NOW SHOWING: LONDON SCREEN GUIDE w/c 03.02.17
To help in your hunt for adventurous moving pictures, RADIANT CIRCUS hand-picks London’s screen highlights for the week ahead*. This time, we’ve broadened our venue menu considerably, resulting in an even tastier cinematic smorgasbord.
FRIDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2017, 20.30, WHIRLED CINEMA
We love Apichatpong Weerasethakul for his tender ways with often tragic themes (we reviewed PRIMITIVE 2009 at TATE). Whether it’s his feature films or art installations, Weerasethakul combines a spiritual magic realism with often meandering, lo-fi storytelling. Membership-based WHIRLED CINEMA (“small, cosy and intimate”) screens CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR, Weerasethakul’s 2015 film about a group of soldiers affected by a mysterious sleeping illness.
Looking for an alternative? Unleash your inner activist with the BERNIE GRANT ARTS CENTRE as they screen British doc GENERATION REVOLUTION (19.30) about “a new generation of activists who are changing the social and political landscape”.
SATURDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2017, 19.30, DEPTFORD CINEMA
Austrian documentarist Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s film ABENDLAND explores Europe at night, a fading paradise “obsessed with technology and security”. Avoiding voiceover or score, the spellbinding images really draw you in.
Looking for an alternative? CINÉ LUMIÈRE screens Oscar-tipped TONI ERDMANN (17.40 & 20.45). For more father-daughter relationships, why not try tomorrow’s French classic LA FILLE DU PUISATIER aka THE WELL-DIGGER’S DAUGHTER (14.00)?
SUNDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2017, 18.30, JW3
Working with UK JEWISH FILM, JW3 screens OPERATION WEDDING followed by a Q&A with director Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov. The documentary explores contrasting views of a group of young Jewish dissidents and would-be hijackers in 1970s USSR.
Looking for an alternative? CURZON SOHO screens a double bill of baffling celluloid beauties, LOST HIGHWAY & RABBIT’s MOON (15.00). Whilst David Lynch is an obvious candidate for RADIANT CIRCUS, we’ll be there for Kenneth Anger’s 16mm short about woodland clowns. Continuing the day’s celluloid theme, the PRINCE CHARLES turns up the vomit with a 35mm 45th anniversary screening of PINK FLAMINGOS (21.00).
MONDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2017, 19.00, THE FRONTLINE CLUB
THE WAR SHOW (19.00), followed by a Q&A with director Andreas Dalsgaard is at FRONTLINE, a gathering place for “people interested in international affairs and independent journalism”. The doc is a first-person account of young people’s shifting experiences of Syria from dreams of revolution to the reality of civil war.
Looking for an alternative? Catch up with TOWER (18.30) at BERTHA DOCHOUSE, a part-animated account of the USA’s first campus shooting. TOWER runs at CURZON BLOOMSBURY (and other locations!) from 05-09 FEBRUARY.
TUESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2017, various, PICTUREHOUSES
HALF-WAY, a 2015 documentary about homelessness and Britain’s welfare state, screens in the PICTUREHOUSE DOCS and DISCOVER TUESDAYS strands: that’s a provocative double-header. Head to CLAPHAM or STRATFORD.
Looking for an alternative? DEPTFORD CINEMA continues its SLICES OF FRENCH CINEMA with Maurice Pialat’s feature debut L’ENFANCE NUE (20.00), one of those films that smacks you round the chops with its striking realism.
WEDNESDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2017, 18.30, TATE MODERN
César Vayssié presents the UK premiere of UFE (UNFILMÉVÈNEMENT), a film that continues one of this week’s unscripted themes – that of youth and revolution. Followed by discussion with the artist.
Looking for an alternative? The sublimely beautiful ORPHÈE (18.20) is at BFI with intro by Helen de Witt. Jean Cocteau described filmmaking as “a sleep in which I am dreaming”, making this a magical companion piece to CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR.
THURSDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2017, 20.30, PICTUREHOUSE CENTRAL
Ending our week, and a season of screenings picked by artist Lucy Raven, PICTUREHOUSE CENTRAL hosts LUCY RAVEN IN CONVERSATION WITH ARTHUR JAFA including films APEX and MECHANICS OF EMPATHY. LUCY RAVEN: EDGE OF TOMORROW continues at SERPENTINE GALLERY until 12.02.17.
FESTIVALS AND LONGER RUNS
MARTIN SCORSESE CURATES / SCORSESE DOUBLES
We are big fans of MARTIN SCORSESE CURATES at BFI and that enthusiasm continues throughout FEBRUARY. Ways to spend your SCORSESE DOUBLES (2 films for £17)? Try book-ending your week with REVENGE (3 FEBRUARY, 18.20) and RESTORED AVANT-GARDE FILMS (9 FEBRUARY, 20.40).
JAPAN FOUNDATION TOURING FILM PROGRAMME, ICA
ODD OBSESSIONS – DESIRES, HOPES AND IMPULSES IN JAPANESE CINEMA includes a number of truly tantalising classic and contemporary Japanese films. If you think this might be your slice of heaven, ICA offers a “buy 4 same price tickets for the price of 3” deal. The programme runs from 03.02.17 to 09.02.17 at ICA.
MYTHICAL POETRY: THE CINEMA OF GOVINDAN ARAVINDAN, CLOSE-UP FILM CENTRE
Running for much of the month, MYTHICAL POETRY: THE CINEMA OF GOVINDAN ARAVINDAN is the first ever European showcase of 6 works by the Indian artist-filmmaker. We hope to cover more of this delicious programme in future GUIDES.
TROPICAL HANGOVER, TENDERPIXEL
Finally, a new multi-artist show opens at digital gurus TENDERPIXEL from 08.02.17 to 04.03.17. We don’t know much about TROPICAL HANGOVER, but there’s bound to be some moving pictures in there somewhere, right? We’ll let you know.
More places to shelter from the storm in next week’s GUIDE.
* As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any mistakes.
Featured image: CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR (2015)