Screenings
Summer Screening: Pipeline
The 4,500-kilometer (2,800-mile) Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhgorod gas pipeline connects the second-largest gas field in the world in Urengoy, West Siberia, with the Western European market. It has become one of the most vital arteries of the Russian economy, with Vladimir Putin claiming that its gas and oil revenues account for half of Russia’s disposable capital. For 104 days, renowned director Vitaly Mansky followed the course of this Trans-Siberian gas pipeline through seven different countries. Pipeline is a visually refined road movie offering an unsettling portrait of the legendary Trans-Siberian gas pipeline, on which much of Europe is still reliant.
Summer Screening: Rabbit à la Berlin, EXIT & Oxygen
Three short films explore life on the other side of the Iron Curtain, before the fall of the Berlin Wall:
Academy Award-nominated documentary Rabbit à la Berlin uses the Berlin Wall rabbit population as a metaphor for the huge transition post-communist societies underwent.
Through exceptional and rare footage shot between 10 and 20 October 1989, EXIT shows East German refugees who managed to cross the Polish border in order to reach the West German embassy in Warsaw. They talk openly about life in East Germany, not knowing the world is about to change.
During the communist dictatorship in Romania (1945-1989), thousands of people risked their lives attempting to flee their country, often inventing the most incredible methods to cross the border illegally. Oxygen is a free re-enactment of a real case.
Summer Screening: Eyal Weizman – The Architecture of Violence + Q&A
In a journey across the settlements, the roads and the Separation Wall of the West Bank, Eyal Weizman demonstrates how architecture is central to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and how his work on the architecture of occupation has led him to understand the discipline’s role in modern urban warfare. This Al Jazeera Rebel Architecture preview screening will be followed by a discussion with director Ana Naomi de Sousa and protagonist and architect Eyal Weizman.
Summer Screening: Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus + Skype Q&A
Belarus is governed by Europe’s last dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. In the run-up to the 2010 presidential election and for a year afterwards, filmmaker Madeleine Sackler followed the trials and tribulations of Belarus Free Theatre, an underground theatre company based in Minsk and led by Natalia and Nikolai. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Madeleine Sackler via Skype.
BBC Arena Preview: The New York Review of Books – A 50 Year Argument + Q&A
Acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi pay homage to a 20th century American institution: The New York Review of Books. The film weaves rarely seen archival material, interviews and excerpts from writings by such icons as James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and Joan Didion. These scenes reflect the humming and restless energy of a magazine that still feels as vital as its indefatigable founding editor, Robert Silvers. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Anthony Wall, series editor of BBC Arena.
Screening: Who Is Dayani Cristal? + Q&A
On 3 August 2010, border police discover a decomposing male body beneath a cicada tree deep in Arizona’s sun-blistered Sonora Desert. Director Marc Silver chronicles the story of this migrant found in the strip of desert known as “the corridor of death”. This one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the US war on immigration. As the forensic investigation unfolds, Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal retraces this man’s steps along the migrant trail in Central America. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Marc Silver.
Screening: Seeds of Hope + Q&A
Seeds of Hope follows multiple-rape victim Masika Katsuva, who has rescued some 6,000 women and children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by offering them shelter in her centre. Filmmaker Fiona Lloyd-Davies follows Katsuva and the centre’s inhabitants, as they reshape their lives to build a new future. The film also speaks with the perpetrators, among them soldiers from the Congolese army, who give extraordinarily open testimony as to why they rape and their attitudes toward their horrific acts. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Fiona Lloyd-Davies.
Shorts at the Frontline Club
Join us for another evening of short documentaries, from different parts of the world, covering a wide range of topics. Shorts at the Frontline Club showcases moving, striking and funny films, exploring the many different faces of documentary filmmaking.
Screening: Shado’man + Q&A
At night, a group of young men and women gather on the street corners of Freetown, Sierra-Leone. These Freetown Streetboys, as they call themselves, are amputees, some as a result of the civil-war that ended 10 years ago. Shado’man closely follows the lives of this tight community and delves into the inner world of each character to reveal the dignity of humans surviving under inhumane conditions. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Boris Gerrets.
