Dear friends,

As the confederate flag was held aloft by white supremacist Trump supporters inside the smashed up heart of USA democracy, it’s clear that America is not turning the corner away from Trumpism. Rather, it seems even darker times are ahead as Biden takes office and the battle between progress and regression takes a terrible new turn for American society.

In all this chaos was the bittersweet win for both the democratic candidates in the Georgia State elections – bittersweet because their win was both the final straw for Trump and those intent on ‘insurrection’ and also a crystal clear rejection of racism, as Jon Ossoff, Jewish, and Raphael Warnock, African American, became Georgia’s new senators-in-waiting.

And it was all the more poignant a win since Raphael Warnock is the pastor of Martin Luther King’s church – the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

At this very moment, there is no better time to be remembering Dr. King. Ahead of MLK Day (18 January) Dogwoof are releasing the latest film from award-winning film-maker Sam Pollard. MLK/FBI follows the dirty war that America’s FBI declared on civil rights figurehead Martin Luther King, a vendetta that began in the 50s and ended with his assassination in 1968, inspired by recent revelations and backed up by declassified secret government documents.

Watch trailer

BOOKING

VIRTUAL PREMIERE: TUES 12 JANUARY – BFI PLAYER.  The virtual premiere of this film will be followed by a recorded Q&A with MLK/FBI director Sam Pollard, and a newly commissioned spoken word piece from Aicha Loubassou, exploring and reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr’s experiences while the target of FBI harassment.

Tickets here
https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-mlkfbi-2020-online

Virtual Cinema Tour See the film locally 15-20^th January
Find your nearest cinema & booking here
https://watch.dogwoof.com/page/virtual-cinema/

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‘THE EVILS OF CAPITALISM ARE AS REAL AS THE EVILS OF MILITARISM AND EVILS OF RACISM.’

Find out more about our MLK Global project and why MLK’s ‘triple evils’ remain an interconnected ‘nexus’ that civil society has yet to fully address.

In this essay we explore the damage done by the longstanding, deliberate media and political sidelining of MLK’s radical activism and how led to the masking of the full facts of his murder.  And finally, always inspired by Dr. King’s analysis of militarism, here is our latest project Transform Defence launched in December.

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Santiago Rising is the latest documentary film from our colleagues at Alborada Film and directed by Nick MacWilliam.

It takes place on the streets of Chile’s capital city in late 2019 as massive protests over economic inequality engulf the country. Filmed during the weeks after protests began, Santiago Rising meets social movements, protesters and ordinary people in their struggle for equality and human rights.

The film charts the build-up to the historic vote, in October 2020, that saw Chileans vote for a new constitution to replace the one imposed during the brutal Pinochet dictatorship and emphasises the prominent role of music and art in political dissent.

The film shows the state’s attempts to crush the protest movement through a violent police crackdown but although the odds are stacked against them, Chileans find strength in unity as they fight to overcome Pinochet’s enduring legacy.

Watch trailer

BOOKING

THURSDAY 14^TH JANUARY Online International Launch: 6.30pm-9.00pm GMT  6.30-9pm London / 3.30-6pm Santiago / 1.30-4pm New York / 10.30am-1pm Los Angeles

Tickets here
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/documentary-premiere-qa-santiago-rising-tickets-133211502189