Film / News
Alarming state surveillance documentary screens at Watershed with panel Q&A
Under schedule 7 of the 2000 Terrorism Act, police have the power to search people at UK borders without needing to demonstrate any suspicion of terrorism. If the cops demand the password to your phone or computer, you’re obliged to hand it over. Fail to do so and you face prosecution and a three month prison sentence.
That’s what happened to Muhammad Rabbani, international director of Cage, which advocates for Muslims impacted by the ‘War on Terror’. (For the record, it’s also the organisation whose research director described Islamic State killer Mohammed Emwazi as a “beautiful young man”.) Kate Stonehill’s new documentary Phantom Parrot follows Rabbani as he’s prosecuted for refusing to hand over the passwords to his electronic devices on his return from Qatar in 2016. Along the way, a top secret government programme is uncovered. Nicknamed Phantom Parrot, this sinister extension of state surveillance is designed to copy the personal data of individuals at airports and border crossings. The film also boasts “unprecedented access” to digital forensic investigators and law enforcement officials as it explores mobile phone extraction tools used in policing.
“We are approaching a watershed moment when it comes to privacy,” observes the director. “Whether it’s the government or Google, institutions are encroaching on parts of our lives that they never previously had access to. How has this fundamental shift altered the way we relate to these powerful entities? Phantom Parrot is a story about how technology has redefined the relationship between the citizen and the state.”
is needed now More than ever
Phantom Parrot is showing at the Watershed cinema on Tuesday 16 April. The screening will be followed by a panel Q&A with producer Steven Lake, Muhammad Rabbani and Priyanka Raval from the Bristol Cable. Go here for tickets.
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