14 February 2010

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map


Meeting Resistance
Steve Connors and Molly Bingham, USA 2007
84 mins


The veil of anonymity surrounding the Iraqi insurgency is raised by meeting face to face with individuals who are engaged in the struggle, documenting the sentiments experienced and actions taken by a nation's citizens when their homeland is occupied. Voices, male and female, speak candidly about their motivations, hopes and goals. Featuring fervent conversations with active insurgents, through its unprecedented access to these clandestine groups, the film focuses on the ‘other side’, clarifying why violence in Iraq continues. It provides a deeper understanding of both the toll of occupation and the human condition of resistance.

Waiting for Mordechai
Jenny Morgan, UK 2005
30 mins


Mordechai Vanunu spent 18 years in an Israeli prison for telling the world Israel secretly manufactures nuclear weapons. For all that time, peace campaigners tried to get him out. This film starts a few days before the scheduled release of Vanunu, as supporters from around the world arrive to welcome him…

The screening will be followed with a discussion led by Jeremy Corbyn MP and director Jenny Morgan.

10 January 2010

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map


Matzpen - Anti Zionist Israelis
Eran Torbiner, Israel 2003
English Subtitles, 54 mins


Most members of the socialist organisation Matzpen were Israeliborn, coming from the core of Israeli society. Their fight against Zionism and against the occupation, as well as their contacts with Palestinian and European left-wing activists, were the cause of threats and slander, as well as political and social isolation. The film touches on the main issues of the Zionist-Palestinian struggle, through the eyes of the organisation's prominent figures, their ideas, opinions and activities.

Jerusalem...The East Side Story
Mohammed Alatar, Palestine 2008
English Subitles, 57 mins


This documentary covers nearly 100 years of history. It exposes the past 40 years of Israeli military occupation policies in Jerusalem and their devastating impact on the
city and its peoples. It features interviews with prominent Israeli and Palestinian leaders, peace activists and political analysts, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Meron Benvinisti, Dr. Nazmi Ju'beh, Dr. Mahdi AbdulHadi, Professor Menahim Klein.

The screening will be followed with a discussion led by Betty Hunter, General Secretary, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Moshe Machover, emeritus professor at King’s College, London, and a founder in 1962 of Matzpen, the Israeli socialist organisation.

13 December 2009

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map


Memories of Underdevelopment
Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuba 1986
English Subtitles, 104mins


Based on the novel of the same name by Edmundo Desnoes, the film is based on the diary of a middle class intellectual caught in the midst of the rapidly changing social reality of revolutionary Cuba. Sergio is a landlord and self-styed writer who decides to remain behind when his wife, family and friends, leave for Miami. But Sergio is unable to commit himself to the revolution either, and so remains a sceptical observer. His perceptions of Cuban society, both before and after the revolution, are interwoven with documentary footage of historical events, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

Shattered Space
Enrique Colina, ICAIC and Stephen Hart, UCL, Cuba 2009
English Subtitles, 16mins


These documentaries, made at the 2009 International Film and TV School in Havana, portray aspects of contemporary Havana, including the everyday life of the man who carried Fidel Castro’s rucksack in the Sierra Maestra 50 years ago, the art produced by the Taller de Gráfica, the ambition of a young girl to make it in Cuba’s competitive music industry, and the determination of young boxers at a local boxing club to make their dreams come true.

The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Stephen Hart, Professor of Hispanic Studies, University College London.