Mike Leigh – Peterloo

March 25, 2019

Mike Leigh - Peterloo fredfilmradio

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PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Mike Leigh, director of the film Peterloo.

After competing for the Golden Lion at the last edition of Venice International Film Festival, the 75th edition, Mike Leigh lands in Italy again for the italian release of Peterloo. Leigh takes the occasion of this renewed attention on his film to describe its making of, how he shot the Peterloo massacre scene in particular. The connections between what happened in 1819 in the battle for democracy and the situation nowadays where populist movements are putting democracy at stake, Leigh declares that he doesn’t want to offer solutions but help his audience get their own conclusion on the moment we are living today. Peterloo will be out in Italian cinemas from March 21st thanks to Academy Two distribution.

Peterloo: An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reform and protest against rising levels of poverty. Many protestors were killed and hundreds more injured, sparking a nationwide outcry but also further government suppression. The Peterloo Massacre was a defining moment in British democracy which also played a significant role in the founding of The Guardian newspaper.