Featured attraction of the week: YAMA - ATTACK TO ATTACK at Close-Up (20 FEB).
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SCREEN GUIDE DAILY: Films in London today 20.02.20

RADIANT CIRCUS is your handcrafted guide to London’s DIY, indie & alternative movie nights, film events & gallery screenings. Our DAILY UPDATE helps you find great films in London today*.

Find films in London today by: SINGLE-O EXHIBITS (one-off attractions) // MUSEUM SHOWS (several exhibits under one roof – seasons & festivals) // GRIND SHOWS (a selection of regular runs).

FEATURED ATTRACTION

YAMA – ATTACK TO ATTACK d. Mitsuo Sato & Kyoichi Yamaoka, 1985 at Close-Up (20 FEB 20:30):

  • “Filmed at the height of Japan’s economic boom of the 1980s, YAMA – ATTACK TO ATTACK is an unflinching record of the struggles of unionised day-labourers in the San’ya district of Tokyo. From the start its original director Mitsuo Sato makes clear that this documentary is not an appeal for pity. It is instead a film for the workers, meant to function as a weapon in their struggle by exposing the criminal role of the yakuza gangsters in restructuring the job market. Sato paid for this stance with his life, murdered by a member of the yakuza during filming. A collective of directors finished the film, led by Kyoichi Yamoka, who was also murdered upon its completion.”
  • Content warning: “Please note that the film opens with the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of Mitsuo Sato which some viewers may find distressing.”

> MORE Get the RADIANT CIRCUS view of this week’s unmissable events.

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NEW AT RADIANT CIRCUS

Films in London: TEN DARK WOMEN, part of the Japan Foundation's Touring Film Programme at ICA (01 FEB 2020).
SCREEN DIARY: TEN DARK WOMEN, part of the Japan Foundation’s Touring Film Programme at ICA (01 FEB 2020).

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (31 JAN to 16 FEB) has wrapped for another year at ICA. Read our writeups of HER SKETCHBOOK + Intro/Q&A with director Masaya Ozaki (02 FEB 2020) & TEN DARK WOMEN (01 FEB 2020) from the opening weekend.

FILMS IN LONDON TODAY

SINGLE-O EXHIBITS

Films in London today: LITTLE JOE at Picturehouse Central (20 FEB).
Films in London today: LITTLE JOE at Picturehouse Central (20 FEB).

LITTLE JOE d. Jessica Hausner, 2019 + Q&A with the director at Picturehouse Central (20 FEB 18:20):

  • “LITTLE JOE follows Alice (Emily Beecham), a single mother and dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value. Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it ‘Little Joe.’ But as their plant grows, so too does Alice’s suspicion that her new creation may not be as harmless as its nickname suggests.”

More films in London today (A – Z):

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MUSEUM SHOWS 1 // SEASONS

Films in London today: WAITING FOR HAPPINESS 35mm, part of BIG SCREEN CLASSICS at BFI (20 FEB).
Films in London today: WAITING FOR HAPPINESS 35mm, part of BIG SCREEN CLASSICS at BFI (20 FEB).

AFRICAN IDENTITIES REBORN at DocHouse (31 JAN to 16 FEB):

BEST OF THE DECADE at The Prince Charles (FEB to JUN):

  • LITTLE WOMEN d. Greta Gerwig, 2019 (14 to 26 FEB/Check venue for details).

BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: MAN VS NATURE at BFI Southbank (FEB):

ELIA KAZAN: THE ACTORS’ DIRECTOR at BFI Southbank (FEB to MAR):

GALENTINES & VALENTINES CELEBRATIONS at The Prince Charles (13 to 20 FEB):

  • FIRST LOVE aka Hatsukoi d. Takashi Miike, 2019 (14 to 20 FEB/Check venue for details).
  • AMELIE 35mm aka Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain d. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001 (14 to 20 FEB/Check venue for details).

THE OSCARS – AND THE NOMINEES ARE… at The Prince Charles (FEB to MAR):

  • JOJO RABBIT d. Taika Waititi, 2019 (until 27 FEB/Check venue for details).

RIGHTS AT RISK: YESTERDAY / TOMORROW at DocHouse (06 FEB to 01 MAR):

  • SOLIDARITY d. Lucy Parker, 2019 (14 to 20 FEB/Check venue for details).

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MUSEUM SHOWS 2 // FESTIVALS

Film festivals in London today include:

GRIND SHOWS

Films in London today: THE SHARKS at ICA (14 to 20 FEB).
Films in London today: THE SHARKS at ICA (14 to 20 FEB).

A PARIS EDUCATION d. Jean-Paul Civeyrac, 2018 at Ciné Lumière (20 FEB 18:00 – LAST CHANCE!):

  • “Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s partly autobiographical drama, gorgeously shot in black and white, tells the story of Etienne, a young impressionable man who goes to Paris to study filmmaking at the Sorbonne. He meets Mathias and Jean-Noël who share his passion for films, and soon falls under the thrall of the seductive Mathias.”

FIRST LOVE d. Takashi Miike, 2019 at ArtHouse Crouch End (20 FEB 13:15 & 16:15 – LAST CHANCE!):

  • “The film is the prolific auteur, Takashi Miike, at his most fun and anarchic, a noir-tinged yakuza film blending genres in the story of a young boxer and a call girl, who fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo.”

THE SHARKS d. Lucía Garibaldi, 2019 at ICA (20 FEB 16:20 – LAST CHANCE!):

  • “The first feature-length film from Uruguayan director Lucía Garibaldi is a study of romantic fumbling and youthful obsession. Fourteen-year-old Rosina lives in a beach resort rumoured to be plagued by sharks. Upon meeting the older Joselo, she feels a desire to bridge the distance between their bodies and begins to circle him, as if inspired by the mysterious predators.”

More films in London this week (A – Z):

  • A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD d. Marielle Heller, 2019 at Watermans (14 to 27 FEB). BAIT 35mm d. Mark Jenkin, 2019 at The Prince Charles (until 19 FEB). EMMA d. Autumn de Wilde, 2020 at Phoenix Cinema (14 to 20 FEB). FARMING d. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, 2018 at Whirled Cinema (17 to 23 FEB). FOR SAMA d. Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts, 2019 (15 to 20 FEB). LITTLE WOMEN d. Greta Gerwig, 2019 at The Castle Cinema (until 20 FEB). MR. JONES d. Agnieszka Holland, 2019 at Ciné Lumière (until 20 FEB FEB). THE OTHER STORY d. Avi Nesher presented by UK Jewish Film at JW3 (16 to 20 FEB). PARASITE d. Bong Joon-ho, 2019 at Rich Mix (until 20 FEB). THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD d. Armando Iannucci, 2020 at The Castle Cinema (until 18 FEB). QUEEN & SLIM d. Melina Matsoukas, 2019 at Genesis Cinema (until 20 FEB). SONIC THE HEDGEHOG d. Jeff Fowler, 2020 at The Castle Cinema (14 to 23 FEB). TALKING ABOUT TREES d. Suhaib Gasmelbari, 2019 at DocHouse (until 19 FEB).

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*THE SMALL PRINT: As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any errors. Apologies if we have missed your event. Updates & corrections will be made to the online version. Event dates/times are subject to change by the venue/organiser. We try to only list events you can book for at the time of posting: however, some events may still be sold out. Please click quickly! We don’t filter by age/certification: all readers & subscribers should be 18+.