SCREEN GUIDE: What’s on in London this week [12 to 18 NOV 2021]

Our RADIANT CIRCUS guide to what’s on in London this week across DIY, indie & alternative cinema, including one-off screen events, film seasons, film festivals & new releases.

By RADIANT CIRCUS // Twitter @radiantcircus / Instagram @radiantcircus

Welcome to the start of another screen week! Film club highlights get started this week with The Gothique Film Society’s double bill of ‘INVASION’ features presented in “glorious 16mm” at The Cinema Museum (12 NOV). Tufnell Park Film Club presents Chloé Zhao’s second feature THE RIDER (16 NOV), and Kennington Bioscope continues their not-so silent extravaganzas with a 16mm film screening of Rudolph Valentino vehicle THE EAGLE (17 NOV). New kids on the block Pinc. – dedicated to the “joy of camp cinema” – presents TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! JULIE NEWMAR at The Castle (17 NOV) whilst fellow devotees of excess, Lobotomy Room, share a free screening of Otto Preminger’s BONJOUR TRISTESSE at Fontaine’s (18 NOV).

In other welcome development, the lovely people at Talkies Community Cinema return to public screenings this week with a much-delayed premiere of their Short Film Commissions (13 NOV). This collab with Short Sighted Cinema awarded local filmmakers grants of £500 towards the production of a short film based in and around Palmers Green in North London. The resulting programme explores “suburban life, embracing locality while expressing individual artistry”. Welcome back!

For followers of new venue openings, CinemaItaliaUK continues their screenings at the much-delayed Garden Cinema in Covent Garden with a special Q&A screening of ALIDA (18 NOV). Some of the same personnel also seem to be behind the Italian London Short Film Festival which screens at the same venue (14 NOV), giving you a FREE peak at what could be your new pad…

There’s a good crop of new releases, revivals and restorations this week too, including AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, Wong Kar Wai’s DAYS OF BEING WILD and Lin-Manuel Miranda latest new movie musical, TICK, TICK…BOOM!, all at The Prince Charles. The new 4k restoration of Mike Leigh’s NAKED opens at BFI whilst Eva Husson’s MOTHERING SUNDAY is available pretty much everywhere else. We’ve chosen as our picks of the week two fascinating F-Rated docs – Liz Garbus’s BECOMING COUSTEAU and Posy Dixon’s KEYBOARD FANTASIES – and Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala’s YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY. Check our GRIND SHOW section for full details.

Posy Dixon is appearing at venues across town for Q&A screenings of KEYBOARD FANTASIES starting at The Horse Hospital (12 NOV) before stopping off at ICA (13 NOV) and Catford Mews (14 NOV). In what is sure to be a series of sell-out events, BFI London Film Festival favourite Céline Sciamma is also in town, answering audience questions at a special Birds’ Eye View #ReclaimTheFrame screening of PETITE MAMAN at Ciné Lumière (15 NOV) before heading to Picturehouse Finsbury Park and Everyman Hampstead (both 16 NOV). Her film also previews across the Picturehouse chain but without the Q&A on the same day (16 NOV).

Film festivals wrapping this week include the incredible Doc’n Roll Film Festival (28 OCT to 14 NOV), Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest (09 to 14 NOV), UK Green Film Festival (03 to 14 NOV) and UK Jewish Film Festival (04 to 18 NOV). Festivals joining our listings this week include EFG London Jazz Festival (12 to 21 NOV), Ocean Film Festival (16 to 24 NOV), and Irish Film Festival London (17 to 21 NOV – read our screen guide for details!).

Given our enduring fondness for short seasons and weekenders, we were spoilt for choice for our headline slot this week… A special mention goes to Other Cinemas for their return to IRL venues with a NOVEMBER WEEKENDER dedicated to exploring “colonialism, legacies and resistances” that’s packed with gems at The Yellow (12 to 13 NOV). It’s also FREE to attend!

Our Featured Attraction of the Week goes to two exhibitors bringing excellent attractions to one outstanding venue. Wavelength Docs‘ CINEMA OF THE SELF at Close-Up (13 to 14 NOV) is already our Featured Attraction of the Month, so let’s also celebrate Day For Night for their URBAN, NATURAL, HUMAN at the same venue over the same weekend (12 to 14 NOV). Both programmes screen as part of the UK-wide celebration of Japanese cinema and screen culture supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.

