For the first time, cameras go inside a police station run by and for women, revealing a unique perspective on what’s really going on in Indian society. Following the Delhi rape case in December 2012, hundreds of these police stations were set up across India. Parmila Dalal is second-in-command at the Women Police Station in Sonipat, in the northern state of Haryana.

This surprising documentary follows Parmila and her special team of scooter-mounted female officers who are focused on preventing the harassment of women. However, much of Parmila’s time is also spent mediating in family disputes, acting as a social worker. The family arguments Parmila is tasked with diffusing illuminate many of the fault lines running through Indian society.

Glimpses into Parmila’s family life capture uninhibited encounters with family members at war over such contentious matters as caste, dowry payment and relations with unpleasant in-laws. These scenes of family discord reveal how women’s lives are changing in India today, and how they often struggle to reconcile the conflicting demands made upon them.

Directed by: Ruhi Hamid
Executive produced by: Christopher Mitchell
Country: UK/India
Runtime: 48′

One summer morning in 2011, London’s Metropolitan Police pulled over Mark Duggan– a young, black, British man– and shot him dead. His killing sparked what became known as the Tottenham riots, and set off a chain reaction of arson and looting across the country.

Images of burning buildings and hooded men breaking windows filled television screens, but the media rarely reported on the riots in more depth. Why had this happened? What lessons should have been learned?

George Amponsah’s documentary The Hard Stop, which showed at The Frontline Club on July 8, picks up the story from where the media left off. It follows Duggan’s childhood friends Marcus Knox-Hooke and Kurtis Henville as they deal with the aftermath of his death, and offers a portrait of two men often misrepresented by the headlines.

At a Q&A session with all three after the screening, Amponsah highlighted how the media had wrongly reported Duggan’s death as part of a shoot-out. He said: “One of the things that propelled me to make the film when I met Marcus and Kurtis, was a desire to find out what I didn’t feel like I got from the media…and that’s just simply the humanity of the victim.”

“In terms of media distortion…there’s a very iconic image of Mark that went out to a lot of newspapers and media outlets, which was him seemingly scowling out at the camera, and at the same time being labelled as a gangster. That image has become quite famous because when you see the whole picture, it’s actually Mark at the graveside of his daughter who died at stillbirth and he’s holding a love-heart. The initial image that was used to portray him as a gangster is actually a picture of a father suffering bereavement.”

Knox-Hooke added: “When I felt offended by what they were saying about my bro (Mark), I felt like we just had to do something to shed some light on who he was as a person.”

One audience member questioned whether the media should be held responsible for reporting on the basis of what the police had told them. Amponsah replied by acknowledging that some outlets, particularly The Guardian, had produced excellent analysis of the riots. Many other outlets, however, had opted for the knee-jerk demonisation that many young black men from communities like Tottenham say they experience at the hands of police.

“I think it is important that police officers see this film, because as far as I’m concerned, it’s really just a film about humanity,” said Amponsah. “Since 1990, there’s been 1500 deaths in police custody or following a police contact, but not one conviction of a police officer for murder. That doesn’t represent any kind of ability on the police’s part to change in terms of making themselves accountable.”

Knox-Hooke described what it was like growing up on Broadwater Farm, an estate notorious for rioting and the murder of PC Blakelock in 1985, adding that tensions with the police have continued to simmer under the surface ever since.

“It’s a war,” he said. “Growing up, they (the police) always used to chase us, run us down for no reason… Mainly they just wanted the satisfaction of seeing us frightened and seeing us crying. As you get older, that fear turned to anger and bravery, so when they pull up you challenge them. You’re not running anymore.”

Amponsah added: “Personally I suspect that Mark Duggan might still be with us if he was white and not from Broadwater Farm.”

An audience member asked Knox-Hooke and Henville whether the recent verdict on unlawful killing in the Hillsborough disaster gave them any hope for a fresh inquest into Duggan’s case.

Knox-Hooke replied: “I’m hoping that the officer that shot Mark will come forward after some time and say, I did make a mistake… or tell us what happened. I’ve got a little bit of hope, still.”

He added that making The Hard Stop had had a positive impact on his life, and said the group had plans to screen it around the country, particularly in schools and colleges.

“We want this film to reach the children,” he explained.
“The lifestyle that I used to live to how I’m living now is just two different lives. George helped me make that transition. At the beginning of the film, I was very negative, very angry. Now, I’m at peace with myself, especially when I see the reaction of the audience to the film… I believe we achieved what we set out to do.”

Listen to the recording of the event on soundcloud:

The Hard Stop trailer:

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Craig Atkinson via Skype.

Do Not Resist is an urgent and powerful exploration of the rapid militarisation of the police in the United States. Opening on startling on-the-scene footage in Ferguson, Missouri, the film then broadens its scope to present scenes from across the country — a conference presentation where the value of high-end weapons technologies is presented to potential police buyers; a community that has just received its very own military-grade tank; and a SWAT team arriving at a home to execute a warrant. The cumulative effect of these vignettes paints a startling picture of the direction in which American law enforcement is headed.

