London Socialist Film Co-op

The 2012 Programme.........

2011-12-01T21:11:00.001Z

Sunday 12 February 2012

2011-12-01T21:09:00.001Z

10.30am for 11am, at the Renoir Cinema.

JUST DO IT

Emily James, UK 2011[12A], 88 mins

Emily James spent a year within the environmental movementdocumenting the clandestine activities of the major players. In this featuredocumentary, she presents an insider's account of the new global movement, anindependent group funded by volunteers; inspiring, anarchic individuals withinventive strategies challenge the multi-nationals, frustrate the police andcreate confusion. This film shows what one group of committed individuals canachieve.

NOT IN OUR NAME

Gabrielle Tierney, Ireland/UK 2009[Advised 18], 30 mins

Nine men were totally acquitted of their £350,000 criminaldamage to the International Arms manufacturer in Derryin 2006. The decision became a legal benchmark; an act of deliberate civildisobedience recognised as a weapon in the fight for peace. This film documentsthe victory and their solidarity with the people in the Lebanese town of Qana; knowledge of theproduction of those weapons and their use in the Israeli massacre became animpetus for the men to act.

Discussion led byEmily James, Gabrielle Tierney and Anne-MarieO’Reilly, Outreach Co-ordinator, Campaign Against Arms Trade

** Dochouse Thursdays is a weekly screening of other award winning international documentaries between the Richmix, Tricycle and Riverside cinemas. Check them out at www.dochouse.org

Sunday 11 March 2012

2011-12-01T21:03:00.001Z

10.30am for 11am, at the Renoir Cinema.

JAFFA: THE ORANGE’S CLOCKWORK

Eyal Sivan, Belgium/Germany/France/Israel2010 [Advised E], 86 mins, French/Arabic/Hebrew/English with EST

Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan peels back the orange skin toexpose the history and layers of meaning in the Palestinian/Israeli conflictthrough the Jaffa brand, a globalised imagereproduced in the media and authenticated by historians as the symbolic life-affirmingfruit of the 'Holy Land'. The image of the orange, rebranded by thePalestine Liberation Organisation as a grenade, is the fruit dripping with theblood of the lost lands and its people.

BARKING ISLAND

Serge Avédikian,France 2010 [Advised 12A],15 mins

In 1910 the Turkish authorities rounded up 30,000 stray dogsin Constantinople and transported them to die on a deserted island in the Bosporus. The haunting images and soundtrack in thisanimation foretell the genocide of the Armenian people which was initiated bythe Turks in 1915. This film won thePalme D'Or in 2010.

Discussion led bySarah Colbourne, Director, PalestineSolidarity Campaign, Frank Barat,Co-ordinator, Russell Tribunal on Palestineand co-author of Corporate Complicity inIsrael’s Occupation (Pluto 2011), and VaughanPilikian, filmmaker (Hammer and Flame)

Sunday 15 April 2012

2011-12-01T20:58:00.001Z

10.30am for 11am, at the Renoir Cinema.

COME TO MY COUNTRY: JOURNEYS WITH KABIR AND FRIENDS (ChaloHamara Des)

Shabnam Virmani,India 2008 [Advised 12A], 98 mins, Hindi/Malwi with EST

Shabnam Virmani illuminates the world of Kabir, the 15th century mystical poet of northIndia through the friendship between Indian folk singer Prahlad Tipanya, a ’lowcaste’ Dalit singer, and an American academic Linda Hess. Using poetry and song the film juxtaposesfamiliar concepts of urban and rural, classical and folk music, and secular andfundamentalist thought in the weaving of the wisdom of the ancient world with acontemporary secular one.

THE LAST RITES

Yasmine Kabir, Bangladesh2008 [Advised E], 17 mins

Yasmine Kabir, in this silent film takes us to theshipbuilding yards of Chittagong,Bangledesh, where thousands of men, driven by poverty, each year seekjobs. She links the ‘last rites’ ritualsof ship breaking with the survival of a community willing to work in anenvironmental wasteland of toxic waste and asbestos. The film won the top awardat the Film South Asian Festival in 2009 where it was compared with RobertFlaherty’s Man of Aran.

Discussion led byAyub Aulia, of the Pakistan Writers’ Guild, writer, poet, art critic andmusicologist

Sunday 13 May 2012

2011-12-01T20:48:00.001Z

10.30am for 11am at the Renoir Cinema

OFFSIDE

Jafar Panahi, Iran 2006 [PG], 93 mins, Farsi with EST

A group of girls disguised as boys fail in their attempt towatch the World Cup qualifier in Tehran's Azadi Stadium but hear the closingvictory en route to the regime's vicesquad to receive punishment for transgressing the moral code. In this witty and funny film, football is ametaphor for criticism of the regime and the symbolic changes foreshadowed byits young people; meanwhile the directoris held in prison and denied both personal and professional freedom.

THE GREAT TRADE ROBBERY

Grant Gilchrist, UK 2008 [12A], 7.5 mins

This incisive animation produced by Manic Films Productionand the World Trade Movement presents familiar arguments about the balance ofpower in the globalised world. Addressing the dominant players in Brussels, the capitalist wolfoutlines to an audience how the global market strategies in tourism, financeand energy can create wealth but is foiled by the sharp sheep's exposé of themoral issues and an alternative strategy.

Discussion led byMajid Beheshti, Iranian film criticand magazine editor, Azar Sephr of the Committee for the Defence of IranianPeople’s Rights (CODIR) and Megan Dobney,Regional Secretary, Southern & Eastern Region TUC and Executive Member ofthe National Assembly of Women.

Previous Programmes

2011-11-05T17:31:00.009Z

Sunday 8 January 2012

10.30am for 11am start at the Renoir Cinema.

LOCKED OUT

Joan Sekler, US 2010 [12A], 60 mins

The multinational, Rio Tinto group, historically known for draconian measures, attempted to severely cut the pay and conditions of 570 borax miners in the isolated, desert town of Boron, California, in 2010. Joan Sekler, independent filmmaker, crafts the course of the miners' action during the 107 days of a lock out. With solidarity at local and national level and the support of their community the miners agree to a new contract with the majority of their benefits intact.

UNDER THE CRANES

Emma-Louise Williams, UK 2011 [12A], 56 mins

Director Emma-Louise Williams has collaborated with Hackney poet and resident Michael Rosen to produce a film-poem that explores the inter-connection between ourselves and where we live, based on his play Hackney Voices. The changing face of Hackney and its residents emerges through current images, urban sounds and rare historical footage, and Rosen's voice illuminates and questions the threats and the choices fostered by the dubious activities of Hackney Council and the regeneration of the area.

Discussion led by Emma-Louise Williams, Michael Rosen and Shane Enright - Amnesty International UK Trade Union Campaigns Manager/ AI Global Trade Union Adviser.

Sunday 11th December

10.30 for 11am start at the Renoir Cinema.

THE COCA-COLA CASE

German Gutierrez/ Carmen Garcia, Canada 2009 (E) 80 mins

Labour rights lawyers Daniel Kovalik and Terry Collingsworth are activists for the 'Stop the Killer-Coke campaign,' which has seen Ray Rodgers put the Coca-Cola empire on trial. Coca-Cola stands accused of the drying of water wells in India and the torture/ murder of union leaders trying to improve working conditions in Columbia, Guatemala and Turkey. Predictably, two courts have already dismissed their claims but the struggle continues to make the giant multinational drinks company accountable for policies of profit over people.

VILLAGE LIVES, DISTANT POWERS

Peggy Froerer, India/ UK (E) 32mins.

Produced by Margaret Dickinson

Focusing on one village in central India, this film asks why the poor are routinely deprived of basic services; how does a culture of bribery impact on their everyday lives. The story is told from the perspective of the anthropologist/ filmmaker who takes up a problem with a senior civil servant and soon finds herself also paying court to a politician. It poses sharply the potential contradiction in the idea that an anthropologist is a 'participant observer.'

Discussion led by Tony Benn, filmmaker Peggy Froerer, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at Brunel University, and writer and filmmaker Margaret Dickinson.

*Tickets for this event must be obtained as usual but they will be issued free. We appreciate donations to cover venue and other expenses.

Sunday 13th November

10.30 for 11am start at the Renoir Cinema.

