NOW SHOWING: LONDON SCREEN GUIDE w/c 16.06.17

To help your hunt for adventurous moving pictures, RADIANT CIRCUS hand-picks London’s screen highlights for the week ahead*.

If you were going to head anywhere this week, camp outside BFI Southbank for night after night of adventurous screenings and informative Q&As (more than we’ve had a chance to list here). Join the nearby skateboarders for a POP SHUVIT or a MELANCHOLY GRAB to limber up between screenings.

Our featured film of the week is RAT FILM which enjoys an exclusive run at ICA.

FRIDAY 16 JUNE 2017, 18:45, ICA

Portraying Baltimore as a laboratory for both rat and human populations alike, RAT FILM is a “documentary that explodes the American city’s ‘rat problem’ into a powerful and poetic tale of urban, social and racial inequalities”. The trailer alone is a marvel…

Looking for an alternative? For an altogether different take on the urban experience, head to Prince Charles Cinema for Walter Hill’s odd but compelling musical cum action flick STREETS OF FIRE in 35mm (21:00).

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ORI INU screens as part of SISTERS IN SCIENCE FICTION at BFI (17 JUNE, 14:00).

SATURDAY 17 JUNE 2017, 14:00, BFI

SISTERS IN SCIENCE FICTION is an afternoon of “independent shorts and discussion on the themes of Afro-futurism, women, spirituality and activism” and screens as part of BFI’s ongoing AFRICAN ODYSSEYS.

Looking for an alternative? No hunt for adventurous moving pictures can be complete without the weird and wonderful works of Alejandro Jodorowsky. In a twisted take on Father’s Day, Deptford Cinema screens mini season Binge:DADS, kicking things off with the master’s THE DANCE OF REALITY (15:00). Catch TONI ERDMAN (18:00) and MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (21:00) the same day followed by LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (18 JUNE, 14:00).

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DUCK SEASON screens at Deptford Cinema (18 JUNE, 19:00).

SUNDAY 18 JUNE 2017, 19:00, DEPTFORD CINEMA

One of our favourite Latin American modern gems, DUCK SEASON gets a rare outing on the big screen. Director Fernando Eimbcke (LAKE TAHOE, CLUB SANDWICH)’s first film is a “profoundly moving and insightful meditation on restless adolescence, friendship, sexuality and familial strife”. There’s an alternative view of childhood across town at Moth Club where Cinè-Real screens François Truffaut’s classic story of disaffection LES QUATRE CENTS COUPS in 16mm (aka THE 400 BLOWS) (19:00).

Looking for an alternative? Acclaimed climbing doc TOUCHING THE VOID LIVE IN CONCERT (18:00) is accompanied by live orchestra and special pre-screening chat with real life subject Joe Simpson, composer Alex Heffes and director Kevin Macdonald. Part of Barbican’s NEW LIVE MUSIC & FILM EXPERIENCES, timings seem a little vague on the web, so best give the box office a call to check things out…

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CLOSE-UP screens at Deptford Cinema (19 JUNE, 19:30).

MONDAY 19 JUNE 2017, 19:30, CLOSE-UP

ABBAS KIAROSTAMI: EARLY WORKS concludes with a screening of THE REPORT (19:30), a feature about the crumbling life of an Iranian civil servant in the Ministry of Finance. The digital copy used for the screening is believed to be the only surviving version. Blimey… There’s a screening of a more recent work by Kiarostami, CLOSE-UP (19:00) – are you following this? – at Deptford Cinema.

Looking for an alternative? Science Fiction Theatre presents CHARLY + TALK: LIMITS OF OUR BRAIN (19:30) at the Victoria in Dalston. CHARLY tells of a floor sweeper with a low IQ who gets turned into a genius by an experiment into human intelligence. The talk is from Professor Sophie Scott, Deputy Director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, who will discuss “the possibilities and limitations of the human brain”.

