AN AWARD-WINNING documentary about how a Glasgow community came together to resist a Home Office immigration raid has “reawakened” people’s sense of justice amid growing hostility towards migrants, one of the film's contributors has said.
Everybody To Kenmure Street has been internationally acclaimed since it premiered, with it picking up an award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and becoming the second-highest-grossing new release in the 52-year history of the Glasgow Film Theatre.
The film documents events on May 13, 2021, when hundreds of people gathered in Kenmure Street, in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, to prevent two of their neighbours from being detained.
The two men were released after protesters surrounded the immigration enforcement van, with one person even lying underneath the vehicle, as activists faced off against immigration officers and police for eight hours.
The documentary combines crowd-sourced footage filmed on the day with set-designed scenes and archive material, which captures the moment a Glasgow community came together in solidarity.
Tabassum Niamat was one of the first people at the scene on the day, and large segments of her three-hour-long live stream feature throughout the film, along with her contributing her own first-hand account of the events in the documentary.
She believes Everybody To Kenmure Street “resonates” so profoundly with people because it is a timely reminder that, despite the rise in right-wing politics across the UK, migrants are still welcome in Scotland.
“It's certainly reawakened the kind of passion and the sense of justice that Glasgow holds, I feel this is very unique to the people of Glasgow,” Niamat told the Sunday National.
“What we're seeing politically and in the media landscape, especially with the legacy media, is this narrative around asylum seekers, refugees not being welcome and that the people of Glasgow really don't want them here.”
Niamat added: “But that's not what Kenmure Street was saying.
“That's definitely not what most of us who live in Glasgow and have been born and raised here feel. Nothing has changed for us.
“The thing is, though, the hostility towards migrants and refugees and Muslims has definitely increased.
“The media and politicians, using ill-advised language, I feel it's deliberate on their part, it's very much fuelling these flames of division.”
Everybody To Kenmure Street was directed by Bafta-winner Felipe Bustos Sierra and produced by Ciara Barry of Glasgow-based production company barry crerar.
The documentary is due to be screened multiple times during this year’s Refugee Festival Scotland, including a panel Q&A with those involved with the film at Queen's Park on June 14.
Niamat explained at the festival’s programme launch that the 10-day-long celebrations are a reminder of what makes not just the city of Glasgow great, but also the people.
“Most people who live here for the most part do have that sense of justice for others and do have the sense of like we all are the same, and we all should live a life of dignity and respect, and we shouldn't be fearful for our lives or our place here in this country for the city.”
Despite the events on Kenmure Street five years ago, Scotland, along with the rest of the UK, has seen a rise in anti-immigration rhetoric, which has grown alongside the emergence of new right-wing parties like Reform UK.
Last year saw anti-immigration protests outside a number of hotels, believed to be housing asylum seekers, in places like Falkirk, Perth, Dundee, and Aberdeen.
However, these protests were often met with counter-demonstrations, which saw trade unions, faith groups, charities, and communities come together to share messages of solidarity and unity.
Niamat explained that despite divisive politics from the right, there is still a lot of love and solidarity within communities across Scotland. Something she believes Everybody To Kenmure Street is reminding people.
“It's so dark nowadays in terms of our political landscape, and I've been having these conversations a lot lately, and that’s because we always hear the loud, hateful voices; we'll begin to feel this is what it is,” Niamat said.
“We're not hearing enough of the positive stories, but actually there is solidarity, there is love, there is care within communities.”
Niamat added: “We saw it during Covid. We saw how people came out.
“While there was mass corruption and so much going wrong in terms of the way the government was managing Covid, the people all came together.
“The way the food banks came out of nowhere, the way people cared for their neighbours, the way places opened their doors.
“We see this time and time again in times of crisis and hardship as the everyday person who will come out for their neighbour, for their community, and it's actually in the worst of times that we see the best in humanity.
“I just wish we could see this reflection in politics and our politicians, who seem to be the total opposite of us, because actually, in the worst of times, they will just get worse.”
Everybody To Kenmure Street has multiple shows at this year's Refugee Festival Scotland. You can find the festival's full programme here.
