From Oscar-winning director, Danis Tanovic (No Man’s Land), comes a true story 12 years in the making. A Pakistani salesman, employed by Nestle, one of the world’s largest corporations, learns that his promotion of baby formula to doctors is causing babies to die. He risks everything to make it stop, taking on the industry with the help of Cambridge-based Baby Milk Action IBFAN UK.
A BBC Films/UK Film Council version of the film was halted weeks before production: with defamation laws operating as ‘guilty until proven innocent’ the huge potential costs of defending a true story in court meant that a transnational company could prevent a true story being told simply by virtue of its deep pockets. A few years later Indian producers Prashita Chaudhary and Guneet Monga finally made the film possible.
With a breakthrough performance from Bollywood favourite Emraan Hashmi and a cast including Danny Huston, Geetanjali Thapa, Khalid Abdalla, Maryam d’Abo and Satyadeep Misra, Tigers was shot in the Indian Punjab and London. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and in Official Competition at San Sebastian.
Running time: 90 minutes
Henry Porter is a novelist and former commentator for the Observer. He is a winner of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award – for Brandenburg, his novel about the Fall of the Berlin wall, which he covered in 1989. His latest book, Firefly, is the story of young boy on the migrant route in 2015 and is the first part of a trilogy set in the turbulent world of US and European politics.
Syed Aamir Raza joined Nestlé Milkpak as a Medical Delegate in December 1994 at the age of 24. It was a dream come true to work for a multinational company and he was quickly indoctrinated with Nestlé’s “Be the Best” slogan. Aamir was responsible for promoting breastmilk substitutes and infant cereals. One of his first tasks was to run a baby show, already organised by the Area Detailing Executive. Baby shows were popular with health workers and mothers and provided an opportunity for marketing staff to make direct contact with both and to display the company’s range of breastmilk substitutes and discuss them. Such activities are banned by Article 5.5 of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and Nestlé’s own “Charter”. After the events that are depicted in Tigers, Aamir came to the UK for 5 months, and then to Canada where he was granted leave to stay on humanitarian on compassionate grounds. He eventually gained permanent residence. It was 7 years before he was able to be reunited with Shafqat, his wife and his two children, and in that time both his parents died. He now drives a Taxi in Toronto.
Patti Rundall has worked for over 30 years with Baby Milk Action and is the UK member of the global network IBFAN, campaigning for effective regulations on the marketing, safety and labelling of foods for infants and young children. She is a founder of the Conflict of Interest Coalition and a coordinator of the international Nestle Boycott.
Andy Paterson’s productions include Gore, Tigers, The Railway Man and Girl With A Pearl Earring. Previous productions include the Oscar and BAFTA-nominated Hilary and Jackie, starring Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths, and the Oscar-winning Restoration, starring Robert Downey Jr, Hugh Grant and Meg Ryan. Forthcoming productions include The Plutonium Club, a Cold War thriller set against the development of the British atomic bomb from a screenplay by Paterson and Hetreed.
Cat Villiers and her company Autonomous, have produced, executive produced and co-produced many films around the world. With a career that has has also encompassed journalism, philanthropy and activism, her first feature film Before The Rain won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion, an Independent Spirit Award, and an Academy Award Nomination. Cat is a Trustee, with directors Mike Leigh and Simon Mcburney of the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation, a UK charitable trust that supports new directorial talent and other cultural initiatives from around the world.
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By Nicole Hunt
Though it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of which Silvio Berlusconi trial is currently in court, Monday sees the resumption of the most infamous of his four cases, in which he faces charges for abuse of power and paying for underage sex. The Italian Senate has approved a motion to move the case from Milan’s court to a special minister’s court, but the case remains in Milan while the Constitutional Court mulls the Senate’s request.
The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly opens, with more attention than usual being paid this time around. On Tuesday, the Assembly debates a motion that would recommend taking action against pre-natal sex selection in Europe, particularly in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where the ratio of girls to boys in the population is dropping. On Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the assembly.
Following a meeting of Eurogroup Finance Ministers on Monday, all EU Finance Ministers convene in Luxembourg on Tuesday, with the focus, as with many things this week, squarely on Greece. Discussions are also expected on an EU financial transaction tax, after the European Commission published proposals last week.
In direct response to the austerity measures being so closely watched by the European Finance Ministers, Greek public sector workers hold a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, calling the cuts ‘barbaric’. A general strike is also planned for 19 October.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the weekly meeting of the European College of Commissioners. At NATO headquarters, NATO Defence Ministers hold a regular meeting to discuss operational issues, with Libya topping the agenda.
Former Bosnian-Serb Army Commander Ratko Mladic is back in court in The Hague on Thursday. Since his last appearance on 25 August, Mladic’s lawyers have requested the names of all 7,000 victims of the Srebrenica massacre as part of their opposition to the indictment.
In Johannesburg, the African National Congress’ disciplinary committee resumes hearing the charges against controversial youth leader Julius Malema, who is accused of interrupting an ANC Officials meeting alongside three other men. Malema faces separate charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute and sowing divisions within ANC ranks, which will be heard separately once this case has concluded. It’s currently scheduled to last two days, but has already been delayed several times.
Friday is, oddly, both the 10 year anniversary of the beginning of the War in Afghanistan and also the date for the announcement of the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Anti-war activists hold mass demonstrations in London and Washington on Saturday, while the Peace Prize will be presented to the winner on 10 December.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu celebrates his 80th birthday and a year since he stepped down from public duties. Three days of celebrations are being held in Cape Town, and a new biography is being released to mark the day.
Spanish ‘indignant’ activists who have marched 1500km from Madrid are scheduled to arrive in Brussels on Saturday to hold a demonstration against unrepresentative politics. The protesters, who are joined by counterparts from across Europe, plan to hold a week of events, culminating in a large rally on 15 October.
Two elections take place on Sunday: voters in Poland elect 460 members to their lower house and 100 members to their upper house of parliament, while in Cameroon voters elect their president for the next seven years. Incumbent Paul Biya is only the second president since independence in 1960, and has held the post since 1982.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is in Zimbabwe on Sunday, making him the first high-profile UK official to visit the country since 2001. The visit is part of a three-country pastoral tour which also includes Malawi and Zambia. Williams is expected to meet with President Robert Mugabe, and is scheduled to hold a special service for members of the Anglican Church who have not joined a splinter movement set up by the former Bishop of Harare.
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