Preview Screening: The Agreement + Q&A
Before Serbia could begin negotiations to join the European Union, it had to prove it could achieve a modus vivendi with the disputed territory of Kosovo. The Agreement follows the negotiations lead by veteran diplomat Robert Cooper, whose patience reveals how diplomacy actually works, keeping the parties together as the delegates exchange pointed barbs or keep the other side waiting for hours. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Karen Stokkendal Poulsen and protagonist and EU peace negotiator Robert Cooper.
Preview Screening: Secrets of the Vatican + Q&A
Secrets of the Vatican chronicles the events that led to Pope Benedict’s unexpected resignation and looks into the challenges faced by his successor Pope Francis. It investigates these complex and sensitive issues through undercover footage and interviews with Vatican insiders, abuse victims and whistleblowers. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Antony Thomas.
Preview Screening: Miners Shot Down + Q&A
In August 2012, mine workers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a strike for better wages. This peaceful demonstration was brought down violently by an intervention from state police forces, killing 34 miners and injuring many more. Miners Shot Down reconstructs what happened in Marikana and the aftermath, through testimonies and previously unseen police, security and TV footage. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Rehad Desai moderated by journalist and filmmaker Inigo Gilmore.
Preview Screening: Return to Homs + Q&A
Filmed between August 2011 and August 2013, Return to Homs is an intimate portrait of a group of young revolutionaries in the city of Homs. Filmmaker Talal Derki followed the journey of two close friends whose lives were turned upside down by the events in Syria. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with producer Orwa Nyrabia via Skype.
Preview Screening: The Condemned + Q&A
Federal Penal Colony No. 56 is situated in central Russia, in the middle of a forest larger than Germany and a seven-hour drive from the nearest city. In winter, temperatures fall to 40 degrees below zero. There are 260 prisoners serving out their sentences, all of them for murder. Nick Read and Mark Franchetti gained access to this isolated world and talked to the men about their crimes, their punishment and what freedom means to them. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Nick Read.
Sneak Preview: Virunga + Q&A
Virunga, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is Africa’s oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site and contested ground among insurgents seeking to topple the government who see untold profits in the land. Virunga portrays the personal experiences of the park staff as they prepare to protect everything they’ve worked for in an ongoing political and environmental crisis. This sneak preview screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Orlando von Einsiedel.
KINOTEKA Screening: Abu Haraz + Q&A
Abu Haraz can no longer be found on the map. The small North Sudanese village now wallows under 35 meters of water in the middle of an artificial lake 180 kilometres long. For seven years, filmmaker Maciej Drygas observed and documented the daily life of Abu Haraz’s citizens as they protested against the construction of the dam and eventually got ready to be relocated to a place unknown to them. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Maciej Drygas.
WARM Presents: Syria – Snapshots of History in the Making + debate
Founded in 2010 by a group of Syrian filmmakers, Abounaddara anonymously releases weekly films on the web in order to avoid censorship. These short films are a testimony of the fight for freedom in Syria. The film Syria: Snapshots of History in the Making is constructed from these short films and forms an intimate journey into a society on the brink. The screening will be preceded by a discussion with journalist and head of WARM Remy Ourdan , producer of Abounaddara Films Charif Kiwan , photographers Patrick Chauvel and Paul Lowe.
Shorts at the Frontline Club
Join us for an evening of short documentaries, from different parts of the world, covering a wide range of topics. Shorts at the Frontline Club showcases moving, striking and funny films, exploring the many different faces of documentary filmmaking. This month’s six films will take you from the futuristic city of Ordos in inner Mongolia to a slum in Kenya; from Romania under communism to the inner world of war veterans; and from Tibet to Myanmar.
Preview Screening: A Thousand Times Good Night + Q&A
A Thousand Times Good Night tells the moving story of leading conflict photojournalist Rebecca (played by Oscar-winner Juliette Binoche) who is torn between a passion for her perilous work and love of her family. Her husband (played by Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and daughter can no longer bear the thought of her dying for her work. She is given an ultimatum: her work, or her family life. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Erik Poppe moderated by Gavin Rees from the Dart Centre Europe.
