Documentary about Glasgow immigration protest wins Sundance Film Festival award
Everybody To Kenmure Street was recognised with a Special Jury prize.
A documentary about a community resisting a Home Office immigration raid has won an award at a major film festival.
Everybody To Kenmure Street was recognised with the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance at the Sundance Film Festival in the US.
The film documents events on May 13 2021 when hundreds of people gathered in Kenmure Street in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow to prevent two of their neighbours being detained.
The two men were released after protesters surrounded the immigration enforcement van for several hours, with one person lying underneath the vehicle.
The documentary combines crowd-sourced footage filmed on the day with set-designed scenes and archive material.
It was directed by Scotland-based, Chilean-Belgian filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra who said: “I am so delighted. As filmmakers we are only vessels for what happened on Kenmure Street.
“It’s a joyful, vibrant film because it was a joyful, vibrant protest and I cannot wait to watch it in a cinema with Scottish audiences.”
The film premiered earlier this month as part of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition and was screened on the opening day of the festival.
The Special Jury Award recognises films that demonstrate exceptional courage and impact in documenting civil resistance around the world.
The documentary was produced by Ciara Barry of Glasgow-based production company barry crerar.
She said: “This is such an amazing honour. We are so proud of the film, all its collaborators and its message of peaceful protest and our collective power to be the change that we want to see in the world.
“Thanks to everyone who supported, believed in and funded the film.”
Dame Emma Thompson, who was an executive producer on the film, has previously described the documentary as “beautiful and powerful”.
Everybody To Kenmure Street will have its UK premiere as the opening gala of the Glasgow Film Festival on February 25 and will then be released in selected cinemas in the UK and Ireland from March 13.
Scottish distributor Conic are releasing the film.
Jen Davies, co-founder of Conic, said: “This is a very well-deserved moment for the whole Everybody To Kenmure Street team and a powerful recognition of the film’s message on an international stage.”
