NOW SHOWING: LONDON SCREEN GUIDE w/c 27.10.17
RADIANT CIRCUS hunts out the best independent movies, film events & gallery screenings in London for the week ahead*. Here’s our SCREEN GUIDE for the week 27 OCT to 02 NOV 2017.
This is a particularly strong week to explore alternative moving pictures. Close-Up supports pic.london’s first city-wide festival of photography (26 OCT to 05 NOV) whilst Tate Modern hosts Australia’s KARRABING FILM COLLECTIVE including several UK premieres (28 to 29 OCT). There’s even an alternative to Halloween, A DAY WITH THE DEAD, at Whitechapel Gallery (02 NOV).
We’ve chosen SIMON LIU: I DECIDED TO TURN LEFT (30 OCT 19:30, Close-Up) as our featured film event of the week.
It’s that time of the year when things go bump in the night so don’t forget to put your pumpkin out. We’ve updated our SCREAM GUIDE with new thrills for seekers across London.
Each week we check more and more venues. To help cram everything in, we’ve rearranged our weekly GUIDE to include 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 below.
Before we go any further, The Cinema Museum is in peril and needs you. Sign the PETITION and attend the PUBLIC MEETING (30 OCT 19:00). You know what to do.
NOW SHOWING: SINGLE-O EXHIBITS
ONE-OFF MOVIE NIGHTS, FILM EVENTS & GALLERY SCREENINGS (by date/venue)
FRIDAY 27 OCTOBER 2017
BFI Southbank: 78/52 + Q&A with director Alexandre O Philippe (18:10)
This in-depth documentary will be a delight for all die-hard Hitchcock fans and filmmakers.
BFI Southbank: THE WOUND (18:20)
Fresh from winning it’s director John Trengove the FIRST FEATURE award at the London Film Festival, THE WOUND opens Film Africa 2017. “A bold exploration of sexuality, masculinity and cultural values in modern-day South Africa” the film will be followed by a discussion and party.
Close-Up Film Centre: SIXPACKFILM: A TRIBUTE (19:00)
Sixpackfilm is Austria’s preeminent distributor of art films and videos. This evening includes two programmes drawn from their archives. PROGRAMME ONE presents different encounters with animals throughout Austrian experimental cinema. PROGRAMME TWO brings together films and videos which experiment with colour and form, noise and silence.
Regent Street Cinema: VASHTI BUNYAN: FROM HERE TO BEFORE + Q&A with Vashti Bunyan (19:30)
Presented by Heavenly Films, Kieran Evans’ “gorgeously shot, achingly intimate portrait” retraces the singer’s infamous voyage by gyspy caravan, from Inner London to the Outer Hebrides, during which she wrote her stunning, commercially disastrous 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day.
Tate Modern: SUPERFLEX SHORTS (18:00 to 22:00).
To celebrate SUPERFLEX’s Turbine Hall swinging sensation ONE TWO THREE SWING! (until 02 APR 2018), Tate is screening a FREE looping evening of short films by the Danish trio.
SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER 2017
Bernie Grant Arts Centre: ADAMA as part of Film Africa (14:00)
One of those startling looking animations that draws attention to something that you probably didn’t know much about. ADAMA journeys from a remote West African village to the frontline of the Great War.
The Cinema Museum: THE MISTY MOON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (19:00).
A showcase for the best short films from upcoming and established filmmakers.
DocHouse: BATTLE OF SOHO + Q&A with director Aro Korol (16:00).
Following campaigns, corporate interest, business owners and performers, BATTLE OF SOHO “documents the poignant current and historic events that are contributing to this – what is named by many – cultural catastrophe”. There’s another chance to see the film – this time with a Q&A with Jenny Runnacre and photographer Matt Spike who appear in it – at Genesis Cinema at the end of our screen week (02 NOV 18:30).
SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER 2017
BFI Southbank: THE TERENCE DAVIES TRILOGY (17:50)
According to BFI, Terence Davies’ “quasi-autobiographical shorts” (a staple of any summer wardrobe…) “chronicle three ages of man”. Or you could say the films are about a “gay man living a bleak existence” which doesn’t sound quite so appealing…
The Cinema Museum: BEING OURSELVES 1967 – 2017 (14:00)
From isolation to solidarity, Outings In Art Plus, The Cinema Museum and the Vito Project host a day of LGBT themed “screenings, readings, and thought provoking discussion” about social progress.
ICA: ARTISTS’ FILM CLUB: LUKE FOWLER, ELECTRO-PYTHAGORAS (A PORTRAIT OF MARTIN BARTLETT) (13:00)
Artist and filmmaker Luke Fowler’s profile of Martin Bartlett, an electronic music composer who conducted pioneering experiments with microcomputers in the 1970s and 1980s.
MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017
BFI Southbank: Preview: SEA SORROW + Q&A with director Vanessa Redgrave (18:10)
Vanessa Redgrave makes her directorial debut with this impassioned documentary about the ongoing refugee crisis.
BFI Southbank: THE LONG-FORM ARTISTS’ FILM (18:30)
The BFI’s calming Reuben Library is home to a talk looking at the challenges of funding, production and distribution for artists working in the long-form medium.
Close-Up: SIMON LIU: I DECIDED TO TURN LEFT (19:30)
Hong Kong, Stoke-On-Trent and now Brooklyn-based artist Simon Liu presents a programme of handmade films primarily made between 2015 and 2017, including his most recent film HIGHVIEW on 35mm and two 16mm dual-projector pieces.
TUESDAY 31 OCTOBER 2017
Close-Up: SUSU LAROCHE: CHAOS LURE US CHAOS RULE US (18:00)
Launching her new purge.xxx produced tarot deck, artist Laroche will also present the most complete selection of her film work to date. “Ominous in their beauty, her works depict an archaic realm where cult-like ceremonial scenes and haunting figures cast shadows on a world built upon by Susu’s imagination.” Tickets are a devilish £6.66.
Picturehouse Central: PERFECT BLUE (21:30) as part of CULTURE SHOCK.
A 20th anniversary screening of the classic anime about the perils of fandom.
Regent Street Cinema: THE GOALIE’S ANXIETY AT THE PENALTY KICK (19:30)
Wim Wenders’ early masterpiece gets a 4K restoration with its own UK premiere.
WEDNESDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2017
DocHouse: GUARDIANS OF THE EARTH + Q&A with director Filip Antoni Malinowski (18:20)
A doc about the UN climate change negotiations where delegates from 195 nations meet for a last attempt to save our Planet.
THURSDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2017
Whitechapel Gallery: FRENCH & MOTTERSHEAD: A DAY WITH THE DEAD (19:00)
Artist duo French & Mottershead’s remarkable audio work on the afterlife of the body is the centrepiece of this evening of films, conversation and poetry. Whitechapel have issued a statement: “Due to the nature of the material, a content warning is necessary. There will be images of bodies, and words about them.”
NOW SHOWING: MUSEUM SHOWS
EXHIBITIONS / FESTIVALS / SEASONS (A to Z by event/venue)
Barbican: The excellent CINEMA MATTERS strand returns with a focus on TIME, MEMORY, DREAM. Screening this week is Chris Marker’s SANS SOLEIL (02 NOV 18:30). JOHN AKOMFRAH: PURPLE (until 07 JAN 2018) is an immersive six-channel video installation addressing climate change. See it for FREE in Barbican’s Curve exhibition space (check for opening times).
BFI Southbank: INDIA ON FILM: DEATH & DECEPTION continues with JIGARTHANDA (28 & 29 OCT) an “uber cool Tamil thriller about a filmmaker, who must become a ‘rowdy’ himself, in order to make the gangster film he wants”. WOMEN IN JAPANESE MELODRAMA continues with THE ETERNAL BREASTS (29 OCT 15:45) “a powerful, frank film about the poet Fumiko Nakajo, who died of breast cancer aged 31 in 1954”. Headlining new thriller season WHO CAN YOU TRUST? are a number of BIG THRILL DOUBLE BILLS (Fincher’s THE GAME & FIGHT CLUB is your option this week – 28 OCT).
