Rebellion

As the climate turns against us, a group of people from Gloucestershire attempts to make a difference – at any cost.

This film about the protest group Extinction Rebellion starts with an on-screen interview and the very first question that is put is a clear indication of the character of this documentary. It is asked of somebody who had become a member of XR, as the climate action group is more shortly known, and it is this: "If you could go back in time, would you do it again?”.  By starting off on this note, the film immediately confirms that its intention is not to give us a work that is simply propaganda in support of an organisation which, although it hit the headlines most strongly during 2019, continues to function. Fervent supporters of XR may wish that the film were just that, but instead - and far more valuably - this film by Maia Kenworthy and Elena Sánchez Bellot provides a record of XR which leaves all viewers free to draw their own conclusions over what it got right and what it got wrong.

XR was founded in 2018 by a farmer from Wales, Roger Hallam, who features strongly here, but so too do others. They include Hallam's daughter, Savannah Lovelock, whose initial support for XR led later to strong disagreements over the direction in which her father was taking it. Also of the younger generation is Sam Knights who, on being banned from a Labour Party conference, became greatly concerned that this could be seen as a foretaste of political attempts to prevent free speech by protestors (XR’s declared purpose was to embrace non-violent civil disobedience in order to save the planet). But perhaps the most impressive presence here is that of Farhana Yamin, a human rights lawyer of Pakistani origin who became an activist. She was ready to advocate breaking the law because it had become clear that governments were not listening to those who stopped short of that when voicing their demands for action against climate change.

Early on Roger Hallam recalls how he started XR in 2018 and the last few minutes of Rebellion touch, albeit briefly, on events in 2021 and in particular on the threat to democracy inherent in a British government bill penalising protesters generally (the film notes that a ban on XR protests was ruled unlawful by the High Court). But this film largely concentrates on the year 2019. In doing so, it incorporates words that justify the case for an organisation such as XR breaking the law when all else has failed - it sees the movement as following the examples set by Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and the suffragettes. But, when showing footage of street action in London in April and October 2019, it also questions how far disruptive action should go and for how long. Thereafter the contentious use of drones to interfere with the functioning of Heathrow Airport becomes another key matter considered.

Meetings of leading figures in XR confirm that they had conflicting views over these matters and perhaps that is inevitable when a group has so many supporters whose ideas of the right action may well diverge. Failure to consult members would become another issue. Hallam himself clearly has the energy of a born leader, but he is a man who too readily takes XR in his own direction (he is not keen to reach out to other groups with comparable concerns and advocates the idea of going to prison as evidence of one’s commitment).

By showing the complexity of the people and of the issues involved, Rebellion enables every viewer to decide for themselves how to respond and I welcome the film for that. Regardless of any mixed feelings about XR itself, one factor that emerges undoubtedly disturbs: that is the way in which the polite policing of the April rebellion (so very British, one might say) leads to a much harsher approach in October when there is a sense that police action has been toughened up, quite possibly with governmental pressure behind it.

Alternative title: Beyond the Emergency.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Featuring  Roger Hallam, Farhana Yamin, Sam Knights, Savannah Lovelock, Sophie Cowen, Alejandra Piazzolla Ramirez, Gail Bradbrook.

Dir Maia Kenworthy and Elena Sánchez Bellot, Pro Kat Mansoor, Ph Maia Kenworthy, Elena Sánchez Bellot and Amy Newstead, Ed Michael Nollet, Music Wayne Roberts.

Halcyon Pictures/BFI/Doc Society/Bertha Foundation-Tull Stories.
82 mins. UK. 2021. UK Rel: 18 March 2022. Available on Netflix from 1 April 2022. Cert. 15.