In 1941, not long after the siege of Leningrad had commenced, the ‘Russia Today Society’ in Airdrie agreed to collect, and collate in an album, women’s signatures from Airdrie and Coatbridge to send to the women of Leningrad to convey feelings of admiration and support. This small act of solidarity had a tremendous effect on … Continued
Join Shotts Library for an artistic workshop with artist John Martin Fulton where you’ll be given the chance to explore and express what freedom means to you using a variety of visual mediums. John will be hosting various artistic workshops with North Lanarkshire Libraries as part of their Our Freedom: Then and Now programme, with … Continued
Join Wishaw Library for an artistic workshop with artist John Martin Fulton where you’ll be given the chance to explore and express what freedom means to you using a variety of visual mediums. John will be hosting various artistic workshops with North Lanarkshire Libraries as part of their Our Freedom: Then and Now programme, with … Continued
Join Motherwell Library in their newly created Makerspace for an artistic workshop with artist John Martin Fulton where you’ll be given the chance to explore and express what freedom means to you using a variety of visual mediums. John will be hosting various artistic workshops with North Lanarkshire Libraries as part of their Our Freedom: … Continued
Join Motherwell Library in their newly created Makerspace for an artistic workshop with artist John Martin Fulton where you’ll be given the chance to explore and express what freedom means to you using a variety of visual mediums. John will be hosting various artistic workshops with North Lanarkshire Libraries as part of their Our Freedom: … Continued
Join Bellshill Cultural Centre for a creative writing and poetry workshop with local poet and author Antje Bothin. Part of the Our Freedom: Then and Now programme, the writing produced from this workshop will form part of a larger exhibition in the Immersive Room at the end of the wider project. This participatory workshop will … Continued
Join Cumbernauld Library in their newly created Makerspace for an artistic workshop with artist John Martin Fulton where you’ll be given the chance to explore and express what freedom means to you using a variety of visual mediums. John will be hosting various artistic workshops with North Lanarkshire Libraries as part of their Our Freedom: … Continued
Join Motherwell Library for a creative writing and poetry workshop with local poet and author Antje Bothin. Part of the Our Freedom: Then and Now programme, the writing produced from this workshop will form part of a larger exhibition in the Immersive Room at the end of the wider project. This participatory workshop will be … Continued
This exhibition at Clydebank Library looks at archive images of the damage inflicted by the Blitz and these are paired with contemporary photos of the same location by photographer Peter Devlin. The images show how the town was severely damaged and the legacy that we are left with. You’re invited to visit and reflect on … Continued
This talk by Corey Gibson, lecturer in 20th-century Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, will address the life and work of the poet, folklorist, radical Hamish Henderson (1919-2002). In particular, it will consider the twin pillars of Henderson’s cultural-political project: the ‘anonymous song poetry of Scotland’ and the ‘comradely solidarity of the anti-Fascist struggle’. … Continued
When we think about everyday life during the Second World War, we often think about hardship and sacrifice, rationing, and ‘doing without’ for the greater good of the war effort. But this is not quite the full picture. This talk explores leisure and pleasure in wartime Scotland, uncovering the ways people found to enjoy life … Continued
As part of the Our Freedom: Then and Now project to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, North Lanarkshire Libraries are presenting an exhibition of art, stories and film to reflect the story of freedom within North Lanarkshire. Join them in the Immersive Room in Motherwell Library where virtual … Continued
Alongside their VE Day film, An Tobar and Mull Theatre are offering creative workshops for young people to compose, record, produce and sync an original soundtrack, culminating in a live performance at the film’s premiere. Through this process, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the film’s vision and story, working closely with the director, … Continued
Through this process, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the film’s vision and story, working closely with the director, exploring timing, and learning how sound can shape storytelling. The workshops will introduce students to storyboarding and research, encouraging them to translate ideas and themes into sound. Together, they will experiment with describing sound in … Continued
Alongside their VE Day film, An Tobar and Mull Theatre are offering creative workshops for young people to compose, record, produce and sync an original soundtrack, culminating in a live performance at the film’s premiere. Through this process, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the film’s vision and story, working closely with the director, … Continued
Alongside their VE Day film, An Tobar and Mull Theatre are offering creative workshops for young people to compose, record, produce and sync an original soundtrack, culminating in a live performance at the film’s premiere. Through this process, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the film’s vision and story, working closely with the director, … Continued
This unique film, created by filmmaker Alasdair Satchel, brings together the voices and memories of Mull, weaving an evocative portrait of the island during wartime and in the years that followed VE Day. Archival footage and photographs are interwoven with new images created in An Tobar’s workshop, grounding the history in both past and present. … Continued
Join An Tobar and Mull Theatre for a special intergenerational storytelling workshop, where memories of wartime Mull and VE Day are passed between generations. A community elder will begin with their story, before a younger participant carries it forward, weaving a shared thread of memory. Part performance, part collaboration, this workshop celebrates how lived experience … Continued
In collaboration with Eden Court Cinema, Nairn Community & Arts Centre bring you a screening of Official Secrets, the true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This film will be … Continued
The incredible true story of the Scots who managed to ground half of Chile’s Air Force, from the other side of the world, in the longest single act of solidarity against Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship. In 1974 a group of workers at the Rolls-Royce factory in East Kilbride showed their support for the people of Chile … Continued
