Tolpuddle RFF Cancelled
This years Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival has been cancelled. This statement from the organisers explains why:
SWTUC, the organisers of the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival, have received threats of serious disruption to the festival by factions unhappy that the Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival has chosen to screen the film, Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie, made by Platform Films.
It is important to understand that the Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival is a separate corporate entity from the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival and is self-supporting through sponsorship and donations and is run by volunteers who are not involved in running the Martyrs’ Festival nor subject to the authority or line-management of the festival. The Martyrs’ Festival merely provides us with a rent-free space to park the Vintage Mobile Cinema on the festival site and access to free electricity.
Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie, is a feature-length documentary film of a high professional standard and is calm and measured in tone and based on the personal testimony of those interviewed and on credible, researched evidence. The film is an important historical document that explores the Corbyn phenomenon (and the attack on Corbyn and his supporters from within the Labour Party), from a point of view that is never seen in the mainstream media. It is true that the film has a point of view that not everyone will agree with, but so do all the films we show, indeed, that is the point of showing them!
We are unwilling to run this year’s Radical Film Festival without the film in the programme but the Martyrs’ Festival are facing the possibility of serious disruption to the whole festival if we screen this film that to be fair, they did not choose… and the threats of disruption obviously raise concerns about the danger of damage to the Vintage Mobile Cinema itself. Therefore, after much soul-searching we have decided that the Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival will withdraw completely from this year’s Martyrs’ Festival.
Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie, is being shown around the country and we are confident that everyone who is interested will have an opportunity to see the film. Further details can be found on Platform Films Facebook Page
We recognise that the organisers of the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival were put in a difficult situation by the pressure external factions placed on them and we hope to return to Tolpuddle in 2024, which will be the tenth anniversary of Film @ Tolpuddle. Thank you for your support. We hope to be back next year.
The Green Gathering
The good news is that we have found a new home for Small Axe this year and we will be screening the final selection in the Radical Cinema tent at the Green Gathering between the 3 and 6 of August. The venue coordinated by Reel News who have been regular contributors to Small Axe since we started.
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