But why weren't they allowed to say that?
A Canadian grapples with the concept that we're not allowed to tell the whole truth in court in the UK
Yesterday I was interviewed by Matthew Toffolo for the WILDsounds podcast about The Line We Crossed. In June the film won the audience award for best feature film at the WILDsounds Environmental Film Festival. It is always very heartening to receive an accolade like that, but what is particularly interesting about this award is that the audience were Canadian. The Line We Crossed is a film about British activists and the repression of protest rights in Britain. It is about British laws and yet it appears to be resonating with people living in other democracies. Alongside the UK release of the film, we’ve been able to hold a number of screenings in The Netherlands as well. Activists from France are also keen to show the film.
This is a struggle that affects so many people and it appears that the film is able to speak to other communities living in democracies who are also facing an assault on their protest rights, and who are struggling to raise the alarm about the climate and ecological crisis. Last week things took an even darker turn in the UK when it comes to the clamping down on dissent by The State. As Matthew said, while you don’t necessarly want it to be, this is a timely movie.
So for my Substack this week I am going to hand you over to the podcast episode recorded by WILDsounds. It begins with the interviewer trying to get his head around why defendants weren’t being allowed to explain to the jury why they were protesting. We then move on to talk about the people in the film and spend some time discussing the filmmaking process.
The Line We Crossed is currently screening in cinemas and community centres across the UK (and The Netherlands!). Find out where it is being screened here.