The Our Freedom: Then & Now exhibition at The McKechnie Institute, Girvan will feature a brand new piece of music by Primary 6-7 pupils from Sacred Heart Primary School, working with Simon Lamb (Writer) and Davie Hunter (Singer), and informed by workshops with The Girvan & District Great War Project. The exhibition will feature visual, … Continued
This timely documentary follows a group of embattled librarians who, during an unprecedented wave of book banning in Texas, Florida and beyond, join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy. Librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy – as they well know, controlling the flow … Continued
Maria Braun marries a young soldier amid the Allied bombing raids of World World II the day before he must return to the Russian front. Awaiting his return in 1945, she is informed of his death and must endure and navigate the post-war years alone. Mirroring the German Wirtschaftswunder (‘economic miracle’), she determinedly rises to … Continued
A manifesto shot between 1972 and 1975; Sidney Sokhona’s first film tells the story of the struggle of immigrant workers in France. “It is up to us, as African filmmakers who have a place to carve out for ourselves, to make films politically better than anyone else.” Sidney Sokhona, Cahiers du Cinéma, 1978 Sidney Sokhona was a young Mauritanian … Continued
Based on Christopher Isherwood’s biographical 1939 novel ‘Goodbye to Berlin’, written when he lived in the city to experience its more liberal gay scene, Cabaret was one of the first musicals to be based on adult themes and not made for family audiences. Set mainly within the confines of the Kit Kat Club, during the … Continued
In a dystopian future Great Britain has become a fascist state (ruled by John Hurt, in an inspired piece of casting after his role as Winston Smith in 1984). Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) is saved from the secret police by a masked vigilante, V, who has vowed to destroy Parliament, inspire the populace into helping … Continued
In Billy Wider’s classic comedy a prim congresswoman has been sent to post-war Berlin to investigate unapproved fraternization with the locals but falls in love with an officer, but has to win him away from a glamorous nightclub singer. Age guidance: U Content advice: Contains mild sex references and one scene of violence Part of … Continued
A young boy comes of age amid a challenging upbringing in this sensitive emblem of 1970s New German cinema. Michael is often asleep when his mother, a sex worker, comes home. On the cusp of adolescence, Michael is looking to save up for a bike, and resorts to stealing from his schoolmates as a result. … Continued
Secrets, lies, communism and loyalty all loom large in this criminally underseen British political thriller shot by a young Roger Deakins starring Gabriel Byrne in one of his early leading roles. David Drury’s taut political thriller still grips echoing with the influence of classics of the genre like Francesco Rosi’s Illustrious Corpses (1976) and Alan … Continued
Still We Rise – In 1972, the planting of a beach umbrella by young Aboriginal activists in the lawns opposite Parliament House sparked passion across the country. Sitting strong and proud on Ngunnawal country, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy soon became a marker for justice, uniting people across the nation in the fight for land rights … Continued
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp. Age guidance: 12A Content advice: Holocaust theme, disturbing scenes, racism, moderate sex references Part of Eden Court’s Cinema Against Fascism programme for Our Freedom, a powerful new … Continued
Through rare and long-forgotten footage, this documentary uncovers the hidden machinery of Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship in Paraguay—one of history’s longest-running regimes. From propaganda to international broadcasts, the film exposes how media shaped power, controlled memory, and built a legacy that still lingers today. Age guidance: 15+ Content advice: Contains scenes of oppression Part of Eden … Continued
The combination of memories of the Second World War and Nixon’s America drove many of the great paranoia thrillers of the 1970s, but especially John Schlesinger’s Marathon Man. Dustin Hoffman plays an innocent PHD student who believes his beloved brother is an oil executive – but he is actually a CIA agent who is involved … Continued
Three archive films looking at Britain post WWII. Storm Over Britain (showing the shape of the country post war), Hospitals for All (about the creation of hospitals in Scotland just before the NHS came), and Divide and Rule – Never! (a punk-infused documentary by the Newsreel Collective about young working class Londoners discussing their experiences … Continued
As Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, primary schools across Russia’s hinterlands are transformed into recruitment stages for the war. Facing the ethical dilemma of working in a system defined by propaganda and violence, a brave teacher goes undercover to film what’s really happening in his own school. Age guidance: 15+ Part of Eden … Continued
Through little-seen archive and his characteristically cinematic analysis, Mark Cousins narrates the ascent of fascism in Italy and its fall-out across 1930s Europe. Both essay film and historical document, Cousins contextualises history through the now, holding a mirror to a political landscape of a creeping far right and manipulated media. Age guidance: 15+ Part of … Continued
You’re invited to join Leabharlainn nan Eilean Siar at Stornoway Library for the launch of their Our Freedom: Then and Now project, commemorating the end of the Second World War and reflecting on what freedom means across generations. You can enjoy: • A screening of the film – Battle of the Atlantic – that inspired … Continued
With the ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ from the British Film Archive to spark reflection on the distinct wartime experiences of island communities, Leabharlainn nan Eilean Siar/Western Isles Libraries will work with partners the Harris Tweed Authority to host a series of events in libraries, inviting the community to gather and share their stories, highlighting the … Continued
(West Dunbartonshire Libraries) Working with local communities, including writers; heritage, book, and craft groups; and residential centres to capture memories of celebration and freedom, Clydebank Library will be reflecting on the feeling of freedom that VE/VJ Day brought, and asking what freedom means today. Hopeful in nature, a photo/video exhibition will be created showing the … Continued
Involving South Ayrshire Council Museums & Galleries, Girvan Library, Girvan & District Great War Project (GDGWP), Sacred Heart Primary School, and Simon Lamb (poet and Carnegie-nominated author), this project will work with school-aged children and other local community groups to focus on stories of individuals in the area, and spark ideas for the development of … Continued