At this event Hackney's internationally acclaimed, but locally banned , writer and film maker Iain Sinclair will present and discuss his latest book American Smoke - Journeys to the End of the Light" and William Taylor, a Hackney Vicar and a former Director of OPEN, will discuss and screen the film "The UK Gold" - a damning indictment of the unethical practices of British financial institutions.
Iain Sinclair's book is his first full engagement with the memory-filled landscapes of the American Beats and their fellow travellers. Filled with bad journeys and fated decisions, it is a "delirious expedition in the footsteps of Malcolm Lowry, Charles Olson, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Gary Snyder and more, heated by obsession (the Old West, volcanoes, Mexico) and enlivened by false memories, broken reports and strange adventures".
'Inventive, dazzling, arresting. A superb chronicle of an impossible dream that has descended to a nightmare' New Statesman
'Wonderful, sharp, amusing, grippingly atmospheric. One of our most dazzling prose stylists' Daily Telegraph
The UK Gold Official Trailer from Brass Moustache Films on Vimeo.
Winner of the 'Best Documentary' at London's 2013 East End film festival, this independent film, written and directed by Mark Donne, explores the complicity of the City of London as the tax haven capital of the world and the network of overseas British territories, which suck money from impoverished nation states.
" A shining piece of film-making on the darkness at the heart of the City....this is a film no-one should avoid" Daily Mirror
We are guided through the darkness by the film's hero, the William Taylor, who joins a battle where good argument is of little value in a world of closed doors and mutually protective silence - where democracy is no more than an illusion and the cards have been dealt in advance. 'The UK Gold' shows how deep deception is ingrained in our proudest institutions and traditions.
"Fascinating, disturbing and ultimately gripping" Screen International
"The economics of taxation may be quite complicated, but the ethics of saying one thing and doing another is not....In this corner of Hackney we recognise that we have a responsibility to our neighbours. But do the Citizens of the City of London? I’m not so sure" William Taylor, Vicar of St Thomas' church, Upper Clapton
“A story seismic enough to shift perceptions of finance and flag forever”
OPEN events have previously sold out. Book tickets here - book now to avoid disappointment
