Film / News
Bristol Radical Film Festival returns with film premieres and a launch party
Given Israel’s divisive war on Gaza, and US protests against it, you might be forgiven for wondering how and why Israel became the cornerstone of American Judaism. This subject is addressed in Israelism, a new documentary by Sam Eilertsen and Eric Axelman exploring the past, present and future of the relationship between American Jews and Israel.
Dozens of American Jewish thinkers, community leaders and activists share stories of falling in love with Israel, and competing visions for a Jewish future, while Israelis and Palestinians describe how their lives are affected by the decisions of a community half a world away. Israelism is the opening film at this year’s Bristol Radical Film Festival, which takes place at the Cube Cinema on October 12 &13.
A still from Open Country
The 2024 festival also features the UK premiere of Open Country, which reveals the rich history of American country music long before it became the country-pop soundtrack for the US political right. Contributors ranging from Pete Seeger to Billy Bragg seek to reclaim country as the people’s music.
Other highlights include Union, which explores the grassroots activism of Amazon workers at the company’s giant warehouses in New York as they fight for better working conditions; Britain’s Forgotten Prisoners, shining a light on the 3,000-plus prisoners languishing indefinitely in Britain’s jails with no idea of when they’ll be released; and Prism, which takes a novel look at how racism became embedded in film culture by the lighting for movie cameras being calibrated for white skin.
A couple of weeks before these weekend events, the festival is formally launched at the same venue with a film screening and Love Music Hate Racism gig on Thursday 26 September. The film is On Resistance Street, which traces music’s battle against racial prejudice and fascism from the lesser known jazz campaigns of the ’50s through the ’70s Rock Against Racism movement and beyond to the present day. The screening is followed by a showcase for MCs, DJs and rappers.
Go here for the full programme and ticket information.
Main image from Prism. All pix: Bristol Radical Film Festival
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