Launch of Progressive Film Club by Adrian Dunbar

national | arts and media | news report Monday February 25, 2008 12:36 by Progressive Film Club - Progressive Film Club info at progressivefilmclub dot ie

The Progressive Film Club is a voluntary organisation that has been established to show progressive films—in the broadest sense of that term—from all over the world. Struggles for people’s rights, for the rights of workers, of immigrants, of women, for national liberation and for social justice are some of the themes of the outstanding films we have shortlisted, most of them never shown before in Ireland. Showings are on Sunday evenings at the New Theatre in East Essex Street. Booking through Connolly Books—or come early to avoid disappointment.

The Progressive Film Club is a voluntary organisation that has been established to show progressive films—in the broadest sense of that term—from all over the world. Struggles for people’s rights, for the rights of workers, of immigrants, of women, for national liberation and for social justice are some of the themes of the outstanding films we have shortlisted, most of them never shown before in Ireland. Showings are on Sunday evenings at the New Theatre in East Essex Street. Booking through Connolly Books—or come early to avoid disappointment.

Because some of our films are obtained through distributors, the programme is subject to change. Visit our web site (www.progressivefilmclub.ie) to make sure you have the latest information.

Sunday 2 March 2008, 7 p.m. official launch followed by screening of 'Sisters-in-Law'

The Progressive Film Club will be officially launched on Sunday, March 2nd 2008 at 7:00pm by Adrian Dunbar. Along with a prolific career in theatre, Dunbar has appeared in such notable films as Hear My Song (which he co-wrote), My Left Foot, The Crying Game, and The General. He has also had leading roles in the films Triggermen, Shooters, How Harry Became A Tree, Richard III, and Widows' Peak. At present he is directing Connolly, a movie about 1916 leader & Irish labour union organiser James Connolly.

Sisters in Law (2005)

Directed by Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi. A fascinating and sometimes hilarious documentary that follows the work of a state prosecutor, Vera Ngassa, and court president, Beatrice Ntuba, as they help women in Cameroon fight difficult cases of marital abuse, despite pressure from families and the community to remain silent. In Cameroon English, with English subtitles.

Sunday 9 March 2008, 7:30 p.m.
I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2004)

Written and directed by Serge Le Péron. A dramatised account of a notorious political scandal. The Moroccan intellectual and national liberation leader Mehdi Ben Barka disappeared in 1965 after being picked up by the French police in Paris. The official account was that nothing was known about the incident; but the involvement of the criminal world together with the French police tells a different story. In French with English subtitles.

Sunday 16 March 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Fast Food Nation (2006)

Written and directed by Richard Linklater. A drama loosely based on the book by Eric Schlosser. A researcher goes to the slaughterhouse that supplies the meat for America’s best-selling hamburgers. There he discovers that the industrial production of food involves not only contamination but the exploitation of illegal immigrants as well as other abuses.

Sunday 15 June 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Days of Glory (2006)

Directed by Rachid Bouchareb. A drama about the plight of North African soldiers who fought for France in the Second World War. It follows a company of Algerian soldiers who fight against fascist Germany in Morocco and Italy and then in France, where their sacrifices for the “Motherland” are rewarded with discrimination. In French, with English subtitles.

Sunday 29 June 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Venezuela Bolivariana:
People and Struggle of the Fourth World War (2004)

Directed by Marcelo Andrade Arreaza. Venezuela Bolivariana looks at the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela as part of the worldwide movement against globalisation. It shows the evolution of the popular movement from the “Caracazo” demonstrations of 1989 to the massive actions that brought the revolutionary president, Hugo Chávez, back to power forty-eight hours after a US-led coup in 2002. The film ends with an epilogue that shows how the Venezuelan people are not only fighting against the oligarchy and imperialism but are exercising people’s power in the “revolution within the Revolution.” In Spanish, with English subtitles.

Sunday 6 July 2008, 7:30 p.m.
West Beyrouth (1998)

Directed by Ziad Doueiri. In April 1975 civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a Muslim-Christian line. Tarek is in secondary school, making super-8 films with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed, the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game . . . As Tarek comes of age, the war moves inexorably from adventure to tragedy. In Arabic and French, with English subtitles.

Sunday 13 July 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Water (2005)

Directed by Deepa Mehta. A compelling film that explores the role of women in traditional Indian society. It is set in the 1930s, when Hindu widows were often condemned to live in an ashram or “widows’ house,” where they led a life of little comfort and little hope. But some rebelled, including eight-year-old Chuyia, who becomes a widow after the death of her elderly husband.

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