UK PREMIERE

DEADLY DUST (TODESSTAUB)

Frieder Wagner, Germany 2006 (E) 93 mins

In a science-based documentary, we accompany Prof Gunther, epidemiologist and specialist in tropical diseases, and his expert colleagues as they explore the effects of depleted uranium ammunition used in Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia, though banned by the Hague and Geneva Conventions. Winds can carry them clear across our planet, leaving behind a path of destruction. The surge in post-war birth defects indicates an epidemic of reproductive abnormalities. We express our gratitude to Frieder Wagner for facilitating today's premiere.

UK PREMIERE

WITH THE LINCOLN BRIGADE IN SPAIN

Henri Cartier- Bresson/ Herbert Kline, US 1938 (E) 18 mins

Internationally acclaimed photographer Cartier- Bresson filmed the Brigade, which had emerged in response to the US policy of non intervention. Drawn from all wakes of life and thought to be the first military unit commanded by a black officer, the volunteers trained alongside Spanish troops and became known for their bravery. In 2010 the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive discovered, restored and re-released this cinema treasure.

Discussion led by Rae Street, CND Council member and active in the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, John Green, former documentary filmmaker, and Helen Graham, Professor of Modern European History at Royal Holloway University of London.

The November programme was co-sponsored by CND and the International Brigade Memorial Trust.

Sunday 9 October 2011

10.30am for 11am, at the Renoir Cinema.

SYLVIA PANKHURST: EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE,

Ceri Dingle/Viv Regan, UK 2011 [E], DVD, 90 min

The contribution made by campaigner Sylvia Pankhurst tohuman rights is contextualised in this documentary researched and produced byover 100 volunteers. The film contains interviews with her son RichardPankhurst and his wife Rita as well as suffrage historians and rare archivalfootage. While her mother Emmeline and sister Christabel focused on a limitedsuffrage of upper class women, Sylvia devoted her time to improving women’slives during the war in the slums of East London.Initially establishing nurseries and a free clinic, the movement for universalsuffrage encompassed the women’s struggle, the Irish struggle and the anti warmovement and aroused the wrath of politicians.

AWRA AMBA: UTOPIA IN ETHIOPIA,

Paulina Tervo, Ethiopia 2010 [E], DVD, 28.5 mins

Awra Amba is a model village nestling in the hills of northernEthiopiapromoting radical politics in a conservative culture: gender equality, sharing the workload andrejecting traditional religion. Filmmaker Paulina Tervo brings us the vision of its founder, localfarmer Zumra Nuru and the project to build a new senior school to governmentstandards. The fundraising events will have a boost in the autumn with theGreat Ethiopian Run, a campaign to provide scholarships for young women in the Hornof Africa. The Sylvia Pankhurst scholarship is one of their partners.

Discussion led by Ceri Dingle and Mary Davis, Professor of Labour History at London MetropolitanUniversity.

Sunday 11th September 2011

10.30 for 11am, at the Renoir Cinema.

PICCADILLY,

Ewald André Dupont, UK1929 silent [PG], DVD, 108 mins

Ewald Andre Dupont, a German émigré, voices the sexual and racist tensions in this London based melodrama ofthe late silent cinema. Set in a night club, Sosho, the dishwasher attracts theattention of the club owner with her striking dancing and the resentment of thelead dancer, the club owner’s former lover. The black and white tones tingedwith amber and blue tinted scenes glide between fashionable jazz age London and the underworldof Limehouse. We screen now to the newlycommissioned score by Neil Brand, recorded by some of UK’s leadingjazz players.

A PALACE FOR US:

Tom Hunter, UK 2010 [Advised E], 18 mins

The artist and filmmaker Tom Hunter entices us to lookafresh at the Woodberry Down Estate in East London. Filmed in and around the Estate, the memoriesand experiences of residents, who have lived there since it opened arebeautifully re-captured through dramatisations and evoked through sound andimage. The film challenges the negative stereotypes of working class culture;these residents present the hopes and dignity that the newly formed welfarestate had offered to communities reeling from the poverty and anxiety of the30’s and 40’s.

Discussion led by BryonyDixon, Curator of Silent Film at the BFI National Archives, Tom Hunter, Senior Research Fellow andlecturer at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London,and Lizzie Woods, Public &Commercial Services Union (PCS) organiser, with the Royal Cleaners’ Campaignfor the London Living Wage

9 January 2011

2011-01-03T21:23:00.000Z

Full details of our January to May programme are available.

