Forgotten Season @ The Frontline Club, Paddington

Aug 5 2008 By Christian McLaughlin

Kate, Lily, Amy, Pixie and Peaches – the mainstream media makes sure we're all on first name terms.

But what about the Saharawi, the Black Tigers or the people of Nagorno Karabakh?

These untold stories are the backbone of a fascinating season of documentary films now on at Paddington's Frontline Club.

Entitled The Forgotten Season, it is the first time the dynamic talks venue has hosted a season on such scale.

"We don't shy away from lesser publicised issues, we seek them out," says Phil Brown, the Frontline Club's assistant programmme manager.

Once found, the filmmakers and journalists responsible for the investigation, as well as related thinkers, are all invited to join the audience in discussion.

It's a format which has attracted everyone from the Independent's foreign correspondent Robert Fisk to nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz over their four year history.

The Forgotten Season won't sparkle with such glamorous names, but don't be fooled, what the films and their makers have to say will be
no less important.

The Forgotten Season is at The Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, Paddington, until August 22. See full listings below. Call 020 7479
8950 or see www.frontlineclub.com to book.

Wednesday, August 6

Bolivia: Looking for the Revolution. Followed by Q&A with director Rodrigo Vazquez. 7.30pm. £8.

Filmed between 2001 and 2007, Vazquez goes in search of the socialist revolution that ended with the murder of Che Guevara in 1967. Revived by the rise of Evo Morales – the native coca leaf farmer who became the country's president in 2005 – Looking for the Revolution wonders if Che's dreams can succeed in the twenty first century. 53 mins. 2007.

Friday, August 8

The Path of Most Resistance. Followed by Q&A with director Gareth Keogh and producer Saeed Taji-Farouky. 7.30pm. £8.

What happens when a soldier decides they can no longer fight? The Path of Most Resistance tackles the subject of conscientious objection by
following two US servicemen who want to quit. Each soldier recounts his experience of this largely unreported phenomenon – the transformation from soldier to pacifist. 45 mins. 2008.

Monday, August 11

My Daughter The Terrorist. Followed by Q&A with director Beate Arnestad. 7.30pm. £8.

The two girls, Dharsika and Puhalchudar, belong to the Sri Lankan Black Tigers. Side by side, they have trained, fought, and killed for seven years. Prepared to die for their cause, the elite soldiers now prepare for the ultimate mission. Childhood experiences, dreams and their families' loss underpin this startling story of two suicide bombers. Length: 60 mins. 2007.

Wednesday, August 13

A Story of People in War and Peace. Followed by Q&A with executive director Peter Symes. 7.30pm. £8.

"In war there is only brotherhood, names are not important, but in peace we become individuals again." The Nagorno Karabakh conflict - a
vicious turfwar between Armenia and Azerbaijan swiftly forgotten amidst the collapse of communist Russia. Armenian filmmaker Vardan
Hovhannisyan was stationed there as a war correspondent at the time. Ten years later he has tracked down the people he originally filmed to
capture the consequences of war. Length: 69 mins. 2007.

Friday, August 15

Andijan: A Massacre Foretold. Followed by Q&A with director Michael Andersen. 7.30pm. £8.

Uzbekistan – one of the US' key allies in the War on Terror. Yet the sanity of this relationship was called into question in 2005 when Uzbek troops fired on a crowd of peaceful demonstrators in the Eastern town of Andijan. The death toll estimates ranged from 300 to 5000, including women and children. Why were the US and Europe so willing to look the other way? Length: 58 mins. 2008.

Monday, August 18

Deserted: The Story of a Forgotten People - Western Sahara. Followed by photography presentation and Q&A with director Anna Evans-Freke and Danielle Smith. 7.30pm. £8.

A series of short films based on different encounters with the forgotten Saharawi people of Western Sahara. For thirty years they have lived in exile and uncertainty, their land disputed between Morocco and the Algerian backed Polisario Front. Here the Saharawi people give an insight into their world and their lives, sharing culture, memories, hopes and fears. Length: 30 mins. 2007.

Wednesday, August 20

The Other Side of the Country. Followed by discussion (tbc). 7.30pm. £8.

"What do you do when war engulfs you and your government says there is no war?" asks one of the five Ugandan protagonists intertwined in this
investigation. Men, women and children find different ways of coping as the suffering of northern Uganda cries out for attention. Length: 83 mins. 2007.

Friday, August 22

Juarez, City of Dreams. Followed by Q&A with director Alex Tweddle and cameraman James Buck. 7.30pm. £8.

Drugs, murder, employment, escape - what makes Mexicans flock to one of the largest border towns on earth. Violent and unstable, discover
why Juarez is the City of Dreams. Length: 50 mins. 2008.

The Forgotten Season is at The Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, Paddington, until August 22. See full listings below. Call 020 7479
8950 or see www.frontlineclub.com to book.