The 5th Screening Rights Film Festival took place in Birmingham and Coventry Thursday 21 – Sunday 24 November 2019.
Featuring acclaimed films and post-screening events with directors,
producers, ‘stars’, experts and activists, Screening Rights aims to extend
audiences for, and responses to, films about today’s pressing issues.
Take a look at the 2019 programme below.
Festival Launch: Obey
Old Grammar School
Thurs 21 November, 7.30pm
This year’s festival will launch at the Old Grammar School in Coventry with a screening of OBEY. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the London riots of 2011, this compelling British debut feature is full of fire, rage, and vulnerability.
Dir: Jamie Jones
96 mins / 2018 / UK / Cert: 15
Post-screening discussion with Professor Rajinder Dudrah (Creative Industries, BCU), writer/director Liane Moonraven and Professor Helen Wood (Media and Culture, Lancaster)
Permission
+ post-screening discussion
Midlands Arts Centre
Thurs 21 November, 5.45pm
Based on real events, PERMISSION is a gripping fiction film about an Iranian sportswoman’s considerable skill and strength as she battles to change the law in Iran to allow greater gender equality.
Dir: Soheil Beiraghi
88 mins / 2018 / Iran / Cert: 15 / Farsi (w. Eng. Subtitles)
Tickets from £8.50
Post-screening panel with Dr Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad (Iranian Film specialist, SOAS, University of London)
Midnight Traveler
+ post-screening discussion
Midlands Arts Centre
Thurs 21 November, 8.30pm
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he and his family are forced to flee. Fazili shows the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.
Dir: Hassan Fazili
88 mins / 2019 / USA, Qatar, Canada, UK / Cert (recommended): 15 / Persian, Arabic, English, Turkish, Bulgarian (with Eng. Subtitles)
Tickets from £8.50
Post-screening discussion with BBC Midlands Today Senior Editor/Journalist, Raj Ford, twice refugee Ammar Saleh (Refugee Council) and Professor Vicki Squires (International Politics, Warwick)
Repeat Screening: Obey
+ post-screening discussion
Midlands Arts Centre
Fri 22 November, 1pm
Set against the turbulent backdrop of the London riots of 2011, this compelling British debut feature is full of fire, rage, and vulnerability.
Dir: Jamie Jones
96 mins / 2018 / UK / Cert: 15
Tickets from £8.50
Post-screening discussion with Ian Sergeant (curator/researcher of black British arts), writer/director Liane Moonraven and artist/designer Jay Davis (Beatfreeks)
We Will Stand Up
+ post-screening discussion
Midlands Arts Centre
Fri 22 November, 8.15pm
A ground-breaking documentary about the killing of a young Cree man, Colten Boushie, his family’s pursuit of justice and the racism embedded within Canada’s legal system.
Dir: Tasha Hubbard
98 mins / 2019 / Canada / Cert: PG / English and Cree (w. Eng. Subtitles)
Tickets from £8.50
Post screening discussion with Professor Jackie Hodgson (Law, University of Warwick), Dr John Munro (History, University of Birmingham) and Dr Gillian Roberts (American and Canadian Studies, University of Nottingham)
Capernaum
+ post-screening discussion
Square One, Coventry
Sat 23 November, 1.30pm
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, this heartbreaking and defiant film tells the story of the poverty stricken Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the crime of giving him life.
Dir: Nadine Labaki
126 mins / 2018 / Lebanon, US / Cert: 15 / Amharic and Lebanese (w. Eng. Subtitles)
Post-screening discussion with Professor Stephanie Hemelryk Donald (Film specialist, University of Lincoln) and Sophie Chamas (Middle East specialist, SOAS, University of London)
A DEAL WITH THE UNIVERSE
+ post-screening discussion
Midlands Arts Centre
Sat 23 November, 5pm
Made entirely from personal archive footage and home video diaries, the film follows Jason Barker and his partner Tracey’s incredible story of how he came to give birth to his child.
Dir: Jason Barker
91 mins / 2018 / UK / Cert: 15
Tickets from £8.50
Post-screening interview and Q&A with the film’s director and ‘star’ Jason Barker
FOR SAMA
+ post-screening discussion
Square One, Coventry
Sat 23 November, 6pm
A love letter from a young Syrian mother to her daughter, FOR SAMA is an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war.
Dir: Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
96 mins / 2019 / UK / Cert: 18 / Arabic (w. Eng. Subtitles)
Post-screening discussion with Dr Nicola Pratt (Politics and International Studies, Warwick) and Razan Ghazzawi, Syrian scholar and activist (Gender Studies, Sussex)
EARTH
+ post-screening discussion
Midlands Arts Centre
Sat 23 November, 8pm
Several billion tons of earth are moved annually by humans – Geyrhalter observes people in mines, quarries and at large construction sites, engaged in a constant struggle to take possession of the planet.
Dir: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
115 mins / 2019 / Austria / Cert (recommended): 12A / German, English, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian (w. Eng. Subtitles)
Tickets from £8.50
Post-screening discussion with Dr Helen Hughes (Film, University of Surrey) Dr Tiago De Luca (Film, University of Warwick) and environmental scientist and soil expert, Dr Fer Aller
Closing Night: Gaza
+ post-screening discussion
Midlands Arts Centre
Sun 24 November, 5pm
Our Closing Night film at Midlands Art Centre in Birmingham is GAZA. This elegantly shot and masterfully crafted portrait of Palestinian life offers a rare chance to be immersed in the heart of Gaza.
Dir: Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell
92 mins / 2019 / Ireland, Canada / Cert: 15 / Arabic (w. Eng. subtitles)
Tickets from £8.50
Post-screening discussion with The Right Honourable Clare Short, Dr Marwan Darweish (Coventry University) and young researchers from the South Hebron Hills.
DOWNLOAD THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME (PDF)
Screening Rights 