Wednesday 17th SeptemberDoors at 7pm FREE TWENTY TO LIFE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN SINCLAIR In the USA of 1967, the minimum mandatory sentence for possession of marijuana was 20 years in prison with a maximum of life. Steve Gebhardt's film recounts how the cultural activist, poet, MC5 manager and White Panthers founder, John Sinclair, found himself at the mercy of the American narcotics laws. It is this laughable drugs charge (Sinclair was sentenced to ten years for passing two joints to an undercover police officer) that captured the media's attention and the wider public's imagination including John Lennon, who wrote a song in solidarity with the Free John Sinclair campaign. However, this documentary pieces together the abundant exploits of a man and a community who believed that 'life without resistance wasn’t worth living' and formulated a political programmme which sought cultural revolution through racial inclusion, rock and roll, dope and fucking in the streets. As Sinclair puts it: 'the marijuana issue is a free speech issue', not so much about smoking weed but about living life according to one's beliefs, this essential film sings the blues of America's recent history; interweaving Sinclair's own poetry backed by the brilliant Blues Scholars, footage of John Lennon and Allen Ginsberg with the sounds of Chuck Berry and Charles Neville. John Sinclair will be in attendance for a Q&A after the screening Please RSVP for this event. Guests welcome. For more information visit RAINDANCE FILM CLUB or email FilmClub@raindance.co.uk