Documentary on Glasgow immigration protest wins Sundance award

A documentary film about a Glasgow community's resistance to a Home Office immigration raid has won an award at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film, called Everyone to Kenmure Street, documents the events of 13 May 2021, when hundreds of residents in Pollokshields prevented the detention and deportation of their two neighbours during a dawn raid.

The men were released from a van after protesters surrounded the vehicle for several hours. One man crawled underneath the van to stop it from moving.

The film premiered earlier this month as part of Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Competition, screening on the opening day of the festival.

It has now won the competition's Special Jury Award, which recognises films that demonstrate exceptional courage and impact in documenting civil resistance around the world.

Directed by Chilean-Belgian filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra, who is based in Scotland, the documentary combines crowd-sourced footage filmed on the day with archive material and set-designed scenes.

These feature actors relaying verbatim testimonies from contributors who wished to remain anonymous.

Bustos Sierra previously directed the documentary Nae Pasaran, about how a boycott by East Kilbride Rolls Royce factory workers helped end General Pinochet's regime in 1970s Chile.

He described Everyone to Kenmure Street as a "snapshot of a day, of a neighbourhood, and of gestures repeated through time, for the right to have a voice and to live in peace".

"Glasgow's long history of civil disobedience and meaningful change has been a barometer throughout the making of this film," he said.

At the time, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Home Office action was "unacceptable" - particularly as the raid had taken place in a Muslim community celebrating Eid.

Everybody to Kenmure Street will have its UK premiere as the Opening Gala of the Glasgow Film Festival on 25 February.

It will then be released in selected UK and Irish cinemas from 13 March.

Two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson, who was the film's executive producer, previously described it as "beautiful and powerful".

Producer Ciara Barry, of Glasgow-based production company barry crerar, said: "This is such an amazing honour. We are so proud of the film, all its collaborators and its message of peaceful protest and our collective power to be the change that we want to see in the world.

"Thanks to everyone who supported, believed in and funded the film."