A feature documentary following 6 months of the biggest student movement in the UK since the 1960s. Not a film about activists, but a film showing people becoming activists, getting radicalised by witnessing and experiencing the response of the government and mainstream media to peaceful protest.
This is a collaborative project using live action footage, television archive, YouTube clips and animation to highlight the use of modern technology in organising protest.
A crowd funded Indie go go project
In collaboration with NFTS, Bertha Foundation and Poisson Rouge pictures
Produced by Quark Film
Filmed in the United Kingdom
Languages English. Versions with Romanian and Italian subtitles
The Real Social Network
2012, 76 mins
"Go occupy the cinemas and see this film." - i-D Magazine
Official selection One World Prague 2013
SPECIAL MENTION YOUTH AWARD at Pravo Liudskj 2012
Official Selection One World Romania 2012
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media Film Festival 2012
Official Selection Docaviv 2012
Official Selection Open City Film Festival 2012
Official Selection Tempo Documentary Festival 2012
Protest has changed. Between the first UK student protests in November 2010 and the global uprising in the spring of 2011, a new radicalism, fuelled by modern technology, has hit the streets.
Last winter, the coalition government in the UK announced sweeping changes to university tuition fees that set higher education in Britain to be the most expensive in Europe.
Students voiced their discontent in widespread protests that brought news footage into our homes reminiscent of the 70s and 80s; from horses charging marchers, to the windows of Conservative Party office being kicked in. However, one occupation's success at holding their University and generating amazing amounts of support suggested that something different was happening here.
We have been with a group of University College London students with a passion for change since day one. We have seen them come together and organize themselves using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to make their belief in the fundamental right to an affordable education heard across the country and around the world. Their occupation, a classic 60s sit-in with a Twitter-feed twist, has seen the beginning of the strongest student movement in 40 years.
From their first occupation right through to the huge protests across London on 26th March we have followed this amazing group of people as they turned into experienced activists, mobilised not only other students but also workers, created technology that will change the face of protest - and became friends. We believe we have a story that both captures a moment in time and will have great resonance for the future.