10.30 for 11am SUNDAY 9 JANUARY 2011

MICKEY MOUSE GOES TO HAITI

National Labor Committee, US 1996 [E]

DVD, 17 mins

This video documents the harsh conditions in which some of the Disney Company's garments and products are manufactured in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Workers are intimidated and will be fired if they try to unionise. While a living wage would only cost the corporation 58 cents an hour to pay the contracted factory workers, the wage doesn't even come close to that.

TROUBLE THE WATER

Karl Deal and Tia Lessin, US 2008 [15]

DVD, 90 mins

The day before Hurricane Katrina makes landfall-twenty-four year old aspiring rap artist Kimberly Rivers Roberts is turning her new video camera on herself and her 9th Ward neighbors trapped in the city. "It's going to be a day to remember," Kim declares. With no means to leave the city and equipped with just a few supplies and her hi 8 camera, she and her husband Scott tape their harrowing ordeal as the storm rages, the nearby levee breaches, and floodwaters fill their home and their community. Shortly after the levees fail, their battery dies.

Seamlessly weaving 15 minutes of this home movie footage shot the day before and the morning of the storm with archival news segments and verite footage shot over the next two years, directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal tell a story of remarkable people surviving not only failed levees, bungling bureaucrats and armed soldiers, but also their own past.

In addition to Jeremy Corbyn MP and Ben Sprung as discussion leaders, we shall have Christian Wisskirchen, Chair of the Haiti Support Group. Haitian guest Georges Werleigh is due to reach London on Sunday morning and may be able join us. We shall be greatly honoured if we are able to welcome him.

12 December 2010

2010-09-05T20:11:00.003+01:00

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London.

The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time!
Jim Brown, US 1982
78 mins
[E]

Documentary about the blacklisted folk group, and the events leading to their triumphant return to Carnegie Hall: ‘The Weavers’ were Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman. They sang traditional folk
songs, blues, labour songs and ballads, selling millions of records at the height of their popularity and inspiring the commercial ‘folk boom’ of the 1950s and 1960s. During the McCarthy ‘red scare’ Pete Seeger and Lee Hays were denounced as Communists and the Weavers were banned from performing on television or radio, Decca Records terminating their recording contract in 1953 and deleting their songs from its catalogue. We are grateful to Jim Brown Productions for permission to screen this print.

Whose Conspiracy?
Chris Reeves, UK 2010

35mins

[Advised E]

After the 1972 building workers’ national strike twenty-four trade unionists were tried at Shrewsbury in a hostile act to criminalise picketing. Some were given severe prison sentences. Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson soon became known as the ‘Shrewsbury 2’. Des died following treatment meted out to him during his incarceration. Successive Governments, both Conservative and Labour, have remained unresponsive to the calls for these perverse judgments to be set aside, and for these men to be cleared. We première the film in support of a renewed campaign to right this miscarriage of justice.

Work in Progress on a Work in Progress
Margaret Dickinson, UK 2010
10 mins
[Advised E]

London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics turned a large area of the city west of Stratford into one of Europe’s biggest building sites. This film asks what the massive development will mean for construction
workers. Will the Olympic Delivery Authority be able to keep its promises about jobs and training? As the title implies, this is provisional material from an ongoing project. The purpose is to provoke responses that will feed into continuing work on a longer documentary about construction workers and the influence of the Olympic development on prospects, conditions and training.

Discussion led by Chris Reeves, Margaret Dickinson and Tony O’Brien, National Secretary, Construction Safety Campaign.

14 November 2010

2010-09-05T19:45:00.001+01:00

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London.

Salt of the Sea (Milh Hadha Al-Bahr)
Annemarie Jacir, Palestine/France 2008
104 mins
[12A]

This first feature film by a Palestinian woman, won critical acclaim and numerous prizes. Michael Moore called it ‘absolutely one of the best films I’ve seen in years’. Soraya, a Palestinian refugee born in Brooklyn, fulfils her lifelong dream of ‘returning’ to Palestine after she discovers that her grandfather's savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian who longs to leave forever. Driven by frustration, they break the law, become fugitives and together search for the ruins of old homes and villages, icons of the Palestinian struggle that evoke loss and tragedy.

