“Governments shouldn’t be gatekeepers of culture.”

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 cinema - was my top choice as my first ever guest.

At that point, Cinema & Co has been a vibrant hub for film, live music, community gatherings and unfiltered truth-telling for a full decade. Anna continued that fearless spirit by hosting the premiere of my second controversial film ‘Playing God’ in 2024 - produced with Phil Graham and award-winning directors Naeem Mahmood and Ash Mahmood which investigated medical democide in the UK - and my third film ‘UNSEEN’ in 2025, produced with filmmaker and podcaster Richie Brown. At that final premiere, Richie and I even slept at the cinema - it was that cosy!

I was looking forward to another visit and to perhaps holding the premiere of my next film (‘The Gift of Life?’, currently in production) at the venue. But, alas, that’s not to be.

The cinema that had become a true sanctuary for independent voices hit trouble for a second time in late 2021 when the Welsh Government imposed its discriminatory Covid pass scheme - that vile tool of segregation designed to divide the vaccinated from the unvaccinated and control who could enter theatres, cinemas, pubs, sports arenas and other venues - Anna saw it for exactly what it was: an unlawful assault on basic human freedoms, bodily autonomy and the right to earn a living without state coercion.

While fearful businesses across the land rolled over and became enforcement arms of the regime, Anna Redfern took a stand. She boldly declared she would not comply. No Covid passes at her door. No turning away loyal customers based on their private medical choices. No participating in the medical apartheid that treated free citizens like second-class subjects. She called the passes “nonsensical & unnecessary” and “discriminatory and unlawful,” adding that they were “an infringement of our human rights” and that they “take freedom away.” Anna refused to let clipboard-wielding officials dictate the fate of her family’s livelihood. “I have a right to earn a living, it puts food on my kids’ table and I’m a single mum,” she said. “I didn’t want to pretend to comply anymore out of fear.”

The authorities struck back hard, as tyrants always do when faced with true defiance. Swansea Council bolted the shutters on her beloved cinema. They dragged her into court, slapped her with a staggering £15,000 fine and even handed down a suspended prison sentence for contempt after she dared to reopen and continue trading responsibly like other local businesses. Yet Anna remained unbroken. She spoke of “some very dark forces” at work, of a government horrified by the idea that ordinary people might still exercise their God-given rights. “We should make these decisions for ourselves and not the government,” she declared. “Governments shouldn’t be gatekeepers of culture.”

This was no fleeting protest. Anna risked everything - her business, her freedom, her future - to protect the principle that no state has the right to segregate or punish citizens for refusing experimental medical interventions. She continued showing films, even those questioning the official narrative, as the system tried to crush her independent voice. In interviews, she laid bare the human cost of lockdown lunacy on small venues like hers: families torn apart, livelihoods destroyed, and communities fractured by fear and division.

To the controlled mainstream press, Anna was painted as a troublemaker. But to millions who lived through the madness - those who watched loved ones isolated, businesses ruined and truths suppressed - she is nothing short of a hero. A single mum who looked her two young sons in the eye and chose principle over convenience. A freedom fighter who proved that one person’s courage can ignite hope in a sea of compliance. A warrior who reminded us all that true resistance begins with a simple, powerful refusal.

Years on, as the dust settles on that dark chapter of state overreach, Anna Redfern has now drawn her chapter at Cinema & Co to a close on her own terms. Recent social media updates from Anna confirm that after ten hard-fought years, she will not be renewing the lease this summer, bringing the independent space to an end rather than compromise its principles in an increasingly hostile climate for free-thinking venues.

In her own words: “The reality of trying to run a principled, independent space in the current climate has become unsustainable - not just financially but personally, creatively and emotionally too. Rather than compromise what this place stands for, we are choosing to end it on our own terms. This is not a failure.” She added: “Every story has an ending. After 10 years I’ve made the decision not to renew the lease at Cinema & Co.”

The constant battles - financial, personal, creative and emotional - took their toll, yet she walks away unbroken, head held high, having never surrendered her core values. Given the chance again, she said she “would still have done that” because “I wanted to run my business with my principles intact, and that’s the bigger picture for me.”

Her cinema may have faced closure battles, court fights and eventual wind-down but her legacy as a defender of freedom endures stronger than ever. In an age of conformity, she showed us what real backbone looks like. Anna Redfern didn’t just run a cinema - she defended the very soul of independent Britain against the machine, and in doing so, inspired countless others to question, resist and stand tall. Hats off to this true hero! The world shines brighter because warriors like Anna Redfern refused to let her light to be extinguished. Stand firm, question everything,and never surrender your freedoms.

“It’s been a difficult, beautiful, exhausting and meaningful journey all at once,” says Anna. “I never set out to be anything other than someone trying to run a space with integrity, raise my boys and create something that felt real.”

I’m starting another podcast soon and guess who’s going to my first guest. Yes - Anna. There couldn’t be a better choice.

A full interview with Anna Redfern will be published in the May/June 2026 edition of The Light truth paper. Follow here: https://substack.com/@thelightpaper?utm_source=global-search