Documentary
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.
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.
Preview Screening: The Carbon Crooks + Q&A
Carbon Crooks documents the failure of carbon trading, a system set up to cut down carbon emissions and curb global warming. Through interviews and case studies the film investigates the mechanisms of fraud in the carbon markets. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Tom Heinemann.
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.
Between the Lines Follow-Up Event: Which Way is the Front Line from Here – The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington + Q&A
This is an external event taking place at The Lexi Cinema. 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 producer James Brabazon.
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.
Ten Years in Documentary Filmmaking
To mark the Frontline Club’s tenth anniversary, we will be looking back on ten years in documentary filmmaking. Moderated by Hot Docs’ head of programming Charlotte Cook, producer John Battsek, controller of BBC One Charlotte Moore and producer Christopher Hird will be exploring the major developments that have taken place over the past decade.
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.
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.
