NOW SHOWING: LONDON SCREEN GUIDE w/c 19.01.18
RADIANT CIRCUS hunts out the best independent movie nights, film events & gallery screenings in London for the week ahead*. Here’s our SCREEN GUIDE for 19 to 25 JAN 2018.
FRI 19 // SAT 20 // SUN 21 // MON 22 // TUE 23 // WED 24 // THU 25
Welcome to our weekly screen guide where we recommend moving pictures that might excite you.
This week, as the latest Pixar film opens across the city, treat yourself to some alternative animations including BFI’s MERRY WITHOUT MELODIES (19 JAN 18:10) and a pair of Sunday screenings: IVAN TSAREVITCH AND THE CHANGING PRINCESS at Ciné Lumière (21 JAN 11.00); and, CinemaItaliaUK’s presentation of GATTA CENERENTOLA at Genesis (21 JAN 15:30).
Get yourself ready for the last few days of the 15th LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL (12 to 21 JAN) with our handy guide. With plenty of sold out screenings last week, check our daily tweets for updates.
Our featured attraction of the week is UCL Cinema Memories’ presentation of BARBARELLA – AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE (23 JAN 20:30). Prepare to strap yourself into the Orgasmatron and head back in time to see if things are indeed not as good as they used to be.
> Tell us what you’re seeing in the comments below.
#SCREENGUIDE: We highlight up to three SINGLE-O EXHIBITS (one-off screen events) each day and link to others in our LONDON EVENTS listing. There’s a summary of MUSEUM SHOWS (exhibitions // seasons & festivals) and GRIND SHOWS (regular runs & mainstream marvels) below the line. Follow date & section links to find what you want. Use your ‘back’ button to return here.
We check ticket availability for everything listed: please click quickly!
NOW SHOWING: SINGLE-O EXHIBITS
ONE-OFF MOVIE NIGHTS, FILM EVENTS & GALLERY SCREENINGS (by date/event)
FRI 19
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH VILMOS ZSIGMOND screens at ICA (18:05):
Without Vilmos Zsigmond, American cinema of the 1970s would not have been the same. Invited to Paris in 2014 to talk about his career, this legendary cinematographer accepts to find himself in front of the camera for an encounter of another kind.
THE LONG VACATION OF LOTTE H. EISNER aka Die langen Ferien der Lotte H. Eisner screens at Goethe-Institut (19:00):
Goethe-Institut London presents this intimate portrait of Lotte Eisner which conjures up a counter-history of German cinema, based on a kinship of flight and displacement. Part of SOHRAB SHAHID SALESS: EXILES.
MERRY WITHOUT MELODIES + INTRO by Jez Stewart screens at BFI (18:10):
Felix the Cat makes an appearance in this fine selection of vintage animations from across the globe. With live piano accompaniment by Stephen Horne.
> Looking for an alternative? Find more great screens in our LONDON EVENTS listing.
SAT 20
ALIA SYED, EARLY FILMS & INFLUENCES screens at Birkbeck Cinema (14:00):
LUX + BIMI present an afternoon programme of screenings and conversations around artist Alia Syed’s early work. FREE, booking required.
BLOODY NEW YEAR screens at BFI (20:30):
BFI Cult presents this forgotten final film from Brit. horror legend Norman J. Warren about a gang of friends who stumble across an abandoned hotel haunted by the ghosts of a 1959 New Year’s Eve party… (Also screens 19 JAN 20:55).
THANK YOU FOR THE RAIN + Q&A screens at Rio Cinema (12:00):
Divest Hackney presents a documentary which follows Kisilu, a smallholder farmer in Kenya, over five years as he uses his camera to capture the life of his family, his village and the impacts of climate change.
> Looking for an alternative? Find more great screens in our LONDON EVENTS listing.
SUN 21
GATTA CENERENTOLA screens at Genesis Cinema (15:30):
CinemaItaliaUK presents a retelling of the Cinderella fable set in a futuristic version of Naples’ harbour. An amazing mix of drama and animation.
THE ROSE TATTOO & THE FUGITIVE KIND screens at Regent Street Cinema (18:20 + 20:35):
A Tennessee Williams double-bill featuring Anna Magnani in two roles, Burt Lancaster, Marlon Brando and Joanne Woodward. As usual, there’s a discount for doing the double.
VARIETY + LIVE MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT by Stephen Horne and Martin Pyne screens at Barbican (16:00):
A key work of German silent cinema and an international smash on its release, E A Dupont’s VARIETÉ is an audacious melodrama, filmed in the legendary Berlin Wintergarten Theatre. A classic of both the silent and circus genres.
