NOW SHOWING: THREE WISHES FOR CINDERELLA screens at Close-Up (30 DEC).

NOW SHOWING: LONDON SCREEN GUIDE w/c 22.12.17

RADIANT CIRCUS hunts out the best independent movie nights, film events & gallery screenings in London for the week ahead*. Here’s our extended SCREEN GUIDE for 22 to 31 DEC 2017.

FRI 22 // SAT 23 // SUN 24 // MON 25 // TUE 26 // WED 27 // THU 28 // FRI 29 // SAT 30 // SUN 31

This week, things continue to slow down for the festivities and several smaller screens across London are taking a well-earned break. We’ve extended this edition of our weekly GUIDE to embrace the end of the year when we will be taking our own short break. Our next weekly SCREEN GUIDE will be posted 04 JAN 2018.

There are some deliciously alternative Christmas crackers at Deptford Cinema and BFI for anyone looking to escape the season of good will. Elsewhere, Close-Up starts a new short season LÉOS CARAX (27 DEC to 02 JAN), whilst DocHouse launches a fab retrospective of the BEST OF the year in documentary cinema (27 DEC to 04 JAN).

Our FEATURED ATTRACTION of the week is THREE WISHES FOR CINDERELLA at Close-Up (30 DEC).

This GUIDE completes our first full year of hunting for adventurous moving pictures in London. THANK YOU for your support, subscriptions, comments, likes and retweets – and for all of the times we’ve huddled together in the darkness to see wild and astonishing things. We want to continue to build a bigger and better RADIANT CIRCUS in 2018 – read about our plans HERE.

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 offer a roundup of others. 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’ve done our best to check that there are tickets for everything listed: please click quickly.

Before we go any further: The Cinema Museum is under threat. Show your support by signing the petition HERE or by making a donation HERE. Thank you.

NOW SHOWING: SINGLE-O EXHIBITS

ONE-OFF MOVIE NIGHTS, FILM EVENTS & GALLERY SCREENINGS (by date/venue)

FRIDAY 22 DECEMBER 2017

NOW SHOWING: SLIENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT screens at BFI (22 DEC).
SLIENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT screens at BFI (22 DEC).

BFI: SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT (20:50)

“This atmospheric (and surprisingly artful) yuletide whodunit is a fascinating slasher precursor, featuring a host of former Warhol superstars including Mary Woronov, Ondine, Candy Darling and Jack Smith.” (BFI)

Deptford Cinema: KRAMPUS (20:00)

Nothing makes a dysfunctional family Christmas more dysfunctional than the summoning of Krampus… YOU BETTER WATCH OUT.

Regent Street Cinema: LAUREL & HARDY – SILENT MAGIC (19:30)

A live score will be played by Donald MacKenzie on the cinema’s original 1936 Compton organ. Projecting: TWO TARS, YOU’RE DARN TOOTIN, PUTTING PANTS ON PHILIP and BIG BUSINESS.

NOW SHOWING: RARE EXPORTS screens at Deptford Cinema (23 DEC).
RARE EXPORTS screens at Deptford Cinema (23 DEC).

SATURDAY 23 DECEMBER 2017

BFI Southbank: TALES FROM THE CRYPT (20:00)

Witness the original, and quite possibly the best of all the psycho Santa shockers. Gets another screening 30 DEC 20:10.

Deptford Cinema: RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE (20:00)

A Finnish fantasy film that will change how you see Christmas forever!

Regent Street Cinema: RED SHOES + THE TALES OF HOFFMAN (13:30 & 16:15)

Indulge your inner Powell & Pressburger with this glorious double bill.

NOW SHOWING: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI screens at Picturehouse Central (26 DEC).
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI screens at Picturehouse Central (26 DEC).

TUESDAY 26 DECEMBER 2017

Picturehouse Central: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (15:20 & 17:50)

Frances McDormand stars as a foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails grieving mother whose frustration boils over when the local police allow her daughter’s murder case to go cold. Other Picturehouses are available.

NOW SHOWING: HUMAN FLOW screens at Curzon Soho (27 DEC).
HUMAN FLOW screens at Curzon Soho (27 DEC).

WEDNESDAY 27 DECEMBER 2017

The Cinema Museum: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (18:00)

The Vito Project  is a series of free monthly screenings bringing generations of LGBT folk together in an alternative social space. Stay for a party and vital fundraiser.

Curzon Soho: HUMAN FLOW + PRE-RECORDED Q&A with Ai WeiWei (15:00)

An epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to mass human migration.

NOW BOOKING: TANNA screens at David Lean Cinema (28 DEC).
TANNA screens at David Lean Cinema (28 DEC).

THURSDAY 28 DECEMBER 2017

The David Lean Cinema: TANNA (14:30)

Spoken in native Nauvhal and filmed entirely on location, this is a Romeo and Juliet style story of young lovers risking everything to be together in the South Pacific island.

Genesis Cinema: DESERT HEARTS (18:45)

#DIRECTEDBYWOMEN continues Genesis’ commitment to screen 52 films directed by women over the year. The Criterion Collection are giving away some Blu-ray copies of the film.

Prince Charles Cinema: BLADE RUNNER: DOUBLE FEATURE (12:40)

We love a double. Two films, one ticket: Ridley Scott’s THE FINAL CUT along with Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed follow-up. Repeats tomorrow 29 DEC 12:55.

NOW SHOWING: BOY AND THE BEAST screens at David Lean Cinema (29 DEC).
THE BOY AND THE BEAST screens at David Lean Cinema (29 DEC).

