NOW SHOWING: LONDON SCREEN GUIDE w/c 10.11.17
NOW SHOWING: RADIANT CIRCUS hunts out the best independent movies, film events and gallery screenings in London for the week ahead*. Here’s our SCREEN GUIDE for the week 10 NOV to 16 NOV 2017.
This week, there’s a number of great screenings from indie programmers (Billy Chainsaw, The Cinema Sorceress, Girls on Film, Kennington Bioscope and SUPAKINO) and a clutch of festival openings (Fringe!, Made In Prague and the UK Jewish International Film Festival). Tate Modern’s weekend of Brazilian experimental film – TROPICÁLIA AND BEYOND: DIALOGUES IN BRAZILIAN FILM HISTORY – is also seriously worthy of your attention. All details below.
Our featured film event of the week is #DIRECTEDBYWOMEN: CLASS OF 2017 at Genesis Cinema (11 to 12 NOV) because it (really) matters who gets to tell stories onscreen. Try Barbican’s next Conversation With Women in Film – WALL + SCREEN TALK with director Moran Ifergan – for more of the vitally important same.
We arrange our GUIDE into SINGLE-O EXHIBITS (one-off film events), MUSEUM SHOWS (exhibitions // seasons & festivals) and GRIND SHOWS (regular runs & mainstream marvels). We hope it helps.
> Let us know what you’ll be seeing – and anything we’ve missed – in the comments.
Before we go any further…
URGENT: The Cinema Museum is under threat as their landlords have put the building and surrounding site up for sale. 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 10 NOVEMBER 2017
ArtHouse Crouch End: DISPOSSESSION: THE GREAT SOCIAL HOUSING SWINDLE + Q&A with director Paul Sng & guests (20:00)
Join one of the most pressing debates of our time.
Deptford Cinema: ELLIOT + Q&A with director Craig Jacobson (20:00)
UK premiere of shot-on-VHS sci-fi oddity.
SATURDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2017
Bernie Grant Arts Centre: DAKAN (19:30)
About two high school boys, Manga and Sory, who are gay and in love in Guinea.
The Cinema Museum: SILENT LAUGHTER SATURDAY (09:00 to 22:15)
Kenning Bioscope presents classic comedies from the USA, Great Britain and Europe. The outstanding (provisional) programme is now online. There will be Keaton (& much much more).
Close-Up: DIVINE INTERVENTION: A CHRONICLE OF LOVE AND PAIN (19:30)
Marking 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, Artists for Palestine UK presents Elia Suleiman’s surreal depiction of the political and human situation of a people living under military occupation.
Everyman Screen On The Green: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (23:30)
Indulge in a late night scare or two.
LUX: NO PLACE FOR FRIVOLITY: COMMUNICATION NETWORKS AND RADICAL ART BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN (14:30)
Art historian and curator Tomáš Pospiszyl and Roman Štětina, Artist in Residence at LUX, explore how Czechoslovak artists communicated with their Western colleagues before the internet era. Accompanied by rare extracts of archival films.
Prince Charles Cinema: CABARET in 35mm (15:45)
Bob Fosse’s classic Minnelli musical gets an original format screening for its 45th anniversary.
SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017
Barbican: TOGETHER + SCREENTALK + LIVE SCORE (16:00)
The ‘Free Cinema’ classic about two deaf-mute dockers living in London’s East End gets a newly-commissioned live score – part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.
BFI: THE CAMERAMAN (15:30)
100 years since his first collab with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, shelter with Buster Keaton’s “funny tale of a newsreel cameraman’s forlorn attempts to impress a girl”.
Deptford Cinema: LE PLAISIR (18:00)
Next up in the community cinema’s regular collab with Arrow Video Club is Max Ophuls’ adaptation of three stories by Guy de Maupassant.
DocHouse: BILL VIOLA: THE ROAD TO ST PAULS + Q&A with director Gerald Fox (15:30)
Follow world-renowned American video artist Bill Viola on a twelve year journey to make a pair of permanent installations for St Paul’s Cathedral.
Rio Cinema: A CARIBBEAN DREAM + Q&A with writer-director Shakirah Boourne & producer Melissa Simmonds (16:15)
A reimagining of the Bard in Barbados.
MONDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2017
Barbican: WALL + SCREEN TALK with director Moran Ifergan (18:30)
Israeli independent director Moran Ifergan’s debut documentary feature screens as part of Conversations with Women in Film.
Deptford Cinema: KEN & KAZU (19:45).
Next up in the community cinema’s regular collab with Third Window Film Club One is “one of the most lauded debuts to come out of Japan this decade”, director Hiroshi Shoji’s film about the darker side of Tokyo suburb Ichikawa.
The Institute Of Light: OCTOPUSSY + TALK with Del Singh (19:00).
