Screenings
Preview Screening: The Square + Q&A
For more than two years, Egyptians have turned out in massive numbers to occupy Cairo’s Tahrir Square and demand change. Director Jehane Noujaim captured what has happened in the square through the eyes of several young revolutionaries. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Khalid Abdalla, an accomplished actor who put his career on hold to document the revolution.
Screening: Here Be Dragons + Q&A
In the past, the term ‘Here Be Dragons’ was used by cartographers to indicate an unexplored area on a map, in fear of what could lurk there. In his new essay film, Mark Cousins goes on an explorative journey through Albania, interweaving views of the capital Tirana and its inhabitants with old film clips, painting a picture of the political and cultural landscape. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Mark Cousins and producer Don Boyd.
Screening: Tales from the Organ Trade + Q&A
Every year thousands of organs are bought and sold on a black market that flourishes in dozens of countries, where the rule of law is a hostage to the dollar sign. With unprecedented access to all the players, the film explores the legal, moral and ethical issues involved in this complex life and death business. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Ric Esther Bienstock.
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.
Preview Screening: A World Not Ours + Q&A
Filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel spent his formative years in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh in Lebanon. Each time he went back to the camp for his summer holidays he kept video diaries. As an adult he returns, challenging his teenage belief that ‘going to Ain el-Helweh is better than going to Disney Land’. A World Not Ours is an intimate, and often humorous, portrait of three generations of exile, based on a wealth of personal recordings, family archives, and historical footage. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Mahdi Fleifel and editor Michael Aaglund.
Preview Screening: After Tiller + Q&A
While nine American states allow late-term abortions, only four doctors in the country are willing to perform them. In the wake of the 2009 assassination of practitioner Dr George Tiller in Kansas, After Tiller intimately explores the highly controversial subject of third-trimester abortions. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with co-director Lana Wilson.
Screening: The Do Gooders + Q&A
Filmmaker Chloe Ruthven’s grandparents were aid workers in Palestine. Growing up, she avoided getting too involved in the subject, recalling how mention of it made all the adults in her life angry. Inspired by a book written by her grandmother about the aid projects in Palestine, Ruthven explores the effects of foreign aid and the potential damage the continued reliance may have for the future. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Chloe Ruthven and protagonist Lubna Masarwa.
Preview Screening: North Korea – Life Inside the Secret State
North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un is the world’s youngest dictator, ruling the world’s most repressive state. Through unique undercover material, director and producer James Jones reveals cracks in the regime and investigates the impact the information revolution has had in North Korea. This Channel 4 Dispatches preview screening will be followed by a panel debate with director James Jones. Other speakers to be confirmed.
Between the Lines Follow-Up Event: No Fire Zone + Q&A
This is an external event taking place at Riverside Studios. No Fire Zone – The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, chronicles the final 138 days of the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war, told by the people who lived through it. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Callum Macrae.
Between the Lines Follow-Up Event: The Bombing of al-Bara + Q&A
This is an external event taking place at Ritzy Cinema. On 28 October 2012, a government jet dropped a bomb on the village of al-Bara. Only 300 meters away, Olly Lambert was filming a meeting of rebel soldiers. While keeping his camera rolling, Lambert documented the shocking impact of the regime air strike on a civilian population. Taking this intimate personally narrated footage as starting point, Lambert will discuss in depth the experience of filmmaking on the front line.
Screening: The Central Park Five + Q&A
In April 1989, five black and Hispanic teenagers from Harlem were arrested for the brutal assault and rape of a white woman in Central Park. The Central Park Five gives a detailed reconstruction of the crime and the punishments meted out. Set against the backdrop of a city where incidents of violence are high and divides in class and race are deepening, the film tells a grim story of how law enforcement agencies, social institutions and the media undermined the very rights of the individuals they were designed to safeguard and protect. The screening will be followed by a Q&A via Skype with directors Sarah Burns and David McMahon.
BBC Storyville Preview: Philby – The Spy Who Went Into the Cold + Q&A
Veteran director George Carey captures the extraordinary story of the double agent Kim Philby, who served as head of the anti-Soviet section of MI6. Several people who knew him well – in London, Beirut and Moscow – talk frankly about his character, and the weaknesses in the British establishment that made his double life possible. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director George Carey moderated by Nick Fraser.
Preview Screening: The Engineer + Q&A
Israel Ticas is the only criminologist working in one of Latin America’s most dangerous countries, El Salvador. He owes his nickname, “The Engineer”, to his combination of forensic skills and his background in system engineering. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Mathew Charles and Juan Passarelli moderated by Stephen Jukes.
Screening: Shorts at the Frontline Club – Between the Lines Special
Join us for our next evening of short documentaries, showcasing films from different parts of the world, covering a wide range of topics. This month’s edition is part of a series of Between the Lines Follow-Up Events and will focus on ‘filming the unfilmable’. Followed by a discussion on how to document events that that are difficult to access with French independent multimedia journalist Adrian Branco, canadian filmmaker Jason Lee and director Tim Travers Hawkins.
BBC Arabic Screening: The Battle for Bizerte
With Tunisia in turmoil over the banning of the Salafist group Ansar Al-Sharia, this BBC Arabic documentary reveals the extraordinary inner workings of a group of Jihadi Salafists closely associated with them in Bizerte, a city north of the Tunisian capital.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Zuhair Latif, the BBC Arabic reporter on The Battle for Bizerte. Moderated by BBC Arabic TV presenter, Makki Helal.