See you in the darkness,

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

URBAN, NATURAL, HUMAN: EXPLORING JAPAN ON SCREEN at Close-Up (12 to 14 NOV):

  • Day For Night presents: “A programme exploring art, architecture and design through the moving image. With its core themes of the built and natural environments in contemporary Japan, the programme will reflect on regeneration, recovery and creativity, not least in the year of the 10th anniversary of the Tohuku earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster.”

CINEMA OF THE SELF: PERSONAL DOCUMENTARY IN JAPAN at Close-Up (13 to 14 NOV):

  • Wavelength Docs presents: “This programme places its focus on one of the most disarming strands of Japan’s non-fiction cinema. Variously termed self-documentary, personal documentary or “I-film” (a cousin to the I-novel in Japanese literature), this form of auto-documentary-making began when Japanese filmmakers in the early 70s began to make films that pointed the camera either at themselves, or those closest to them. This programme brings together some of the best of the sub-genre to come from Japan in the last 25 years.”

FRIDAY 12 NOV

  • GONE, GONE BEYOND by People Like Us (aka Vicki Bennett) 360-degree cinematic installation at Barbican (until 13 NOV various).
  • KEYBOARD FANTASIES d. Posy Dixon, 2019 + Q&A with the director & producer Liv Proctor at The Horse Hospital (12 NOV 19:00).
  • INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS 16mm d. Denis Sanders, 1973 + INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS 16mm d. Don Siegel, 1956 presented by The Gothique Film Society at The Cinema Museum (12 NOV 19:00).
  • SREĆAN PUT d. Maximilien Luc Proctor, 2021 World Premiere presented by Cinema Year Zero at Screen25 Cinema at Harris Academy South Norwood (12 NOV 19:45).
  • Surprise Film at Picturehouse Cinemas (12 NOV various).
  • WEST SIDE STORY: 60TH ANNIVERSARY d. Robert Wise, 1961 at The Prince Charles (12 NOV 12:15).
  • YEAR OF THE DOG d. Paul Sng, 2021 World Premiere + Q&A with the director, narrator, Simone Marie Butler & Michelle Clark, founding Director of DOTS London (Dogs on the Streets) at Curzon Bloomsbury (12 NOV 18:20).

SATURDAY 13 NOV

  • DRIVE MY CAR aka Doraibu mai kâ d. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2021 + Recorded Q&A with the director at Picturehouse Fulham Road (13 NOV 14:00).
  • GONE, GONE BEYOND by People Like Us (aka Vicki Bennett) 360-degree cinematic installation at Barbican (10 to 13 NOV various).
  • HEAVEN WITHOUT EARTH aka Cielo senza terra d. Giovanni Davide Maderna & Sara Pozzoli, 2020 at ICA (13 NOV 12:10).
  • KEYBOARD FANTASIES d. Posy Dixon, 2019 + Q&A with the director at ICA (13 NOV 18:30).
  • THE LOST BOYS d. Joel Schumacher, 1987 at Riverside Studios (13 NOV 14:30).
  • Talkies’ Short Film Commissions presented by Talkies Community Cinema at St John’s Hall N13 (13 NOV 19:30).
  • THROUGH THE NIGHT d. Loira Limbal, 2021 + Q&A at The Ritzy (13 NOV 14:00).

ONLINE

SUNDAY 14 NOV

  • ANOTHER ROUND d. Thomas Vinterberg, 2020 at Whirled Cinema (14 NOV 17:00).
  • DRIVE MY CAR aka Doraibu mai kâ d. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2021 + Recorded Q&A with the director at Picturehouse Finsbury Park (14 NOV 12:30).
  • HEAVEN WITHOUT EARTH aka Cielo senza terra d. Giovanni Davide Maderna & Sara Pozzoli, 2020 at ICA (14 NOV 12:20).
  • KEYBOARD FANTASIES d. Posy Dixon, 2019 + Q&A with the director at Catford Mews (14 NOV 18:00).
  • TOKYO STORY 4k aka Tôkyô monogatari d. Yasujirô Ozu, 1953 + Recorded intro by Jasper Sharp at Riverside Studios (14 NOV 14:00 + free sample of Japanese sake!).
  • WEST SIDE STORY: 60TH ANNIVERSARY d. Robert Wise, 1961 at Everyman Cinemas (14 NOV various).
  • YEAR OF THE DOG d. Paul Sng, 2021 + Q&A with the director, narrator, Simone Marie Butler & Michelle Clark, founding Director of DOTS London (Dogs on the Streets) at ArtHouse Crouch End (14 NOV 15:15).