SUPAKINO’s brilliantly themed inaugural programme – TURBANS SEEN ON SCREEN – gets underway with a chance to hear from the guy who tied henchman Kabir Bedi’s turban for many of the film’s scenes shot in the UK.
TUESDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2017
BFI: FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (18:10)
Spilling over from the London Film Festival, it’s time to catch up with this romance between Hollywood legend Gloria Grahame and a young Liverpudlian man. Don’t forget BFI’s season dedicated to the iconic femme fatal, GOOD AT BEING BAD.
The Institute Of Light: PITANGA + Q&A with actor Antônio Pitanga and co-director Camila Pitanga (20:00).
DMovies and partners present a documentary about the life and career of the legendary actor and activist.
Prince Charles Cinema: DEAD MAN’S SHOES in 35mm (18:35)
A soldier returns home to his small town to exact deadly revenge on the thugs who tormented his brother while he was away.
Regent Street Cinema: FABER IN SARDEGNA + L’ULTIMO CONCERTO (19:30)
A screening by CinemaItaliaUK of a documentary by Gianfranco Cabiddu and a performance by jazz singer Filomena Campus and Cleveland Watkiss.
Serpentine Cinema at Peckhamplex: ADELITA HUSNI-BEY, FOUR FILMS (20:30)
The artist presents four of her recent films including: THE READING (2017), 2265 (2015), AFTER THE FINISH LINE (2015) and POSTCARDS FROM THE DESERT ISLAND (2011).
WEDNESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2017
BFI: IT SHOWED BANNED & INDEPENDENT FILMS: THE NEW CINEMA CLUB (20:45)
Celebrate the work of one of just a handful of organisations that screened artist and experimental film in the late 1960s with a screening of WARRENDALE.
The Cinema Museum: BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (19:30)
A 1955 Eastman Color in CinemaScope thriller starring Spencer Tracey and Robert Ryan.
The Horse Hospital: NOVA NIGHTS #6: JULIA OSTERTAG PRESENTS THE UK PREMIERE OF DARK CIRCUS (19:00)
Billy Chainsaw lifts the curtain on NOVA NIGHTS EPISODE #6 with an occult fetish fantasy film that is “a trip to the inner self, from deepest desires to darkest nightmares” followed by conversation with Julia Ostertag.
Prince Charles Cinema: FIREWORKS (17:50)
A new anime adapted from the small screen to the big (with extra sci-fi).
Regent Street Cinema: EYES OF LAURA MARS (19:30)
The Celluloid Sorceress + Indicator Films presents director Irvin Kershner’s “kaleidoscope of fashion and murder in late ’70s New York City”.
Tate Modern: MANIFESTO: LIVE FROM TATE MODERN (17:00)
A special live event filmed at Tate Modern and broadcast via satellite to cinemas nationwide including an intro from Cate Blanchett and a screening of Julian Rosenfeldt’s film about the tradition of artistic manifestos.
THURSDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2017
BFI: WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? (20:40)
“Two English tourists arrive on a seemingly idyllic Spanish island only to find it overrun by homicidal children” (…wasn’t it ever thus?). Part of BFI’s CULT strand (also 28 NOV).
The Castle Cinema: WINNIE + Q&A with director Pascale Lamche (21:00)
Girls On Film screens a new doc about Winnie Madikizela Mandela “one of the most misunderstood and intriguingly powerful contemporary female political figures.”
Genesis Cinema: TROPHY (18:30)
Documentary investigating the challenging relationship between the industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation.
Prince Charles Cinema: CHILDREN OF MEN in 35mm (18:20);
Alfonso Cuarón’s film about a (near) future where infertility threatens mankind with extinction and the last child born has perished.
ICA: SILENT TRILOGY: LIFE AND DEATH IN THE TIMES OF REVOLUTION (18:20)
Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s silent masterpieces have been fully restored with new soundtracks by contemporary composers from both Ukraine and the UK. Start tonight with ZVENYHORA and follow-through with ARSENAL (19 NOV 14:15) and EARTH (25 NOV 14:15).
Stow Film Lounge: SUPERMENSCH: THE LEGEND OF SHEP GORDON (19:45)
A showbiz doc looking at the life and career of the legendary Hollywood insider and marketing genius, Shep Gordon. Popping up at the Blackhorse Workshop.
Whitechapel Gallery: MOLLOY AND LAWLOR: FURTHER BEYOND (19:00)
A special screening of the 2016 essay film by artist film-makers Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor: “a moving study of identity and belonging, but also a masterclass in film-making and its potency”.
NOW SHOWING: MUSEUM SHOWS
EXHIBITIONS (by venue/event)
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.
Tate Britain: DEREK JARMAN: BLUE (until AUTUMN 2017 – FREE, check for times)
Jarman’s single-shot masterpiece with a score by – amongst others – Simon Fisher Turner and a soundscape by Marvin Black screens on perpetual loop. Read our writeup here.
