Human rights organisation Amnesty International UK has screened a new film about the right to protest at an event in East London.
The 25-minute documentary, called The Fight to Be Heard, was shown at Rich Mix in Bethnal Green on Thursday 1 October.
The film features testimonies from activists including members of Just Stop Oil, UK farming organisations and banned protest group Palestine Action.
“It’s so important to who we are as human beings, that we’re able to stand up and do what we believe in, and that is being eroded,” said Amnesty International UK CEO Kerry Moscogiuri.
The documentary features footage of protests, arrests and demonstrators being removed by police, alongside interviews with activists from different campaign groups.
It explores the impact of recent policing and legislative changes on the right to protest through the experiences of activists, lawyers and campaigners.
Just over a week ago 82 people taking part in a protest in support of Palestine Action were arrested outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, including 94-year-old Jewish human rights barrister Margaret Owen.
Palestine Action was banned under the Terrorism Act in July 2025 after the Government said its members had carried out serious criminal damage against companies linked to Israel’s defence industry. The ban has been challenged in court, with the Court of Appeal upholding it in June and the Supreme Court due to hear an appeal in November.
Speaking during a panel discussion after the screening, protester Lucia Whittaker De Abreu said: “I don’t believe we are living in a functioning democracy.”
She discussed her experience of being arrested 16 times over the past five years, including while attending what she said was a peaceful protest for Palestine.
De Abreu said: “We hadn’t done anything illegal. We hadn’t gone seeking arrest, we were just part of the protest.
“Me and a friend were arrested for wearing keffiyehs.”
She said she now faces restrictions on taking part in activism.
The discussion was moderated by Banseka Kayembe, founder of media platform Naked Politics. It also featured actor and activist Khalid Abdalla and Chantelle Lunt of the Merseyside Alliance for Racial Equality.
Lunt spoke about why she continues to campaign.
She said: “I protest because first and foremost I am a mother.”
She said the environment her son is growing up in is more racist and hostile than the one she experienced in the 1990s, and said increasing acts of violence and threats were among the reasons she continues to speak out.
Panellist Khalid Abdalla said: “I kind of need to see the absurdity of us in a room here, discussing whether the right to protest is important. To me, that’s a symptom of how bad things have become. Whether it’s the right for farmers, or whether it’s for people fighting a genocide.”
Amnesty International UK CEO Moscogiuri said protesting could come at a huge personal cost but added: “It’s so important to who we are as human beings, that we’re able to stand up and do what we believe in, and that is being eroded.
“And what we can’t let happen is to become a UK which doesn’t really believe in protest.”
The documentary The Fight to Be Heard is available Amnesty International UK’s YouTube from October 5.
Featured image credit: Arianna Distefano
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