Director: Timothy George Kelly
Documentary, 80’, 2017, Russia / UK
Wednesday July 12, 8.30 pm – CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts
Synopsis: The first documentary on Brexit. Featuring Noam Chomsky, Saskia Sassen, Guy Standing, Nick Srnicek, Heidi Mirza & Federico Campagna.
On/off. Yes/no. Leave or Remain? While referenda always divide people, Brexit did so in a manner unprecedented in modern British history: old pitted against young, nationalists against migrants, the countryside against the city, and “the people” against “the elite.” But underneath these binaries we find human beings whose individual stories influenced the outcome of this historic and perplexing vote. In the referendum, the UK was torn apart by debates over the great themes of our age: migration, waning empires, work, and its decreasing relevance in an outsourcedworld that is becoming ever more automated.
BREXITANNIA is a portrait of a democracy in all its impossible and ugly glory. With subtle force, yet without judgement, it presents the people of a once powerful empire as they negotiate their identities in a world that is changing faster than ever and in which power appears to lie further and further from people’s own hands.
About the filmmaker: Timothy George Kelly is a filmmaker and visual artist who has shown work across Europe, Asia, and North America. In 2008, he moved to Montreal where he completed a seven-part short documentary series Big Small and several music videos for artists such as Grimes and Miracle Fortress. In 2014, he completed his first feature-length documentary A City is an Island, an exploration of the people and effects of a predominantly anglophone music scene in a francophone Montreal, which premiered at CPH:DOX and RIDM. His film Brexitannia also premiered at CPH:DOX.