> Looking for an alternative? Find more great screens in our LONDON EVENTS listing.
MON 22
THE ENGLISH PATIENT + INTRO + SHORTS screens at The Institute Of Light (19:30):
SUPAKINO presents this luscious adaptation of the famous Michael Ondaatje novel which went on to win 9 Academy Awards. Part of TURBANS SEEN ON SCREEN (TSOS) – film screenings featuring notable characters wearing turbans.
LOVE screens at Deptford Cinema (19:00):
Murphy is an American living in Paris who enters a highly sexual and emotionally charged relationship with the unstable Electra. Unaware of the effect it will have on their relationship, they invite their pretty neighbour into their bed.
TUE 23
BARBARELLA – AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE screens at The Prince Charles Cinema (20:30):
UCL Cinema Memories invites you to step back in time to October 1968 when sci-fi adventure BARBARELLA was released in the UK.
BELONGING: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE HEADLINES + Q&A screens at The Cinema Museum (19:00):
Unite presents an multi-award winning film which tells the vitally important story about recent trade unionism and government.
PLAY IT COOL + INTRO by Vic Pratt screens at BFI (18:15):
Projecting The Archive presents a Billy Fury Tribute Night honouring the Liverpool legend with a 35mm film screening of his fab musical feature.
> Looking for an alternative? Find more great screens in our LONDON EVENTS listing.
WED 24
ARTISTS’ FILM CLUB: JULIETTE BLIGHTMAN + INTRO screens at ICA (19:00):
Juliette Blightman introduces her new work PROPINQUITY (2018), developed through an ongoing investigation of the relationship between sound, still and moving images.
A HEART OF LOVE + INTRO by Vlad Strukov screens at Barbican (18:30):
In this futuristic romance, two outsider artists create a world in which everything can be designed and controlled, everything but their own feelings. Part of NEW EAST CINEMA.
SAINT ETIENNE DOUBLE BILL + Q&A screens at Regent Street Cinema (19:30):
Heavenly Films presents a double bill of Saint Etienne films, made with director Paul Kelly. Both the director and Saint Etienne members Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley will take part in a Q&A hosted by Travis Elborough.
> Looking for an alternative? Find more great screens in our LONDON EVENTS listing.
THU 25
BENT (35mm) screens at The Prince Charles Cinema (18:00):
Unicorn Nights presents a 20th anniversary screening of Martin Sherman’s screen adaptation of his own stage play in acknowledgement of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and LGBT History Month.
INJUSTICE + PANEL DISCUSSION screens at Bernie Grant Arts Centre (19:00):
This hard-hitting doc investigates the crisis in Britain’s prisons and is followed by a panel discussion.
LEAVING HOME, COMING HOME: A PORTRAIT OF ROBERT FRANK + Q&A with director Gerald Fox screens at Regent Street Cinema (19:30):
The Photographers’ Gallery presents the first ever, feature-length documentary of legendary photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank.
> Looking for an alternative? Find more great screens in our LONDON EVENTS listing.
NOW SHOWING: MUSEUM SHOWS
EXHIBITIONS (by event/venue)
BL CK B X: Alia Syed – WALLPAPER shows at LUX Moving Image (from 10 JAN to 10 FEB 2018 – FREE, check for times):
Alia Syed’s WALLPAPER, a double screen film that was originally commissioned by the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in 2011, screens alongside other works to launch a new series of monthly exhibitions of artists’ moving image, BL CK B X.
LUIS LAZARO MATOS + ZHENG MAHLER + NGUYEN PHUONG LINH screens at The Whitechapel Gallery (until 28 JAN – FREE, check for times):
A new selection of moving image works from the gallery’s Artists’ Film International partnership.
SEASONS & FESTIVALS (by event/venue)
ANDREI TARKOVSKY screens at ICA (until 28 JAN):
Another month, another ANDREI TARKOVSKY retrospective. Not that we’re complaining. This week you can see THE SACRIFICE (23 JAN 19:05).
BEFORE THE NIGHT screens at Ciné Lumière (19 to 24 JAN):
NIGHT OF IDEAS (25 JAN) is a free event – booking required! – designed to “power up the imagination”. To get you in the mood, Ciné Lumière is screening a number of thought-provoking features. Highlights include: animation IVAN TSAREVITCH AND THE CHANGING PRINCESS (21 JAN 11.00); a double-bill of space docs THOMAS PESQUET, HOW TO BECOME AN ASTRONAUT (23 JAN 15:00) and THOMAS PESQUET, SPACE CORRESPONDENT (23 JAN 16:45) – there’s a discount for doing the double; SUFFRAGETTE (23 JAN 20:30); WOMEN AND MEN + Q&A with dir. Frédérique Bedos (24 JAN 14:00); and, THE BUREAU + Q&A with Q&A with prod. Alex Berger (24 JAN 20:30).
