New venue at Bolivar Hall for autumn 2013.......

Welcome to Bolivar Hall by Alvaro Sanchez on behalf of HE Samuel Moncada, Amabassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Screenings on the second Sunday of the month are at;

 Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way, London, W1T 5DL. 

Nearest tube; Warren Street. Overground; Euston. 

Buses: 10, 14, 18, 24, 27, 29, 30, 73, 88, 132, 205, 390

From Warren Street station, walk down Tottenham Court Road and turn right on Grafton Way.

The 2013 Autumn programme

Our film season runs between September and May, we can now reveal our  next autumn programme opening in September and running to December...see below for more details.

Booking information: tickets are available from 10.20 am on the day and may not be booked in advance.

Admission £10, concessions £8. Discount to annual members £4. Sorry no credit cards.

Membership and other enquiries: nseyd@hotmail.com 

Website: (here!) www.socialistfilm.blogspot.co.uk

Sunday 13th Ocotber; 10.20 for 11am

THE FIRST GRADER

Justin Chadwick, Ireland 2010 [12], 103 mins

This drama brings the case of the Mau Mau freedom fighters against the British to life with the story of Maruge, a villager motivated to read by the offer of free primary education. The 84-year-old pupil and his young teacher defy the underlying tensions within the local community but not before he gently educated the students about Kenya’s fight for independence. Based on the true story of Kimani Maruge and his fight for the education he could never afford.

Palm Beach international Award 2011; Emden Film Award 2011

SHAKER AAMER: A DECADE OF INJUSTICE

Mark Saunders, UK 2010 [E], 22 mins

Shaker Aamer is still held at Guantanamo bay without charges or a trial. This film documents the on-going struggle of his family with legal, political and human rights activists campaigning for his release. Although two US presidents have ‘cleared’ his release due to lack of evidence, he remains detained. What is the fear of the authorities denying his release – his knowledge of the UK government’s complicity in torture, his witnessing of the multiple Guantanamo suicides or the wider political implications of his incarceration?

Discussion led by Dan Thea, Mau Mau Justice Network, Mark Saunders and Joy Hurcombe, Chair, Save Shaker Aamer Campaign

Sunday 10th November; 10.20 for 11am

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Lewis Milestone, USA 1930 [PG], 130 mins

Based on the novel by the war veteran Erich Maria Remarque, this film follows a group of young German recruits who enthusiastically enlist in World War 1. They experience the daily harshness and horrors of trench warfare and question the moral basis of war which had once seemed clear. While on leave they become disillusioned with the mindless patriotism and ignorance, and in the trenches they struggle with loss of innocence while holding on to their humanity.



This is the restored 1930 film, containing important sections missing from the subsequent abridged version [103 mins], Milestone and lead actor Lew Ayres died before seeing the completed restoration. We are grateful to Universal Pictures for their screening permission.

Academy Award 1930, the first war film to win an Oscar

Discussion led by Tony Benn, with Kate Hudson, General Secretary, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and Dr Toby Haggith of the Imperial War Museum Film Section

Sunday 8 December 2013; 10.20 for 11.00am

SING YOUR SONG

Susanne Rostock, USA 2011 [12A], 103 mins

This documentary narrated by Harry Belafonte follows his rise to fame as a singer, actor and activist touring a segregated country. Integrating original interviews with archive material from local and mainstream media, it illustrates the singer’s commitment to the civil rights movement in the US, to South Africa and to human rights and justice globally. The film raises broader issues of civil liberties, their entrenchment within a racist culture and questions the way forward.

Winner Vancouver International Festival 2011, Best Documentary NAMIC Vision Award 2012

             



 LAND AND FREEDOM

Uzma Hussain, UK 2012 [E], 14 min

High lighting land deliberately left under-used, Egham eco-village activists live on woodland left dormant by developers. Ash trees become sustainable structures, wattle and daub techniques replace industrial models; solar power generates light sources and recharges laptops; food comes from organic vegetables and a permaculture garden. This is modern living ‘off the grid’ and demonstrated in the workshops they run, against the background of a court injunction, eviction notices and police visits.