Preview Screening: Aleppo. Notes from the Dark + Q&A
In the summer of 2013, Michal Przedlacki and Wojciech Szumowski spent 44 days in Aleppo, documenting the lives of ordinary citizens in extraordinary circumstances. Aleppo. Notes From the Dark offers a unique and poignant account of life in Aleppo from the perspective of seven of its residents. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with co-directors Michal Przedlacki and Wojciech Szumowski.
Screening: Open Access + Q&A
In 2011 the law ‘On Access to Public Information’ was adopted in Ukraine. Open Access brings together five stories of people in different parts of the country trying to invoke the law to access information. Told by five directors, these stories all illustrate the lack of transparency, indifference, dominance of private motifs and lack of responsibility by the country’s leaders. The screening will be followed by a Q&A via Skype with Ukrainian journalist and protagonist Sergii Leshchenko.
Screening: The Lost Signal of Democracy + Q&A
On the evening of 11 June 2013, the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pulled the plug on ERT, Greece’s public broadcaster, after 75 years of continuous operation. The silencing of public television resulted in a political conflict and provoked protests in a country already divided. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Yorgos Avgeropoulos.
Screening: Oleg Klimov – Letters to Myself + Q&A
For 12 years, Oleg Klimov documented the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Throughout the 1990s he witnessed almost all the conflicts and ethnic tensions of the region. Personally affected by his experiences as a war photographer and longing for inner peace, Klimov returns to some of the areas he photographed during wartime: Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and Chechnya. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Masha Novikova in person and photographer Oleg Klimov via Skype.
Preview Screening: The Longest Kiss + Q&A
The meeting of the Blue and White Nile in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, is referred to as ‘the longest kiss in history’. Focusing on the stories of six people searching for a place to call ‘home’ ahead of the south’s secession, The Longest Kiss paints an intimate portrait of the country’s complex fragmentation. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque and James Copnall.
BBC Preview Screening: Shooting Bigfoot + Q&A
When director Morgan Matthews decided to join three groups of men from the highly competitive and bitterly divided world of Bigfoot hunting, he got more than he bargained for. Shooting Bigfoot is a raucous road trip featuring a larger than life cast of monster-hunting men who devote their lives to the search for Bigfoot. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Morgan Matthews.
Screening: First to Fall + Q&A
In 2011, director Rachel Beth Anderson followed two friends who abandoned their peaceful lives in Canada and returned to their home country of Libya to fight in the revolution. Hamid (26) and Tarek (21) had never fired a gun, but in 2011 they ran recklessly towards war, fuelled by their hatred of Muammar Gaddafi and their desire to be part of history. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with co-directors Rachel Beth Anderson and Tim Grucza.
Screening: Pandora’s Promise + Q&A
The atomic bomb and meltdowns like Fukushima have made nuclear power synonymous with global disaster, but what if we’ve got nuclear power wrong? Pandora’s Promise tells the intensely personal stories of environmentalists and energy experts, who have undergone a radical conversion from being fiercely anti- to strongly pro-nuclear energy, risking their careers and reputations in the process. It is a thoughtful film that changes the conversation about the myths and science behind this deeply emotional and polarising issue.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Robert Stone and environmental activist Mark Lynas who features in the film. Moderated by Tom Clarke, Science Editor for Channel 4 News.
Screening: Shorts at the Frontline Club
Join us for an evening of short documentaries, from different parts of the world, covering a wide range of topics. Shorts at the Frontline Club showcases moving, striking and funny films, exploring the many different faces of documentary filmmaking.
BBC Storyville Preview: Coach Zoran and His African Tigers + Q&A
Following almost 50 years of civil war, South Sudan became an independent state in July 2011. The young nation formed a national soccer team with the aim to make it on the international stage. The man recruited to get them there is a dynamic and hugely ambitious veteran Serbian coach, Zoran Djordjevic. Director Sam Benstead follows the team over its first year, from the hunt for new players to the first international games. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Sam Benstead and editor James Gold, and moderated by Nick Fraser.
UK Premiere: Putin’s Olympic Dream + Q&A
Ahead of the 2014 Olympic Games, the city of Sochi underwent drastic transformations. This nostalgic Soviet holiday resort, filled with gorgeous sanatoriums, had to become a modern Russian city. With no time to lose, everything and everyone had to give way in order to turn President Putin’s status project into a success. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Hans Pool.