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On this page: EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 8.Mar.26

Everybody to Kenmure Street
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

dir Felipe Bustos Sierra
prd Ciara Barry, Felipe Bustos Sierra
with Emma Thompson, Kate Dickie, Keira Lucchesi, Aamer Anwar, Mohammad Naveen Asif, Eileen Reid, Sumit Sehdev, Lakhvir Singh
release UK 13.Mar.26
26/UK 1h35

SUNDANCE FILM FEST

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Documenting events from a Glasgow suburb during the pandemic, this film has enormous resonance in today's political landscape, especially with current headlines of immigration enforcement across the US. This is the remarkable story of a community that peacefully insisted that even foreign-born neighbours should not be dragged out of their homes by officials for any reason. And director Felipe Bustos Sierra lets the people tell the story themselves.

At the dawn of Eid in May 2021, the Home Office took two Sikhs (Sehdev and Singh) from their homes into a waiting van. But neighbours quickly surrounded the vehicle, refusing to let it leave. Throughout the day, the crowd grew into the thousands, joined by local police, national media and Muslims leaving the nearby mosque on this holy day. The one demand was to let these detained men go, but Home Secretary Priti Patel refused to even answer the phone. Then lawyer Anwar negotiates a solution, and the men are freed eight hours later.

Neither Sehdev nor Singh were in the country illegally; they had lived in Scotland for 10 years, and their visas were in process. For the multi-cultural community, this event highlighted the blatantly racist actions of England's Tory government. Most importantly, the protests were resolutely peaceful, as people simply stood or sat in the way, speaking truth to power: "Let them go!" and "Shame on you!" The film cleverly casts actors in key roles, including Thompson playing a man who positioned himself under the van and Dickie as a nurse who made sure he was safe. It's gripping to watch this unfold largely through phone-camera footage that puts us right in the middle of it.

Local leader Asif reminds us that "the people of Scotland should not be messed with." And along the way, the film explores the history of Glasgow's pro-migrant protests, including how the city was the first to recognise Nelson Mandela as a hero. This may be because Glasgow was built on the slave trade, so there is a generational continuum of activism. Those present on this day included Kenmure Street resident Eileen Reid, daughter of internationally renowned 1970s activist Jimmy, and members of the Glasgow Girls who highlighted poor treatment of asylum seekers in 2005 and changed the law. So this becomes a wake-up call to audiences around the world, a powerful statement that we can't sit back and allow injustice.

themes, language 5.Feb.26

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL