University of Warwick: Social justice under the lens as Screening Rights Film Festival returns to Coventry and Birmingham
The Screening Rights Film Festival returns to cinemas in the West Midlands from 25 – 28 November, showcasing films that provoke both thought and feelings about today’s most pressing issues in social justice.
This year’s festival will confront audiences with stories exploring how inequality, conflict and resistance have affected communities across the globe.
Following last year’s virtual event, the Screening Rights Film Festival will once again be hosted by venues in the Midlands, with screenings taking place at Warwick Arts Centre, The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, FARGO Coventry, and the Midlands Arts Centre. This year, it forms part of the University of Warwick’s Resonate Festival that celebrates Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture.
Filled with compelling and thought-provoking screenings, the Midlands’ seventh international festival of social justice film continues to explore their potential to change the world by opening them up fully for discussion through high-powered, expert-filled, panels following every screening.
Director of the Screening Rights Film Festival Dr Michele Aaron, of Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick, said: “This year’s programme aspires, as always, to move us beyond ourselves. Living, as we are, in a time when our responsibility for others’ wellbeing has never been so starkly drawn or so obvious, this feels more important than ever.”
The festival launches on Thursday 25 November with This Stained Dawn, which follows a tight-knit community of young women in Karachi who are changing the face of their city and its culture through their sometimes quiet, sometimes raging, resistance. It screens at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum at 7.30pm.
The closing night will feature Courage, an inspiring, encouraging and incredibly timely documentary about the peaceful uprising of Belarus against injustice and the brutal oppression of their democracy movements. It takes place at Warwick Arts Centre on Sunday 28 November at 7.30pm.
For full details and ticket info visit: http://screeningrights.com. Full programme of events for the Screening Rights Film Festival:
Thursday 25 November, 7.30pm at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum – This Stained Dawn
Follow a tight-knit community of young women in Karachi who are changing the face of their city and its culture through their sometimes quiet, sometimes raging, resistance. With a reception at 6.30pm and post-screening discussion with Director and other special guests. Free event.
Friday 26 November, 12.00pm at Warwick Arts Centre – El Pacto de Adriana
In 2007 the Director’s Aunt Adriana was detained whilst working for the secret police of dictator Pinochet. A deeply personal exploration of the Director’s position in relation to Adriana’s past and present and a quest to find out who Adriana really is. Followed by a post-screening discussion with the Director and other special guests.
Friday 26 November, 3.00pm at Warwick Arts Centre – The Silence of The Mole
The search for a journalist who infiltrated one of the most repressive governments in Guatemala immerses us in the memory of a country forced into silence. Followed by a post-screening discussion with the Director and other special guests.
Friday 26 November, 7.30pm at FARGO, Coventry – Unapologetic
Unapologetic provides an inside look into the ongoing Black activist movement that transformed Chicago, from the police murder of Rekia Boyd to the election of mayor Lori Lightfoot. With a reception at 6.30pm and post-screening discussion with special guests. Free event.
Friday 26 November, 6.00pm at Midlands Arts Centre/ Saturday 27th November, 4.30pm at Warwick Arts Centre – From the Wild Sea
A poetic documentary on the complex collision between human and nature seen from both the human and animal perspective. Post-screening discussion with the director and other special guests follows the Warwick Arts Centre screening.
Saturday 27 November, 1.30pm at Midlands Arts Centre – Our Memory Belongs to Us
A personal, powerful and thought-provoking interrogation, not just of the grassroots movement against the Assad regime, but also of the role played by citizen journalists in raising awareness of it. With a post-screening discussion with those behind and in the film.
Saturday 27 November, 4.30pm at Midlands Arts Centre/Sunday 28th November, 1.30pm at Warwick Arts Centre – Ultraviolence
This documentary charts the struggles for justice by the families of people that have died in police custody. They ask why society ignores human rights abuses by agents of the state. Warwick Arts Centre screening will be followed by a discussion with the director and a member of the families represented in the film.
Saturday 27 November, 8.45pm at Midlands Arts Centre – 200 Meters
This drama about the life-threatening struggles of daily life under occupation is an urgent story of resistance, dignity, family and hope set in the Palestinian West Bank. Followed by a post-screening discussion with the director and other special guests.
Saturday 27 November, 7.30pm at Warwick Arts Centre – I am Samuel
Filmed over five years, “I am Samuel” is an intimate portrait of a queer Kenyan man torn between balancing duty to his family with his dreams for his future, in a country where his love is criminalised. Followed by a post-screening discussion with the director and other special guests.
Sun 28 November, 4.30pm at Warwick Arts Centre – Ailey
Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. An immersive portrait told in his own words and through the creation of a new commission inspired by his life, Ailey fully profiles this brilliant and enigmatic man who, when confronted by a world that refused to embrace him, was determined to build one that would. With a post-screening discussion with special guests.
Sunday 28 November, 7.30pm at Warwick Arts Centre – Courage
An inspiring and encouraging documentary about the peaceful uprising of a nation against injustice and the brutal oppression of their democracy movements, set in Belarus. Followed by post-screening discussion with the director and other special guests.