London Socialist Film Co-op

London Socialist Film Co-op Press Release May 2020

Long running film society faced with possible closure.A successful film society that has operated from a variety of Camden venues for nearly thirty years is in danger of closing down. The London Socialist Film Co-op announced at its AGM in March that it will have to wind up its activities after July unless new volunteers come forward to run it. Another meeting to discuss solutions had to be postponed because of coronavirus. Since 1991 the LSFC has been attracting a mix of cinephiles and political activists to its seasons of eclectic screenings accompanied by speakers and discussion. The programmes, open to the public as well as members, raise political issues through a range of material from old classics and recent feature films to current activist work-in-progress. Speakers might be a film maker but equally a campaigner, politician or writer concerned with issues raised. Past speakers have included Tony Ben, Kate Hudson of CND and Jeremy Corbyn.A combination of factors have led to the decision to consider closure. The organising committee consists entirely of volunteers who commit a considerable amount of time to planning and running the screenings and the present officers, who have managed the cooperative for a good many years, no longer feel able to carry on. While there are members keen to help intermittently, none have so far offered to make the consistent commitment needed to carry the organisation into the future. This situation coincides with a need to seek a new venue for the screenings and while the Co-op has successfully changed venue several times in the past, a move is likely to require other changes and certainly an extra investment of time on the part of the organisers. The committee has taken the decision with considerable regret as the LSFC is appreciated both for the films it shows and for the context of political discussion. Members and users hope that closure can be avoided and that publicity about the situation may encourage volunteers to come forward. A special meeting will be called when COVID 19 restrictions allow at which anyone, whether currently a member or not, will be welcomed to discuss the future. In the meantime anyone interested in knowing more about the situation or receiving a notification about the meeting should contact Monique Buchli at contact.lsfc@gmail.com

postponed due to COVID - 19 SUNDAY, 10. MAY, 2020, 10:20 for 11:00 AM

The Occupation of the American Mind

Loretta Alper/Jeremy Earp, USA, 2016, USA/Gaza/Palestine, English, 84 min.

The documentary showcases the propaganda distributed of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urges people to notice the dehumanizing of the Palestinian peoples in media coverage. Most of the aggression is perpetrated by the IDF, yet it is the spokesperson from Israel’s media that incessantly talks about Palestinian aggression.

We see peaceful Palestinian protests, but IDF with guns, armoured cars and massive use of tear gas. It’s David against Goliath. Yet the media manages to misrepresent every conflict that erupts. Criticising Israel is tantamount to being ‘anti-semitic’ (a Semite could come from any part of the Middle East, including Syria, Mesopotamia, North Africa, and further afield, including Palestinians). The mass media has been covering up the true facts and are conjuring up a different reality...

Screenings 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, 134, 205, 390.
Booking information: tickets are available from 10.20 am on the day and may not be booked in advance.
Admission £10, concessions £8. Annual members £6/£4. Sorry, no credit cards.
Membership details.

Postponed due to COVID-19 SUNDAY, 12 APRIL 2020, 10:20 for 11:00 AM

Sorry, We Missed You

Ken Loach, UK, November 2019, 15, English, 105 min.

A hard-up delivery driver and his wife struggle to get by in modern-day England. Zero-hours contracts, impossible schedules and degrading behaviour by management all culminate towards the breakdown of family life. Teenagers seeing their father struggle for a living make their own decisions to help with even graver consequences. This is a reality for many self-employed in neo-liberal Britain. Not a course that is likely to end any time soon. A brutally honest film that leaves the audience with a very uncomfortable outlook for the future. Will ‘Brexit’, deal or no deal, increase these injustices?

SUNDAY, 8. MARCH, 2020,10:20 for 11:00AM

The Real Story of Winnie & Nelson Mandela

Co-directors: Kenneth Mdana, David Mesenbring, Stanley Nelson, Zwelakhe Sisulu, documentary, France, 2016, English, 59 min.

Forget all the Hollywood films about Winnie and Nelson Mandela (propaganda) that do not in any way reveal the true story of White supremacist rule in South Africa and the heroes and sheroes that helped to fight for justice and freedom. For the first time ever see the critically acclaimed 1986 documentary on the lives of Winnie and Nelson Mandela without the frills, miseducation, whitewashing, and misinformation that is found in Hollywood blockbuster movies.

A Woman’s Place

Sue Crockford, Tony Wickert, Ellen Adams, UK. 1971, documentary, U, English, 35 min.

A film about the women's liberation movement. Some women say what they think is wrong with the present set-up, at a conference where the fathers look after the children and passers-by are questioned about their attitudes. It ends with a cheerful march through London by women, with some male supporters, demanding basic rights. Of great historical interest. How much have things changed since then? Made in 1971 this film reflects the cultural attitudes and language of the time it was made. The issues raised are timeless. The film quality may not be to modern standards

Interview with Sue Crockford, feminist filmmaker

Mark Hudson, UK, February 2015, English, 17 min.

