New ‘social injustice’ film free to view at Sunderland's Pop Recs

The Long Shadow of Class plays at Pop Recs on High Street West, on Thursday, October 20 between noon and 2pm. The film has been made by Journey to Justice, a pressure group which fights for social justice.

The politically charged film considers the roles class and education play in the UK in “creating an economically unjust society. It explores the lenses through which we view each other.”

In the film, experts in their fields from very different backgrounds discuss unequal opportunities, accent bias, the markers and stigma of poverty and the effects of the current economic model.

Six experts speak of the need for people with life experience to be at the forefront of policy decisions and suggest how change can be brought about.

In 2016 Journey to Justice worked with a range of partners who uncovered Sunderland’s history of human rights and social justice and ran an exhibition programme at the Museum & Winter Gardens. The stories can still be found at www.jtojhumanrights.org.uk/local-stories/sunderland.

The Sunderland screening of The Long Shadow of Class is the North East leg of a short tour of the film, which will also be shown in London and Birmingham.

The group said: “The film forms part of a unique, rich resource created by Journey to Justice exploring the impact of economic injustice and how we can all challenge it.

“Our new project, Economic (In)Justice, explores why the gap between rich and poor is so extreme in the UK and offers explanations and possible solutions in a free resource for use by all ages.

“It tells compelling stories of ‘ordinary people’ using creative tactics to address poor working conditions, cuts to public services, inadequate housing provision, and the right to clothing and food.”

The free tickets for the Pop Recs screening are available at the Eventbrite website. Refreshments are provided at the event.

Journey to Justice was founded in 2013 and say they teach “about human rights movements and the arts of social justice to galvanise people to become active citizens themselves”.