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

THE WILD GOOSE LAKE d. Diao Yinan Chinese New Year Special Screening at Regent Street Cinema (21 JAN 20:30):

Chinese Visual Festival presents: “Diao Yinan (BLACK COAL, THIN ICE) returns with THE WILD GOOSE LAKE, a sumptuously shot crime drama which screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. This exhilarating, moody neo-noir follows a gang leader (Hu Ge) and a mysterious girl (Gwei Lun Mei) whose paths intertwine as they are both running away from their past, in search of freedom and redemption.”

FILMS IN LONDON TODAY

SINGLE-O EXHIBITS

A FREE SOUL d. Clarence Brown, 1931 + Discussion & Raffle at The Cinema Museum (21 JAN 19:30):

Women & Cocaine presents: “The original Pre Code Queen, Norma Shearer’s brutal melodrama was banned in Ireland upon its release, and its easy to see why! Norma plays Jan, the ingenue daughter of an alcoholic Lawyer father (Lionel Barrymore in his Oscar winning role) who falls for gangster Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable) while her father is representing him on a murder trial. However, she soon finds that the liaison is not easily severed when she wants out…”

POND LIFE d. Bill Buckhurst, 2018 + Q&A with the director at Curzon Wimbledon (21 JAN 20:30):

Wimbledon Film Club presents: “Entrancing 1990s coming of age drama adapted by Richard Cameron from his own play follows a group of young people over one summer in a South Yorkshire mining village. Riveting realism & poetry brought to life by Richard Hawley’s haunting original score.”

More films in London today (A – Z):

21 MILES d. Richard Parry, 2019 + Q&A with the director at Everyman Crystal Palace (21 JAN 19:30).
A TALE OF TWO SISTERS d. Jee-woon Kim, 2003 presented by Tufnell Park Film Club at The Lord Palmerston (21 JAN 20:00).
BEETLEJUICE d. Tim Burton, 1988 presented by Deeper Into Movies at Peckham Levels (21 JAN 19:30 – FREE!).
BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉd. Pamela B. Green at BFI (21 JAN 20:45).
CAPERNAUM d. Nadine Labaki, 2018 presented by Richmond Film Society at The Exchange (21 JAN 20:00).
DOLEMITE d. D’Urville Martin, 1975 at The Prince Charles (21 JAN 20:45).
GARDEN d. Peter Schreiner, 2019 presented by CineClub at Austrian Cultural Forum (21 JAN 19:00 – FREE!).
HONEY BOY d. Alma Har’el, 2019 at Regent Street Cinema (21 JAN 18:30).
JEWISH BRITAIN ON FILM d. Jon Spira, 2019 at JW3 (21 JAN 15:55).
JOSÉ d. Li Cheng, 2018 + Intro by Natalia Christofoletti Barrenha at Barbican (21 JAN 18:30).
THE KINGMAKER d. Lauren Greenfield, 2019 at DocHouse (21 JAN 20:30).
LA BELLE ÉPOQUE d. Nicolas Bedos, 2019 at Ciné Lumière (21 JAN 20:40).
LA DOLCE VITA d. Federico Fellini, 1960 at ICA (21 JAN 14:30).
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO d. Joe Talbot, 2019 at The David Lean (21 JAN 19:30).
MARRIAGE STORY d. Noah Baumbach, 2019 at Ciné Lumière (21 JAN 20:15).
MARSHAWN LYNCH: A HISTORY d. David Shields, 2019 at ICA (21 JAN 17:00).
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD d. Armando Iannucci + Q&A with the director at BFI Southbank (21 JAN 20:15).

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MUSEUM SHOWS 1 // SEASONS

Films in London today: KARINE, part of MELODIA!: DISCOVERING MUSICALS FROM RUSSIA & THE CAUCASUS at Ciné Lumière (21 JAN).

A WORM’S TAIL VIEW IS OFTEN THE TRUE ONE: FILMS BY PERE PORTABELLA at Close-Up & BFI Southbank (26 NOV 2019 to 15 FEB 2020):

Pere Portabella Short Films (21 JAN 20:15).

BIG SCREEN CLASSICS at BFI Southbank (DEC to JAN):

FREAKS 35mm d. Tod Browning, 1932 (21 JAN 18:00).

FELLINI at BFI Southbank (JAN to FEB):

Walkers & Wanderers: I VITELLONI 4K d. Federico Fellini, 1953 (21 JAN 20:50).
Re-release: LA DOLCE VITA 4K d. Federico Fellini, 1960 (06 to 26 JAN).

MELODIA!: DISCOVERING MUSICALS FROM RUSSIA & THE CAUCASUS at Ciné Lumière (07 to 31 JAN):

KARINE d. Arman Manaryan, 1969 + Panel Intro (21 JAN 18:30).

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MUSEUM SHOWS 2 // FESTIVALS

We don’t think there are any film festivals in London today, but we’ve been wrong before! Let us know via DM on Twitter.

GRIND SHOWS

Films in London today: WEATHERING WITH YOU at ICA (17 to 23 JAN). — Films in London today: WEATHERING WITH YOU at ICA (17 to 29 JAN).

BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ d. Pamela B. Green, 2018 at Ciné Lumière (21 JAN – Not screening today! Come back tomorrow):

“When Alice Guy-Blaché completed her first film in 1896 Paris, she was not only the first female filmmaker, but one of the first directors ever to make a narrative film. Narrated by Jodie Foster, this documentary follows her rise from Gaumont secretary to her appointment as head of production a year later, and her subsequent illustrious 20-year international career.”

WAVES d. Trey Edward Shults, 2019 at BFI (21 JAN 14:30 & 18:10):

“Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr) is a high-school senior with a star spot on the wrestling team, an adoring girlfriend and an affluent middle-class home. Yet bubbling pressures slowly cause his bright future to unravel. This complex and devastating family melodrama is fuelled by an array of raw and intense performances. An eclectic soundtrack fused with vivid camerawork firmly establishes Shults (IT COMES AT NIGHT) as one of contemporary cinema’s most exciting new voices.”

WEATHERING WITH YOU d. Makoto Shinkai, 2019 at ICA (21 JAN 14:50):

“The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky…”

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

1917 d. Sam Mendes, 2019 at The Lexi (17 to 23 JAN). ADVOCATE d. Rachel Leah Jones & Philippe Bellaiche, 2019 at DocHouse (until 23 JAN). A HIDDEN LIFE d. Terrence Malick, 2019 at ArtHouse Crouch End (17 to 23 JAN). BOMBSHELL d. Jay Roach, 2019 at Rio Cinema (17 to 23 JAN). BUDDHA IN AFRICA d. Nicole Schafer, 2019 at DocHouse (17 to 23 JAN). EL TOPO d. Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1970 at Rio Cinema (17 to 20 JAN). THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS d. Peter Medak, 2018 at DocHouse (until 23 JAN). JOJO RABBIT d. Taika Waititi, 2019 at Rich Mix (17 to 23 JAN). LITTLE WOMEN d. Greta Gerwig, 2019 at The Castle Cinema (until 30 JAN). LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT d. Bi Gan, 2018 at ICA (until 23 JAN). MIDNIGHT TRAVELER d. Hassan Fazili, 2019 at DocHouse (17 to 23 JAN). THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR d. Ry Russo-Young, 2019 at Whirled Cinema (20 to 26 JAN). UNCUT GEMS d. Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie, 2019 at ICA (until 23 JAN)

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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+.