Documentary on Kenmure Street protest to open Glasgow Film Festival

A documentary about a Glasgow protest that successfully stopped two Sikh men being taken away by immigration officers will open the city's film festival next month.

Everybody To Kenmure Street is centred on the events of 13 May 2021, when a Home Office raid in Pollokshields prompted hundreds of locals to take to the area's Kenmure Street.

The two men were released from a van after protesters surrounded the vehicle for several hours.

The new film is directed by Bafta-winning Glasgow filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra and uses crowd-sourced footage from the day, along with archive film and set-designed scenes featuring actors relaying the testimonies of people who wanted to remain anonymous.

It will receive its gala UK premiere on 25 February at the Glasgow Film Theatre, launching the 22nd edition of the film festival.

Bustos Sierra, who 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, said he could not wait for his new film to be shown to a hometown crowd in Glasgow.

He added: "This film is 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. I cannot wait to watch it at the GFT with its hometown audience, for whom we can only hope it'll be a joyful reminder of what a beacon they can be in uncertain times."

Paul Gallagher, the head of programme for the film festival, said the new film was hugely inspiring and tells a story "pertinent for the whole world right now".

The film is executive produced by two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson and is slated for a full cinema release in March.

Last month festival organisers announced the event will close with the UK premiere of James McAvoy's directorial debut California Schemin' on 8 March.

It will be the second year in a row that the festival has opened and closed with a Scottish feature film, following Tornado and Make It To Munich for the 2025 edition.

The full programme for the festival will be announced on 21 January.