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

INQUIRING NUNS d. Gordon Quinn & Jerry Temaner, 1978 + Skype Q&A with Gordon Quinn + PANEL at Curzon Soho (27 MAY 18:30):

“1967: two nuns stand on Chicago street corners asking passersby, ‘Are you happy?’ Powerful and disarming in its simplicity, their responses range from bemused, to amusing, to spiritual, to searching. Newly restored and featuring music by Philip Glass, INQUIRING NUNS is a brilliant time capsule of what was on America’s mind in 1967 (especially the Vietnam war) but also a thought-provoking documentary milestone that deserves to be better seen.”

NEW AT RADIANT CIRCUS

South Social Film Festival: SPAIN + CARMEN Y LOLA at Moving Pictures Cinema (08 JUN).

Every week we do our bit to make cinema going in London that little more affordable by finding as many FREE film nights as we can. We’ve put together a quick guide to FREE films in London this week [25 to 30 MAY].
RADIANT CIRCUS is partnering with Screen25 to celebrate their complete Spring/Summer programme. Use promo code “CIRCUS19” when booking on any film in the season to save on full price tickets. The season opens with a special screening of RAFIKI (29 MAY).
South Social Film Festival is collaborating with Instituto Cervantes to celebrate Spain at Moving Pictures Cinema (08 JUN). RADIANT CIRCUS subscribers at Patreon can unlock a juicy discount for this thrilling event.

FILMS IN LONDON TODAY

SINGLE-O EXHIBITS

Hitchhiking Terror Double Bill at Helgi’s (27 MAY 19:00 – CANCELLED!):

World Wide Weird! presents: “A double bill of 70s roadside terror. Includes: HITCH HIKE TO HELL d. Irv Berwick, 1977 + HITCH-HIKE d. Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1977.

PICCADILLY d. E.A. Dupont, 1929 + LIVE ORGAN SOUNDTRACK by Donald MacKenzie at Regent Street Cinema (27 MAY 19:45):

“One of the pinnacles of British silent cinema, PICCADILLY is a sumptuous showbiz melodrama seething with sexual and racial tension. The Chinese-American screen goddess Anna May Wong stars as Shosho, a scullery maid in a fashionable London nightclub whose sensuous tabletop dance catches the eye of suave club owner Valentine Wilmot.”

More films in London today (A – Z):

ASH IS PUREST WHITE d. Jia Zhang-Ke, 2018 at Ciné Lumière (27 MAY 14:00).
BEATS d. Brian Welsh, 2019 at Moving Pictures Cinema (27 MAY 20:30).
LAST STOP CONEY ISLAND: THE LIFE AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF HAROLD FEINSTEIN d. Andy Dunn, 2018 at DocHouse (27 MAY 20:40).
MOONLIGHT d. Barry Jenkins, 2016 presented by Deeper Into Movies at Peckham Levels (27 MAY 19:00 – FREE!).
RAFIKI d. Wanuri Kahiu, 2018 presented by Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest + East End Film Festival at Victoria Park, part of All Points East (27 MAY 19:30 – FREE!).

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MUSEUM SHOWS 1 // SEASONS

Films in London today: BATMAN ANTHOLOGY at The Prince Charles (27 MAY).

BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS: WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933 at BFI Southbank (MAY to JUN):

A BLONDE DREAM 16mm d. Paul Martin, 1932 (27 MAY 14:30).

BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: THE MEANINGS OF LIFE at BFI Southbank (MAY):

THE GRAPES OF WRATH d. John Ford, 1940 (27 MAY 14:00).

CELEBRATING 80 YEARS OF THE BATMAN! at The Prince Charles (06 to 27 MAY):

BATMAN: THE MOTION PICTURE ANTHOLOGY (27 MAY – DAY PASS – Limited numbers!).
BATMAN d. Tim Burton, 1989 (27 MAY 12:40).
BATMAN RETURNS d. Tim Burton, 1992 (27 MAY 15:25).
BATMAN FOREVER d. Joel Schumacher, 1995 (27 MAY 18:10).
BATMAN & ROBIN d. Joel Schumacher, 1997 (27 MAY 20:45).

CLOSE-UP ON SCOTT WALKER at Close-Up (24 APR to 31 MAY):

CHINESE ROULETTE d. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1976 (27 MAY 20:15).

