The state of the world today combined with the immediate accessibility and reach of social media have made it so that many tragic incidents have been documented for anyone to see. It’s rare that they have a positive outcome, which makes the fact that they were captured on camera and then broadcast to the world without changing anything all the more devasting. Everybody to Kenmure Street focuses on an unusual instance where mass action did make a difference in the moment and accomplished what it aimed to do immediately, an inspiring and energizing look at a fast-moving, impactful standoff.
On May 13th, 2021, an immigration van parked on Kenmure Street in Glasgow, Scotland and two men were detained. Word quickly spread about this incident and a large group of people, both neighbors and community members, arrived to protest, surrounding the van and even in some cases getting under the van to ensure that it wouldn’t be able to move. As tensions heightened, negotiations ensued that fortunately resulted in the eventual release of the two men and a deescalation of the situation rather than an all-too-familiar violent end with innocent lives cut short for no reason.
This documentary, from filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra, whose previous feature, Nae Pasaran, spotlighted another famous Scottish protest movement decades earlier, opens with footage setting the scene throughout history, including shots of the protests following George Floyd’s murder in the United States a year earlier. There are certain key specifics that are different, namely Scotland’s culture and the Sikh Indian identity of the detainees, as well as the fact that this raid took place the morning before Eid, that contribute to the makeup of the people present and what they’re fighting for, but it all boils down to the same idea: standing up for justice for everyone and using privileged voices to ensure that the marginalized aren’t systemically extracted or erased from society.
There is a sleekness to the construction and look of this film, which features interview subjects against a nondescript background recounting what they remember and, in several cases, stand-ins who say “these are my words but this isn’t my face.” One of the men who was nearly deported speaks off-camera as black dots float across the screen, emphasizing the severity of what he’s saying as he recalls fearful moments where he didn’t know what was coming next. One subject talks to the camera from under a van, relaying some sense of the physical claustrophobia of that day.
Though it’s very focused on one day and a particular event, this is a documentary that covers much more than that, not just from its opening sequence but also in its investigation of the history of and formation of Scotland as a nation. The prominence of slavery and links to Jamaican plantations highlight the existence of racial hierarchies and the persistent but evolving nature of systemic othering used to defend the attempted removal of so-called undesirable elements to maintain some sort of imagined fictional purity.
In just ninety-eight minutes, this film can’t – and shouldn’t be expected to – cover everything about Scottish protest movements, but it does do a magnificent job of honing in on one day and how, against all odds but partially due to sheer luck, a productive and redeeming outcome was indeed achieved. There’s much to be studied and learned from here, and this gripping, involving blend of archive footage, interviews, and dramatizations often plays out like Man on Wire, the kind of documentary that feels more like a getaway being filmed. That the innocent “good guys” come out ahead should be cause only for brief celebration and instead used as a launching pad for further ardent activism and keeping a close watch on how to make sure the next conflict with overreaching, self-appointed law enforcement anywhere in the world charts a similar path.
Movie Rating: 8/10
Everybody to Kenmure Street premieres in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