DETOX DOCS screens at Bertha Dochouse / Curzon Bloomsbury (until 23 JAN):
The mini season to help you settle into a more mindful New Year continues with a regular run of BECOMING WHO I WAS (until 23 JAN – check venue for dates/times).
FOCUS MARCEL PAGNOL screens at Ciné Lumière (until 28 JAN):
This season continues with CÉSAR (21 JAN 14:00), the last of Pagnol’s trilogy, some twenty years on from MARIUS.
INGMAR BERGMAN screens at BFI Southbank (until end MAR):
Celebrating 100 years since the master filmmaker’s birth, this ‘definitive’ season continues through FEB / MAR and covers both big and small screen outings. This week it’s time to get going with the introductory ‘trilogy of silence’ for all you Bergman novices out there: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY (23 & 29 JAN); WINTER LIGHT (22, 29 & 30 JAN); THE SILENCE (30 & 31 JAN).
Elsewhere, JAN’s screenings are divided into strands reflecting Bergman’s preoccupations: LOVE, PAIN AND THE WHOLE DAMN THING (“the complications of sexual and romantic passion”); and, ALL IN THE FAMILY (“emotional turmoil begins at home…”). If original formats are your thing, there are 35mm screenings of: LAST COUPLE OUT (24 JAN) and FAITHLESS (22 & 24 JAN). Finally, for an epic immersion into the Swedish master’s voice, why not try 293min of made for TV SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (21 JAN 13:30 + intervals)?
JOHN HURT screens at BFI Southbank (until 31 JAN):
A season dedicated to the late, great actor, there are many film and TV titles here you will know and love. We’d recommend: all three parts of CRIME & PUNISHMENT (20 JAN 18:00 + interval); ALIEN: Director’s Cut (23 JAN 20:45); and, a 35mm print with the Eurythmics score including one reel of play-in music NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (22 JAN 20:55). Other great performances available.
LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL (12 to 21 JAN): read our separate guide HERE.
ORSON WELLES screens at Close-Up (15 to 30 JAN):
The retrospective of eleven of Welles’ films and some juicy doubles continues. This week you can enjoy: CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (19 JAN 19:30); TOUCH OF EVIL (20 & 25 JAN 19:30); TAKE TWO: CONFIDENTIAL REPORT with Carol Reed’s THE THIRD MAN (21 JAN 16:30 + 19:30); and, OTHELLO (24 JAN 19:30).
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON 35mm TOUR screens at Prince Charles Cinema (until 01 FEB):
One of several London venues playing host to this retrospective where everything screens in 35mm. This week’s film is PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (21 JAN 18:30).
#WOMENINFILM2018 screens at Genesis Cinema (until 31 DEC):
Carrying on from where 2017 left off, Genesis continues a new season dedicated to films that have a female director/co-director, a female writer/co-writer, or a strong/iconic female lead. This week’s screening is: ERIC CLAPTON: A LIFE IN 12 BARS (25 JAN 18:15).
NOW SHOWING: GRIND SHOWS
REGULAR RUNS & MAINSTREAM MARVELS (by title)
A GHOST STORY screens at Whirled Cinema (22 to 28 JAN):
The latest film from acclaimed director David Lowery is a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the essential human longing for meaning and connection.
THE LAST OF US screens at ICA (20 to 23 JAN):
N is a young sub-Saharan man who crosses the desert to North Africa and intends to reach Europe. When he is robbed and left without any support in Tunisia, he decides to make the sea crossing on his own.
LOVER FOR A DAY screens at Ciné Lumière (until 01 FEB):
Having just separated from her boyfriend, heartbroken Jeanne knocks on her father’s door. But her warm welcome is matched by a baffling discovery: her father’s young new and passionate girlfriend is his student, and Jeanne’s age.
Join the hunt for adventurous moving pictures.
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*THE SMALL PRINT: As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any mistakes. Updates & corrections will be made to the online version. We don’t filter by age/certification: all readers & subscribers should be 18+. We only include events you can book for at the time of posting. Please click quickly!
Featured image: BARBARELLA (1968).