Hong Kong Wears Black

Originally published on Roar

The police violence in Hong Kong has intensified, but so has the militancy of the protesters. All dressed in black, they are ready for the confrontation.

Since early June, a huge protest movement has erupted in the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong against the encroaching rule of China. What started as a protest against a controversial amendment to the Extradition Law that could potentially see Hongkongers being extradited to China has since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement. The amendment that triggered the protests has since been shelved, but the protests show no sign of abating,

The extremely violent and disproportionate crackdown by the Hong Kong police forces have in turned sparked a more aggressive and organized resistance from the protesters. The movement’s militant “frontliners” have been inspired by black bloc techniques they picked up online watching videos form past protests in Greece and France.

October 1 was the 70th anniversary of the people’s republic of China. On this occasion, up to one million people came out to protest. Nearly all demonstrators wore black and the frontline was occupied by a black bloc of over 10,000-strong, ready to resist and fight the police. It was the first time that Hong Kong police shot a live round at a protester, taking the crisis to a new level.

Ross Domoney was there with his video camera to capture the day as it unfolded.

My coverage of the Yellow Vest protests in France

An extract from a film we are making, about victims of police violence in France, has made it onto the front page of the Guardian.

I also captured the moment where a policeman is about to shoot Yellow Vest protesters with a rubber bullet gun, only to realise one of them is his friend. The video got viewed nearly one million times on twitter.

You can view the clip here.

Bellow is a selection of short films that I shot in Paris amongst the Yellow Vest revolt.

New film published on Field of Vision and the Intercept

Pleased to announce that our film '44 Messages from Catalonia' commissioned by Field of Vision was published online via The Intercept. Directed by myself and Anna Giralt Gris and executively produced by Laura Poitras (Citizenfour).

'In 2017, the citizens of Catalonia voted to become an independent state. The referendum was then deemed illegal in Spain’s constitutional court. Through on-the-street conversations and actual WhatsApp chats, join the voters as they head to the polls and anxiously await the results.'

Links to film:

https://fieldofvision.org/44-messages-from-catalonia

https://theintercept.com/2018/03/28/44-messages-from-catalonia-referendum-whatsapp/

2017 a year in review.

Here is some of the footage I shot in 2017 from Trumps troubled America to a feared victory of the far right Le Penn in France. Happy new year!

Asylum seekers record festive single with message of unity

We are very pleased to announce that our warming video of asylum seekers singing an uplifting rendition of Bill Withers 'Lean on me' is being picked up by media across the UK. 

Today the video was published on the Guardian and last night the same performance was performed live on BBC news night. 

The song is also being used to raise awareness and funds to help refugees. Proceeds will go to Refugee Action and you can donate here

Bellow is the text published on the Guardian today: 

'Asylum seekers record festive single with message of unity

One Heart Refugee Choir, made up of 24 refugees, join professional musicians to record version of Bill Withers’ Lean On Me

They escaped persecution, violence and torture in some of the most brutal countries in the world. Now, a group of asylum seekers have come together with professional musicians to record a single for the festive season, an uplifting rendition of Bill Withers’ Lean On Me.

The One Heart Refugee Choir, made up of 24 refugees from countries including Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Jamaica and Kazakhstan, decided to record the track as a symbol of the resilience of the human spirit, and to offer a message of solidarity.

Tamara McFarlane, one of the singers in the choir, said: “Refugees’ and asylum seekers’ voices are rarely heard in this country.

“Usually we are hidden. We have all been through terrible things, but our spirits are strong. We hope that the song’s message, urging human beings to unite, is one that people across the UK can get behind.”

Less than 1% of the world’s 2.2 million refugees make it to the UK to claim asylum, yet those who do often struggle to overcome the stigma placed on asylum seekers and experience social and institutional hostility.

As a Guardian video revealed, they often live in filthy, overcrowded and dangerous conditions in Home Office accommodation.

Those in the One Heart choir have escaped rape, torture and forced female genital mutilation. One of the singers had to flee Zimbabwe for resisting Robert Mugabe’s regime, while another from South Africa was subjected to “corrective rape” after it was found she was a lesbian.

The choir said the song gave them an opportunity to present an antidote to the negative associations often placed on asylum seekers. Lean On Me was originally written by Withers in 1972 as a testament to the power of community spirit that he had known growing up in a poor coalmining town in West Virginia.

