Oct 14, 2007: La Ultima Cena/The Last Supper

LA ULTIMA CENA/THE LAST SUPPER
Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuba 1976, 120 mins, EST, (15)

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea is best known for his Memories of Underdevelopment. The Last Supper is unfairly neglected, made during the height of 'the cold war', showing a Cuba that was unknown and a history that was of little interest to audiences of that time. The meal of the title is provided by a slave owner to impress his slaves with his concern. We are shown that a Christian doctrine given to his slaves is in direct conflict with the work they have to do on the plantation. The film opens a window onto a past, remembered in 2007 by some who celebrate the bicentenary of 'the ending of the slave trade' but who forget that the abolition of slavery was a hard road fought for by slaves, as portrayed by Alea.

• Discussion led by Michael Chanan, Professor of Film and Video at Roehampton University, London, Jacqui McKenzie, Caribbean Labour Solidarity, Dionne Walker, Lead Co-ordinator for the 1807-2007 Abolition Programme and Chair of Black History Month Steering Group for the London Borough of Camden and Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Assistant Director of the International Institute for Cuban Studies

Nov 11, 2007: Bayit/House & The Iron Wall

BAYIT/HOUSE
Amos Gitai, Israel 1980, b&w, 51 mins, EST, (tbc)

While studying for his PhD at the University of California (Berkeley), Amos Gitai made his first documentaries, including House, having strayed into camera work when flying helicopter missions during military service in Israel.

‘House is the story of a house in West Jerusalem: abandoned during the 1948 war by its owner, a Palestinian doctor; requisitioned by the Israeli government as “vacant”; rented to Jewish Algerian immigrants in 1956; purchased by a university professor...

‘The building site is like a theatre in which the former inhabitants, the neighbours, the workers, the builder and new owner all appear.’

Israeli television censored the film.

Official website: www.amosgitai.com

LSFC is indebted to Amos Gitai for permission to show this example of his early work.

THE IRON WALL
Mohammed Alatar, Palestine 2006, 52 mins, EST [tbc]

Following the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, more than 200 settlements and outposts have been built in these territories, in violation of international law. The Iron Wall exposes this phenomenon and warns that a contiguous and viable Palestinian state is becoming no longer possible.

Interviews are included with prominent Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, political analysts, settlers, soldiers and farmers.

It has been screened in 19 countries and has gained the attention of diplomats worldwide, including former President Jimmy Carter. 'What I want to do' says director Mohammed Alatar, 'is on the ground. I want to highlight how the settlements are the major obstacle to peace. I want people to know that out of the 600 checkpoints, only 24 separate us from Israel. All the others separate Palestinians from Palestinians.'

• Discussion Led by Bernard Regan, Trade Union Officer of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. with Abdul Wahab Sabbah, Abu Dis Co-ordinator of the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association

Dec 9, 2007: Salt of the earth

SALT OF THE EARTH
Herbert J. Biberman, US 1954, 94 mins, b&w, [tbc]

Written, directed and produced by members of the original 'Hollywood Ten', who were blacklisted for refusing to answer Congressional inquiries, Salt of the Earth is said to be unique in being the only film in US history ever to be blacklisted.

Based on the 1950 strike by miners at the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico, the film deals with the prejudice against the Mexican-American workers, who struck to attain wage parity with Anglo workers in other mines. The film is considered an early treatment of feminism, as the wives of the miners play a pivotal role in the strike, against their husbands' wishes. Against a backdrop of social injustice, a riveting family drama is played out by the characters of Roman and Esperanza Quintero, a Mexican-American miner and his wife. In the course of the strike, Ramon and Esperanza find their roles reversed: an injunction against the male strikers moves the women to take over the picket line leaving the men to domestic duties. The women evolve from men's subordinates into their allies and equals.

• Discussion led by Hilary Smith, Lecturer in Film and Media Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London, Joni McDougall, international Solidarity Officer of general union GMB, and Tom Lannon, Chair of London SE Regional Council of the Union of Construction, Allied Trades & Technicians.

January 13, 2008: Tambogrande: Mangos, murder, mining

TAMBOGRANDE: MANGOS, MURDER, MINING
Ernest Cabellos, Damian and Stephanie Boyd, Peru 2006, 85 mins EST, [tbc]

'In the countryside, we put everything we have in the cooking pot. But we'll never put gold and silver in the pot.'
-Segundo Palacios, Tambogrande farmer

The small agricultural town of Tambogrande lies in the heart of the lush San Lorenzo Valley, Peru’s top fruit-production district. In 1999, residents learned that the Fujimori government had secretly granted mining concessions on the land to the multi-national corporation Manhattan Minerals. The company’s plans for an open-pit gold mine would involve relocation of half of the town’s residents and severely contaminate the soil and water supplies. The film follows the epic five year struggle of farmers and residents to oppose the project through a campaign of non-violent resistance that drew on traditional music, street art and colourful demonstrations. Choosing mangoes over gold, the film shows how ordinary people can rise to extraordinary heights in a time of crisis and provides inspiration for communities around the globe.

• Discussion led by Jeremy Corbyn MP with Gaby Drinkwater Peru Support Group Co-ordinator.

