Friday 10 November marks 11 years to the day since his execution along with 8 others in 1995 as part of the Nigerian regime’s crackdown on the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People whose campaigning against the environmental and social destruction of their Niger delta homeland caused by Shell threatened the corporation’s continued investment in Nigeria.

The evening commemoration (from 6.30pm) – THE NIGER-DELTA: 11 YEARS ON FROM KEN SARO-WIWA – features performances from 'Pomfretian' writer and poet, Simon Murray, talks by Nigerian and Irish campaigners fighting Shell’s destruction of their communities, and a number of films, including Glenn Ellis’s award-winning 1994 film Delta Force secretly shot by the Ogoni people of southeast Nigeria in protest at the irresponsible oil extraction activities by global oil giant Shell. Revisiting the events surrounding Ken Saro-Wiwa’s execution is particularly timely given the recent armed uprising in the Niger Delta against oil corporations and next year’s the bicentenary of the British abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, which many African groups are planning to mark with a renewed call for reparations for the destruction of their motherland by Western corporations.

The event will headline the Common Place social centre’s day long contribution to the annual film extravaganza on Saturday 11 November from 1pm. Entitled ‘Empire Strikes Back: Resource Wars, Peak Oil and the Battle for the Planet’, the day of films explores how Western governments and multinational corporations collude in carving up and exploiting natural resources in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and then in suppressing popular democracy and movements that seek end to this modern colonialism.

The full programme begins at 1pm with Gerard Ungermann’s excellent documentary The Oil Factor which looks at both the human cost and the greater geo-strategic picture of George Bush's "War on Terror". It is followed at 3pm by the UK premiere of Robert Greenwald’s new film, Iraq for Sale: the War Profiteers. It looks inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. The afternoon screenings climax at 5pm with Barricade Films Empire in the Andes: the War against the Poor, which takes a critical look at the strategies and effects of US foreign and economic policy in Latin America, especially in Colombia and Ecuador.

The evening ends with a benefit party from 10pm-late that will raise funds for anti-racist work in Leeds. ‘We interrupt this Racism’ will feature Guest DJs, African beats, and a cheap bar, and is organised by Leeds No Borders and local football team and holders of the anti-racist World Cup, Republica Internationale.

Empire Strikes Back will be followed between 17-22 November by the Common Place’s very own cultural extravaganza – Leeds Other Film Festival. Highlights include: films by Surrealist director Jan Svankmajer; the spanking ‘Feminists like popcorn too’ queer/feminist night; Behind the Mask, exploring the motives of the Animal Liberation Front; documentaries on globalisation and health privatisation; Black Power in the 60s; and Peter Watkins 6-hour epic La Commune. See full programme being handed around the venues or visit www.thecommonplace.org.uk

The full programme for 11 November is:

1pm, The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror’ (G Ungerman, A Brohy, 2004)
3pm, Iraq for Sale: the War Profiteers’ (R Greenwald, 2006)
5pm, Empire in the Andes: the War against the Poor’ (Barricade Films, 2005)
6.10pm, Talk/slide show – ‘Republica Internationale FC and the Anti-Racism World Cup’
6.30pm, EVENT: THE NIGER-DELTA – 11 YEARS ON FROM KEN SARO-WIWA Performance: Simon Murray, 'Pomfretian' writer, poet
6.45pm, ‘Ken Saro-Wiwa’s last words’ (Without Walls, ‘The Hanged Man’, Ch4, 1995)
7pm, Delta Force (1994, Glenn Ellis)
8pm, Discussion with: James Marriott, co-author of 'The Next Gulf: London, Washington and Conflict in Nigeria'; Yemi Araromi, Nigerian activist (Pan-Afrikan Youth Development Focus) Delegate, Rossport Solidarity Camp, fighting Shell in Co. Mayo, Ireland
10pm-2pm , BENEFIT PARTY: ‘We interrupt this Racism’, Guest DJs, African beats, cheap bar, raising for funds for anti-racist work in Leeds organised by Leeds No Borders & Republica Internationale