Documentary about Home Office immigration raid on Glasgow's Kenmure Street to premiere at Sundance Festival

A new documentary about Glasgow’s community resistance to a Home Office immigration raid will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Everybody to Kenmure Street, acquired for UK and Ireland distribution by Scottish outfit Conic, will screen on the opening day of Sundance as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

Crowds had gathered in Glasgow’s Kenmure Street in Pollokshields on May 13, 2021, after two Sikh men were detained by the Home Office for alleged immigration violations.

The van was quickly surrounded by protesters objecting to the Home Office’s actions.

The crowd swelled and the van was prevented from leaving for several hours, before a senior Police Scotland officer decided to release the detained men on public safety grounds.

Directed by Chilean-Belgian filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra, the documentary uses crowd-sourced footage from the day, alongside archive material and reconstructed scenes, while actors deliver verbatim testimonies from contributors who requested anonymity.

Two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson is among the film’s executive producers.

Thompson said the film “beautifully and powerfully demonstrates the innate and deep decency of our people whilst also highlighting the institutional mannerisms and structures that are the opposite of this”.

“It’s a documentary about what we as society often do not see, but what we can do when we do see it. I’m excited to be supporting Felipe with this urgent film”, she said.

It is produced by Ciara Barry alongside Bustos Sierra’s Debasers Filums, with Thompson and Screen Scotland’s Mark Thomas as executive producers.

Barry, who lives in the community and took part in the 2021 protest, said the film “celebrates the power of community” and offers hope “in an increasingly divided world where many feel disenfranchised.”

“Everybody to Kenmure Street is a hopeful film that celebrates the power of community”, she said. “In an increasingly divided world where many feel disenfranchised, it allows us to believe in our collective agency to enact change.

“This film is deeply personal to us, as residents of the Glasgow community where the film is set, and participants of the protest on the day, we are excited to share this film with international audiences and are proud to celebrate its message”.

Everybody to Kenmure Street will be released in the UK and Ireland in spring 2026.