Ciné Lumière: TRIBUTE TO JEANNE MOREAU (19 OCT to 17 DEC) continues with a screening of LA BAIE DES ANGES (29 OCT 14:00).
Close-Up: As part of their inaugural event, pic.london Festival (28 to 29 OCT) presents a two-day film programme exploring the relationship between still and moving images. The weekend begins with film’s infancy at the end of the 19th Century and journeys through time including the 1960s avant-garde.
Film Africa: After opening night gala THE WOUND (see above), the festival includes a number of narrative and documentary features. We like the look of KUKURANTUMI – ROAD TO ACCRA (29 OCT 20:30 at Rich Mix), part of a UK-wide season AFRICA’S LOST CLASSICS, revisiting the history of African cinema.
French Film Festival: the 25th edition of the francophile festival (02 NOV to 17 DEC) straddles the nation. London attractions get started this week at Ciné Lumière with AMANT DOUBLE (02 NOV 18:30) and CORPORATE + Q&A (02 NOV 20:40).
The Frontline Club: hosts the UNBROKEN SHORT FILM PRIZE (28 OCT 14:30) about mental health as part of the annual festival.
ICA: SETH PRICE CIRCA 1981 (until 07 JAN 2018) exhibition of moving image works from America continues. ICA day membership gets you in for a £1 bargain. London Film Festival sensation THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEAR (31 OCT to 02 NOV) heralds the arrival of short season YORGOS LANTHIMOS FOCUS (04 to 12 NOV) which screens all four of his previous works.
London East Asia Film Festival (19 to 29 OCT) concludes this weekend (read our preview here). We like the festival’s focus on ‘FANTASTICAL FILM’ which includes I’LL JUST LIVE IN BANDO (29 OCT 14:30, Odeon Tottenham Court Road) about an unemployed actor who gets two competing job offers on one day.
London Korean Film Festival: runs from 27 OCT to 19 NOV and includes two programmes of classic and independent films at Close-Up Film Centre and a programme of artists’ video at LUX (29 OCT to 04 NOV: including LIM MINOUK 29 OCT 14:00, KOO DONGHEE 04 NOV 14:00).
Tate: Tate Britain continues its spotlight on DEREK JARMAN: BLUE (read our writeup here). Tate Modern continues the PIONEERS strand with KARRABING FILM COLLECTIVE: SALTWATER DREAMS (28 OCT 19:00 & 29 OCT 14:00) which includes A MASTERCLASS BY ELIZABETH A. POVINELLI (29 OCT 17:00).
UK Iranian Film Festival: screens at Ciné Lumière (27 OCT to 01 NOV).
Whitechapel Gallery: the latest selection from the gallery’s Artists’ Film International partnership, GABRIELA GOLDER & WOJCIECH BAKOWSKI, screens until 03 DEC (check for gallery opening times).
NOW SHOWING: GRIND SHOWS
REGULAR RUNS & MAINSTREAM MARVELS (A to Z by title)
AMERICAN SATAN at Prince Charles Cinema (various)
A young rock band does a Vegas deal with the Devil.
BOY at Prince Charles Charles Cinema (various)
Boy is a dreamer who loves Michael Jackson.
DELIVER US at ICA and DocHouse (various)
A hard-hitting documentary about a very contemporary exorcism.
INSYRIATED at Whirled Cinema (29 OCT to 01 NOV)
The reality of life as a civilian in modern-day Damascus.
RABBI WOLFF: A GENTLEMAN BEFORE GOD at JW3 (29 OCT to 02 NOV)
A heartwarming documentary about a man who became a Rabbi late in life.
Join our hunt for adventurous moving pictures.
More places to #shelterfromthestorm in next week’s GUIDE.
*As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any mistakes. We aim to only cover film events you can get tickets for at the time of posting. Click quickly.
Featured image: DONKEY RIDING (2015), Simon Liu.