5 November 2015 – Reading Film Theatre, Palmer Building, University of Reading

Elhum-Shakerifar-1

Producer, Elhum Shakerifar was present for a Q&A about the documentary and her work as a creative producer. Hosted by Professor LĂșcia Nagib, Professor of Film and Director of the Centre for Film Aesthetics and Cultures (CFAC).

The Reluctant Revolutionary is an intimate portrait of Yemen as the revolution unfolds, told through the eyes of tour guide leader Kais, an intelligent commentator on the changing times in Yemen, offering poignant moments of reflection, loss, anger and hope on the unknown road to revolution. Filmed over the course of a year with exceptional access to a country where no other camera crews or journalists were allowed to remain, we see Kais’s journey from pro-President to reluctant revolutionary, joining angry protesters in the increasingly bloody streets of Sana’a.

Elhum-Shakerifar-2Documentary producer Elhum Shakerifar speaks with the audience after the film screening.

Onwards and Outwards is a unique programme of films made by British women filmmakers over the last 50 years. It draws attention to the lack of knowledge surrounding the conditions for women working in the UK’s film industry, highlighting women filmmakers who have excelled in making works of independence and originality and raising the profile of these key issues. Led by the ICA, in partnership with eleven other UK venues in cultural centres throughout the country, the programme serves as a public platform for productive debates amongst a diverse range of audiences.

The season culminated in a symposium Women’s Filmmaking in Contemporary Britain, at the ICA, on 12 December 2015, organised in partnership with Birkbeck and CFAC.