January | 2008 | Jason N. Parkinson: Video Journalist

Archive for January 2008

Hanging with the Paparazzi

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Following filming the police protest all afternoon I stumbled on the film premiere of Rob Reiner’s The Bucket List.

Jack Nicholson seemed to still be wearing his makeup from the first Batman movie.

Morgan Freeman, ear rings and all.

All stills (c) Jason N. Parkinson.

For footage and stills access contact the author.

Written by jasonnparkinson

January 31, 2008 at 02:27

Posted in Art

Tagged with bucket list, jack nicholson, morgan freeman, rob reiner

Police Pay Protest

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Wednesday 23 January saw 22,000 police march through London to protest their recent pay rise retraction.

A counter protest was formed by Class War and FIT Watch.

Other groups like the Space Hijackers decided to give the police a hand, by offering expert advice on how to protest.

For footage access please contact Report Digital.

Written by jasonnparkinson

January 31, 2008 at 01:47

Posted in Economy, Policing, Protest

Tagged with class war, demonstration, fit watch, pay, police, police federation, space hijackers

Khalil Nasseri

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A memorial was held on Saturday 19 January for a Brixton market trader, who was stabbed through the heart one week earlier while working in his cousin’s shop.

25-year-old Khalil Nasseri was one month from his wedding when the attack happened.

To add insult to an already horrific incident, this hard working man and addict to education just had his asylum claim rejected by the Home Office.

A huge crowd turned out for the memorial, led by community leaders and family members.

All stills footage (c) Jason N. Parkinson.

For access to stills and footage contact the author.

Written by jasonnparkinson

January 31, 2008 at 00:15

Posted in Crime

Tagged with Brixton, Khalil Nasseri

Calais, France: After Sangatte

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Thursday 31 January 2008 sees the premiere of the short film After Sangatte at SOAS University in London.

The film came about after a short trip over to the northern French port of Calais in December 2007, to look at the refugee situation five years after the UK government forced the closure of the Red Cross Sangatte Refugee Camp.

The film centres around an interview with Ahmed, an Iraqi Kurd from Haifa Street in Baghdad, and his experiences during the war, his escape from Iraq and his journey to Calais as he sought asylum from the War on Terror.

Ahmed’s story is the story of more than 1000 now living on the streets of Calais, refugees from Palestine, Iran, Eritrea and Somalia, but predominantly from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The film will be preceded by a photographic slide show on the closure of the Sangatte Refugee Camp by photojournalist Guy Smallman and end in a talk with the film director Oscar Beard and journalist Simon Assaf.

All images (c) Jason N. Parkinson.

For image and footage availibility contact the author.

From February 2008 the film After Sangatte will be availible on Reel News issue 12.

Written by jasonnparkinson

January 25, 2008 at 12:10

Posted in Refugees

Tagged with calais, imigration, sangatte

London Freedom of Assembly Protest

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On Saturday 2 January 2008 at 1pm protestors gathered in Trafalgar Square for the Freedom of Assembly demonstration.

In July 2005 the UK Labour government implemented the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA), designed to initialise the Serious Organised Crime Association (SOCA), or more commonly known as the UK FBI. But tagged on the end of this act were Sections 132 to 138 that banned protest within a kilometre radius of Parliament without prior police permission.

Thursday January 18 is the end of the public consultation process to decide whether the law will be repealed. But in the consultation paper it calls for expansion of those “conditions” on protest around parliament to encompass England and Wales, to “remove any confusion around conditions that can be imposed”.

The 200-strong protest marched, without police authorisation, into the SOCPA zone around parliament, from Trafalgar Square, past the Foreign Office, on to Parliament Square, to the Home Office, Scotland Yard, MI5 and back to Parliament Square, where a sit-down protest on the main junction was initiated.

Then the Tactical Support Group (TSG) were brought in to install order.

The march then moved towards Downing Street for a final showdown.

Police vans raced in and the TSG continued their heavy-handed policing, arresting seven people, including peace protestor Brian Haw, who was injured in the process, along with many others suffering bruises on pressure points.