Amir Amirani, director of "We are Many' talks about 'Left Field': "This book is a testament to a life well lived, a life about ideals and principles. This memoir of a very colourful life in activism is both entertaining and illuminating, the pages filled with a great variety of characters from the worlds of music, politics and the arts, and in many places very emotional. It shows that a person with a passionate belief can create great change and inspire others to share a vision for a better society. It's a personal, often humorous account, of personal tragedies, losses as well as triumphs such as co-founding the charity War Child and directing the Pavarotti Music Centre. Highly recommended." See interview with Amir at Waterstones's book launch with others here and buy the book here
I spent a lot of time at WOMAD with Amir Amirani, director of 'We are Many'. A great man who has devoted years to getting this film made. It can now be bought on DVD and soon on Netflix and has been bought by Universal Pictures. All this on his own and without any support from the 'media'. I doubt you are going to see this film on your TV screens. Why? I think it's because he is an outsider – he's not working inside the box, inside the acceptable paradigm. It's the same with Jeremy Corbyn. 10,000 can fill the streets of Liverpool but he remains 'unelectable'. What is meant by this is that he remains 'unacceptable'. He is not playing by their rules. I wrote about this in 'Left Field'. “A police inspector turned up at our house. He wanted to question me about a march I was helping to co-ordinate as secretary of South London Youth CND. ‘Are you the organiser?’ he asked. ‘I’m one of them.’ ‘What is your role?’ I was being introduced to page one of the police training manual: locate the leader. I said nothing, but my mother tapped him on the arm. ‘He’ll get over this,’ she said. ‘He’s still growing up.’ As the front door closed, she pleaded with me. ‘David, why can’t you be normal?’ ‘What is normal, Mum?’ ‘Why don’t you go into politics?’ ‘I am into politics.’ ‘Banning the bomb isn’t politics. Why don’t you join a party? You could end up in Parliament.’ Ambrose Bierce, the American wit, said that politics is ‘a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.’ Politics that you ‘go into’, takes place in a box with shared rules of engagement. If, like me, you believe there is nothing ‘shared’ about our world, the only place for politics is on the streets, not in a debating chamber full of Right Honourables who barrack and ridicule each other, then go off to have cosy lunches together. For my mother, my extra-parliamentary activities made me an extremist. But it’s like ships at sea. If a fleet of them are sailing together, a lone ship on the horizon is viewed as one which occupies an extreme position. However, from the point of view of the lone ship, you have to be a damn good sailor.” Amir is a damn good sailor and so is Jeremy Corbyn. They are our only hope, and in my case, now aged over 70, my last one!.www.davidwilson.org.uk
Amir Amirani's "We Are Many' has been acquired by Universal Pictures for worldwide distribution, (excluding USA!), and it will be available on iTunes from July 18th and DVD from August 1st. Selected cinemas across the UK are bringing it back in time for the release of the Chilcot Report on July 6th. I am delighted that I will be with Amir on a panel at the South Bank Centre on 2 July as part of their "Protest in the Digital Age' event. Joining us are Gillian Slovo and Haifa Zangana He and I will also be at the Global Voices session at the WOMAD music festival on 31 July. Buy Left Field here
Buy 'Left Field' on Amazon or at any Waterstones store but it's cheapest at WH Smith
Kieran Conlon's film of the 'Left Field' Waterstones launch is now in production. Talks, music and interviews. These include ex-ambassador and whistleblower Craig Murray with whom I share that experience, film director Amir Amirani, (Director of "We are Many") who will be speaking alongside me in July at the South Bank Centre and at WOMAD and of course musicians Eugene Skeef, Vanessa Lucas-Smith, Deicola Neves and Peter Wilson. As you will see, what an amazing performance they gave. Craig Murray 'brought the house down' with his Julie Christie/Brian Eno leg story and there is a great interview with Tiffany Drake, who I hadn't met for 20 years and 4 kids later. Adele Drake went home and sent me this sad and astonishing photo of Mostar. I am very moved by the number of emails and text messages I'm receiving from those of you already enjoying the book.
"I am so elated to have read Left Field. I feel like a child at the fountain of narratives. David Wilson is truly one of the greatest storytellers I have ever met or read. For me he is right up there with Alice Walker, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Mandla Langa and Ariel Dorfman (Writing The Deep South) in his ability to enchant the reader while telling about harrowing and politically charged life experiences." Eugene Skeef
Left Field: THE FILM
This is the collage image used for 'Left Field' by Waterstones
I have been invited to join Gillian Slovo and Amir Amirani for a panel discussion at the South Bank Centre on 2 July.
My good friend Haifa Zangana is chairing. This follows the release of 'Left Field' which is now only a few weeks from publication.
