Everybody to Kenmure Street to open the 2026 Glasgow Film Festival
In 2021 hundreds organised in Pollokshields’ Kenmure Street, preventing the UK Home Office from taking their neighbours during a dawn raid. Five years later, filmmaker Felipe Busto Sierra, premiers, Everybody to Kenmure Street, at the 2026 Glasgow Film Festival, documenting a day of grassroots solidarity.
Protestors circle the van holding two men to prevent its departure
By Samar Jamal | Still from Everybody to Kenmure Street
The crowd-sourced documentary, Everybody to Kenmure Street, will open the 22nd run of the Glasgow Film Festival next month. The film will also be shown at this year’s prestigious Sundance Festival.
The festival will kick off its opening weekend on 22 February, with the premiere of Everybody to Kenmure Street. The documentary depicts one of Scotland’s well-known recent acts of resistance – an immigration raid halted Pollokshields in May 2021 due to a standoff between the hundreds of members of the community and the UK Home Office.
Read more: ‘These are our Neighbours’: Three years on from Kenmure Street, what’s changed?
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra and executively produced by Oscar winner, Emma Thompson, the film is made up of “crowd-sourced footage from the day, along with archive film and set-designed scenes captured by cinematographer Kirstin McMahon, featuring actors relaying verbatim the testimonies of contributors who wished to remain anonymous.”
For Felipe, Everybody to Kenmure Street, is a snapshot of “gestures repeated through time, for the right to have a voice and to live in peace. Glasgow's long history of civil disobedience and meaningful change has been a barometer throughout the making of this film. I cannot wait to watch it at the GFT with its hometown audience, for whom we can only hope it'll be a joyful reminder of what a beacon they can be in uncertain times."
The documentary echoes themes from Sierra’s previous work, including Nae Pasaran, a BAFTA-winning film, depicting grassroots solidarity for Chile from workers in Scotland’s industrial town, East Kilbride.
He also directed ‘Govanhill: A Community Film Portrait’ which opened Glasgow’s Short Film Festival in 2024 and can be watched in full here.
Read our interview with Felipe Bustos Sierra about the Govanhill film
The initial rough cut of the film was made possible through a crowdfunding campaign launched in 2024. Speaking to Greater Govanhill at the time the campaign was launched, Sierra explained: “It's the kind of film that's not going to get funded through normal channels. Despite the people making it, like myself, who made Nae Pasaran, which was very well-received. And my producer is one of the top emerging producers in Scotland; it is still a film that generates a lot of controversy. I don't really agree with that.”
Everybody to Kenmure Street will be in UK and Irish cinemas from 13 March 2026. There have been calls from some locals – including Pollokshields Councillor Jon Molyneux to show the film locally as well, with no information yet available.
The Glasgow Film Festival runs from 22 February to 8 March, highlighting titles that explore themes of “Truth to Power”, alongside its Country Focus segment, which spotlights titles from Sweden.
Audiences can view some of the films that will be screened on the Glasgow Film Theatre’s website. The full schedule, alongside tickets, will go on sale in the coming weeks.