextricably linked worlds of US law enforcement agencies and Mexican drug cartels.
Abbas – Documenting Iran from 1970
By Charlotte Beale Legendary Iranian photographer Abbas joined journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari in a conversation at the Frontline Club on 3 February 2016, chaired by CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer. Bahari and Abbas have collaborated to launch abbas.site, a platform showcasing Abbas’s photographic body of work on Iran since 1970, including his coverage of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
My Jihad: Confronting Extremism in Belgium
By May Bulman Belgian journalist Rudi Vranckx joined an audience at the Frontline Club on Monday 1 February 2016 to discuss his documentary My Jihad, in which he explores how a small Belgian community is confronting extremism.
War Zone Freelance Exhibition – in Pictures
Photos by Tolly Robinson Thursday 28 January 2016 – panel discussion with journalists Benjamin Hiller, Osie Greenway, Jeffry Ruigendijk and Anne Alling on the subject of freelance conflict reporting and the War Zone Freelance Exhibition.
War Zone Freelance Exhibition – The Story Behind the News
By Thomas Colson A panel of freelance journalists and photographers joined an audience at the Frontline Club on Thursday 28 January 2016 to discuss the story behind a new exhibition of freelance war photography. Osie Greenway, Anne Alling, Benjamin Hiller and Jeffry Ruigendijk introduced photography and footage from their time in the Middle East – particularly Iraq, Syria and Lebanon […]
Gordon Brown, Julia Gillard & Kevin Watkins Discuss Funding Education for Syrian Child Refugees
By Charlotte Beale United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined chair of the Global Partnership for Education and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Overseas Development Institute’s Executive Director Kevin Watkins at the Frontline Club on 25 January 2016 to discuss Funding for Syrian Child Refugees, on […]
‘Trumpmania’ and the US Election Year
By Elizabeth Jackson On Wednesday 20 January 2016, in front of a sold out audience at the Frontline Club, a panel of experts – chaired by journalist Michael Goldfarb – set out to discuss what is in store for this election year in the United States.
Professionalising Citizen Journalism
By Adam Barr “We all work in closing spaces around the world where journalism is becoming more and more difficult.” The challenges of reporting on places and conflicts forgotten by the mainstream media were laid bare on Tuesday 19 January, as the Frontline Club hosted an in-depth discussion on the professionalisation of citizen journalism. Trevor […]
Power, Politics and Performance in Russia: Collective Memory and the Cult of Stalin
By Elliot Goat “It took me years to make sense of my own history, and Russian society will take a similar time.”– Vladimir Ashurkov, Russian opposition politician In collaboration with Theatre Royal Plymouth and the Sputnik Theatre, on Thursday 14 January the Frontline Club presented a staged reading of Grandchildren: The Second Act by Alexandra Polivanova […]
The Fight Against Daesh: Symptoms and Causes
By Antonia Roupell A panel discussion focused on The Fight Against Daesh made for a timely first First Wednesday of the year at the Frontline Club. The packed event on 6 January was chaired by David Loyn, foreign correspondent for the BBC for over 30 years. The speakers included Richard Spencer, Middle East editor of The Daily and Sunday […]
The Lives of Others: Character Driven Documentary
By Thomas Colson On Monday 30 November, a panel of acclaimed documentary filmmakers came together to discuss the difficulties and rewards of character-driven documentary. Beadie Finzi, one of the founding directors of non-profit film foundation BRITDOC, moderated the discussion and was joined by filmmakers Brian Hill, David Sington, and Edward Lovelace.
Sun Mu: From North Korean Propagandist to Pop Art Defector
By Heenali Patel On Friday 20 November, the Frontline Club hosted a premiere screening of the documentary I Am Sun Mu, a remarkable insight into the life and work of North Korean defector and political pop artist Sun Mu. The film follows Sun Mu as he prepares for his first solo exhibition in Beijing in […]
Spotlight: Investigative Journalism at the Boston Globe
By Isabelle Gerretsen On Wednesday 18 November, Sacha Pfeiffer and Mike Rezendes from The Boston Globe’s Pulitzer-prize winning Spotlight team discussed their 2002 exposé of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, the subject of the new film Spotlight. They spoke to Richard Sambrook, former head of BBC News and director of the centre for journalism […]
In the Picture with Giles Duley: “Anti-War Photographer”
By Ratha Lehall On Wednesday 18 November, the Frontline Club hosted photographer Giles Duley to discuss the themes and individual images in his latest project, One Second of Light. Duley was joined by Roger Tatley, director at the Marian Goodman Gallery, and Jon Levy, a photo editor currently working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). One Second of […]
Gulwali Passarlay’s Journey as a Refugee from Afghanistan to the UK
By Aletha Adu On Wednesday 18 November, Gulwali Passarlay enlightened a packed audience at the Frontline Club into his journey as an unaccompanied child refugee from Afghanistan to the United Kingdom. Joined by former Afghanistan correspondent for the BBC David Loyn, and Nadene Ghouri who co-authored his book The Lightless Sky, Passarlay was keen to […]
Yallah!: Underground Music in the Middle East
By Ratha Lehall On Monday 16 November, the Frontline Club hosted a screening of the documentary Yallah! Underground, a vibrant look at a diverse groups of Arab artists and musicians using culture to challenge the status quo. The film is set in the years prior to and during the Arab spring, and focuses on artists from […]
Corruption, Violence and Impunity in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
By Molly Fleming On Thursday 12 November, award-winning reporter Sandra Rodríguez Nieto spoke with author and journalist for the Observer and the Guardian Ed Vulliamy about life and death in Juarez, the Mexican murder capital of the world.
Water Wars: Is a Drying World Stoking the Migration Crisis?
By Hannah Lawrence In a heated debate on Wednesday 11 November at the Frontline Club, a panel of writers and scientists discussed the extent to which a drying world is a contributing factor in the ongoing migration crisis.
Kisilu: The Climate Diaries
By Harriet Agerholm On Tuesday 10 November the Frontline Club hosted a preview screening of Julia Dahr’s Kisilu: The Climate Diaries, ahead of the film’s December screening at the UN climate change conference in Paris. The screening was followed by a discussion with the film’s producer, Hugh Hartford.
20 Years After the Dayton Agreement: “The Sky is Darkening in Bosnia”
By Jonathan Bucks On Wednesday 4 November, the Frontline Club marked the twentieth anniversary of the Dayton Agreement – the peace agreement that marked the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina – by welcoming a panel of those who helped shape negotiations at the time, and who reported on the three year conflict.
Nowhere People: The World’s 10M Stateless People
By Charlotte Beale On 3 November at the Frontline Club, photojournalist Greg Constantine spoke to UNHCR’s UK representative Gonzalo Vargas Llosa about Nowhere People, Constantine’s body of ten years of photographic work on the world’s estimated 10m stateless people.
1915: The Last Survivors of the Armenian Genocide
By Anna Speyart ‘[Photography] isn’t necessarily about creating images; it’s about experiencing life and experiencing stories. Images are just a side effect.’
Nawal El Saadawi: Religion, Feminism and Egyptian Politics
By Ayman Al-Juzi On Monday 26 October, renowned Egyptian writer, feminist and activist Nawal El Saadawi joined journalist Wendell Steavenson and a packed audience at the Frontline Club for a discussion that spanned the topics of linguistic philosophy, feminism and globalisation – all of which were explored in the context of El Saadawi‘s own life […]