The medium of cinema is there to provide an escape. The opportunity for people to sit in a darkened room, turn off their phones (hopefully), tune out everything going on in the outside world, and lose themselves in a film (even if just for ninety minutes).
However, it can, and should, also be used to hold a mirror up to the world and society. That is exactly what Felipe Bustos Sierra’s Everybody To Kenmure Street has done at the opening of the 2026 Glasgow Film Festival.
Sierra is no stranger to the festival. His documentary Nae Pasaran, about the 1973 strike by East Kilbride engineers who refused to work on parts destined for Chilean fighter jets in response to the actions of the country’s military dictatorship, was the closing film in 2018.
This film chronicles the community protest that ultimately prevented a Home Office immigration raid on Kenmure Street in Glasgow’s Pollokshields neighbourhood in 2021.
It opens with a montage charting the history of peaceful protest in Glasgow. Highlighting moments from the Suffragettes to Jimmy Reid, the Glasgow Girls, and the visit of Nelson Mandela to the city. It is clear from the outset that this is a city that will fight for the things it believes in, and protect their own.
What follows are testimonies from the people who were there that fateful day. Talking to the camera about what they saw, what they did, and how it made them feel. The events of that incredible day are pieced together from footage captured on camera phones by hundreds of the thousands of people who attended that day.
One person who does not appear on camera, is the man who kickstarted everything. The protest was able to occur because the immigration van was prevented from leaving when a man crawled underneath and held onto the underside of the vehicle. His face does not appear, but he is given a voice by Oscar-winner Emma Thompson. Who goes method by delivering her lines while cramped under a van. Similarly, Scottish actor Kate Dickie portrays the nurse who kept watch over the man’s wellbeing throughout the day.
For those who were aware of the story, or followed it in real-time, knowing the outcome does not make the experience of watching it unfold any less nerve-inducing. The tension of that day is palpable and the knowledge that one false move, on either side, would be the spark to cause the powderkeg of a situation to explode into something potentially cataclysmic for all involved.
At a time when other film festivals are being criticised for not allowing the intersection between cinema and politics to exist, it is refreshing to see the GFF fully embrace the heart of that particular Venn diagram. Giving this film the platform it deserves, and a rapturous homecoming for the filmmaking team and all those involved.
A good documentary should do three things for its audience. Educate, entertain, and inform. And, Sierra’s film hits a home run on all three counts.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. One is reminded of this quote when watching the documentary because it is evidence that there are good people out there willing to do the right thing… particularly in Scotland!
Everybody to Kenmure Street will 100% reaffirm your faith in humanity. An incredibly uplifting film and a testament to the strength and power of community.
Everybody To Kenmure Street is in UK cinemas from March 13
Rating: 
Director: Felipe Bustos Sierra
Runtime: 95 minutes
Country: UK
