"[Cinema] can bring us worlds of the imagination and it can bring us the world that we live in... One tradition it has is to be a cinema of dissent and a cinema to represent the interests of the people against those who are powerful and mighty... We must say, another world is possible and necessary."

Ken Loach, May 2016, Palme d'Or acceptance speech at the Cannes Film Festival.

Inspired by Ken Loach's impassioned acceptance speech at Cannes, we present a weekend of films and talks exploring artistic dissent around the world and celebrate the filmmakers who, despite restrictions, demonstrate a desire to keep this important cinematic tradition alive.

I, Daniel Blake (screening from Fri 21 Oct) - Loach's Palme d'Or-winning winning film - although part-funded by the state of which it is so critical, takes aim at the current state of welfare in Britain. The ability to produce and release a film of such dissenting voice from within his own national film industry - to in effect bite the hand that feeds him - is perhaps a relative luxury not afforded to many filmmakers making work within their own respective state funded industries.

Join us for a season of films that serves to highlight the contrasting cultural and political landscapes in which filmmakers find themselves, and the resulting restrictions under which they are often forced to work - including screenings of Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Taxi Tehran (Sun 30 Oct 17:30) and Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan (Sat 29 Oct 14:40), as well as a talk by Tony Garnett (Sun 30 Oct 14:00), Producer of Loach’s influential TV drama Cathy Come Home (screening after the talk at 15:30).

This season is curated by David Taylor-Matthews, a student at the University of West of England who is splitting his time between UWE and Watershed whilst studying for an MA in Curating, mentored by Mark Cosgrove and the Watershed team.

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