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

VARDA BY AGNÈS d. Agnès Varda, 2019 + Talk by Jon Davies at Watermans (21 SEP 13:00):

Frech Impressions presents: “VARDA BY AGNÈS was the last film from one of France’s greatest directors and one of the rare women of her generation to succeed in an industry dominated by men. This lovely film serves as her own joyful obituary. For the first session of the new season Jon Davies chooses clips from her films and puts her work in a wider context.”

NEW AT RADIANT CIRCUS

LUNCHTIME FILM SOCIETY is a brand new popup cinema screening daily programmes of bitesize films for busy City workers at the Bridewell Theatre in the City Of London (22 OCT to 01 NOV 2019). Bring your own lunch, relax & refocus as you feast on a world of inspiring short film drama, documentary & animation.

> Now booking: sbf.org.uk/whats-on

Online radiantcircus.com: Raindance Film Festival 2019 is underway (18 to 29 SEP) & we’re blogging about it on a dedicated channel // CLOSE-UP ON DEREK JARMAN focuses on his more experimental works (18 to 30 SEP) // Top Dog Film Festival comes to Conway Hall (01 to 02 OCT) // Richmond Film Society continues their 57th season // We interview student curator Viknesh Kobinathan about ON THE EDGE OF THE FOLD.

FILMS IN LONDON TODAY

SINGLE-O EXHIBITS

CAPTAINE THOMAS SANKARA d. Christophe Cupelin, 2012 + Q&A with Dr Ama Biney at BFI Southbank (21 SEP 14:00):

African Odysseys presents: “An acclaimed documentary portrait of the brilliantly intelligent, radical, humane, public-spirited (and guitar-playing) former President of Burkina Faso. The film is meticulously composed from archival footage and reconstructs Sankara’s life and leadership challenge as well as the radical reforms brought about during his short term in office – from 4 August 1983 until his tragic assassination on 15 October 1987.”

THE FILMS OF LOUISE MARIE COOKE: A RETROSPECTIVE (SO FAR) at Deptford Cinema (21 SEP 14:00 – Repeats 22 SEP 14:00 + Q&A with the director):

“This micro-season on the films of Louise (so far) aims to characterise her trajectory from an emerging Writer/Director to the established and unique voice that she is in independent cinema today. Louise is currently developing her debut feature film Isobel based on Film London backed short Breathe and a supernatural queer web-series.”

THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE d. Terry Gilliam, 2018 + Q&A with Terry Gilliamat BFI Southbank (21 SEP 17:20 – Currently looking SOLD OUT!):

“Only a Terry Gilliam film could have its ‘making of’ screened almost two decades before the actual film is released. LOST IN LA MANCHA was the 2002 documentary about Gilliam’s first attempt to adapt Miguel de Cervantes’ picaresque novel. That production ended up uncompleted. Gilliam persisted and finally his madcap, humorously heraldic mission reaches us.”

Also: THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE d. Terry Gilliam, 2018 + Intro by Terry Gilliam at BFI Southbank (21 SEP 20:20).

More films in London today (A – Z):

AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL d. Hu Bo, 2018 at Deptford Cinema (21 SEP 18:00).

FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF d. John Hughes, 1986 at The Prince Charles (21 SEP 15:10).

HAIL SATAN? d. Penny Lane, 2019 at Regent Street Cinema (21 SEP 13:35 & 15:30).

HEATHERS d. Michael Lehmann, 1988 at The Prince Charles (21 SEP 21:00).

JURASSIC PARK d. Steven Spielberg, 1993 presented by Stow Film Lounge at Stoneydown Park, E17 (21 SEP 19:00 – FREE!).

SAMOUNI ROAD d. Stefano Savona, 2018 at DocHouse (21 SEP 15:45).

THE SOUVENIR d. Joanna Hogg, 2019 at ArtHouse Crouch End (21 SEP 12:30).

Write-A-Long Movies: Chapter 26 Film Club & Writer’s Hub at Genesis Cinema (21 SEP 12:00)

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MUSEUM SHOWS 1 // SEASONS

Films in London today: CUT OFF, part of FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN TALENT 2019 at Regent Street Cinema (21 SEP).

ANGELA BASSETT: QUEEN OF THE SCREEN at BFI Southbank (SEP):

STRANGE DAYS d. Kathryn Bigelow, 1995 (21 SEP 17:30).

WAITING TO EXHALE 35mm d. Forest Whitaker, 1995 (21 SEP 20:30).

BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: TURMOIL! at BFI Southbank (SEP):

THE CHASE d. Arthur Penn, 1966 (21 SEP 20:20).

CARY GRANT: BRITAIN’S GREATEST EXPORT at BFI Southbank (AUG to SEP):

INDISCREET d. Stanley Donen, 1958 (21 SEP 16:00).

