Rio Cinema, Dalston, London
Sunday 13 September, 2pm
With a post-screening panel discussion with Selina Robertson, Beeban Kidron, Amanda Richardson and Guy Westwell.
Contemporary 75 in association with Club des Femmes presents
IN PROTEST OF THE BOMB
Two milestone films of anti-nuclear activism from the 1950s and 1980s, as relevant today as ever.
For four days during Easter, 1958, thousands marched from Trafalgar Square to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment in Hampshire. The resulting film, MARCH TO ALDERMASTON, a voluntary work by anonymous film technicians including Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reitz, was partly funded by Contemporary Films and serves as a testament to public solidarity against a grave new threat, a formative moment for CND and the new left, and a notable work from the auspices of the ‘Free Cinema’ movement in Britain.
Filmed over seven months in 1982-3 by young film students Beeban Kidron and Amanda Richardson, with the vital support of the women they document, CARRY GREENHAM HOME provides an up-close view of the fierce oppositional force Greenham women mounted against the siting of a nuclear arsenal in Berkshire. The Greenham Common Peace Camp was shining example of non-violent feminist action, changing both lives and laws. “The women of Greenham Common taught a generation how to protest”, noted Beeban Kidron. Shot on video, its depiction of the courage, creativity and humour of the Greenham women contrasted greatly at the time with mainstream media portraits, giving greater insight into their motivations, and remains a seminal work of British feminism on film.
This event will feature an introduction by Ade Cooper from Contemporary Film.
Presented by Contemporary 75 in association with Club des Femmes.