Glasgow Community Immigration Protest Featured in Award-Winning Documentary

The documentary ‘Everyone to Kenmure Street’ has won the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival, highlighting a 2021 community protest in Glasgow. Directed by Chilean-Belgian filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra, the film chronicles the events of May 13, 2021, when residents of Pollokshields prevented the Home Office from detaining and deporting two neighbors during a dawn immigration raid. The protesters surrounded the immigration van for several hours, and one man even crawled underneath the vehicle to stop it from moving. Combining crowd-sourced footage, archival material, and reenacted scenes with actors, the film captures the community’s collective action and civil resistance. Bustos Sierra, known for his documentary on Chilean history, described the film as a depiction of everyday gestures for the right to have a voice and live peacefully. Executive producer Emma Thompson praised the film as ‘beautiful and powerful.’ The documentary will premiere in the UK at the Glasgow Film Festival on February 25 and release in select UK and Irish cinemas from March 13. The project was produced by Glasgow-based company barry crerar, which emphasized its message of peaceful protest and collective empowerment. The protest had previously drawn political attention, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon criticizing the raid, especially as it occurred during Eid in a Muslim community.