Whietchapel Gallery: GABRIELA GOLDER AND WOJCIECH BAKOWSKI (until 03 DEC – FREE, check for times)
The latest selections from the gallery’s Artists’ Film International partnership screen on perpetual loop. Gabriela Golder is selected by Fundacion PRÓA, Buenos Aires; Wojciech Bakowski by Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw.
NOW SHOWING: MUSEUM SHOWS
SEASONS & FESTIVALS (by venue/event)
Barbican: JOHN AKMOFRAH PRESENTS… is a film season to accompany the artist’s multi-screen video installation, PURPLE (above). November’s film is SALVATORE GIULIANO (15 NOV 20:45), a detailed recreation of the death and life of Italy’s most wanted criminal.
BFI: Headline thriller season WHO CAN YOU TRUST? is well underway. This week, get started with Alan Pakula’s PARANOIA TRILOGY with ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (13 NOV 20:20) and KLUTE (14 NOV 20:55). Complete the trilogy with THE PARALLAX VIEW (22 NOV 20:25) to grab a combo ticket for £24/18 concs. There are some excellent Intros and Q&As: INSOMNIA + Q&A with Stellan Skarsgård (10 NOV 18:15); SE7EN+ INTRO by Lee Child (15 NOV 20:15); POINT BREAK + INTRO by Sophie Brown (16 NOV 18:10). Finally, there’s THE BIG THRILL (11 NOV 12:00), an all day programme of talks, workshops and screenings. Elsewhere: TEARS & LAUGHTER: WOMEN IN JAPANESE MELODRAMA continues with THE BLUE SKY MAIDEN (13 NOV 18:30), “a colourful and satirical Cinderella story”; SUDDEN FEAR + INTRO by Adrian Wootton (13 NOV 20:30) continues GOOD AT BEING BAD: THE FILMS OF GLORIA GRAHAM, a perfect warmup for FILMSTARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (14 NOV 18:10).
Close-Up: The Shoreditch venue continues the CLOSE-UP ON ANDREI TARKOVSKY (07 to 21 NOV) season with ANDREI RUBLEV (10 NOV 19:00), SOLARIS (12 NOV 19:00) and MIRROR (14 NOV 19:30).
Crystal Palace International Film Festival (until 18 NOV): Highlights this week include an evening of INTERNATIONAL short film (10 NOV 19:30, Phoenix Community Centre), the UK premiere of horror film SINISTER CIRCLE + SHORTS (11 NOV 19:30, Lakeside Pavilion) and an exclusive screening of doc THROUGH MY FATHER’S EYES – THE RONDA ROUSEY STORY (15 NOV 19:00, STANLEY HALLS) about the first female UFC champion.
Deptford Cinema: Tributes to distinctive filmmakers continue with Agnès Varda – CLÉO DE 5 À 7 (14 NOV 20:00) – and Theo Angelopoulos – THE SUSPENDED STEP OF THE STORK (12 NOV 14:00).
Doc’n Roll Festival (until 19 NOV): The music documentary festival has a packed programme this week. We like the look of: THE ALLINS + Q&A (10 NOV 18:30, ICA) about “the most outrageous singer in rock’n’roll history”; RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD (11 NOV 16:00, Curzon Soho) about the indigenous influence on American music; and SHORTS LDN 2017 + Q&As with the directors (12 NOV 15:00, The Institute Of Light), an evening of, you guessed it, short docs.
“I mean you did raise us to know right from wrong, we just chose to go wrong. Look at how great we turned out.” (The ALLINS, Doc’n Roll Fest, 10 NOV).
French Film Festival (until 17 DEC): There’s one last screening in London on the Festival’s current tour of duty – it will return later in the year. GAUGIN (12 NOV 13:00) – about the artist’s exile in Tahiti – screens at Watermans Arts Centre.
Fringe! Queer Arts & Film Fest (14 to 19 NOV): The festival opens with a gala screening of FORBIDDEN GAMES: THE JUSTIN FASHANU STORY + Q&A with directors Adam Darke and Jon Carey (14 NOV 20:30, Rio Cinema). We also like the look of: MY WONDERFUL WEST BERLIN (15 NOV 18:15, Barbican) the second part of Jochen Hick’s gay Berlin trilogy; UPON THE SHADOW (15 NOV 21:00, The Castle Cinema) a doc that provides “unparalleled insight into life following the Arab spring”; and, THE MISANDRISTS + DISCUSSION (15 NOV 20:30, Genesis Cinema), “a bold tale of radical lesbian separatists who dream of overthrowing the patriarchy and ushering in a new female world order”. THE MISANDRISTS has “ignited explosive debate” and is followed here by “a moderated discussion”.
