Just read this on the SCIP (community e-group) list. Fucking hell. I find this extremely worrying.
PRESS RELEASE
MONDAY MARCH 17th 6 p.m
EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WWW.SMASHEDO.ORG.UK <
http://www.smashedo.org.uk/>
For more info contact Chloe Marsh or Andrew Beckett on 07875 708873
POLICE BAN PEACE ACTIVIST FILM
In a last-minute move Sussex Police have caused the Duke of York's
Cinema to cancel the showing of 'On the Verge' a documentary about
local peace campaigners SMASH EDO. The screening was due to be at
6.30pm tonight (Monday March 17th)
According to the Duke of York's cinema they received an e-mail at
4.15 p.m today (Mon March 17th) from Martin New , a council
environmental health officer. He explained that the police had
reported that the film had not been certificated and therefore should
not be shown. The Duke of York's were forced to pull the showing.
A spokesman for the production company SchMovies said "I am
extremely disappointed but not entirely surprised by the police's
action. As the showing of the film has been widely advertised for at
least six weeks, not least in the Duke of York's programme any
certification issues could have been dealt with well prior to the
event. Our film although focussing mainly on the rights and wrongs of
protest shows a number of examples of questionable police behaviour
Perhaps this is why they left their move so late."
Andrew Beckett, spokesman for the campaign said 'When the police are
reduced to banning film showings via the back door another blow has
been struck against our rights to free speech and free assembly'
Contacts:
Smash EDO Press 07875 708873
Duke of Yorks Cinema 01273 818549
Sussex Police Press Office 0845 60 70 999
Notes for Journalists:
THE FILM
On the Verge "An independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign "
View a trailer at
http://www.schnews.org.uk/schmovies/index-on-the-verge.htm
In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot
and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of
their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO
campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of
large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in
the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV footage plus interviews with
those involved in the campaign, 'On The Verge' tells the story of one
of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the
UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene.â??
The Company
EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S
weapons manufacturer EDO Corp.From their base in Moulescoombe
Brighton, EDO MBM
manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons
systems,laserguided missilesused extensively in Iraq, Lebanon,
Palestine and Somalia. EDO Corp
were recently acquired by ITT in multi-billion pound deal. ITT's
links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder Sosthenes Behn was
the first foreign businessman
received by Hitler after his seizure of power.
The Campaign
There has been active campaign against the presence of EDO MBM in Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war. Campaigners include students, Quakers , Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics. Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to removethem from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the Moulescoombe factory on
Wednesday's between 4 and 6.
Labels: film, police, politics, protest, UK
Our first event is on 29 April, and will be a curated screening of videos from YouTube, selected in collaboration with Nadege Derderian and Orion Maxted from protoPLAY. A screening of touching, angering, curious, visceral and ever-so voyeuristic pieces, taken from the mass contemporary ‘archive’ of YouTube. On 18 May: Olsen at the Duke of York’s cinema with tea, homemade cake and tips on hand-processing film On 25 October: A Wall is a Screen from Hamburg will be creating a moving image tour of Brighton for White Night Also: North West Film Forum in Seattle are doing a film exchange with us later in the year, so keep your eyes peeled for the opportunity to submit work for cross-Atlantic trading. www.videoclub.org.uk
This looks like Brighton, no?