February 10 2008: The wind that shakes the barley

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY
Ken Loach, Germany/Italy/Spain/France/Ireland/UK, 2006, 127 mins, [15]

Ireland 1920. In the town and countryside workers are uniting to form volunteer guerilla armies to face the ruthless 'Black and Tan' squads being shipped from Britain to counter Ireland's bid for independence. When his friend is brutally murdered by British soldiers, Damien (Cillain Murphy) abandons his career as a doctor and joins his brother Teddy (Padraic Delany) in a dangerous and violent fight for freedom. As their bold tactics bring the British to breaking point, both sides finally agree to a treaty to end the blooodshed. Despite the apparent victory, civil war erupts and the brothers find their loyalties put to the ultimate test.

Winner of Best Film at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and 2007 Irish Film & TV Awards, The Wind that Shakes the Barley is an unflinchingly raw and beautiful film from a director whose career spans 40 years of hard-hitting docudrama and social realism.

Official website: thewindthatshakesthebarley.co.uk

Discussion led by a panel including a representative of Sinn Fein.

March 9 2008: Battle of Cable Street & Memories of a future

THE BATTLE OF CABLE STREET
Yoav Segal, UK 2006, 10 mins

Told through the eyes of a child (Danny), The Battle of Cable Street uses a powerful mix of
animation and live action to recreate this seminal event in British history. In the film Danny learns, much as the director’s grandad did in the 1930s: ‘Look up, see the world around you. Find a voice, express yourself.’

MEMORIES OF A FUTURE
Margaret Dickinson and Pepe Petos, UK 2007, 83 mins EST


Memories of a Future commemorates and reflects on the International Brigades who fought in the defence of the Spanish Republic. In 2006, a party from Britain travelled to Spain to mark the 70th anniversary of the formation of the Brigades. Despite their different starting points, both co-directors found themselves constantly returning to the same question: What does this past mean now?

• Discussion led by Yoav Segal, Margaret Dickinson, Pepe Petos and Michael Rosen

April 13 2008: CND anniversary shorts

CND ANNIVERSARY SHORTS

Celebrating 50 years of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. A selection of films from around the world, including the 'Oscar’ winning film made by Dr Helen Caldicott, If You Love This Planet, Terre Nash, Canada 1982, 26mins.


MARCH TO ALDERMASTON

Made anonymously by a committee
(including Lindsay Anderson), GB 1959,
33 mins [Cert tbc]

Narrated by Richard Burton, this film was a vehicle for the message of the first Aldermaston March in April 1958, displayed on banners and plackards: ‘Ban the Bomb’, a message that was taken up around the world.

At the end of the march, 10,000 gathered in a field opposite the plant to hear Michael Foot, Cannon Collins and others speak of the evil being manufactured there. The committee’s film journalism and lyrical style reflect the differing backgrounds of the TV and film documentarists, while capturing the conviction and humanity of the marchers.

Discussion led by Kate Hudson, National Chair of CND

May 11 2008: The making of 'Shooting Magpies'/Launch/Coffee: Take it Fairly

THE MAKING OF ‘SHOOTING MAGPIES’
Amber Collective, UK 2006, 62mins

LAUNCH
Amber Collective, UK 1973, 10 mins


The Amber Collective grew out of a meeting of film students at London’s Regent Street Polytechnic in May 1968 and moved to the North-East of England in 1969, with a remit to record working class life in the region. The first film to come out under the Amber banner was Launch, capturing the relationship between the launch of an oil tanker and the Wallsend
community which made it. Since then, Amber has constantly experimented, extending collective practice into creative and collaborative relationships with different communities. The Making of ‘Shooting Magpies’ documents the process as the Collective works on its latest film.

COFFEE: TAKE IT FAIRLY
Produced by Anita Sandhu and Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, UK 2006, 25 mins, EST


Three women fairtrade coffee producers from the community of Las Alpes, northern Nicaragua, describe with great pride their families, their farms and the difference that fairtrade has made to their lives.

• Discussion led by Graeme Rigby of the Amber Collective, Kathryn Smith, Director of Co-operatives UK, Anita Sandhu and Felicity Butler of Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign.

June 8 2008: Why We fight & One man's story: Philip Agee and the CIA

WHY WE FIGHT
Eugene Jareki, France/UK/Canada/Denmark 2005, 98 mins, EST

Why We Fight looks at conflicts from World War II right up to the current war in Iraq to examine the political, economic and ideological reasons that drive US war policy. The film includes interviews with John McCain, Gore Vidal, William Kristol and Richard Perle, as well as a retired New York City cop and Vietnam veteran who lost a son in the World Trade Center attacks.

Why We Fight won the 2005 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

ONE MAN'S STORY: PHILIP AGEE, CUBA AND THE CIA
Bernie Dwyer and Roberti Ruiz Rebo, Cuba/Ireland 2007, 30 mins.

This Cuba/Ireland co-production was released at the Havana Film Festival in 2007.

• Discussion led by Alun Morinan, Local Campaigns Co-ordinator for Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Bernie Dwyer and Fr Geoff Bottoms, Executive member of Cuba Solidarity Campaign.