Discussion led by Jacqui Mckenzie, Caribbean Labour Solidarity, and Simon Moore Egham Eco-Villager.

Previous programmes from 2013

Sunday 8th September 10.20 for 11am.

THE HAPPY LANDS

Robert Rae, UK 2012 [12A], 108 mins

A Theatre Workshop Scotland Production supported by the National lottery through Creative Scotland in association with BBC Scotland.

This drama, set within a Fife mining community during the general strike of 1926, documents the harsh conditions and solidarity of people in their fight for respect and Justice. The Stringency measures, linked to the national debt and imposed by the then Conservative-Liberal politicians, bear an uncanny resemblance to the austerity measures imposed by today’s government.

Official selection Glasgow Film Festival 2013.

Discussion led by Robert Rae, with Bill Gilby, Board member, Theatre Workshop Scotland, and former UNISON Director of Executive Office & Programmes, and Jack Dunleavy, writer and contributor to Left Futures.

Sunday 14th April 2013

WILL THE REAL TERRORIST PLEASE STAND UP

Saul Landau, Cuba/ USA 2012 (12A) English/ Spanish with EST, 65min

This documentary charts the fifty years of hostility towards Cuba and the attempts to overthrow the revolution and destabilise the government with sweeping and stringent economic sanctions. The director narrates this through the case of the Miami Five, the intelligence agents sent to infiltrate the right-wing Cuban exile terrorist groups in Miami who were given long sentences by the Miami court. Using historical footage and interviews with CIA and intelligence officers, the director questions and suggests answers to the persistent psychological war waged against Cuba and its people.

DEFENCE OF MADRID

Ivor Montagu, UK 1936 (Advised 12A), 34min, 16mm, English

Norman McLaren and Ivor Montagu travelled to Madrid to document the siege of the city by Franco’s army during the Spanish Civil War. The proceeds of screenings were used in fundraising for the Republican cause. Low budget, political, independent films were the mark of Ivor Montagu who established the London Film Society to show art/independent films.

Discussion led by Bernard Regan National Secretary, Cuba Solidarity Campaign, Ros Cranston, BFI National Archive Curator, Non- Fiction and Jim Jump, Secretary, International Brigade Memorial Trust.

Sunday 12th May 2013

MAN: ONE FAMILY
Ivor Montagu, GB 1946, 17 mins, 35mm

This film from the BFI archive was made as an exposure of the fallacy of race myths. Nazi and Japanese theories about pure blood and master races are contrasted with scientific facts of mixed origins to prove that no nation or race can be considered inferior or superior.  Scientific advisers:  Prof. J.B.S. Haldane and Dr Julian Huxley.

FIRE IN BABYLON

Steven Riley, UK 2010 (12A), 83 min

This film charts the rise of the iconic West Indies cricket team to dominate the world in Test Match cricket. Set against the background of colonisation and slavery, apartheid in South Africa, civil unrest in the Caribean and race riots in England, the cricketers become a mouthpiece for a generation opposing the worldwide prejudices of Babylon. 

Interviews and dynamic filming bring their skills to life, illustrating the spread of consciousness and inspiring creative cultures across the Caribbean.

Official selection: London Film Festival, Glasgow Film Festival.

Discussion led by Luke Daniels, President, Caribbean Labour Solidarity, Tony Dykes. Director; Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and Dan Carrier, film critic of the Camden New  Journal.

Previous screenings......

Sunday 10th March



BLOOD IN THE MOBILE

Frank Praschei Poulson, Denmark 2010 (12A), 82 min

Our demand for mobile phones helps finance the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, that has cost five million lives. Documentary director Frank Praschei Poulson exposes the bloody side of the mobile phone trade where slave labourers extract by hand the minerals exported to Europe for electronic equipment. The workers, often teenagers, live in camps patrolled by soldiers and run by warlords who exploit them. Unsurprisingly, Poulson is blocked when he tries to engage with the policy makers at Nokia, the Danish mobile phone market leader.