Genesis Cinema: #DIRECTEDBYWOMEN: CLASS OF 2017 (11 & 12 NOV) is a weekend long festival featuring “8 of the finest films directed by women in 2017”. The programme includes everything from mainstream marvels like WONDER WOMAN (11 NOV 12:35) and DETROIT (11 NOV 15:40) to RAW (11 NOV 21:10), LOVESONG (12 NOV 18:00 and THE BEGUILED (12 NOV 20:00). Tickets are only £25 for all 7 films or £5.00 per screening.
ICA: YORGOS LANTHIMOS FOCUS (04 to 12 NOV) includes all four of THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER director’s earlier works. Screening this week are: ALPS (11 NOV 15:30); and THE LOBSTER (12 NOV 15:30).
Made in Prague Festival (until 06 DEC): The 21st edition includes the first ever UK retrospective of Czech filmmaker and enfant terrible of the Czechoslovak New Wave, Jan Němec (all screenings listed here at Regent Street Cinema): LATE NIGHT TALKS WITH MOTHER + MOTHER & SON (10 NOV 18:30); THE WOLF FROM ROYAL VINEYARD STREET + Q&A + AFTERPARTY (10 NOV 20:30); MARTYRS OF LOVE + THE CZECH CONNECTION (11 NOV 16:30); his feature debut about two boys running away from the certain death in the Nazi concentration camps DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT + A LOAF OF BREAD (11 NOV 18:35); THE PARTY & THE GUESTS (11 NOV 20:15); and, TOYEN (12 NOV 16:30) a “lyrical portrait of Toyen, a great Czech Surrealist who broke into the male-dominated art world”.
Picturehouse Central: THE ENHANCTED SCREEN season invites you to ‘enter the magical world of folklore and fairy tales’. This week’s tales are “ultimate ballet film” THE RED SHOES (12 NOV 13:00) and LABYRINTH (13 NOV 18:30). Other Picturehouses available.
Romanian Film Festival: The 14th Romanian Film Festival is postponed from its normal autumn slot and returns in Spring 2018. In the interim, Curzon Soho is hosting a one-off screening of THE MIRACLE OF TEKIR + Q&A (13 NOV 18:30). Discussion will address Brexit and its implications on film festival funding.
Tate Modern: TROPICÁLIA AND BEYOND: DIALOGUES IN BRAZILIAN FILM HISTORY (until 12 NOV) is one of Tate’s COUNTER HISTORIES. This one explores “Brazil’s cinematic past in fresh conversation with the present” and is inspired by the short-lived Brazilian cultural movement known as Tropicália. A series ticket costs £35.
UK Jewish International Film Festival (until 26 NOV): The 21st festival is underway at venues across London with (really) strong programmes at JW3, Ciné Lumière and Phoenix Cinema. Odeon, Everyman and Picturehouse chains also get a good look in. We like the look of two films about hand-drawn wonders: MONSIEUR MAYONNAISE (14 NOV 20:30, Everyman Belsize Park) is about cult filmmaker and comics artist Phillipe Mora’s search for the truth about this parents whilst MONKEY BUSINESS (15 NOV 16:00, JW3) is about the creators of Curious George, Hans and Margaret Rey. Follow this up with a focus on youth: SUPERGIRL(12 NOV 15:00, Phoenix Cinema) about a 12-year-old powerlifter; A BAG OF MARBLES (12 NOV 18:30, Ciné Lumière) about two brothers leaving their family in search of safety; and LAND OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE (15 NOV 20:30, Picturehouse Crouch End) “a stunning critique of the violent culture in which we live and educate our children today”.
“An epic adventure starring heroes, werewolves, nazis… and lashings of French Mayonnaise” MONSIEUR MAYONNAISE.
NOW SHOWING: GRIND SHOWS
REGULAR RUNS & MAINSTREAM MARVELS (by title)
FÉLICITÉ at Ciné Lumière (10 to 23 NOV).
Félicité is a proud, free-willed woman working as a singer in a bar in Kinshasa. Her life is thrown into turmoil when her 14-year old son falls victim to an accident.
THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER at ICA (10 to 16 NOV).
We’ve chosen to see it at ICA so we can also catch Yorgos Lanthimos‘ earlier works, but there are plenty of other screens available.
NO STONE UNTURNED at Picturehouse Central (10 to 16 NOV)
The latest from investigative documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney looks into a cold murder case that continues to resonate in the Irish peace process.
SORCERER at Prince Charles Cinema (10 to 16 NOV)
William Friedkin’s overlooked masterpiece gets a 40th anniversary scrub-up and rerelease.
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 to the online version only. We try to only include events you can get tickets for at the time of posting. Please click quickly.
Featured image: WONDER WOMAN (2017).