(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Kettling of the Voices
Clipper, photographer, producer and director: Chester Yang
In the last two months of 2010, students in the UK took to the streets to protest the Conservative / Liberal Democrat government's desire to cut support for higher education and to dramatically increase tuition fees. During the protests, London police used so-called kettling – a technique for controlling large crowds that involves police forcing protesters together in a restricted area. Here they are often kept for many hours, without access to food, drink or toilets. And as mentioned, this was at the end of the year, as the temperature is often on the minus side of the scale.
The British documentary Kettling of the Voices – which had its world premiere at Bergen International Film Festival in September – follows some of the students who experienced this, documenting the surprising many negative consequences participation in the protests had for them.
Shocked at brutality. The film's director Chester Yang is originally from Sierra Leone, where violence against opponents is not uncommon. But after he escaped from the brutal dictatorship to Britain, he was shocked that the authorities in this allegedly democratic society also exercised brutal power against protesters. He first witnessed this in a demonstration in London against the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Yang has filmed various protests for a number of years.
"My previous movie War Matters "It was about the anti-war movement in London, which was fought in a similar way," Yang told Ny Tid. "When I saw that the students who demonstrated on December 9, 2010 were treated even worse, I became interested in following and filming this movement. And what I saw was very different from what was told through the media. They had no rights, he says of the sometimes very young activists who exercised their democratic right to protest against a political decision they disagreed with.
"The day after, there was nothing in the media about the brutality and injustice against the students that took place here. Instead, there was only one episode where Prince Charles and Camilla ended up confronting some protesters, ”the director said by phone from London.
Criminalization. In the film, Yang does not just focus on the obvious brutality that is exercised in the so-called the kitten, which in itself seemed to provoke clashes between police and protesters. In addition, shows Kettling of the Voices how the young students after these confrontations are tried to be criminalized by the authorities. The two central characters in the film, Brian and Ethan, were both prosecuted following the protests. The film also tells the story of a third student, who was struck in the head by a police officer and suffered potentially life-threatening injuries. However, he himself was indicted for violence, without the police in question being held responsible for his actions.
Legal control. In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights decided that kettling is legal, the movie states initially. With this method, the police largely dictate the premises for demonstrations, while limiting people's right to protest to try to influence the decisions of the elected officials. Without that, it seems to prevent violent clashes – rather the contrary. The police control over the situation also makes it easier for them to film these clashes, and with this documentation the authorities can find a basis for prosecuting the protesters. The way Brian in the movie goes through a long process because in a heated moment he took the hat off a cop's head. This process begins with recording his fingerprints and DNA, and ends up being actually sentenced. Ethan, for his part, feels that the police are releasing a photo of him taken during a demonstration, which ends up (along with photos of twelve other protesters) on the front page of the Evening Standard, announcing that he has been wanted.
Yang says it was difficult to find participants from the demonstrations who were willing to comment on their experiences on film.
“They are urged not to talk about it while their cases are pending because it can affect the outcome. However, I found someone who was willing to line up, assuming I didn't show the movie until their lawsuits ended. I promised them that, "Yang says.
The filmmaker further believes that the authorities in this way use the legal system to silence critical voices.
"It was obvious that the authorities did not want attention on the cases they were demonstrating against, as the cuts and the increased tuition fees were contrary to what the coalition had promised when elected. So they made sure no one talked about this, in an honest medieval way. I consider these students to be modern freedom fighters. " He also believes that British mainstream the media in their servitude to the authorities also did not want to address these cases to any great extent.
A lot of resistance. The legal proceedings against the students Yang followed, stretched over several years, and this is one of the reasons he has spent nearly five years on this film – in addition to the protests itself also lasting for a long period of time.
However, another significant reason is that the filmmaker has done most of it alone, without public or other support. Over and over, he was met with rejection, both when he applied for funding and when he later tried to get the film shown.
“I've sent the movie to all the TV channels here and some festivals, and they've all systematically said no. I don't know why, but I can only speculate, ”he says.
"I'm disappointed with how difficult it has been to reach out with this film. Also colleagues I contacted regarding cooperation, thanks no or did not reply. When I approached TV channels to get them on the road, some responded that they would not go into the movie because they had other, better projects. But I guess it has to do with the controversial theme. It's a shame, because it's important that we have a balance between entertainment and prog-
framework that addresses political issues. Currently, there are no films with this kind of political relevance, ”Yang claims.
He goes on to say that some distributors have refused the film because they felt the issue was not sufficient internationally.
“At the same time, they are showing films about injustice and abuse from other countries. That's fine – but when it's in the UK, it's not international enough. ”
No equivalent. The film tells with a text poster before the reel text that the Metropolitan Police – ie the Greater London Police Force – declined to comment in the film.
"They said they would only talk to me if I had a television channel involved, either as a financier or through a viewing agreement. Since my film is independent and self-financed, I was not a 'credible' person. And if you try to interview a police officer on the street, they will only ask you to contact the police press office. I think it should be my right as a citizen to be able to talk to the police, even if I have a camera, ”he says.
Finally, Yang realized that he was not going to get any statements from any government officials and chose to do the documentary without it.
"This, too, is a form of censorship, I think. After all, the media has a principle of balanced production. If you haven't got both sides talking, it may also be more difficult to get the movie shown. So it's not just about kettling in the streets, it happens in every possible area, ”says the filmmaker.
He expresses concern that kettling which method has spread to Spain, Greece and Hong Kong.
"In Spain, you can now be fined up to 300 euros if you take part in illegal protests. It is important to remember that previous rights struggles for workers, women and gays, as well as the civil rights movement, all won out due to riots and disturbances that made politicians or the elite listen to the people. If you remove this opportunity to influence, it can have catastrophic consequences, "concludes Yang.
More than 400 people were arrested during student demonstrations in the UK, and more than 70 ended up in hospitals, according to Kettling of the Voices. The protests failed to prevent the cuts and increased tuition fees.