Preview Screening: Which Way is the Front Line from Here – The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington + Q&A
Colleague and co-director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Restrepo, Sebastian Junger thoughtfully portrays Tim Hetherington’s life and work. At a time when greater numbers of journalists are losing their lives covering conflict, the film also addresses the high risks taken by war journalists. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Sebastian Junger and producer James Brabazon.
Screening: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer + Q&A
On 21 February 2012 Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot performed a 40 second ‘punk prayer’ on the altar of Moscow’s most esteemed cathedral. Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer closely follows the trial that followed, where three members stand accused of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”. Through incredible access to the legal system, they show the courtroom where Nadia, Masha and Katia sit incarcerated in a small booth, articulately defending their actions. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin.
Screening: Brotherhood & Courage – The Men of Washm Station + Q&A
The Washm Station in central Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is the city’s oldest and busiest fire station. Through unrestricted access behind the scenes of the Washm fire station, director Tom Roberts offers an intimate portrait of life in Saudi Arabia. He conveys the intensity of the experience and the danger that the firefighters face every day, as well as the camaraderie that is forged in these harsh conditions. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with award-winning director Tom Roberts and executive producer Christopher Mitchell.
Between the Lines Follow-Up Event: Salma + Q&A
This is an external event taking place at Rich Mix. Growing up in South India, Salma spent most of her childhood under house arrest. She poured out her anguish writing poetry which she sneaked out of the house. Against the odds she became one of the best known Tamil poets and her newfound fame helped her start on the path to freedom. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Kim Longinotto’s long-term editor Ollie Huddleston.
Screening: In the Shadow of a Man + Q&A
In the wake of the Egyptian revolution, four women speak of their fight for the future and what it means to be a woman in Egypt. Although Wafaa, Suzanne, Shahinda and Badreya are each from vastly different backgrounds and generations, they are deeply connected by the current changes in Egypt. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Hanan Abdalla, moderated by Yasmin El Derby.
Preview Screening: Pretty Village + debate
Pretty Village tells the harrowing story of the 1992 Kevljani massacre and its continuing effect on the lives of survivors. Using home movies and personal testimonies of the villagers, director David Evans visits a pre-war world where Serbs, Croats and Musilms lived in a complex web of mutual support systems and shared values.
This screening will be followed by a debate with director David Evans, protagonist and producer Kemal Pervanic and journalist at ITV News Penny Marshall. Moderated by Ed Vulliamy, writer for The Guardian and The Observer.
Screening: Shorts at the Frontline Club Syria Special
Join us for a special edition of Shorts at the Frontline Club, bringing together moving, striking and compelling stories, with a special focus on Syria. All films have been made in or around Syria since the uprising began in early 2011. This selection not only illustrates the complexity on the ground, but also shows the challenges reporters, journalists and filmmakers face when trying to grasp the situation.
Screening: The Pirate Bay – Away From Keyboard (TPB-AFK)
The largest and most famous torrent website in the world, The Pirate Bay, quickly became one of many antagonists of the entertainment industry. The three Swedish founders face $13 million in damage claims by the media establishment.
TPB-AFK chronicles a historic drama beyond the copyright debate and tells a human story torn by cyberwar. Director Simon Klose tells the inside story of how a cluster of hacktivists built the internet’s largest filesharing site, challenged the entertainment industry and helped shape the debate about intellectual freedom.
Screening: Rewind This! + Q&A
Home video changed the way the world consumed films. For the first time, small independent production companies could operate on an even playing field with the major film studios. Through the rise and fall of VHS, Rewind This! discusses media consumption, zero budget filmmaking, unchecked global piracy and an exploding film industry where everything was possible – developments that laid the foundation for today’s digital culture. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Josh Johnson via Skype.
Screening: The Human Scale+ Q&A
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Andreas M. Dalsgaard.
The Human Scale: it’s a ticking time bomb. In the next 40 years the number of people living in cities will nearly double. There is not enough time to build the necessary infrastructure to accomodate all of us. According to revolutionary Danish city planner Jan Gehl, even the largest of megacities must be re-thought, re-designed and re-sized to the human scale.
Screening: Google and the World Brain + Q&A
In Google and the World Brain, director Ben Lewis connects the central story of Google Books with fundamental issues related to the Internet – privacy, copyright, data-mining, downloading and surveillance. Through interviews with experts from across the world we learn about the implications of one of the most ambitious and simultaneously controversial projects ever conceived on the Internet. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Ben Lewis.
Screening: Shorts at the Frontline Club + Q&A
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 different faces of documentary.
Screening: Side by Side
For almost one hundred years there was only one way to make a movie – photochemical film. Over the last two decades a digital process has emerged to challenge photochemical filmmaking. At a moment when digital and photochemical filmmaking coexist, Side by Side explores what has been gained, what is lost, and what the future might bring.
Screening: Smash & Grab – The Story of the Pink Panthers + Q&A
In Smash & Grab – The Story of the Pink Panthers, director Havana Marking gets some of the members to reveal the gang’s networks, history and approach. They talk about sealed-tight safes, robberies that are years in the making and constant physical transformations. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Havana Marking.
Preview Screening: We Steal Secrets – The Story of WikiLeaks + Q&A
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Alex Gibney.
In 2010, WikiLeaks and its sources used the power of the internet to usher in what was for some a new era of transparency, and for others the beginnings of a new information war. In We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, Academy Award winner Alex Gibney explores how this enormous trove of classified US data was leaked and the impact the documents have had on international events.