A documentary depicting a community resisting a Home Office immigration raid has been recognised at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. Everybody To Kenmure Street received the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance, highlighting its depiction of civil action and collective protest.
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The film chronicles events on 13 May 2021, when hundreds of people in Kenmure Street, Pollokshields, Glasgow, prevented two neighbours from being detained. Protesters surrounded the immigration enforcement van for several hours, with one person lying beneath the vehicle. The documentary combines crowd-sourced footage from the day with set-designed scenes and archive material.
Directed by Scotland-based Chilean-Belgian filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra, the documentary premiered earlier this month as part of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Bustos Sierra described the film as “joyful” and “vibrant”, reflecting the atmosphere of the protest, and expressed eagerness for Scottish audiences to see it in cinemas. Executive producer Dame Emma Thompson has praised the documentary as “beautiful and powerful”.
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The film will have its UK premiere as the opening gala of the Glasgow Film Festival on 25 February, followed by a release in selected cinemas in the UK and Ireland from 13 March. Scottish distributor Conic will handle the release, with co-founder Jen Davies calling the award a “well-deserved moment” and a testament to the film’s international recognition and message of peaceful protest.