Craig Atkinson filmed his directorial debut over two years and in 11 states. Through keen and thoughtful observances, Atkinson deftly presents the characters and stories that comprise this pressing issue. The result reveals a rare and surprising look into the increasingly disturbing realities of American police culture.

Directed by: Craig Atkinson
Country: United States
Year: 2016
Runtime: 73′

Ukrainian Sheriffs follows Viktor and Volodya, two men who have been appointed local sheriffs by the mayor in the isolated town of Stara Zburyevka, Ukraine. While dealing with petty crimes such as stolen ducks and drunken neighbours, the news about the war slowly creeps in on them through their televisions and pressure to join the army. Meanwhile, the tragicomic situations dealt with by the inexperienced ‘sheriffs’ have their roots in the prevalent unemployment, poverty and illiteracy in the region.

The filmmakers follow the adventures of Viktor and Volodya with a keen eye for the comical side of everyday situations. Driving in their yellow Lada flying its own little Ukrainian flag, they travel from incident to incident – calming an angry neighbour, investigating the discovery of a body, struggling to unfold a stroller and attempting to re-integrate the community’s freeloaders. The seasons pass until political developments reach the village by way of the TV screen, sowing separatist discord. Around the time of the celebrations for the country’s 70th Independence Day, the men of the village are drafted into the army.

Ukrainian Sheriffs offers a lighthearted yet telling look beyond the war and inside everyday life in small town Ukraine.

Ukrainian Sheriffs received the 2015 IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) Special Jury Award.

Directed by: Roman Bondarchuk
Country: Ukraine/Latvia/Germany
Year: 2015
Runtime: 85′

London’s Metropolitan Police stopped Mark Duggan — a young, black, British man — early one morning in 2011. Minutes later Duggan was dead. His killing at the hands of the police sparked the now infamous Tottenham riots and made headlines around the globe, but, as so often happens, the issue soon dropped from the news reports.

Picking up the story where the media left off, George Amponsah‘s The Hard Stop begins in Duggan’s neighbourhood, following his friends Marcus and Kurtis as they fight for justice while struggling against discrimination in their daily lives. Using the police inquiry into Duggan’s death as a backdrop, Amponsah challenges the prevailing spin on events and focuses instead on those who were closest to the young man – as well as the black voices that are consistently marginalised.

An emerging talent in the documentary world, Amponsah‘s investment in London’s black community is evident in his unprecedented level of access and in his commitment to capturing the world Duggan knew. Amponsah brings a lyrical beauty to the streets of North London, painting a very different picture than the one that’s often seen on the evening news.

Directed by: George Amponsah
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2015
Runtime: 85′
@TheHardStop / #TheHardStop
facebook.com/TheHardStopFilm/

He’s a household name in Ghana, but few have seen his face. Investigative journalist Anas Aremewaw Anas is on a mission to ferret out corruption in every corner of his country. Wearing an array of disguises, he regularly goes deep undercover to trap suspected criminals – splashing their faces across newspapers and handing them over to delighted police.

Despite his notoriety, Anas’ methods attract criticism from other journalists, who believe his investigations go too far in luring and catching suspected criminals to achieve sensationalist stories.

Director Ryan Mullins follows Anas during a chaotic, adrenaline-filled period which sees him revelling in fulfilling his three-pronged approach: naming, shaming and jailing. Whilst some journalists look on in dismay at his tactics, Anas enjoys being worshipped by the people, and is welcomed back to his old elementary school like a rock star. But as he begins his next big case – the exposure of a church he suspects is guilty of human trafficking – the lines begin to blur, as we witness the human fallout of his actions.

Director: Ryan Mullins
Producers: Bob Moore, Mila Aung-Thwin
Running time: 90′
Year: 2014
Country: Canada
Distributor: Dogwoof

Pug, a wisecracking 13-year-old living on a dangerous Westside block in Baltimore, has one goal in mind: to join The 12 O’Clock Boys, the city’s notorious urban dirt bike gang. Converging from all parts of the inner city, they invade the streets and perform dangerous stunts at high speeds. The gang has a history of clashing with the police, who are forbidden to chase the bikes for fear of endangering the public.

Pug looks to the pack for mentorship, spurred by their dangerous lifestyle. He narrates their world as if explaining a dreamscape, and this insight is complemented by unprecedented, action-packed footage of the riders in their element. The film presents the pivotal years of change in a boy’s life growing up in one of the most dangerous and economically depressed cities in the United States.

Director Lotfy Nathan followed Pug for three years over the course of the film’s production, documenting his transition from a witty and energetic boy to a teenager eager to find comradeship in a gang that prides in its recklessness and disregard for authority. Nathan does not pass judgement on the group’s activities; instead he gains up-close access to their high-suspense rides, following the mayhem through the eyes of a boy on the margins.

