The Forum Blog
A Revolution in Four Seasons
The film, first released in May this year, follows four years in the parallel political lives of Jawhara Ettis and Emna Ben Jemaa – two women at the centre of Tunisia’s radical turn to democracy during the 2011 Arab Spring.
Kleptoscope Two: The Alchemy of Making Money from Sand
The second evening in the Kleptoscope series explored the illicit wealth originating from the Middle East that flows through the capital’s economy.
Irregular War: The Future of Global Conflicts
‘If we’re trying to actually resolve conflict… then we have to think, how do we get into the mind of the other?’ Gabrielle Rifkind.
Breaking Point: The EU Referendum and its Aftermath
There are some things about Brexit that we simply can’t know. No amount of opinion pieces, panel discussions, or leaked memos will change that. As Iain Macwhirter, a political commentator for the Herald and Sunday Herald, quipped, ‘We all know that Brexit means Brexit, but nobody knows what Brexit means!’ So, what does Brexit mean?
A Country in Motion: Films from Burma
“The fact that we can even make these films is representative of the change in this country,” said Lamin Oo, speaking to a full Frontline Club from Burma. Oo is one of his nation’s predominant emerging filmmakers and of the many talents being showcased at the Frontline Club’s ‘A Country in Motion: Films From Burma’ […]
Drones: National Bird of USA
National Bird is a documentary about the effects of drone warfare conducted by the US in Afghanistan as part of its war against terrorism. It also incidentally became a documentary on whistleblowing. Drone pilots Lisa, Heather and Daniel reveal how drone warfare, presented as efficacious and selective, is much more liable to error than US officials are […]
Groundtruth: 0% of US TV coverage of the election had to do with policy
Just days before the result of the 2016 US Presidential Election, Boston-based foreign news organisation GroundTruth took part in a panel debate on the question of media credibility. In town for a team meeting, Charles Sennott and Gary Knight, founders of GroundTruth, shared their commitment to training up-and-coming talent in global correspondents in an age when […]
The blood flow of the global economy
‘These came by ship,’ journalist Rose George remarked in the opening minutes of the film, casting her eyes over her clothes, ‘my shoes probably came by ship, the microphone certainly…’ The device you’re using to read this blog probably did too: 90% of everything we consume arrives in a shipping container.
Unconstitutional abortion laws highlighted by documentary
Director Dawn Porter was a lawyer before she was a filmmaker. Her film, Trapped, is about the impact of abortion regulation on clinics in southern US states. It’s rare to have a story where the main plot is legislation, but it works, and it’s heart-breaking.
A conversation with Patrick Cockburn
Each conflict is nuanced, its history and its fanatics. We, as consumers of entertainment, are taught to laud our heroes and demonize our villains, forgetting that the real world breeds only people and their overlapping interests.
Violent Borders: Border Conflict, Security and the Refugee Crisis
In the absence of legitimate methods of travelling to safer lands, smugglers enjoy a booming trade with a huge supply of refugees willing to pay to escape their home country. Elinor Raikes discussed the irony of a system that refuses entry actually increases risk: “you’re pushing people into these illegal, uncontrolled, unmanaged routes, and actually it’s worse for our security.”
Displacement and demography: Colombia
“Not quite the evening we thought we were going to have”, began Ed Vulliamy, journalist for The Guardian and The Observer. A talk that was expected to celebrate the formal end to 52 years of civil war, ended up examinging why a much celebrated peace deal between the Farc and the Colombian government was rejected in a public referendum.
The Nauru files: changing the narrative of media coverage on refugee issues
“It is very hard for Muslim girls to live in Burma. For the boys it is not so dangerous. They just get killed,” said the first girl, 13. “I consumed washing detergents… poison… I’m so tired of everything,” said the second girl.
Kleptoscope: London’s Dirty Money
“Three quarters of money looted in Russia comes to the UK.” The audience sat in stunned silence. Roman Borisovich continued, “there is an army of UK bankers, accountants, lawyers, trustees, and other professionals assisting Russian corruption.”
In the Picture with Paula Bronstein: Afghanistan – Between Hope and Fear
‘Mob rule took over’ she said quietly, ‘and they killed her’. The grief and anger at Farkhunda Malikzada’s funeral is one of many harrowing events Paula Bronstein has documented. But her latest book, Afghanistan – Between Hope and Fear, captures not only the tragedy of a country ravaged by war: it also shows the joy.
The Hard Stop: portraying the people behind the London riots
Words and pictures by Heenali Patel One summer morning in 2011, London’s Metropolitan Police pulled over Mark Duggan– a young, black, British man– and shot him dead. His killing sparked what became known as the Tottenham riots, and set off a chain reaction of arson and looting across the country. Images of burning buildings and […]
City 40: film lifts veil on secretive nuclear town
On Tuesday 14 June, a packed-out Frontline Club hosted a screening of the acclaimed documentary City 40 followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Samira Goetschel and Guardian journalist Luke Harding.
Holy Lands: Sectarianism in the Middle East
On Thursday 19 May, the Frontline Club hosted a panel on sectarianism in the Middle East, the formation of secular nation-states and the roots of the conflicts of today.
He Named Me Malala: Education and the Refugee Crisis
“We learn so much from Malala, she tells us that we have a voice in the West but we take it for granted”, Guwali Passarlay.
“Times are Changing” But Little has Changed for Ordinary Cubans
Whilst institutional changes in Cuban foreign relations make headlines in global media, the daily-lives of ordinary people on the island are yet to see huge improvements.
After Brussels: Brexit and the Future of Europe
The Frontline Club played host to a heated and at times fractious debate on Brexit and the future of Europe on Thursday 24 March 2016.
Inside Obama’s White House
On Tuesday 15 March the Frontline Club hosted a screening of the first episode from new BBC Two series Inside Obama’s White House. It was followed by a Q&A with series producer Norma Percy and director Paul Mitchell, moderated by author and Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland.
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.