The Silent War: Israel's Blockade of Gaza
Kashfi Halford, UK 2010
10 mins
[E]

The film examines what the blockade means for the 1.5 million people of Gaza, as they struggle to rebuild their lives over a year after Israel’s Operation Cast Lead.

Discussion led by Betty Hunter, General Secretary, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, HE Prof Manual Hassassian of the Palestinian General Delegation UK and Andrea Becker, Head of Advocacy, Medical Aid for Palestinians.

10 October 2010

2010-09-04T15:24:00.005+01:00

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map

The Time of Their Lives
Jocelyn Cammack, UK 2009
57 mins
[E]

With a combined age of almost 300, Hetty, Rose and Alison love to share their concerns on everything from terrorism and global warming to sex, death and the meaning of life. Rose, at 101, is the oldest newspaper columnist in the world; Hetty, 102, is still marching against war; and Alison, 88, a one-time Communist Party member is now a self-styled 'establishment lady'. Surprising, passionate and at times very funny, they bring to the screen a rare perspective on old age. The film has screened in nurmerous festivals and was broadcast on BBC Storyville in July 2009.

The Bitter Taste of Tea
Erling Borgen and Tom Heinnemann, Denmark/Norway 2008
59 mins
[E]

The filmmakers travel to tea estates in Sri Lanka, Kenya, India and Bangladesh—some traditional, some fairtrade — to expose unsafe work environments and labour exploitation. They find little meaningful difference between fairtrade and non-fairtrade operations, which raises difficult questions. Are organisations like the EU’s Max Havelaar Foundation being duped by tea growers? Or are growers doing the best they can in a brutal industry and a market in which the demand for fairtrade tea is insufficient to create trickle-down profits for their workers? It is left to the viewer to weigh the arguments and decide.

The screening will be followed with a discussion led by Jocelyn Cammack, Hetty Bower and Bernard Miller; Tom Heinemann (to be confirmed) and Barbara Crowther, Fairtrade Foundation Director of Communications.

12 September 2010

2010-08-13T22:54:00.006+01:00

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map

Outside The Law: Stories From Guantanamo
Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, UK 2009
75 mins
[15]

Based around interviews with former prisoners, lawyers and journalists, the film looks at Guantanamo mainly through the cases of three particular prisoners - Shaker Aamer (who is still held), Binyam Mohamed (who was released in February 2009) and Omar Deghayes. In following their stories the filmmakers focus on how the Bush administration turned its back on domestic and international law, how prisoners were rounded up in Afganistan and Pakistan without adequate screening (and often for bounty payments), and why some of these men may been in Afganistan or Pakistan for reasons unconnected with military or terrorism.

A Place In The City
Jenny Morgan, South Africa 2008
30 mins

In the vast shack settlement in and around Durban, members of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the grassroots shack dwellers' movement lay out their case - against forceible eviction; for decent services - with passion, eloquence and sweet reason. The film captures the horrible conditions in whcih shack dwellers live - but also Abahlali's bravery resilience. At the heart of Abahlali's campaign is the struggle for meaningful citizenship rights for South Africa's poor majority. 'Or does freedom in South Africa,' asks Abahlali volunteer organiser Louisa Motha, 'only belong to the rich?'

The screening will be followed with a discussion led by Jenny Morgan, Polly Nash and Omar Deghayes.

14 February 2010

2010-01-10T11:23:00.003Z

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map

Meeting Resistance
Steve Connors and Molly Bingham, USA 2007
84 mins

The veil of anonymity surrounding the Iraqi insurgency is raised by meeting face to face with individuals who are engaged in the struggle, documenting the sentiments experienced and actions taken by a nation's citizens when their homeland is occupied. Voices, male and female, speak candidly about their motivations, hopes and goals. Featuring fervent conversations with active insurgents, through its unprecedented access to these clandestine groups, the film focuses on the ‘other side’, clarifying why violence in Iraq continues. It provides a deeper understanding of both the toll of occupation and the human condition of resistance.