BEFORE DARK

T.G. Ajay, India 2010 (U) 33 min, Hindi with EST

The Jindal Thermal Plant in Chhattisgarh destroyed the fertile land and homes of the farming community, polluted the water and damaged the local environment. Despite public hearings and campaigns, the local administration and government failed to protect the villagers. Corporate interests won over the rights of individuals. The director had been imprisoned on false charges and later dedicated the film to those who had campaigned for his release.

Discussion led by Jonathan Parry,  Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Conrad Landin, Young Labour activist at Cambridge and Associate Editor of Left Futures (www.leftfutures.org)

Sunday 10th February

STEALING THE ARAB SPRING

Julien Teil & Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, France 2012 (Advised 12A) 34 min

This documentary exposes the body of lies that led to the suspension of Libya from the Human Rights Council and generated the Nato-led war to protect the Libyan population. The allegations which claimed that Gaddafi had violently repressed and killed 6,000 of his own people had originated from human rights organisations within Libya and were sanctioned by seventy plus NGOs. These lies had spread before they were verified and led to the murder and detention of many Black African and sub Saharan migrant workers and Black Libyans.

OTHER EUROPE (ALTRA EUROPA)

Rosella Schillaci, Italy 2011 (12A) 75min

200 migrants from Africa squat an abandoned clinic in Turin, north Italy, in 2008. The director follows three of them during a year in which they struggle for survival as legal, political refugees, dealing with suspicion from the local community and minimal support from voluntary associations and local council initiatives. This feature documentary illustrates the changing face of Europe, immigration policies and the inherent contradictions these pose for the migrants and the host community.

Al Jazeera International Film Festival Qutar 2012; Public Liberties and human rights award for long categories, 
2011 RAI International Film Festival London; RAI film prize , 
2011 This human world International Film Festival, Vienna; Jury prize, 
Piemonte movie; 1st Prize,
Baghdad Film Festival- Jury Prize,
2011 Salina Doc Fest ITALIA.DOC section- Best Documentary,

To watch the trailer and find more information visit www.azulfilm.com or email doc@azulfilm.com

Discussion led by Jeremy Corbyn MP

Sunday 12th January 2013

GASLAND

Josh Fox, USA 2010 (PG) 107min

“Fracking,” mining shale gas by injecting water, sand and chemicals into rocks far below the ground could meet the UK’s energy needs for 100 years but conservationists condemn it. This documentary investigates environmental concerns of climate change and the risks to human health of “fracking” in north America. The Co-operative Group supports this film in campaigning for a moratorium on the development of shale gas and “fracking” in the UK.

Oscar Nominated 2011, Sundance Special Jury Award 2010.

Discussion led by Derek Wall, International Co-ordinator of the Green Party of England & Wales.

Sunday 23rd September 2012

UK PREMIERE: DUDAMEL: LET THE CHILDREN PLAY

Alberto Arvelo Mendoza, USA/ Venezuela 2010 (PG), 90 mins, Spanish with EST

You just have to look at the children’s faces in the El Sistema orchestra, led by Gustavo Dudamel their gifted conductor, to see their joy and engagement. Thirty-five years on, across fifty countries, this radical movement spills into deprived communities and offers the young a chance to empower themselves. Capitalist societies degrade arts education; Venezuela believes that engaging the soul inspres a passion which carries children  through every level of education and instils hard work and dedication. “Music makes me feel as if i’m flying.”

We expect to include a short film before the main feature.

Discussion led by Alvaro Sanchez, of the Venezuelan embassy press office, and Dr Francisco Dominguez, head of the Centre for Brazilian and Latin American Studies at Middlesex University.