No Borders film night a success!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Every Monday at the University of Manchester student union a free documentary is shown. The event is open to the public, encourages discussion, and attempts to cover topics that are not always done justice in the mainstream media. The event is coordinated by the Openmedia forum, email openmedia (at) umsu.manchester.ac.uk for more.On Monday 4th February, Manchester NoBorders hosted the event and over seventy people attended. The evening began with a few short clips relating to migration and resistance, then followed the docudrama 'Ghosts' and it ended with some news on the NoBorders network, plus informal discussion. We showed:'Underground Londoners' We showed an extract from this new 30min documentary about the lives and struggles of migrants working in the London underground. The footage is based on a year of ongoing conversations and interviews with migrant workers. To order the film contact artmislondon (at) googlemail.com

'Woomera' We showed the dramatic and moving footage of a NoBorders camp at a detention centre in Woomera, Australia. Here, the NoBorders protestors worked with the detainees to break down the huge fences that seperated them. However, the break out was not a complete success, the majority of those who escaped were re-captured not far from the detention centre. Some indymedia coverage can be seen here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qun9ATwjfR0

'Ghosts' is a name that Chinese immigrants give to white westerners. It is also the name of Nick Broomfield's powerful and sensitive portrayal of the events leading up to the deaths of 23 Chinese cockle pickers at Morecambe Bay. The cast includes former illegal immigrants and the end of the film sees an appeal to help the families of the dead, who are still in debt to the gangs that facilitated the illegal migration. Despite the sad content of the film, it proved to be useful for stimulating contamplation and debate. For example, we discussed whether the film gives a fair representation of illegal immigrants in general, or does it portray them too heavily as victims?

Posted byManchester No Borders at 8:54 AM