A living, legacy of collective courage and resistance

The Doomsday Clock is less that a minute and a half away from midnight. So a re-look at protests of the past are well overdue. The power of one of those protests is caught in Gentle, Angry Women as a new generation of activists walk the steps of the Greenham Common March.

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Greenham Common Peace Camp came to life on 5 September 1981, the last protesters left the base on 5 September 2000. That’s 19 years of diligence, protest and solidarity.

But all too many people don’t know of that epic endurance for peace.

“An entire generation has been robbed of the knowledge that thousands of women once lived for years in makeshift camps, facing arrest and ridicule to prevent nuclear war,” said director of Gentle, Angry Women Barbara Santi.

“In a time when young people are grappling with climate crisis, global conflicts, and technological isolation, they need to see how previous generations of ‘gentle, angry women’ faced seemingly impossible odds and refused to give up.”

In Gentle, Angry Women, three young women – Poppy (16), Xanthe (17), and Evie (19) – not only discover what the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Movement is all about, they also retrace those 1981 steps. That’s a 110-mile march over 9 days.

As the blurb will tell you, ‘These young women uncover not just a historical movement, but a living, breathing legacy of collective courage and resistance.’

“The film champions small acts of defiance and community building as powerful forms of resistance. At its heart, this is a film about hope – about finding strength in gentle anger and discovering that the most profound changes often begin with the smallest, most personal acts of courage.”

Gentle, Angry Women is produced by Folklife Films, a documentary-focused offshoot of Cornwall’s production company awen. It picked up the History prize at the Celtic Media awards.

“The documentary’s significance is not merely as social and political history; its contemporary relevance is also critical,” said Buzz Mag.

Maybe turning the clock back, can also turn that Doomsday Clock back a bit.

New screenings of Gentle, Angry Women are at Ashburton Arts, Devon on 9 July, and The Poly, Falmouth on 12 August. Follow more on the Folk Life Films site