Waiting for Mordechai
Jenny Morgan, UK 2005
30 mins

Mordechai Vanunu spent 18 years in an Israeli prison for telling the world Israel secretly manufactures nuclear weapons. For all that time, peace campaigners tried to get him out. This film starts a few days before the scheduled release of Vanunu, as supporters from around the world arrive to welcome him…

The screening will be followed with a discussion led by Jeremy Corbyn MP and director Jenny Morgan.

10 January 2010

2010-01-10T11:13:00.003Z

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map

Matzpen - Anti Zionist Israelis
Eran Torbiner, Israel 2003
English Subtitles, 54 mins

Most members of the socialist organisation Matzpen were Israeliborn, coming from the core of Israeli society. Their fight against Zionism and against the occupation, as well as their contacts with Palestinian and European left-wing activists, were the cause of threats and slander, as well as political and social isolation. The film touches on the main issues of the Zionist-Palestinian struggle, through the eyes of the organisation's prominent figures, their ideas, opinions and activities.

Jerusalem...The East Side Story
Mohammed Alatar, Palestine 2008
English Subitles, 57 mins

This documentary covers nearly 100 years of history. It exposes the past 40 years of Israeli military occupation policies in Jerusalem and their devastating impact on the
city and its peoples. It features interviews with prominent Israeli and Palestinian leaders, peace activists and political analysts, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Meron Benvinisti, Dr. Nazmi Ju'beh, Dr. Mahdi AbdulHadi, Professor Menahim Klein.

The screening will be followed with a discussion led by Betty Hunter, General Secretary, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Moshe Machover, emeritus professor at King’s College, London, and a founder in 1962 of Matzpen, the Israeli socialist organisation.

13 December 2009

2010-01-10T10:59:00.003Z

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map

Memories of Underdevelopment
Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuba 1986
English Subtitles, 104mins

Based on the novel of the same name by Edmundo Desnoes, the film is based on the diary of a middle class intellectual caught in the midst of the rapidly changing social reality of revolutionary Cuba. Sergio is a landlord and self-styed writer who decides to remain behind when his wife, family and friends, leave for Miami. But Sergio is unable to commit himself to the revolution either, and so remains a sceptical observer. His perceptions of Cuban society, both before and after the revolution, are interwoven with documentary footage of historical events, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

Shattered Space
Enrique Colina, ICAIC and Stephen Hart, UCL, Cuba 2009
English Subtitles, 16mins

These documentaries, made at the 2009 International Film and TV School in Havana, portray aspects of contemporary Havana, including the everyday life of the man who carried Fidel Castro’s rucksack in the Sierra Maestra 50 years ago, the art produced by the Taller de Gráfica, the ambition of a young girl to make it in Cuba’s competitive music industry, and the determination of young boxers at a local boxing club to make their dreams come true.

The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Stephen Hart, Professor of Hispanic Studies, University College London.

8 November 2009

2009-10-31T14:40:00.005Z

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map

HIDDEN (CACHÉ)
Michael Haneke, Italy/Germany/France 2005
English subtitles, 118 mins

The complacency of a middle class couple in Paris is shattered by a long-suppressed revelation. The static opening shot, which lasts for several minutes, is of the exterior of a house in a quiet Parisian neighbourhood. The credits are gradually typed across the screen, passers-by come and go in the frame, and we hear voices on the soundtrack. The image is then fast forwarded: we’ve actually been watching a surveillance tape, and Haneke is quickly warning us to treat with suspicion the ‘reality’ of what we are being shown.

The screening will be followed with a discussion led by Catherine Wheatley, author of Michael Haneke’s Cinema: The Ethic of the Image and Jon Cruddas MP for Dagenham

If you would like to view our full 2009/2010 programme please click here

11 October 2009

2009-09-30T12:06:00.019+01:00

11am screening at the Renoir Cinema, London map

Folk America - This Land is Your Land
Jill Nicholls, UK 2008, 60mins

Only a Bookseller
Chris Reeves, UK 2009, 60mins

The first event of our new season is dedicated to the memory of British Socialist and Labour activist Jack Firestein (1917 – 2004).

Tickets must be obtained as usual but they will be issued free. We appreciate donations to cover expenses and to contribute to the cost of completing the making of Only a Bookseller. We are grateful to Jill Nicholls and the BBC to screen This Land is Your Land.

