The Participants
The people at the heart of the film — activists, academics, families and campaigners who chose to stand in defiance, and paid a price for it. Many have volunteered to take part in Q&A discussions after screenings.
Activist
Pia left a career in the corporate sector in the summer of 2022 and went to a Just Stop Oil meeting. A month later she was doing roadblocks. She has taken part in lock-ons and slow marches with Just Stop Oil, and in refinery blockades with This Is Rigged.
Activist
Valerie was one of nine women who broke the windows of HSBC's headquarters to protest the bank's role as one of the largest investors in fossil fuels. All nine were acquitted by a jury, permitted to rely on the “consent defence” — a defence since removed following an Attorney General's appeal.
Academic & Activist
Rachel is a California-based political theorist with a PhD who joined protest movements in 2021. She frames climate activism within broader questions of social justice and anti-capitalism, and appears in the film at sentencing hearings and protesting anti-protest legislation.
Partner of Marcus Decker
A concert pianist and mother of two, Holly navigates daily campaigning to support Marcus Decker's legal battle while holding together her career and her family.
Co-founder of Defend Our Juries
A former barrister, Tim co-founded Defend Our Juries, which upholds the right of jurors to acquit according to their conscience, and founded Plan B to hold those in power to account on climate.
Climate Activist
After twelve years attempting lawful change, Marcus used professional rope skills to scale the cables of the QEII motorway bridge with his friend Morgan, occupying hammocks 400 feet above the Thames for 37 hours. He received the longest sentence ever handed down for peaceful protest at that time under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. An EU citizen with pre-settled status, he became the first environmental defender to face a deportation order.
Civil Rights Advocate
After thirty years in engineering, Clive turned to civil rights work, collaborating with Defend Our Juries and giving talks, from a non-legal perspective, on his concerns about the judicial system.
Musician, Mother & Activist
A London-based environmentalist, Cathy has been involved with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil since 2018. Arrested over twenty times and imprisoned twice, she was wrongfully arrested in 2023 for posting jury-rights notices and helped establish Defend Our Juries.
Climate Activist
After record 40-degree heat in London in 2022, Sam joined Just Stop Oil slow marches and was remanded in prison after walking for twenty minutes. He received a 16-month sentence for This Is Rigged actions — the longest ever for peaceful protest in the Scottish courts — serving four months before a successful appeal.
Climate Activist
Rosa co-founded Fireproof Australia while living there, then returned to England for Just Stop Oil frontline action in 2023. She spent six months on remand for an airport campaign and received a 15-month sentence for conspiracy to cause public nuisance.
Doctor & Climate Activist
An infectious-diseases doctor, Kush saw in the COVID pandemic a glimpse of the future that continued fossil-fuel burning would bring. He joined Just Stop Oil, viewing climate action as a professional duty to protect his patients and those he loves.
Climate Activist
Raised by devout Catholics who valued principle over self-interest, Steve took part in Insulate Britain roadblock actions. Barred from explaining his motivations to the jury, he was imprisoned when he refused to renounce nonviolent protest — one of five times he has been jailed, including twice in the 1980s for anti-nuclear protest.
Emeritus Professor & Activist
Anne took early retirement and joined Just Stop Oil from its inception. Active in Defend Our Juries and other groups, she is a mother of three and grandmother of two, motivated to create change for future generations.
Carpenter & Activist
A South London carpenter, Olly grasped the severity of the climate crisis through Extinction Rebellion in 2018, joining the 2019 rebellions. He took part in Insulate Britain in autumn 2021 and was imprisoned for breaching an injunction; he has since turned to therapy and meditation to recover from burnout.
Director & Filmmaker
An award-winning British documentary filmmaker and Page75 Productions director, Liz unexpectedly became part of the story when she was arrested under new anti-protest laws while filming. Her work centres on human rights, populism and the erosion of democratic rights.
Retired Social Worker & Activist
Trudi became the central figure in a landmark jury-rights case after standing silently outside court with a sign reading “Jurors, you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience.” Arrested for contempt of court, her case reached the Royal Courts of Justice and sparked Defend Our Juries, reviving a 400-year-old legal principle.
Climate Activist
A member of Just Stop Oil, Defend Our Juries, Christian Climate Action and Marching for Palestine, Deborah is motivated by her grandson Jacob and a faith that values justice for all. Given the facts of the climate crisis, she asks: “how can I then do nothing?”