Dogwoof
XY Chelsea
XY Chelsea tells the historic story of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, whose 35-year sentence in an all-male maximum security prison was commuted by President Obama in 2017. The film follows Chelsea Manning as she leaves prison after seven years inside, and begins a new life, whilst at the same time having to deal with the far-reaching consequences of her past.
Screening: The Look of Silence + Q&A
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Joshua Oppenheimer via Skype.
In this multi-award winning companion piece to The Act of Killing, filmed before its release, Joshua Oppenheimer further explores the terrible legacy of the Indonesian genocide fifty years ago, this time through the lens of one family.
Summer Screening: Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus + Skype Q&A
Belarus is governed by Europe’s last dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. In the run-up to the 2010 presidential election and for a year afterwards, filmmaker Madeleine Sackler followed the trials and tribulations of Belarus Free Theatre, an underground theatre company based in Minsk and led by Natalia and Nikolai. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Madeleine Sackler via Skype.
Screening: The Network + Q&A
Unique, uplifting and heartbreaking, The Network tells the story of Afghanistan’s first independent television network – TOLO TV – and the people behind it. With over 800 Afghans employed producing news, current affairs, drama, comedy, music, and lifestyle programmes, the whole team face their biggest challenge with the impending withdrawal of foreign troops. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Eva Orner.
Screening: The Queen of Versailles + Q&A
With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, The Queen of Versailles began as a documentary chronicling the excesses of America’s super-rich, but when in 2008 the global recession hit it became a disastrous riches to rags story. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Lauren Greenfield.
Preview Screening: Call Me Kuchu + Q&A
Documents the courageous efforts of Uganda’s first openly gay man David Kato and his fellow LGBT activists.
External Screening at Curzon Soho: Big Boys Gone Bananas!*
Tickets: Book online on the Curzon’s website.
What will a big corporation do in order to protect its brand? Swedish filmmaker Fredik Gertten personally experienced how far one was prepared to go in the aftermath of releasing his previous film Bananas!*. That first documentary follows the lawsuit that 12 Nicaraguan plantation workers successfully brought against the fruit giant Dole Food Company. Just before Gertten left Sweden to attend the world premier of his film at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival, the film is mysteriously removed from competition.
Screening: The Island President
Jon Shenk’s The Island President tells the story of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, a man confronting a problem greater than any other world leader has ever faced – the literal survival of his country and everyone in it.
After bringing democracy to the Maldives following thirty years of despotic rule, Nasheed is now faced with an even greater challenge: as one of the most low-lying countries in the world, a rise of three feet in sea level would submerge the 1,200 islands of the Maldives enough to make them uninhabitable.
Exclusive Preview Screening: Position Among the Stars
Position Among the Stars completes director Leonard Retel Helmrich‘s multi award-winning trilogy following an Indonesian family from the slums of Jakarta.
The film follows Tari, the only educated child of the family, as she struggles with the impulses of becoming a teenager with their expectations of her as their hope for a better future.