Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival
 A festival in Tolpuddle to celebrate the story of the 6 martyrs has been running in one form or another since 1875. In it's present form the festival was developed in 1997 by Nigel Costley the new South West TUC Regional Secretary, with the help of Dick Muskett from the Workers Beer Company. Today the festival ranks with The Durham Miners Gala and Levellers Day in Burford, Oxfordshire, as one the key summer events in the annual calendar of the UK Left.
Music, theatre and dance have been well represented at the festival since 1997 and the possibility of incorporating radical film into the festival has been on the agenda for many years. In 2014 the formation of The Radical Film Network and Public Domain Productionscoincided with the restoration of the Vintage Mobile Cinema and collaboration with GorillaCinema to make the ambition for film at Tolpuddle into a reality.
So in 2014 The Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival was founded by Chris Jury Of Public Domain and Reuben Irving from Gorilla Cinema / University of Worcester. It is hoped the film festival will run for many years and grow in size and scope.
Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival 2017
Who owns the truth?
The government or the people? The citizens or the corporations?
According to contemporary liberal discourse social media is facilitating the spread of 'fake news' in an unprecedented way. But manipulation of the 'news,' (otherwise known as lying), has been a central part of 'democratic' politics forever. The films selected this year explore the relationship between government, big business and the press and how the flow of information and ideas available to the rest of us is influenced, controlled and manipulated.
Programme
Ken Loach is a supporter of the film festival and says:
“I strongly support the idea of a Radical Film Festival at Tolpuddle. Films can bring in new ideas, new perspectives, new voices. As trade unionists we urgently need to re-examine our attitude to the existing parties. We need real political representation and to re-discover our militancy. Films that reflect struggles of working people can be a spur to action” Ken Loach
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Support The FestivalThe festival
is organised by volunteers and funded by numerous small donations from
across the spectrum of our broadly left wing supporters.
We are
still fund raising even as the event approaches, which is a bit scarey,
so any help you can give will be much appreciated and anything from £5
upwards will make a real difference.
You can donate via Sponsume or donate directly via Paypal on our Donations page http://www.tolpuddleradicalfilm.org.uk/donate
The inaugural Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival will run alongside the
main Tolpuddle Festival and launches with an exclusive pre-release
screening of Still The Enemy Within and will be theming the festival on
mining and Trade Unionism in honour of the 30th anniversary of the 1984
Miners strike.
“I strongly support the idea of a Radical Film
Festival at Tolpuddle. Films can bring in new ideas, new perspectives,
new voices. As trade unionists we urgently need to re-examine our
attitude to the existing parties. We need real political representation
and to re-discover our militancy. Films that reflect struggles of
working people can be a spur to action” Ken Loach
Yours Hopefully
Chris Jury & Reuben Irving
Festival Directors, Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival
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