CHARADE d. Stanley Donen, 1963 (21 SEP 18:00).

CYBERPUNKS at House Of Vans (SEP):

BLADE RUNNER (21 SEP 15:00 & 17:30).

FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN TALENT 2019 at Regent Street Cinema (20 to 22 SEP):

THE MASTER EP 1 & 2 d. Ali Edel, 2019 (21 SEP 17:30).

CUT OFF d. Christian Alvart, 2018 (21 SEP 20:30).

THE FILMS OF DAVID FINCHER at The Prince Charles (15 AUG to 21 NOV):

FIGHT CLUB d. David Fincher, 1999 enjoys a grind show run (20 to 26 SEP).

MARIANO LLINÁS PRESENTS LA FLOR at ICA (until 02 OCT):

LA FLOR: PART I d. Mariano Llinás, 2018 (21 SEP 12:30).

LA FLOR: PART II d. Mariano Llinás, 2018 (21 SEP 17:00).

SCI-FI SELECTS at The Prince Charles (ongoing):

SPACE JAM 35mm d. Joe Pytka, 1996 (21 SEP 12:45).

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MUSEUM SHOWS 2 // FESTIVALS

Films in London today: FIGHTING ELEGY, part of Japanese Avant-Garde & Experimental Film Festival at Close-Up (21 SEP).

Film festivals in London today include:

Catford Free Film Festival (13 to 22 SEP).
Japanese Avant-Garde & Experimental Film Festival (20 to 22 SEP).
Little Wing Film Festival (20 to 22 SEP).
Raindance Film Festival (18 to 29 SEP).
Scalarama (01 to 31 SEP).
Streatham Free Film Festival (14 to 28 SEP).
Underwire Festival (13 to 22).

GRIND SHOWS

Films in London today: SWARM SEASON at DocHouse (20 to 26 SEP).

AD ASTRA d. James Gray, 2019 at The Lexi (21 JAN 14:40, 17:20 & 20:00):

“For those who need a bit more to go on, this is a quietly epic inversion of sci fi classics like 2001 and INTERSTELLAR, which perpetuated the myth of the square-jawed, heroic astronaut. True enough, Major Roy McBride (Pitt) is plenty heroic as he sails off into the limbo of outer space, tasked with finding the source of the radioactive energy surges paralysing Earth. There’s a suspicion back at command centre that the attacks might be connected to Roy’s father (Tommy Lee Jones), a legendary scientist who disappeared 10 years previously while on an experiment to harness energy in space.”

THE FAREWELL d. Lulu Wang, 2019 at Barbican (21 SEP 15:15, 18:20 & 20:40):

“Starring Awkwafina as Billi, a young woman living in New York who moved to America from China with her parents when she was a child. She is horrified to find out that her grandma, still living in China, has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and she and her parents but travel to China to say goodbye for the last time.”

SWARM SEASON d. Sarah J Christman, 2019 at DocHouse (21 SEP 20:50):

“On the remote volcanic island of Hawaii, 10-year-old Manu and her mother collect wild, endangered bees in order to breed disease-resistant colonies. Manu’s father is protesting on the sacred mountain Mauna Kea against the establishment of a gigantic telescope. On a neighbouring mountain, six NASA scientists practice living on Mars, and under the ground and the water, the Kilauea volcano quivers fatefully.”

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

BAIT d. Mark Jenkin, 2019 at Rio Cinema (until 26 SEP). FOR SAMA d. Waad Al-Khateab & Edward Watts, 2019 at The Castle Cinema (until 03 OCT). HAIL SATAN? d. Penny Lane, 2019 at Watermans (20 to 26 SEP). HONEYLAND d. Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov, 2019 at ArtHouse Crouch End (20 to 26 SEP). HUSTLERS d. Lorene Scafaria, 2019 at Genesis Cinema (until 26 SEP). THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER d. Sara Colangelo, 2018 at Whirled Cinema (23 to 29 SEP). MOTHER d. Kristof Bilsen, 2019 (20 to 26 SEP). ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD 35mm d. Quentin Tarantino, 2019 at The Prince Charles (until 26 SEP). PAIN AND GLORY d. Pedro Almodóvar, 2019 at The Prince Charles (20 to 26 SEP). ROJO d. Benjamín Naishtat, 2018 at Ciné Lumière (until 26 SEP). SAFE SPACES d. Daniel Schechter, 2019 at JW3 (23 to 26 SEP). THE SHINY SHRIMPS d. Maxime Govare & Cédric Le Gallo, 2019 at Watermans (20 to 26 SEP). THE SOUVENIR d. Joanna Hogg, 2019 at The Prince Charles (20 to 26 SEP).

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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+.