Saturday, March 29, 2008

EDO Bath - How it Went

To follow up on the EDO stories, the top people over at The Bath Bomb have given us a speak preivew of the next issue with a tale to tell of the EDO screening;

"Thats rights folks, last week saw Bath Activist Network illicitly screening a copy of the film the cops tried to ban in that shady den of crime and subversion otherwise known as the Quakers freinds meeting house. The film was 'on the verge', telling the story of a dedicated crew of Brightonians who have nearly succeeded in shutting down a bomb building factory after 4 years campaigning. they have suffered continual police harrasment, with over 40 arrests so far, and the bother didn't stop when they took their new film on tour. Obviously not happy with exposing us to the idea that we have the power to change society, the police have been scurring round the country bullying small venues to make them drop the film (teling one woman they would take away her film screening licence if she disobeyed). The same happened in Bath - the Bell, our original venue got a call from a sweaty palmed worm of a human being named Alan Bartlett. Alan, acting under the orders of his police overlords had threatened the Bell out of showing the film. We managed to find the Quaker meeting house as a backup venue, as places of worship are exempt from film laws. Alan tried the same trick, tactfully stating that being a Quaker wasn't a 'proper' religion (well, Alan should know about things not being proper - his job for example). Never the less, the film went ahead to a packed theatre, numbers doubled due to the contraversy caused by police and council bullying. The film was inspirational and the night was a great sucess. And as for our inept, toady friend Alan, and the wanna be film critics that consitute the thin blue line... i'm guessing they havn'y heard the last of this just yet!"


Good on 'em for fighting the censorship of the cops! Good on Kebele too! It shows that when people who care are faced with repression, they can push forward and overcome. The cops attempted censorship has totally backfired and give the film more publicity that it would have had before.

Links;
Bath Bomb - http://www.myspace.com/bathbomb (and check out issue 8!)
Smash EDO - http://www.smashedo.org.uk
Bristol Screening - http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/article/688105


PS. The Smash EDO people will be hosting a big Carnival Against the Arms Trade in Brighton, meet at 12 noon at The Level, Brighton on Wednesday 4th June - Wear red, bring whistles and drums!
-

No comments: