Past Events and Screenings

The Middle East has long been home to many varied and distinctive faiths that have learned to survive the perils of attacks and assimilation, but today with the region in turmoil they face greater threats than ever before. In conversation with The Guardian‘s Middle East editor, Ian Black, former diplomat and author of Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms, Gerard Russell, will be taking us on a journey across the past and present of the Middle East, into the religious communities that have survived for centuries and talking about what needs to be done to ensure their future.

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

Following the success of You’ve Been Trumped, director Anthony Baxter goes on a journey to other global golfing hot spots where rapacious developers are building massive luxury resorts with little thought for the local environment or population. Through in-depth interviews with different players involved and footage showing the damage caused, Baxter reveals just how devastating these golf courses can be to the surrounding countryside and water tables. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Anthony Baxter.

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, is resurrecting the tradition of regular drinks, on the back of popular demand.

This interactive workshop will explore the pitfalls, the logistics, the security issues and ultimately, the impact, of using hidden camera footage in documentary filmmaking. We will discuss its role as an advocacy tool and what responsibility, if any, filmmakers have to distribute this sort of footage beyond the scope of the film.

In nearly four years, Egypt has seen a revolution, the fall of a dictator, its first democratically elected president ousted by the military and the rise of a new leader. All this has been captured in the weekly columns of novelist Alaa Al Aswany for the newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm. In a new book Democracy is the Answer: Egypt’s Years of Revolution, Al Aswany brings together his newspaper columns to give a picture of Egypt’s recent history. He will be joining us in conversation with BBC Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, to reflect on events of the past four years, the divisions that they have created and the hope for the future.

Join us for the annual members’ party, celebrating the end of another incredible year of inquisitive debate, delicious food and drink, compelling documentaries, insightful discussion and stimulating company. There will be entertainment, canapés and cocktails courtesy of Chivas Regal.

Please note that this event is open to current members of the Frontline Club and their guests only. Find out how to become a member here.

On Boxing Day 2004, a deadly tsunami originating in the Indian Ocean struck Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The results were devastating: almost 250,000 people died and scenes of the tsunami striking and the aftermath dominated the news. It became one of the most well-documented natural disasters in history. For a two-part evening, in partnership with Christian Aid and featuring work by Tim Hetherington, we will be reflecting on the developments we have seen since the Indian Ocean tsunami and how communication around natural disasters has evolved.

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, is resurrecting the tradition of regular drinks, on the back of popular demand.

We are very excited to once again be presenting the World News section at this month’s Sunday Papers Live. With a focus on Syria, we will be bringing together journalists who have covered this conflict and the plight of the people of Syria. They will be talking about what life is like for Syrians who have remained and for those who have fled, and their dreams for the future of their country.

For eight years Camp Bastion was the power-house of the British Army’s military operations in Afghanistan. Britain’s biggest overseas base since World War Two has now closed down for good. A town the size of Reading with a massive infrastructure – airport, hospital, fast food restaurants – is dismantled bolt by bolt and sent back to the UK. Channel 4 was given exclusive access to the men and women whose job it was to pack up this giant jigsaw puzzle. This Channel 4 preview screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Richard Parry, producer Leslie Knott and executive producer Mike Lerner. Chaired by Siobhan Sinnerton, commissioning editor at Channel 4.

A tribute to Manning, Assange and Snowden, organised and sponsored by Italian sculptor Davide Dormino and his supporters, Charles Glass, Laure Boulay and Marco Benagli. This evening of tributes, talks, film, food and drinks is open to all. It coincides with a simultaneous celebration at Shakespeare and Company Books, 7 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris to be linked by video and live-streamed.

The rise of the Islamic State (IS) has once again thrown into question how governments deal with the threat of terrorist organisations. Around the world governments consistently proclaim that they will never ‘negotiate with evil’. And yet is the public rhetoric always in line with what is actually going on behind closed doors? Jonathan Powell has spent nearly two decades mediating between governments and terrorist organisations. He will be joining us in conversation with roving foreign correspondent for The Times, Anthony Loyd, to reflect on the current situation and what we can learn from a history of clandestine communication.

For 20 years, a small team of female agents known as “The Sisterhood” tracked the activities of al-Qaeda. Piecing together intelligence, they uncovered this secret terrorist organisation, and warned Washington of this new impending threat. Their warnings were repeatedly ignored, until the 9/11 attacks, when all the rules changed. Manhunt gives a peek into the hidden world of the US intelligence community. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Greg Barker.

Based on Frantz Fanon’s landmark 1961 book, The Wretched of the Earth, Concerning Violence explores the mechanisms of decolonisation. It is a bold and fresh visual narrative on Africa, told through newly discovered archive material of the struggle for liberation from colonial rule in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Göran Hugo Olsson.

Members of the Frontline Club, the Scientific Exploration Society and all those with a wish to add value and purpose to their travels are invited to a special evening to introduce a new collaboration and to meet some of the foremost pioneering explorers of our time.

With both journalists and explorers operating in high-risk environments with the shared objectives of investigating issues and reporting findings, these two communities, represented by The Scientific Exploration Society and the Frontline Club, are launching an exciting new initiative to begin working more closely together.

Following our event in New York with the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC), they will be coming to London to continue the discussion.

We will be bringing together a panel of freelance journalists and editors to examine what more needs to be done to make sure freelancers are supported by the news industry and have the resources available to prepare themselves for the risks of front-line reporting.

Every year, the True/False Film Festival explores films that cross borders, break the existing rules and push the form forward. This so-called “messy cinema” experiments with re-enactments, highlights complicated filmmaker/protagonist relationships and challenges assumptions about ‘truth’. Join festival co-founder David Wilson, and past True/False filmmakers Sarah Gavron, Kevin Macdonald and Beadie Finzi, as we will thrust our hands in the muck and get a little dirty as we debate the complexities of nonfiction and imagine a messier future.

Join us for the final Quiz this year, hosted by our unsurpassed quizmasters Caroline Johns and Dr Keith Surridge , and win a chance to see the critically acclaimed musical The Scottsboro Boys now showing at the Garrick theatre for a strictly limited season. The idea is for members to round up your family and friends and test your knowledge. Teams can consist of up to six people, and there will be five rounds of 10 questions. The entry cost is £5 per person with all money raised going to the Frontline Fund, assisting families of fixers around the world killed or injured while working with the international media.

In May 2014, Thailand underwent its 12th successful military coup since the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1932. This time, there has been no promise of a quick return to civilian rule; a spokesperson for the National Council of Peace and Order has stated that in Thailand’s current situation, normal democratic principles cannot be applied. We will be joined by a panel of experts to examine the root causes of Thailand’s ongoing political crisis and what actions, if any, can be taken to resolve it.