KUBRICK at BFI Southbank (APR to MAY):

SPARTACUS d. Stanley Kubrick, 1960 (27 MAY 16:40).
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE d. Stanley Kubrick, 1971 (27 MAY 19:30).
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB d. Stanley Kubrick, 1963 enjoys a grind show run (18 to 30 MAY).
“Inspired by Kubrick”: ENTER THE VOID d. Gaspar Noé, 2009 (27 MAY 19:20).

LILIANA CAVANI: 1966-1970 at Deptford Cinema (13 to 27 MAY):

THE YEAR OF THE CANNIBALS d. Liliana Cavani, 1970 (27 MAY 20:00).

OF FLESH AND BLOOD: THE CINEMA OF HIROKAZU KORE-EDA at BFI Southbank (APR to MAY):

SHOPLIFTERS d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018 (27 MAY 14:20 – Currently looking SOLD OUT!).
THE THIRD MURDER d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2017 (27 MAY 16:30 – Currently looking SOLD OUT!).
MABOROSI d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 1995 (27 MAY 16:50).
AFTER THE STORM d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2016 (27 MAY 20:00).

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MUSEUM SHOWS 2 // FESTIVALS

Films in London today: THE PONDS + Swimming Shorts at The Lido Café, part of Herne Hill Free Film Festival (27 MAY 19:30 – FREE!).

Film festivals in London today include:

Herne Hill Free Film Festival (29 APR to 01 JUN).

GRIND SHOWS

Films in London this week: AFTER LIFE at Rio Cinema (24 to 30 MAY). — Films in London today: AFTER LIFE at Rio Cinema (24 to 30 MAY).

AFTER LIFE d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 1998 at Rio Cinema (27 MAY 18:30):

“Which memory would you choose? After the wonderful MABOROSI, Hirokazu Kore-eda, future director of SHOPLIFTERS, continued his exploration of the mystery of life with this remarkable and touching film that explores the profound human need to discover meaning in everyday existence and asks what makes us truly happy.”

TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG d. Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, 2018 at ICA (27 MAY – Closed today / Back tomorrow!):

“Chile 1990, a country stretching its wings post-Pinochet, exhilarated by new-found freedom but still tentative in the face of an uncertain future. This political reality is paralleled by this story of an idealistic community living off-grid in a commune in the foothills of the Andes.”

XY CHELSEA d. Tim Travers Hawkins, 2019 at DocHouse (27 MAY 16:30):

“The historic story of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, whose 35-year sentence in an all-male maximum security prison was commuted by President Obama in 2017. XY CHELSEA is the journey of her fight for survival and dignity, and her transition from prisoner to a free woman.”

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

AMA-SAN d. Cláudia Varejão, 2016 at ICA (until 30 MAY). AMAZING GRACE d. Alan Elliott & Sydney Pollack, 2018 at DocHouse (until 30 MAY). ASH IS PUREST WHITE d. Jia Zhangke, 2018 at ICA (until 30 MAY). BATMAN d. Tim Burton, 1989 (17 to 27 MAY). BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II 35mm d. Robert Zemeckis, 1989 at The Prince Charles (24 to 30 MAY). BEATS d. Brian Welsh, 2019 at Watermans (24 to 30 MAY). BIRDS OF PASSAGE d. Cristina Gallego, 2018 at Rio Cinema (until 30 MAY). DR STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I STOPPED WORRYING & LEARNED TO LOVE THE BOMB d. Stanley Kubrick, 1964 + Short Film at The Prince Charles (23 to 29 MAY). EIGHTH GRADE d. Bo Burnham, 2018 at The Prince Charles (until 30 MAY). GIRL d. Lukas Dhont, 2018 at Whirled Cinema (27 MAY to 02 JUN). HIGH LIFE d. Claire Denis, 2018 at The Castle Cinema (until 30 MAY). JOHN MCENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION d. Julien Faraut, 2018 at ArtHouse Crouch End (24 to 30 MAY). MADELINE’S MADELINE d. Josephine Decker, 2018 at Barbican (until 22 MAY). MEMOIR OF WAR d. Emmanuel Finkiel, 2018 at Ciné Lumière (24 MAY to 25 JUL). OUTDOORS d. Asaf Saban, 2017 presented by UKJF at JW3 (26 to 30 MAY). ROCKETMAN d. Dexter Fletcher, 2019 at ArtHouse Crouch End (24 to 30 MAY). VOX LUX d. Brady Corbet, 2018 at The Prince Charles (24 to 30 MAY). WOMEN AT WAR d. Benedikt Erlingsson, 2018 at The Castle Cinema (until 30 MAY).

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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+.