Folk America – This Land is Your Land
Jill Nichols, UK 2008, 60mins
In the depression of the 1930s, convicted murderer Leadbelly set a new agenda for folk music, redefining it as the voice of protest, the voice of the outsider and the oppressed. Dustbowl drifter Woody Guthrie fitted the mould perfectly and the two of them teamed up with friends who believed they could make a better world if they all got together and just sang about it.

Only a Bookseller
Chris Reeves, UK 2009, 60mins
Jack Firestein ran a book stall, rain or shine, every Saturday morning outside the old Labour Party rooms in Bayham Street, NW1. He was a feisty campaigner for all the good causes. He fought at Anzio, was one of Lady Astor’s ‘D-Day Dodgers’, was wounded and imprisoned by the Germans. He was one of the first members of the Unity Theatre Society from the 1930s and an active founder member and convenor in 1990 of the London Socialist Film Co-op. But Jack was best known for his lifetime contribution to the labour movement – first in the Communist Party, then the Camden Labour Party and in his union.

The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Jill Nicholls and Chris Reeves.

If you would like to view our full 2009/2010 programme please click here

14 June 2009

2008-09-11T22:06:00.014+01:00

14 June 2009 THOSE WHO DANCE

Mayyasa al-Malazi and Camilla Cancantata UK 2006, 49 mins

Those Who Dance tells the story of members of a small community in Rossport, Co. Mayo, Ireland, who have resisted Shell’s attempts to construct a high pressure gas pipeline and refinery across their land, which would have potentially devastating environmental and social consequences. The film compares their situation to that of the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta, where Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine others were murdered in 1996 because of their non-violent opposition to Shell’s oil extraction operations and gas flaring. The film offers a powerful critique of corporate practice and philosophy, and challenges viewers to consider the impacts of the oil industry throughout the world, now that the reality of climate change is widely accepted.

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY:HOW CUBA SURVIVED PEAK OIL

Faith Morgan, US 2006, 53 mins, EST, [tbc]

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanised, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.
Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign

We are also including a 7-minute film at the start, made by Anna Bowman. It is SELF BUILD: FROM NORTH LONDON TO THE FIELDS OF CHESHAM, made last year and incorporating footage shot by ex-servicemen and their families as they built their new homes and moved from Willesden to Chesham in the 1950s.

Booking information:All three films have been classified by Camden's licensing department as educational and informative, [E] for exempt. This means there is no age barrier for our audience; all are welcome.

Discussion led by Mayyasa al-Malazi, Camilla Cancantata and Cuba Solidarity Campaign
With Derek Wall Green Party & Green Left

Download current programme

2006-03-01T00:41:00.013Z

You should be able to download the 2012 programme shortly

Public transport and parking links

2006-01-15T02:15:00.001Z

For maps and transport links that point out the Renoir Cinema please click here.

Useful TFL links
Tube maps.
Bus maps.
TFL journey planner.
Travel news in real time.
Rail maps (pdf).

List of NCP car parks.
Congestion Charge website. NB: Congestion charges are not in operation on weekends.

Organise a film/video screening

2006-01-15T02:12:00.009Z

The LSFC is able to assist community groups and organisations with projection equipment for film/video screenings in London.

Contact Chris on 020-7278-8394

About the Renoir

2006-01-15T02:12:00.008Z

The Renoir Cinema is situated in the Brunswick Centre. The easiest way to access the Renoir is via the Hunter Street entrance. The venue is wheelchair accessible and has wheelchair accessible toilets. The centre has an underground NCP car park.
List of nearest buses, tube and rail stations are below map.

Address:-

RENOIR CINEMA,
Brunswick Centre,
London WC1N 1AW

BOX OFFICE 020 7837 8402

The Renior Cinema is owned by Curzon Cinemas. More here.

Maps pointing to the Renoir: streetmap, multimap, googlemap.

Nearest buses:
Buses: 7, 17, 45, 46, 59, 68, 91, 168, 188

Nearest tube station:
Russell Square (Piccadilly line).