Directed by Lotfy Nathan
Duration: 71′
Year: 2014

The day after a public intervention from MI5 Director General Jonathan Evans, a panel as divided as it was well-informed, debated the merits of the government’s draft Communications Bill. The Frontline Club was packed and the feisty discussion began with each specialist setting out their pitch.

Professor Anthony Glees, billing himself as the “skunk at the picnic”, was unapologetic in his support for the proposals, which he said would merely extend powers that the security services already have to include newer forms of technology. Eschewing the arguments that have characterised the debate in the national press, he stated that:

 “A lack of trustfulness is the real problem here. The Bill, I’m entirely comfortable with it, I have no problem with it. In fact I’d want my money back if our security community did not attempt to extend on to the new media the things that already exist.”

Liberty’s Isabella Sankey offered a robust response. Denouncing the Bill as “rotten to the core”, she argued that it would infringe on principles of privacy and that if it were to fall into malicious hands, communications data could be extremely damaging.

David Davis MP joined Sankey with a scathing attack on the Bill, claiming the government had “the wrong aim, it was moving in the wrong direction and was starting from the wrong place.” Whilst supportive of the security agencies, Davis specified that the databases that will be created:

“[…] would be a honey pot. Not just of interest to the agencies but to every divorce lawyer in the country, paparazzi who might want to Ping where you are so they can come and photograph you. This is facilitating a breach of everybody’s privacy to almost no beneficial effect.”

Jamie Bartlett from think-tank Demos countered Davis’ argument, suggesting that British society regulates some forms of snooping and that privacy is not an absolute right – on some occasions being breached in the interests of national security. Bartlett was less troubled by security services increasing their powers than he was by the unregulated internet, controversially proposing that the Bill in some respects doesn’t go far enough:

“A police officer, a civil servant, anybody else can spend five minutes online and probably learn much more about you than he or she ever would do under the powers of this Bill. There are loads of serious questions here that I don’t think the Bill begins to address.”

The Q&A session was filled with poignant questions, including some on the effectiveness of the proposals when smart hackers are already able to use proxies and the “deep web” to hide their identity. The prospect of a generation of coders is sure to raise new dilemmas for future governments.

As for the here and now, the panellists left the stage having accepted that the public don’t currently foster much trust in the police, MPs or the security services and that this is something that needs to change if there’s to be a sensible, engaging debate on the proposals.

Watch the full event here:

While the banning of ITV journalists at a police press conference during the investigation into the murder reflects tensions between the police and the media, the News International phone hacking scandal raises questions about the working relationship between the police and the tabloid press in particular.

What impact is rolling news and the blanket coverage of some murder investigations having on our justice system? And what impact are social media having – not only in terms of increasing public scrutiny  of the police but also the recent decisions to allow journalists to use Twitter to report from the court room?

Join as at Frontline Club for a lively debate on these issues, and the partnership between the police and the media.

With:

Andrew Trotter OBE QPM, Chief Constable, British Transport Police and chair of ACPO Communications Advisory Group;

Additional panelists to be confirmed.

This event is in association with the BBC College of Journalism

Picture credit: Adrien Lebrun

However, the new government in Baku fell – various narratives talk of it as either a coup, or a national salvation. Hikmat Hajizade was dismissed from his post and recalled home. And then, it happened in Baku, when the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan was assaulted and severely beaten while walking in the street of its capital – somewhere in downtown in 1993.

Now, after sixteen years, history is repeating itself once again: this time it is Hikmat Hajizade’s son Adnan who was assaulted and severely beaten together with his friend Emin Milli while dining in a downtown restaurant. Yet, what ended for Hikmat Hajizade with injuries and possibly, bitter pains, has ended for Adnan with additional two-month pretrial detention and plus, a hooliganism charge promising up to 5 years in jail. Not an adequate perspective for a University of Richmond alumnus and BP employee, and a pioneer of video-blogging in Azerbaijan. Neither for his friend, Emin Milli – former country director of Friedrich Ebert Foundation and former Council of Europe consultant.

Back in 1993, when Hikmat Hajizade was assaulted and beaten, the country was embroiled in a bitter chaos, partly a fault of incompetency of the government once he represented. Baku’s major street fights and last armed uprising were to be subdued two years later – I still recall those bullet sounds in my neighbourhood. Now, the country enjoys a stability and oil revenues have created some sense of prosperity – however, the state of freedoms seems to change in a worse direction – sixteen years ago, a father would be beaten, but now, a son is not only beaten, but is also jailed and can face an endarkening prison sentence.

Democratic activism is a long tradition in Hajizade family, as well as the state of being assaulted and beaten for their activities – the only new element here is the fact that Adnan Hajizade now is being tried for both. Below – is the interview of Adnan Hajizade’s father to RFE/RL Azeri service, with English subtitles.