FRIDAY 29 DECEMBER 2017

The David Lean Cinema: THE BOY AND THE BEAST (11:00)

A young runaway slips into a parallel world – a civilisation of intelligent beasts – where he becomes the apprentice of the strong but wayward Kumatetsu.

NOW BOOKING: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW screens at Everyman (30 DEC).
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW screens at Everyman (30 DEC).

SATURDAY 30 DECEMBER 2017

Close-Up: THREE WISHES FOR CINDERELLA (19:30)

One of the most beloved films in all Eastern European cinema, Václav Vorlíček gives us “a feisty and rebellious Cinderella who – far from being some passive beauty – rides a horse, knows how to hunt and actively pursues her handsome Prince”.

Everyman Screen On The Green: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (23:30)

Where it belongs, late at night on the big screen.

NOW SHOWING: THE GREATEST SHOWMAN screens at Picturehouse Central (31 DEC).
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN screens at Picturehouse Central (31 DEC).

SUNDAY 31 DECEMBER 2017

Close-Up: NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (20:00)

Usher in the New Year with a special screening of Kubrick’s painfully funny satire of human folly, DR. STRANGELOVE: “Celebrate in the good company of film, drinks and music until late!”

Picturehouse Central: THE GREATEST SHOWMAN + NYE CELEBRATION (21:30)

Talking you right up to the big moment itself, why not grab yourself a Premium Bundle ticket for a glass of the sparkly stuff in the bar afterwards?

NOW SHOWING: MUSEUM SHOWS

EXHIBITIONS (by venue/event)

THE NOMADIC CITY OF CAMELA screens at Whitechapel Gallery (until 28 JAN 2018).

Barbican: PURPLE (until 07 JAN 2018 – FREE, check for times)

British artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah’s “immersive six-channel video installation addressing climate change, human communities and the wilderness”.

Barbican: Vincent Moon & Priscilla Telmon: HÍBRIDOS (until 31 DEC – FREE, check for times)

A site-specific film installation featuring the spiritual rituals of Brazil.

Whitechapel Gallery: LUIS LAZARO MATOS + ZHENG MAHLER + NGUYEN PHUONG LINH (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 venue/event)

NOW SHOWING: THE WORLD OF APU screens at BFI (23 DEC).
THE WORLD OF APU screens at BFI (23 DEC).

BFI: All good seasons must come to an end… GOOD AT BEING BAD, the Gloria Grahame season, concludes with a clutch of titles: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (various); MERTON OF THE MOVIES (30 DEC 17:50); NAKED ALIBI (23 & 28 DEC); and, OKLAHOMA! (23 & 27 DEC). Headline thriller season WHO CAN YOU TRUST? wraps up with: a freshly buffed to 4K LES DIABOLIQUES (22 & 30 DEC); THE 39 STEPS (23 & 29 DEC); OBSESSION (27 DEC 18:10); and, BOUND (27 DEC 18:20). INDIA ON FILM bows out with Satyajit Ray’s THE WORLD OF APU (23 DEC 17:40).

DocHouse: BEST OF DOCHOUSE 2017 (27 DEC to 04 JAN 2018 – check for dates/times) offers just that: a series of stunning docs from the year (almost) gone. Treat yourself to titles including: THE EAGLE HUNTRESS, DANCER, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD, CITY OF GHOSTS and THE FARTHEST (read our writeup of that one HERE).

NOW SHOWING: BOY MEETS GIRL screens at Close-Up (27 DEC).
BOY MEETS GIRL screens at Close-Up (27 DEC).

Close-Up: A new short season focusing on LÉOS CARAX (27 DEC to 02 JAN). Things start with BOY MEETS GIRL (27 DEC 19:30), BAD BLOOD (28 DEC 19:30), THE LOVERS ON THE BRIDGE (29 DEC 19:30), and HOLY MOTORS (30 DEC 19:30).

Curzon Soho: HAPPY HANEKE (to 23 DEC) concludes with all films screened in 35mm. Last up are THE WHITE RIBBON (22 DEC 18:20) and AMOUR (23 DEC 15:00).

Prince Charles Cinema: Original format screenings include one of our favourite superhero movies, BATMAN RETURNS in 35mm (29 DEC 21:00) and DIE HARD in 70mm (various dates/times).

NOW SHOWING: GRIND SHOWS

REGULAR RUNS & MAINSTREAM MARVELS (by title)

NOW SHOWING: THE FUTURE PERFECT screens at ICA.
THE FUTURE PERFECT screens at ICA.

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL screens at Prince Charles in 35mm (27 to 30 DEC)

A highly skilled samurai becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul.

THE FUTURE PERFECT screens at ICA (29 DEC to 03 JAN)

A visual exploration of isolation and silence, THE FUTURE PERFECT follows a Chinese immigrant beginning a new life in Buenos Aires without knowing any Spanish.

NOW SHOWING: IN BETWEEN screens at JW3.
IN BETWEEN screens at JW3.

IN BETWEEN screens at JW3 (24 to 31 DEC)

About the lives of three strong, independent minded Israeli-Palestinian women sharing an apartment in Tel Aviv.

TASTE OF CEMENT screens at ICA (22 DEC to 02 JAN)

In Beirut, Syrian construction workers are building a skyscraper while at the same time their own houses at home are being shelled. The Lebanese war is over but the Syrian one still rages on.

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: THREE WISHES FOR CINDERELLA (1973).