The UK Gold: tax avoidance film gets world premiere

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A week today The UK Gold – a documentary film which explores tax avoidance – gets its world premiere when it opens the East End Film Festival. Steven Perryman previews what to expect

Timing is everything. And Mark Donne’s second film – The UK Gold – could not have come at a better time.

With a spate of tax avoidance stories proving difficult to shift from the business pages, and David Cameron using this week’s G8 summit in County Fermanagh to clampdown on the tax avoidance of large corporations, Donne’s film has arrived just in time to join the debate.

Narrated by actor Dominic West, and featuring a soundtrack by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, The UK Gold incorporates the views and voices of British politicians, hedge fund managers, Vanity Fair investigative journalist Nicolas Shaxson, Private Eyes Richard Brooks and Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow, to expose the fundamental role the City of London plays in tax havens and avoidance.

The UK Gold Trailer from East End Film Festival on Vimeo.

The film is shot through the eyes of William Taylor – a vicar from a small parish in the London Borough of Hackney – as he reveals a modern Britain dominated by a financial sector that relies on unfair play for profit.

Shot last summer – when east London and the nation were gripped by Olympic feverThe UK Gold aims to offer a stark reminder of recession-hit Britain at a time when it is about to mark one year since the Games were in the country.

In that context, the timing is nothing short of perfect.

The UK Gold gets its world premiere at the East End Film Festival on 25 June. Tickets are available online.

Steven Perryman is AAT Comment's former Content Editor.

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