Past Events and Screenings

Heading to Sheffield Doc/Fest this year? Not only does the programme contain a fantastic selection of documentaries, but everyone with a full festival pass also has access to the diverse and inspiring conference programme. We have produced a conference session, Dangerous Storytelling: Documentary Filmmaking and the Safety of Subjects, which will place at the ITV Town Hall Council Chamber at 10:15 AM on Tuesday 9 June.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Ann Shin.

As the leadership in North Korea changes and Kim Jong-un takes the helm, a man who goes by the name of ‘Dragon’ smuggles North Korean defectors across borders. His latest trip with two women, Sook-Ja and Yong-hee, takes an unexpected turn when they are left stranded in China. This is only the beginning of an extraordinary 5,000 km journey. Their story reflects the reality of tens of thousands of North Koreans currently in hiding in China.

This event will take place at the Sheikh Zayed Theatre on the LSE campus in London.
On Friday 5 June 2015, the News Impact Summit, a free of charge digital journalism conference will take place in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre on the LSE campus in London. This summit will centre on the theme – The Social Impact of Digital Storytelling – and shed a light on how digital age journalism plays a role in resulting the social impact, whether it is during the general election, natural disasters or humanitarian conflicts.

This screening will be followed by a panel discussion with co-director Frederick Paxton and others.
With rare access to the Peshmerga on the front lines of the war against the IS, The Road to Mosul unveils the reality of the Kurds’ war against the group, providing a portrait of ordinary volunteers, poorly trained and equipped, locked in stalemate against a powerful enemy. The film also captures the impact of the war on the civilians caught in between.

The London Press Club and the Frontline Club are proud to present a talk from award-winning writer and historian William Dalrymple.

Now based in Delhi, Dalrymple joins us for a special event to discuss his most recent, acclaimed book Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42, the definitive analysis of the First Anglo-Afghan War. He will discuss parallels with current events in both Afghanistan and the UK, before taking questions from the audience.

The reasons for the various people’s uprisings across the world may be diverse, but the creative nonviolent tactics they use in their struggles are strongly connected. So are the activists who share these strategies, new ideas and established methods. Everyday Rebellion is a story about the richness of peaceful protest, acted out everyday by passionate people from Spain, Iran, Syria, Ukraine, the USA, the UK and Serbia.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Arman Riahi.

War, economic crisis, political repression and environmental degradation are pushing increasing numbers of people to make the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe. We will be bringing together a panel of experts to answer your questions about the unfolding crisis. We will be examining the root causes of the crisis and looking at the measures that need to be taken to avoid the 30,000 deaths the IOM predicts.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Sanjay Rawal and producer Eric Schlosser.
There is so much interest in food today but very little interest in the hands that pick it. Featuring Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, and actress/advocate Eva Longoria, the award-winning documentary Food Chains exposes the horrific abuses farmworkers face and reveals the forces behind that exploitation: the $4 trillion global supermarket industry.

On 22 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 of his fellow Norwegians in an atrocity that shocked the world. As Breivik was put on trial, Norway attempted to understand what drove him to his heinous actions. Based on extensive testimonies and interviews, award-winning foreign correspondent Åsne Seierstad’s new book, One of Us, offers a definitive account of this tragic episode in Norway’s history. She will be joining us in conversation with John Lloyd, contributing editor to the Financial Times and director of Journalism at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, to share her research and talk about what she discovered about Breivik, his ideology and the world he grew up in.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Nancy Kates.
Regarding Susan Sontag is an intimate and nuanced investigation into the life of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century. Endlessly curious, passionate and gracefully outspoken throughout her career, Susan Sontag became one of the most important literary, political and feminist icons of her generation.

Red lines have been set and crossed, inquiries have been conducted and talks have been attempted, and yet the conflict in Syria continues to devastate the lives of its population. Over four years since the conflict in Syria began, we will be asking if there is any sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

The Club Quiz returns in May with quizmasters Caroline Johns and Dr Keith Surridge. They have prepared questions that will test your knowledge and live up to the reputation of being billed as one of ‘the hardest quizzes in London’.

In what was only meant to be a three month trip, Emma Sky travelled to Iraq in 2003 having volunteered to help rebuild the country immediately after the invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein. She soon found herself as a political advisor to the US military and three months turned into a decade. She will be joining us in conversation with The Guardian‘s Middle East editor, Ian Black to share her unique insight into the US military, and the complexities, diversity and evolution of Iraqi society as documented in her new book The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy.
When NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan the Afghan National Army (ANA) took control of Helmand Province, an extremely dangerous region where attacks by Taliban fighters are the order of the day. The directors of Tell Spring Not to Come This Year accompanied an ANA company during a year of frontline duty in Helmand.

Open City Docs and the Frontline Club present Documenting Ukraine: Two Days of Cinema and Debate — special events and discussions exploring the realities of modern Ukraine and the depth of Ukrainian cinema — on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May 2015 at the Frontline Club.

Open City Docs and the Frontline Club present Documenting Ukraine: Two Days of Cinema and Debate — special events and discussions exploring the realities of modern Ukraine and the depth of Ukrainian cinema — on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May 2015 at the Frontline Club.

Open City Docs and the Frontline Club present Documenting Ukraine: Two Days of Cinema and Debate — special events and discussions exploring the realities of modern Ukraine and the depth of Ukrainian cinema — on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May 2015 at the Frontline Club.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Tamara Erde.
This is My Land takes us inside school classrooms in Israel and the occupied West Bank, to look at how educators teach history in a contested region. Filmed in an observational style, the film presents a nuanced analysis of the core educational institutions in Israel and Palestine. Candid interviews with students reveal shocking discrepancies in perspectives of history, concepts of freedom, and definitions of nationality. The film prompts the question: how long will the past dictate the present?

We welcome our members, both recently joined and ongoing, for an evening of conversation and drinks kindly sponsored by Chivas Brothers.

Please ask our friendly bartender to mix you up a free gin & tonic or a whisky & ginger ale. The offer is available from 6:00-8.00 PM.

All members are welcome. We hope you enjoy your evening at the Club.

Young Muslims are travelling from Europe to fight in countries such as Syria and Somalia, lured by groups like Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State (IS). Warriors From the North follows a cohort of young Al-Shabaab sympathisers in Denmark and Sweden. Directors Nasib Farah and Søren Steen Jespersen approach the subject from multiple perspectives, speaking with current Al-Shabaab members, young men who have left the group and the family of one young man who left his life behind to join Al-Shabaab.