After you attend the Left Coast Forum this weekend in L.A., don’t miss Everybody to Kenmure Street. Directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra, the son of a Chilean exile, this is a stand-up-and-cheer documentary about a provocatively timed dawn raid during the Islamic celebration of Eid by the United Kingdom’s Immigration Enforcement of two Muslim men in Glasgow, Scotland, that is thwarted by spontaneous resistance. Before the authorities can haul the captive immigrants away, a man (portrayed by two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson, who also executive produced, along with Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame) climbs under the police van, blocking its movement.
This stalling tactic allows time for word to spread by social media and word of mouth, and up to 2,000 multi-racial demonstrators turn out to block Police Scotland from carrying out their raid, so the law enforcers massively escalate their response and presence. This leads to a showdown between authorities and resolute protesters who refuse to back down—which leads the authorities to give up and allow the foreign-born men in the film to be released, amid a great ovation, to the neighborhood mosque. Like the film’s protesters’ chant, Everybody to Kenmure Street illustrates: “The people united will never be defeated!”
In addition to Emma Thompson, two other British actresses (including Kate Dickie as a nurse who converses with the man under the van) depict real-life activists in this otherwise nonfiction film about a great victory of the working class. Director Felipe Bustos Sierra also skillfully incorporates montage sequences about the Scottish proletariat and the trans-Atlantic slave trade that built Glasgow, revealing the historical forces behind contemporary events. This rousing, radical documentary won an award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Felipe Bustos Sierra, whose family was exiled to Belgium by General Pinochet’s brutal military dictatorship in Chile, previously directed 2018’s Nae Pasaran, about how Scots managed to ground half of Chile’s air force to protest the fascist junta. I guarantee you will love this real-life revolutionary pro-refugee film that is pro-people power and a MUST-SEE, Academy Award-worthy doc. This is one of those films that restores faith and confidence in the human race and the essential goodness of humanity. Do not miss it.
Opening week Q+As with Director Felipe Bustos Sierra following the below screenings of Everybody to Kenmure Street in L.A.:
7:00 p.m., Friday, October 2, at Laemmle Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Moderated by Robert Abele – President, LA Film Critics Association.
7:30 p.m., Saturday, October 3 at Laemmle Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Moderated by Emiliana Guereca – Founder of Women’s March Foundation.
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