Anna's fight against culture gatekeepers

How council tried to shut down an independent cinema

- by JACQUI DEEVOY

AFTER six years of standing up to tyranny, heroic Cinema & Co owner Anna Redfern has decided to shut up shop.

In the heart of Swansea, Wales, where the independent spirit of small business owners once burned bright, one woman emerged as a beacon of unyielding courage against the dark tide of covid tyranny. Her name is Anna Redfern, owner of Cinema & Co, and she stands tall today as a true warrior for freedom, a fearless freedom fighter, and a genuine hero of our times the kind of everyday champion who refused to bow to authoritarian overreach when so many others complied in silence.

I first heard about Anna's plight back in 2020 and wanted to do whatever I could to help her. We connected and became friends. In 2021, Cinema & Co hosted the premiere of my first film, the groundbreaking A Good Death? produced with Ickonic Media - the first film to document the involuntary euthanasia happening within the NHS. The event was a huge success and the film went on to be one of Ickonic's most watched.

In 2022, I was looking for guests for my new Unity News Network talk show and Anna a dedicated single mother of two young boys who poured her heart and soul into building Cinema & Co as Swansea's only independent cinemawas my top choice as my first-ever guest.