One of the professional singers involved in the collaboration, Nina Miranda of the band Smoke City, said she had encouraged fellow musicians to get involved because “the message of human solidarity, especially in times of adversity, has never been more important”.

“Everyone had a wonderful day recording the song and it was a real pleasure to perform with the talented members of the One Heart choir. We hope the song will raise awareness and funds for asylum seekers and refugees,” she said.'

Anger and solidarity at Grenfell tower.

Another tragedy strikes London. This time through negligence and greed. A horrific fire has blitzed the whole of Grenfell estate in one of London's richest borough and over a hundred are feared dead. The people demand answers and talk politics on the streets.

From the archive: Platanos - Self-Rescue

From the archive: A short clip from a documentary we were never able to finish in early 2016. It shows the hardships of volunteers who run a self orginized refugee rescue camp (Platanos) on the Greek island of Lesvos. A group of friends from Athens set up the camp in the face of E.U inaction with regards to the refugee crisis on the island of Lesvos.

This film is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.
Details here: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en_GB

Uprooted nominated for an RTS student TV award!

Really pleased to announce that our Grierson shortlisted documentary 'Uprooted' has been nominated for a Royal Television Society award. Well done to all the team that made this moving documentary happen. 

https://rts.org.uk/studentawards2017

Social cleansing continues across London and England as estates are 're-developed' for profit displacing communities along the way. 

See the trailer bellow: 

If you want to learn more about the housing crisis here in London you can also watch 'Estate of War' by lyrical bad man Potent Whisper. We shot this a few months back. 

TRUMP'S FADED INAUGURATION

View full gallery here. 

A messy May Day in Paris.

After Le Pen wins the first round of the presidential elections in France - heavy clashes erupt at May Day demonstrations in Paris.

Video: The Real State of Emergency

As the press and politicians obsess themselves with the second round of voting in the French elections, with the choice between the two final contenders seeming meaningless for many, we follow those who were never offered a choice to begin with: France's forgotten refugee populations are now faced with grim future scenarios, dictated by either the neoliberal, or the outright fascist policies of the two remaining candidates. 

Video from first round of French elections

In the hours before the first round of the French elections, as the voices of European reason and liberalism anguished and then sighed with relief, we took to the streets of Paris: from its edge to its core, the French capital exudes fear and resentment. For so many, the election is distant, irrelevant, unable to change a life for which there is little to celebrate.

By Ross & Antonis

Saint-Denis, the day before.

'As France braces itself for the April 22 election, we visit the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis to talk with the locals there: to get a sense of their fears and hopes for what lies ahead.'

Glare at your TV screen, flick through your feeds, blink at your flashing updates and you will soon immerse yourself in what is meant to be an election like no other, an election that is supposed to determine the future of France and even Europe as we’ve known it so far.

Keep it at that, and you could easily believe the election is fought at the TV studios, between the four gladiators fighting for the soul of the Republic. But out in the city things are, as always, more complicated. In the days leading up to, and following the election, we ask urbanites about their fears and their hopes. As the country grips itself for the mother of all battles, we delve into the city’s streets and its metro carriages to brush out its psyche.

Ross Domoney & Antonis Vradis. 

With the help of Daniel Murphy & Eric Amalraj  

New Arrivals: They left Afghanistan a family of nine. They arrived in the UK a family of two

The first episode of a series I filmed, directed and edited for the Guardian as part a project launched simultaneously with Der Spiegel, Le Monde and El País. The project looks at how refugees and asylum seekers are getting on in Europe and how the continents various governments are treating them. 

Click here to view the video. 

'More than 1.2 million people sought asylum in Europe last year. How are they adapting to their new lives? What do they miss? What’s it like to swap Homs for Hamburg, Kabul for Croydon, or Mosul for the Mosel? Which European countries are best at helping refugees settle? In this series, the Guardian teams up with Der Spiegel, Le Monde and El País to get inside newly arrived communities in western Europe to assess whether promises are being kept, whether European society is changing the new arrivals – and vice versa.'

• This project is funded by the European Journalism Centre via a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Protesters disrupt Trump’s inauguration as Americans argue in the streets

The new president of the United States is sworn into power as small outbreaks of violence occur in Washington, D.C. Americans argue on the streets as anger, celebration and confusion meet together in one of the most divided US elections in recent history.

Ross Domoney all rights reserved.