The team behind multi award-winning film London Recruits (Full title – Oliver Tambo and his London Recruits) are delighted to announce ‘The People’s Release’ film premiere – a model of sharing stories of activism by ordinary people, to a wider cinema going audience, by-passing the traditional mainstream distribution gatekeepers.
This internationally acclaimed film will be released across the UK, thanks to the Trade Union movement and solidarity with Southern Africa organisation ACTSA, through a special theatrical cinema release at scale this autumn.
The release comes following nationwide race riots in the UK, provoked by the far right. This real-life story of international solidarity, of ordinary people working in unity across borders, languages and race to defeat apartheid, becomes a call to action to a new generation of UK citizens who reject the rhetoric of division and fear-mongering.
ACTSA is delighted to be a ‘People’s Release’ partner. As successor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Britain, ACTSA continues to work with people across Southern Africa confronting the legacies of colonialism and apartheid. The call to ongoing solidarity is obvious in the face of violent state repression in Eswatini (Swaziland) and Zimbabwe. The inequality faced by women across the continent demands urgent action. The work of these activists continues, and the film provides a powerful reflection point in this 30th anniversary year since South Africa liberated itself from apartheid.
Catalysing public debate
More than historical entertainment, the film points to the power of film (TV and cinema) to catalyse change. Just as ‘Mr Bates v the Post Office’ generated public alarm and action in the face of miscarriages of justice, so London Recruits raises up the stories of ordinary people speaking truth to power and standing for justice.
Public dialogue is key to a model of reviving national conversations about what kind of UK we want. The story of the London Recruits is part of this lexicon of the working class track record. Post screening discussions, led by trade unionists and anti-racist organisations are an integral part of The People’s Release programming.
We want the film and the occasion of each screening to bring people together and spark a national conversation about what lessons for today’s struggles, local and international, we can learn from the defeat of apartheid and the role British people played back then.
For more information, to interview director Gordon Main, London Recruits or ACTSA campaigners contact [email protected]
Awards:
Best Documentary – Joburg Film Festival 2024
Best Pan African Film – Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards 2024
Official Selection:
New York African Film Festival 2024
Encounters South Africa International Documentary Festival 2024
Mostra de Cinemas Afrikanos 2024
Manifiesta 2024
Existing People’s Release Partners:
General Federation of Trade Unions
ACTSA – Action for Southern Africa
Morning Star
Manifesto