TUESDAY 20 JUNE 2017, 18:10, BFI

WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME + INTRO from writer Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff (gal-dem) screens as part of UNBOUND: VISIONS OF THE BLACK FEMININE. It’s far from subtle, but as a rare piece of black science fiction filmmaking – see Saturday’s SISTERS IN SCIENCE FICTION for more – its futuristic dystopia where blacks are confined to a ghetto will inspire debate.

Looking for an alternative? Fritz Lang’s sci-fi epic METROPOLIS (18:00) gets an outing on the giant IMAX screen at non giant IMAX prices (£8.80 for non-members). For fans of the master filmmaker, his “eerie masterpiece” DESTINY is also enjoying a long run at BFI (various dates/times).

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THE FLY screens at JW3 (21 JUNE, 20:30).

WEDNESDAY 21 JUNE 2017, 20:30, JW3

One day, two Canadian filmmakers…

David Cronenberg’s THE FLY leaps out of the telepods at JW3 accompanied by a talk from Dr Nathan Abrams about how the director’s Jewishness and Kafka’s METAMORPHOSIS might have influenced his work.

Looking for an alternative? MY WINNIPEG + INTRO by programmer Geoff Andrew gives Canadian Guy Maddin’s “dreamlike, fantastic and often extremely funny” essay-film about the snow-bound city a welcome screening at BFI (18:20).

THURSDAY 22 JUNE 2017, 18:15, BARBICAN

One day, two revolutions…

BEING RUBY RICH – opens with a screening of post-revolutionary Cuban romantic drama DE CIERTA MANERA (aka ONE WAY OR THE OTHER) + KEYNOTE from B. Ruby Rich herself. Described as “one of cinema’s most important critics and thinkers” this season from, amongst many things, the coiner of the phrase New Queer Cinema, looks set to be essential.

Looking for an alternative? Relax into Dash Arts’ Dacha (“an installation modelled on the iconic Russian country house set amid in the revolutionary chaos of 1917”) at Rich Mix for AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON (18:00), an epic 6hr Soviet Cinema classic about the lives of the Cossaks. Part of Dash’s yearlong REVOLUTION17 looking at the legacy of the Soviet era.


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IKARIE XB-1 + INTRO screens at Barbican (18 JUNE, 16:00).

FESTIVALS / SEASONS / TALKS

Barbican launches its SCI-FI SUNDAYS with IKARIE XB-1 + INTRO from Second Run films founder Mehelli Modi (18 JUNE, 16:00). Part of INTO THE UNKNOWN.

BFI continues the DUSTIN HOFFMAN season.

Close-Up continues the Yasujirō Ozu: Noriko Trilogy with EARLY SUMMER (16 JUNE, 19:30). Terrence Malick’s BADLANDS (17 JUNE, 19:30) screens as part of ON THE ROAD.

EAST END FILM FESTIVAL continues. Why not get out and about this weekend with PAPAGAJKA (Rio, 17 JUNE, 15:45), SODOM (Hackney Picturehouse, 17 JUNE 18:20) or 8:30 (Rich Mix, 18 JUNE, 19:30)?

LONDON INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL (22 to 29 JUNE) opens with a gala night screening of THE BLACK PRINCE + Q&A (18:00) with cast and crew at BFI.

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NANABOZHUNG screens at Bernie Grant Arts Centre (18 JUNE, 16:00).

ORIGINS: FESTIVAL OF FIRST NATIONS continues across London. Try Terence Malick’s THE NEW WORLD in 35mm at Picturehouse Central (18 JUNE, 13:00) or NANABOZHUNG (18 JUNE, 16:00) at Bernie Grant Arts Centre.

And finally…

RAPPORT FESTIVAL takes place in Brixton 17 to 18 JUNE with various screenings at Whirled Cinema.


More places to shelter from the storm in next week’s GUIDE.


*As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any mistakes.

Featured image: RAT FILM (2016).