SUNDAY, 9 FEBRUARY, 2020, 10:20 FOR 11 AM

THE GREAT MEETING, a documentary about the Durham Miners Gala
Daniel Draper, UK, 2019, 12A English, 91 min.

The Durham Miners' Association organised the first Durham Miners' Gala two years after its foundation in 1871 as an expression and celebration of its values of community, collectivism, and solidarity. The Big Meeting, as it is known, remains the biggest working-class festival in Europe, attended by more than 200,000 people in 2017. "It means so much to so many people that it deserves to be documented", comments Daniel Draper. The spirit of the mining communities lives on through this big meeting.

Speakers: Daniel Draper, film director

Screenings 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, 134, 205, 390.
Booking information: tickets are available from 10.20 am on the day and may not be booked in advance.
Admission £10, concessions £8. Annual members £6/£4. Sorry, no credit cards.
Membership details.

SUNDAY, 12 JANUARY, 2020 AT 10:20 FOR 11:00 AM

The Silence of Others

Co-directors: Robert Bahar, Almudena Carracedo, Spain, 2018, doc. Spanish [EST], 96 min.
This award-winning documentary film tells the story of victims of Spain's 40-year dictatorship, who continue to seek justice to this day...A 1977 amnesty law in Spain known as "the pact of forgetting" prohibits legal action related to the oppression, torture, and murder of an estimated 100,000 people during Franco’s 40-year dictatorship. But for much of the population – including the survivor who passes his torturer’s home every day, the children of forcibly disappeared parents found buried in mass graves, and parents still searching for their children seized at birth – there is no peace in silence. Taking strength and inspiration from justice-seekers in Chile and Guatemala, they continue to search. Speakers: Jim Jump, International Brigade Memorial Trust

Screenings 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, 134, 205, 390. Booking information: tickets are available from 10.20 am on the day and may not be booked in advance. Admission £10, concessions £8. Annual members £6/£4. Sorry, no credit cards.

Membership details.

Sunday, 08 December 2019, 10:20 for 11:00

Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle

Paul Sng, UK, 2017, documentary, English, 82 mins.

This documentary film explores the agenda behind the neglect, demolition and regeneration of council estates in the U.K. over the past thirty years. The film reveals how individuals and communities are fighting against the state and private developers, as they try to save their homes from demolition, while investigating the decisions that turned a crisis into a tragedy...

Speakers : Glyn Robbins, Housing worker, writer, Visiting Researcher at London Metropolitan University

London’s Ancient Markets – their fight for survival

Dir. Sandra Shevey, UK, 2018, doc. English, 28 min.

This documentary about the demise of London`s traditional street markets challenges the cult of globalisation and gentrification of urban food areas and of food economy. At the Portobello it was listed under `Films We Love’. To encourage support for street market sustainability, Sandra runs Street Market walks. https://londonstreetmarketswalk.wordpress.com/

Speaker: Sandra Shevey, film director

Sunday, 10 November 2019, 10:20 for 11:00

Clara Immerwahr

Harald Sicheritz, Austria, 2014, biography, German, [EST], 88 min.

The brilliant chemists Clara and Fritz want to change the world. At the end of the 19th century Clara has to struggle to be admitted to a university to study. When WWI breaks out Fritz Haber volunteers for the army. The dreadful poison gas he develops changes the war. Clara sees all her ideals and dreams betrayed by the man she loves.

The film tells the life story of the first PhD German chemist Clara Immerwahr (1870-1915) and focuses on the question of morality in science and the role of a woman as a scientist at the beginning of the 20th century.

Speakers with Q&A

SUNDAY, 13 OCTOBER, 2019, 10:20 for 11:00 am

The Coming War on China

John Pilger, UK, 2016, documentary, English, 113 mins.

China, we are told by US government officials and the parroting establishment media has been aggressively attempting to expand its territory by taking over islands in the South China Sea. China, we are told, is a threat to peace.

It’s true, veteran journalist John Pilger concedes in the opening of his latest documentary film, The Coming War on China, that China has been trying to claim disputed territories in the South China Sea. But if this makes China a threat to peace, what does it make the US but the most aggressive and warmongering threat—not only to peace but to life on Earth itself—that has ever existed?

Discussion with Q&A's: CAAT, CND

Sunday, 8 September, 10:20 for 11:00

A Letter fromVenezuela

Nancy Carolina Graterol, Venezuela, 2019, Spanish, [EST] 78 min.

A poignant documentary interweaving a personal story of loss and the reality of life in Venezuela. In spite of the US and EU sanctions and the “weapons of mass deception”, Venezuelans are learning fast to overcome difficulties thrown in their way of a growing democracy, be it lack of toilet paper, toothpaste or urgently needed medicines..it cannot be right. The film takes us through the streets of Caracas and notes what people in the streets experience. A must-see film!

Speaker: Nancy Carolina Graterol, film director