Other tube stations within walking distance:
Holborn (Piccadilly & Central)
King's Cross/StPancras (Northern, Piccadilly, Metropolitian, Hammersmith & City, East London)
Euston Square (Metropolitan, Circle, Hammersmith & City).
Euston (Northern, Victoria)

Train stations within walking distance:
King's Cross
Euston

Useful TFL links
Tube maps.
Bus maps.
TFL journey planner.
Travel news in real time.
Rail maps (pdf).

Travelling by car?
List of other nearby NCP car parks. Congestion charges are not in operation on weekends. More details on the congestion charge website.

The Brunswick centre is a listed building:-
Article with a lovely photo of the centre.
Wikipedia on the Brunswick centre.
Observer article from 2003.

Contact us

2006-01-15T02:09:00.007Z

Our contact details:-

Membership Secretary
London Socialist Film Co-op
13 Foundling Court
Brunswick Centre
London WC1N 1QE

Telephone: 0207 278 5764
email to nseyd@hotmail.com

If you have a film/video you'd like to screen or suggestions for future showings and discussions click here.

Want to run a film show? Organise a video event?
The London Socialist Film Co-op is able to assist community groups and organisations with projection equipment for film/video shows in the London area.
Contact Chris on 020-7278-5764.

Admission and tickets

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The Renior Cinema doors open at 10.30am and screenings start at 11.00am.

Tickets for each event are £10. Concessions £8.
Discount to annual members £4.
Tickets are on sale from 10.30 am on the day of the showing.

Thinking about becoming a member of the LSFC? As well as the £4 discount on each of the screenings you will also receive postal updates about the LSFC and our activities.
Here's our membership details and membership application form.

Submit a film/video to be screened

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Have you a film/video you would like to screen?
The LSFC runs showings for new and old work by independent film makers or students.
If you would like to participate, please send a DVD viewing copy to:

LSFC, c/o 13 Foundling Court, Brunswick Centre, London WC1N 1QE

If the work is on film only, please ring Chris on 0207 278 8394

LSFC members are encouraged to send in suggestions for future showings and discussions. Those for the 2012-13 season must be recieved by 29th February 2012:

LSFC
13 Foundling Court
Brunswick Centre
London WC1N 1QE

Telephone: 0207 278 5764

About the LSFC

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Now in its twenty-first year, the London Socialist FilmCo-op promotes socialist culture by arranging screenings where people can seefilms and take part in a panel discussion.

We show recent cinema releases and pictures that are rarelyscreened because they are old films, foreign films or were censored. We show films that inform and educate.

We encourage our members and like-minded filmmakers to makefilms and DVDs and we are always interested to hear of appropriate films - lowbudget shorts or campaign videos as well as fully funded professionalprogrammes - that we might want to screen.

We welcome members, old or new, who would like to help planand organise activities and we are very happy to give advice to anyoneinterested in setting up a similar film co-op.

Cinema information:

Renoir Cinema, Brunswick Square, London WC1

Nearest Londontube: Russell Square

Overground: King’sCross, Euston

Buses: 7, 17, 45, 46,59, 68, 91, 168, 188

For updates on disabled access, please call the Renoir on08717-033 991

Screenings are generally on the second Sunday of the month butplease note our April date. Doors openat 10.30 for 11am. The order ofscreening may not be as shown in our programme pages. EST indicates the use of English subtitles. Further information: 020-7278 5764, nseyd@hotmail.com

The LSFC is a community co-operative, registered in England and

Wales

, Reg. No 29459R

Membership information

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Shareholding £2, annual subscription £14, concessions £12, (including shareholding). For membership enquiries please call 020 7278 5764 or contact nseyd@hotmail.com

Here's our membership application form.

Membership application form

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I wish to join the London Socialist Film Co-op and enclose cheque/postal order for £14 (£12 unwaged, students, OAP's) payable to London Socialist Film Co-op. The fee includes an initial £2 for a member's shareholding. Existing shareholders wishing to renew their subscription pay £12/£10.

NAME

ADDRESS

POSTCODE TELEPHONE

Membership: shareholding £2 [ _ ] annual subscription £12 [ _ ] £10 [ _ ]
Donation £_______ Total enclosed: £_______ Date ______/______/___

Please print and return this form to the:

Membership Secretary
London Socilaist Film Co-op
13 Foundling Court
Brunswick Centre
London WC1N 1QE

Telephone/Fax: 020-7278-5764