MLK/FBI heads to BFI Player for virtual premiere
David Farnor | On 12, Jan 2021
New documentary MLK/FBI is heading to BFI Player today for its virtual premiere, before being released online across the UK this weekend.
MLK/FBI is the first film to uncover the extent of the FBI’s surveillance and harassment of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Based on newly discovered and declassified files, using a trove of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and unsealed by the National Archives, as well as revelatory restored footage, the documentary explores the government’s history of targeting Black activists, and the contested meaning behind some of our most cherished ideals. Featuring interviews with key cultural figures including former FBI Director James Comey, MLK/FBI tells this astonishing and tragic story with searing relevance.
The film is directed by Sam Pollard (Four Little Girls, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Slavery by Another Name) and will be released on-demand on Friday 15th January on iTunes and Curzon Home Cinema, as well as a host of cinema streaming platforms across the country, some of which will also be having their own online events featuring Q&As.
Can’t wait until then? The ilm is streaming exclusively on BFI Player on Tuesday 12th January for 24 hours, presented by We Are Parable, along with a recorded Q&A with Pollard and a newly commissioned spoken word piece from Aicha Loubassou, exploring and reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr’s experiences while the target of FBI harassment.
Read on for the trailer – and below that, see details of the film’s UK online release.
Available from 15th January
LONDON • ARTHOUSE CROUCH END
LONDON • DAVID LEAN CINEMA
LONDON • DOCHOUSE/CURZON BLOOMSBURY (online event – 21st January)
LONDON • RICH MIX (online event – 15th January)
LONDON • RIVERSIDE HAMMERSMITH
ABERDEEN • BELMONT FILMHOUSE
BELFAST • STRAND ARTS CENTRE (online event – 16th January)
BRISTOL • WATERSHED (online event – 19th January)
CHESTER • STORYHOUSE
DUBLIN • IRISH FILM INSTITUTE (IFI)
DUMFRIES • ROBERT BURNS CENTRE
EDINBURGH • FILMHOUSE
GLASGOW • FILM THEATRE (online event – 17th January)
IPSWICH • FILM THEATRE
LITTLEHAMPTON • WINDMILL CINEMA
MANCHESTER • HOME (online event – 15th January)
NORTHAMPTON • FILMHOUSE
NOTTINGHAM • BROADWAY CINEMA
OSWESTRY • KINOKULTURE CINEMA
OXFORD • ULTIMATE PICTURE PALACE
SAFFRON WALDEN • SAFFRON SCREEN
SHEFFIELD • SHOWROOM (online event – 20th January)