Past Events and Screenings

After a 50-year civil war and with a flag, a national anthem and a capital, the Republic of South Sudan became the world’s newest nation on 9 July 2011. State Builders chronicles the first year of independence in which the first foundations of this fledgling democracy are laid. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Florence Martin-Kessler and Anne Poiret.

Newly crowned RTS Television Journalist of the Year, Alex Thomson was described as “without question one of the UK’s leading correspondents”. He will be joining Vin Ray in conversation to reflect on a career that has seen him spend 22 years at Channel 4 News covering 20 wars across the Gulf, the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan, as well as presenting the programme.

From Cairo to Damascus, Tunisia to Bahrain, Writing Revolution brings together some of the best new writing born out of the profound changes shaking the region. We will be joined by the editors and two of the contributors to talk about their work and how it has been shaped and influenced by the historic events unfolding around them.

For over 50 years Cuba has been following the battle-cry of the revolution: Patria o Muerte, which translates as Motherland or Death. Veteran Russian documentarian Vitaly Mansky centers on the generation born before the revolution. They are devoted to their motherland with heart and soul, yet curse the circumstances in which they are forced to live.

The white Afrikaans inhabitants of Orania in South Africa’s Northern Cape province refuse to be part of the “Rainbow Nation”. Director Tobias Lindner carefully observes this culturally homogeneous society situated in the middle of a multicultural country, and explores the mechanisms behind the societal experiment. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Tobias Linder.

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 different faces of documentary.

The infamous Club Quiz returns on Thursday 16 May with quizmasters Caroline Johns and Dr Keith Surridge. Having previously been billed as one of ‘the hardest quizzes in London’ it is sure to attract the cream of Frontline Club quizzing talent.

Photographer and writer Nic Dunlop will present images from his book, Brave New Burma, and speak about the changes he has witnessed in the two decades he has spent covering the transformations taking place in Myanmar.

The surveillance culture in Russia is well documented. In the digital age as we see more protests on the streets of Moscow and elsewhere the FSB (the successor to the KGB) are developing new surveillance technologies. We will be joined by those involved in a new project called Russia’s Surveillance State and other experts to discuss the surveillance practices in Russia and how they are developing.

In February this year Private First Class Bradley Manning pleaded guilty to sending restricted documents to Wikileaks in violation of military regulations, making him the source of the largest intelligence leak in US history. Ahead of his trial in June we will be examining the charges he faces and the implications if he is found guilty.

Across the world everyday journalists face injuries, kidnappings and death in the line of their work. In the majority of cases the perpetrators are not brought to justice and this evading of punishment often leads to self censorship by other journalists. Reporting on corruption, crime, conflict, politics and human rights is crucial in society, but how can we better protect the journalists doing this work?

With Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and A Day Without News?.

The next members’ drinks evening will take place on the Thursday 2 May from 6-8 PM.

Our friends at Chivas Regal will sponsor the drinks as usual. All members are welcome, please RSVP to Silje.

Hope to see you there.

As Pakistan gears up for critically important elections, we are joined by a panel of experts who will be discussing the significance of this election and analysing the candidates, their alliances and policies.

The village of Niaqornat is nestled in a bay in Northern Greenland, one of the remotest spots on earth. With under 60 inhabitants, dogs outnumber humans by almost two to one. Village At The End Of The World reflects the dilemmas faced by small communities all over the world: fighting to keep their traditions, whilst finding an identity in the modern world. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Sarah Gavron.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has announced that it has entered into a ‘state of war’ with the US and the Republic of Korea (ROK). The US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, has declared that DPRK poses “a real and clear danger”. Is this a war of words or could talk of war precipitate a full-blown military conflict?

On 14 June, Iranians will go to the polls to vote in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s successor. As debate around the elections begins to heat up we will be joined by a panel of experts to talk us through the power struggles and the state of opposition movements.

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.

Organised by BBC Arabic
Egypt’s Stolen Billions is a BBC Arabic investigative documentary that exposes the incompetence of the British Government in identifying Mubarak’s assets hidden in the UK. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with: reporter Reda Al Mawy; director and producer, Daniel Tetlow; Robert Palmer, specialist on Banks and Corruption from Global Witness; Dr Mohamed Abdel Ghani, from United Egyptians and Jeremy Carver, from Transparency International. The debate will be moderated by BBC Arabic’s presenter, Sam Farah.

Irina Prokhorova, founder and editor-in-chief of New Literary Observer, and Oliver Bullough, Caucasus editor for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, will be joining us in conversation to offer two different portraits of Russia charting historical change.

Chaired by journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum. She is a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate, and director of Political Studies at the Legatum Institute in London. She is author of Gulag: A History and most recently Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56.

Strictly by invitation only. Please contact the organisers for inquiries or view the website here.
On Wednesday 17 April, the editorial teams of the top 40 student publications in the country are coming together for an evening at the Frontline Club.