“It has never happened before”: the movie premiere shut down by the Brighton police
While it has something of a history of clashes, with the Mods and the Rockers regularly battling it out on the seafront back in the 1960s, Brighton, the colourful town on England’s south coast, is usually seen as a pretty welcoming and tolerant place without too much controversy troubling its winding, narrow streets and alleyways.
Despite the chip-stealing seagulls and bohemian, trinket-hawking shops, however, there has always been a political element to the town, often focused on progressive, inclusive ways of thinking and activism, especially against nuclear conflict and weapons. And it was that which brought things to a head in Brighton back in 2008, as an anti-war documentary premiere ended up with police stepping in, with conspiracy accusations and the threat of a lawsuit against the cinema that was about to screen it.
The film at the heart of it was On the Verge, a 90-minute documentary made to show the history of the ‘Smash Edo’ campaign, set up by locals to protest against an American corporation (EDO MBM Technology Ltd), who were an arms manufacturer using the town as a location to make weapons components from 2004 onwards.
The makers of the film were a direct action group who ran a free weekly publication in Brighton which had reported consistently on the raft of protests against the company in the town, including blockades, marches and even demonstrations outside the corporation’s factory recreating the ‘horrors of war’ experienced by countries affected by airstrikes. EDO had also been involved in several major scandals in the US, including accusations of insider trading and million-dollar donations to senators in order to secure lucrative defence contracts.
The premiere of On the Verge was due to take place at the Duke of York independent cinema in Preston Circus, but was pulled at the last minute due to a mysterious intervention from the local council, who said they had been contacted by Sussex police who were concerned the film didn’t have a certificate from the BBFC, meaning the cinema would be in breach of their license were they to show the film. The cinema’s management then apologised, saying, “We were only contacted late this afternoon. The police contacted the council, and the council contacted us. I’ve been here for five years. It has never happened before”.
But the filmmakers were convinced far more was at play than just a licensing issue; they accused Sussex police of colluding with EDO in order to make sure that the documentary, which was severely critical of the US company’s practices as well as the police force, was seen by as few people as possible. As for the police, they denied all knowledge, with a Chief Inspector Laurence Taylor initially stating, “We would never get involved with certification of a film. It is not something we do. It was as much a surprise to us as anybody else.”
However, some time later, they changed their tune, admitting that a junior officer based in a different location had contacted the council, but didn’t name them, so the documentary makers filed a Freedom of Information request, but when that information arrived a month later, the officer’s location and identity had been redacted. Sussex police then refused to confirm the existence of any other information about the complaint or the complainant.
Concerningly, when the team behind the film began to tour the UK to organise screenings in other cities, they ran into similar problems everywhere they went, leading them to believe there was a wider conspiracy within the establishment to stop the UK public from watching the documentary.
A spokesman for the campaign later said, “When the police are reduced to banning film showings via the backdoor another blow has been struck against our rights to free speech and free assembly”. Regardless, in the age of the internet, you can bypass all corrupt bureaucratic practices and watch the documentary in full below.
