Alias Ruby Blade at Curzon Soho

Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution tells the remarkable love story of human rights activist Kirsty Sword and political prisoner Xanana Gusmão. Once an aspiring documentary filmmaker, Kirsty instead became a revolutionary, working in Jakarta for the Timorese resistance. Using the pseudonym 'Ruby Blade', she smuggled video equipment, computers and audio cassettes to their leader Gusmão, who was serving a life sentence in the notorious Cipinang Prison. As they exchanged letters, video messages, paintings, photographs and even bonsai trees, they fell in love without ever having met. Through archival footage, accounts from friends, and interviews with Sword herself, the film not only explores their remarkable relationship, but also the history of a decade of resistance that ultimately led to the UN-organized referendum on East Timor in 1999 and the country's independence. Followed by a Q&A.