Palestine Action
Sinead O’Shea said she faced pressure not to voice political opinions, as she also called for activist Fergie Chambers’ release.
AN IRISH FILMMAKER has said a protest at the London premiere of her new documentary was “worth the risk” after it called for the UK government to reverse its proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Sinead O’Shea held a sign calling for the subject of her documentary to be released from prison in Spain, while cinematographer Enda O’Dowd stood beside her holding another reading ‘de-proscribe Palestine Action’, at the UK premiere of All About The Money over the weekend.
The film follows Fergie Chambers, a US multimillionaire who comes from the family behind media and automotive conglomerate Cox Enterprises, but has devoted his wealth to anti-capitalist causes.
Chambers has been held in prison in Spain since he was arrested in Ibiza in July following a US extradition request. His lawyers say he faces allegations of money laundering, riot and conspiracy to commit riot, which they deny and describe as politically motivated.
The riot allegations relate to a 2023 Palestine Action protest at a factory operated by Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence company, in New Hampshire.
Chambers denies being present at the protest. His legal team says he is accused of involvement in the action and argues that the case against him is politically motivated.
Speaking to The Journal, O’Shea said the episode is shown in the documentary and described the action as “damaged property” and “vandalism”.
“They’re just protests,” she said. “It’s a very mild manifestation of protest.”
We really enjoyed the UK premiere of All About The Money at the London Film Festival last night and also welcomed the opportunity to call for Fergie Chambers to be freed and Palestine Action to be de-proscribed. https://t.co/GAo1Doln3z
— Sinead O'Shea (@SineadEOShea) October 18, 2026
O’Shea said she wanted to draw attention to his case and the UK’s ban on Palestine Action, the direct-action group known for targeting companies linked to Israel’s arms industry.
The group is proscribed under British terrorism legislation.
“I think anyone with the opportunity to say something should say something,” O’Shea said.
She was less convinced that their demonstration had attracted much attention.
“I don’t think anyone even noticed,” she said, describing “a very small photo session”.
I just thought it was worth the risk because it is the kind of thing like that we’ll look back on in years to come and think, how did that happen? How did so many people justify this genocide?
The premiere came days after Sally Rooney’s publisher, Faber, announced it had decided in conjunction with Rooney to stop supplying her books in the UK following the Irish novelist’s pledge to use her earnings to support Palestine Action.
Asked about Rooney’s situation and whether the consequences of speaking publicly were deterring others, O’Shea said: “Yeah, I think it’s effective.”
She said she had been warned against discussing politics herself while promoting the documentary in the United States.
“I found myself coming under a lot of pressure not to state any personal political opinions,” O’Shea added.
The director described All About The Money as an observational film, drawing on several years of work as a journalist. But she believes its treatment of Palestine will affect its prospects.
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“I think because it features some very contentious views regarding Palestine, it will struggle to find mainstream audiences in a place like the United States.”
The documentary had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
O’Shea said the response was much more heated than at the London screening.
The first audience question came from a well-known film producer.
“Usually those premieres are very placid affairs, and their first question was, ‘How dare you make this?’, and then they just shouted for about five minutes at me,” O’Shea recalled.
She believes the reaction reflected discomfort with the documentary’s refusal either to endorse Chambers or condemn him outright.
“This is not at all a hagiographical film about Fergie Chambers,” she said.
“Even still, the fact that I’m humanising him, or I’m not prepared to throw him under the bus, even still, that kind of draws the ire of a certain kind of way of thinking.
“I just think that’s really problematic in the world, and it’s also problematic in documentary-making.”
At its centre is a contradiction: a man using a fortune generated by capitalism to try to dismantle it.
Chambers establishes a communist collective in Massachusetts, offering accommodation to people who share his politics. The film later follows him to Tunisia, where he finances a football club.
O’Shea first contacted him on Instagram in 2023, sending a link to her earlier work. This was before the Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza had begun.
“There’s a lot of twists and turns in the film,” she said, although she had sensed from the outset that the story had the potential to become dramatic.
She is frank about its subject.
He’s divisive and he’s extreme, and I don’t agree with everything that he says, but I think he does possess insight on some things which are important and which are affecting us all.
She believes he is particularly perceptive about the “wealthy liberal world” from which he emerged, describing it as capable of being “just as grasping and just as inhumane as their right-wing counterparts”.
Chambers was not entirely happy with the documentary. Its closing title cards reveal that he offered to cover its costs if O’Shea agreed never to screen it. She declined.
Still, she sees no contradiction between making a critical film about him and calling for his release.
“From what I witnessed in the film, the charges he’s facing, they don’t align with what I saw,” O’Shea said.
O’Shea said spending years filming someone inevitably brings an understanding of them.
“When you pay such close attention to people, I suppose you do have a strong sense of their vulnerabilities, and you do want to try and convey that as best you can.”
But understanding someone is not the same as making a film in their praise.
“Things shouldn’t be black or white in the documentary,” she added.
All About The Money will be released in Irish cinemas on 30 October.