Past Events and Screenings

The Frontline Club is delighted to welcome George Szlachetko to present Wira of Warsaw.
This is the true story of Danuta: her formative years in German-occupied Warsaw, her decision to become a freedom fighter at the age of 14, her life on the front line.

As the Maldives sinks into an increasingly repressive regime under the helm of current President Abdulla Yameen, we will be joined by exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed, journalist and author of The Maldives: Islamic Republic, Tropical Autocracy JJ Robinson, and others, to discuss the current situation in this small yet turbulent archipelago. With at least 100 Maldivian jihadists now fighting in Syria and Iraq, a significant share of the country’s modest population, we will also discuss the increasing role of Islamism – as well as the implications for the wider South Asia region. We will explore hopes for the future and the role of an increasingly-repressed media in supporting an eventual transition to democracy – all as the impending threat of climate change on the low-lying islands continues to loom large.

Ukrainian Sheriffs follows Viktor and Volodya, two men who have been appointed local sheriffs by the mayor in the town of Stara Zburyevka, Ukraine. While dealing with crimes such as stolen ducks and drunken neighbours, the news about the war is slowly creeping in on them through their televisions and the invitations to join the army. Ukrainian Sheriffs gives us look beyond the war and inside everyday life in a remote Ukrainian village, with a great eye for the shady side of life.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director George Amponsah.

This timely documentary explores the life and death of Mark Duggan, whose killing at the hands of London’s Metropolitan Police sparked the London riots of 2011.

Seven years after the announcement of the Iraq Inquiry by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the long-awaited Chilcot Inquiry report into the UK’s involvement in Iraq from 2001 until 2009 is finally due to be published on Wednesday 6 July. We will be joined by a panel of experts to hear their initial reactions to the report – and without the power to assign criminal culpability, we will consider its potential impact in bringing those accountable to justice and in assuring that a foreign policy disaster of this scale is not repeated.

A monthly social evening for journalists and others in the London media world. The London Press Club, which has been bringing the industry together since 1882, has resurrected the tradition of regular drinks, on the back of popular demand.

The Frontline Club hosts the evening on the first Tuesday of each month. No entrance fee is required and there is a pay bar.

Although the ideology is little understood, salafi-jihadism has played a profound role in shaping global politics in recent years. With the unprecedented territorial gains and political rise of groups such as Al-Qaeda and Daesh, islamist extremism has become the most significant socio-religious force of our time. Join us to discuss the origins and evolution of the ideas behind salafi-jihadism, as well as its primary aims and growing prominence in recent years.

Late one evening, investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer received an anonymous message offering him access to secret data. Through encrypted channels, he subsequently received documents revealing how the president of Argentina had sequestered millions of dollars of state money for private use. This was just the beginning – Obermayer and fellow Süddeutsche journalist Frederik Obermaier soon found themselves immersed in a secret world where complex networks of shell companies help the super-rich to hide their money.

We will be joined by Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier to hear the inside story of what Edward Snowden has called “the biggest leak in the history of data journalism.”

Join us for a screening and discussion exploring the use of animation techniques within documentary filmmaking. We will be joined by a panel of documentary makers and animators who will present a behind-the-scenes look at the varied artistic techniques behind recent projects, as well as the broader motivations and challenges to capturing reality through animated form.

Our next monthly drinks will take place on the 30th June.

For the second in a series of events in partnership with PARC, the University of the Arts London photography research centre based at London College of Communication, we are delighted to welcome artist David Birkin to discuss his work that challenges elements of censorship and spectacle in the so-called War on Terror.

This event is organised by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the International News Safety Institute (INSI).

The vulnerability of journalists to kidnappings was starkly illustrated by the killing of James Foley and Steven Sotloff by Islamic militants in 2014. Their murder underscored the risks taken by journalists and news organisations trying to cover developments in dangerous regions of the world and has forced news enterprises to more clearly prepare for and confront issues of safety.

We will be discussing how news organisations prepare for and respond to the risk of kidnap, and how insurers, victim recovery firms, journalists’ families, and governments influence the actions of news enterprises – and why freelancers are particularly at risk.

As one of the world’s deadliest yet least reported conflicts escalates into its second year, we will be bringing together a panel of experts to discuss the current situation in Yemen.

We will map out the players involved, discuss the toll of the conflict on one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, as well as the potential for reconciliation and a lasting peace process. We will discuss the alleged complicity of Western powers – the UK, the US and France – by way of billion-dollar arms deals to the Saudi-led coalition, as well as exploring the disproportionate lack of media coverage. 

As the people of Britain go to the polls to decide whether or not to remain in the European Union, join us to watch the results come in. With screens generously provided by Sky News, we will be showing the coverage on a selection of channels. A selection of snacks will be served to keep you going.

The candidates are all but decided and the race for the White House has begun. With six months of fierce campaigning ahead in what is set to be one of the most contentious US presidential races in recent history, we will be discussing what the deciding factors will be. Will Republicans be able to unify behind Donald Trump? What does the nomination of such a divisive figure mean for the future of the party? Can Hilary Clinton defy the approval ratings and garner popular support? Join us as we debate the key issues facing both candidates.

The politics of Iran are frequently analysed and debated on the international stage but rarely do we glimpse what everyday life is like in Tehran. In City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran, Ramita Navai returns to the city where she was born to explore the lives of its residents.

For June’s members’ BookNight, Ramita Navai will be joining us to discuss her portrait of a complex, colourful and changing city, as well as Iranian society more generally.

Two years on, the plight of the Yazidis has disappeared from international attention. In making Descendants of an Angel – the first feature length documentary focusing on the 2014 Yazidi genocide – the team at Dokumanity films travelled to Shingal, Iraq. They met with Yazidi commanders that were still there and refugees, young and old, that had to leave everything behind to flee Daesh. Capturing first-hand accounts of the genocide and the struggles Yazidi refugees are continuing to face, Descendants of an Angel is an invaluable and sensitive record of the 2014 genocide that is carried by the voices of its survivors.

The Pearl of Africa is a story about Cleopatra Kambugu, a 28 year old Ugandan transgender woman. Born biologically male, she is transitioning into the woman she knows she was born to be – in one of the most transphobic places in the world. Forced to leave her country and loving boyfriend behind, she sets out to fight for her right to love and, against all odds, to become the first accepted trans person in Uganda.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Samira Goetschel.

Tucked away deep in the heart of Russia, there is a hidden city where thousands of men, women and children live and work behind barbed-wire fences monitored by armed guards. Built after the Second World War to create the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons program, City 40 is one of Russia’s secret closed cities. In this feature-length documentary, the film crew is smuggled inside the top secret CITY 40 to meet the brave residents who risk their lives to warn us of the human and environmental catastrophe that threatens the region.

For the first in a series of events in partnership with PARC, the University of the Arts London photography research centre based at London College of Communication, we are delighted to welcome photographer Edmund Clark and counterterrorism investigator Crofton Black, in conversation with Max Houghton, who have assembled photographs and documents that confront the nature of contemporary warfare and the invisible mechanisms of state control.