BRFF Presents "Power to the People": Films on the Black Panther Party + Afterparty

'Who Are the Angola Three?' (Hugo Levien, 2013, 30mins) plus director Q+A; and
'Eldridge Cleaver: Black Panther' (William Klein, 1970, 70mins)

Plus a night of foot-stomping blues, funk and soul with John Fairhurst, Ben Sayer, Leonie Evans, Singing Club, DJ Dad and DJ Mon.

Arc Bar (27 Broad St, Bristol, Avon BS1 2HG)

£3 on the door. Doors open at 7pm, music starts at 10pm.

Come along, see some inspiring films and dance the night away! This event is a fundraiser for the film festival, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds, and asylum seekers can come for free.

“We gonna say to the whole damn government: ‘Stick ‘em up motherfucker. This is a hold up – we come for what’s ours’”

Propaganda and its role in shaping the views of a nation

Monday 4th March 8pm The Cube, Dove Street, Bristol.  Entry £3/£4 (But nobody turned away due to lack of funds)

Permanent Culture Now, Bristol Indymedia and Bristol Radical History Group are proud to present as part of the Bristol Radical Film Festival a presentation and series of films about how propaganda was used by the Establishment  during the time of the Empire and Colonialism to persuade our own population of the greatness of the empire.  The techniques and manipulation of information have a resonance for today as we constantly see propaganda techniques used to justify illegal wars and policy decisions.

Frances Gooding has been researching colonial film as part of the a wider project and he will present a series of rare films that highlight the propaganda machine in action, he will explain film was manipulated to rewrite history, a charge that could these days be pointed at Hollywood movies (Pearl Harbour, Braveheart  anyone). After viewing these films Francis will unpick the motivations for making them and explain how they were changed to fit the ruling class ideology of the day. This will be an essential event for anyone interested in how our views are shaped by the media we consume and how this is used by the powerful interests of society, i.e. the state and ruling class to put their view of the world onto the mass population.

The event will be followed by a Q&A where we will discuss the relevance of these propaganda techniques for the world we live in today.

Where did they go?

Monday September 3rd, 8pm. Entry £3/£4 (But nobody turned away due to lack of funds)

While the cuts mean slashes in benefits, the rise in childhood poverty, job losses and the removal of vital services for most of us, it seems the bankers are doing very well out of austerity. The banking sector, bailed out by UK taxpayers to the tune of a trillion dollars is still awarding huge bonuses and raking in mountains of profit. Kerching!

However there are billions of revenue that could be used to fund vital services and help to poor. It's just that the UK government has decided that welfare is for the rich and powerful - and so let them off paying billions in taxes. Examples include Vodafone who had negotiated a deal with the UK government, whereby its tax bill of £7 billion was conveniently reduced to £1.25 billion. Goldman Sachs was let off a £10m interest bill, while it recorded profits of $2.1bn in the first quarter of 2012.

This film by UKUncut expores the issues and how people are fighting back!

The event includes supporting features and local speakers.

[http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/ | movie review 1 | movie review 2 ]

Big Brother is watching.... so learn to poke him in the eye...

Training that will equip activists to help stop the Snoopers' Charter and Mass Internet Blocking. Briefings will be followed by practicing how to talk to your MP and other activities.

Open Rights Group needs your help to defeat the latest attacks on internet freedom! We need to convince MPs that they should oppose new proposals for more surveillance and censorship. So we're running these training sessions that will help you learn about two of the biggest current digital rights issues and practice how to discuss them with your MP. We'll be covering two big topics:

1. The “Snoopers’ Charter” - aka the Communications Data Bill - was announced in the Queen's speech and is about to be published by the government. The bill will create new powers to intercept and collect information about who you talk to online. Your communications via Google, Facebook or Skype will now be open to what may be a large number of government officials. We want to see the powers to collect and access communications data tightened up, not extended ever further. 

2. Internet censorship. The government is considering whether Internet Service Providers should have to block websites that contain 'adult content' by default, with an 'opt out' for uncensored access. That would mean an infrastructure of censorship that could, through mistakes, abuse or mission creep, lead to more and more content being blocked for people in the UK. Our research on mobile Internet censorship recently showed how often the wrong websites can be filtered, for example. We want to prevent this further move towards private policing of the internet and free speech, and recommend better ways to help parents manage their children's Internet access.

You can help stop these proposals. And we are here to help you!

You don't need any previous knowledge of the issues or experience talking with your MP. 

The training event will last for around four hours. First we will give you a good background briefing on the issues and an overview of the campaigns. Then we will do some practical training on how to speak to your MP, and cover other campaigning ideas too. 

Join us and become a digital rights champion! 

11-4pm Watershed, Saturday July 7th, Bristol

http://www.openrightsgroup.org/