ONLINE

MONDAY 15 NOV

  • DRIVE MY CAR aka Doraibu mai kâ d. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2021 preview at BFI Southbank (15 NOV 19:40).
  • LET THE RIGHT ONE IN aka Låt den rätte komma in d. Tomas Alfredson, 2008 presented by Deeper Into Movies at Farr’s Dalston (15 NOV 19:30).
  • THE LITTLE THINGS d. John Lee Hancock, 2021 at Whirled Cinema (15 NOV 20:00).
  • MOTHERING SUNDAY d. Eva Husson, 2021 + Q&A with producers Stephen Woolley & Liz Karlsen at Picturehouse Clapham (15 NOV 20:00).
  • PAN’S LABRYINTH aka El laberinto del fauno d. Guillermo del Toro, 2006 + 2-course dinner presented by Spanish Marks at India Club Lounge-Bar (15 NOV 18:30).
  • PERFECT BLUE aka Pâfekuto burû d. Satoshi Kon, 1997 presented by Deeper Into Movies at Sebright Arms (15 NOV 19:30 – FREE).
  • PETITE MAMAN d. Céline Sciamma, 2021 + Q&A with the director presented by Birds’ Eye View #ReclaimTheFrame at Ciné Lumière (15 NOV 18:20).
  • PIRATES d. Reggie Yates, 2021 UK Premiere + Intro by the director, cast & crew at The Ritzy (15 NOV 18:45).

TUESDAY 16 NOV

  • 12 ANGRY MEN d. Sidney Lumet, 1957 + Presentation by Professor Lorna Dawson at Barbican (16 NOV 18:10) / Part of Science On Screen.
  • JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH d. Shaka King, 2021 at The David Lean (16 NOV 14:30).
  • Kino Shorts: ADVENTURE 112 + Q&A with the filmmakers at Kino Bermondsey (16 NOV 20:00).
  • THE LITTLE THINGS d. John Lee Hancock, 2021 at Whirled Cinema (16 NOV 20:00).
  • NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN aka Sniegu juz nigdy nie bedzie d. Malgorzata Szumowska & Michal Englert, 2020 in-venue screening followed by an online discussion with Michael Brooke at Watermans (16 NOV 19:00 + 17 NOV 20:00).
  • PETITE MAMAN d. Céline Sciamma, 2021 + Q&A with the director at Picturehouse Finsbury Park (16 NOV 19:00).
  • PETITE MAMAN d. Céline Sciamma, 2021 at Picturehouse Cinemas (16 NOV various).
  • PETITE MAMAN d. Céline Sciamma, 2021 + Q&A with the director at Everyman Hampstead (16 NOV 20:30).
  • THE RIDER d. Chloe Zhao, 2017 presented by Tufnell Park Film Club at The Lord Palmerston (16 NOV 20:00).
  • THE SIX d. Arthur Jones, 2021 + Q&A presented by UK-China Film Collaboration at Picturehouse Central (16 NOV 18:30).
  • SOUND OF METAL d. Darius Marder, 2019 at The David Lean (16 NOV 19:30).
  • WHITE RIOT d. Rubika Shah, 2019 + Q&A with the director presented by Wimbledon Film Club at Curzon Wimbledon (16 NOV 20:30).

WEDNESDAY 17 NOV

  • Classic Matinee: THE COURIER d. Dominic Cooke, 2020 at Rio Cinema (17 NOV 14:30).
  • THE EAGLE 16mm d. Clarence Brown, 1925 + Live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney presented by Kennington Bioscope at The Cinema Museum (17 NOV 19:30).
  • THE LITTLE THINGS d. John Lee Hancock, 2021 at Whirled Cinema (17 NOV 20:00).
  • ROSE PLAYS JULIE d. Joe Lawlor & Christine Molloy, 2021 at Screen25 Cinema at Harris Academy South Norwood (17 NOV 19:45).
  • TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! JULIE NEWMAR d. Beeban Kidron, 1995 presented by Pinc. at The Castle Cinema (17 NOV 18:45).
  • TOP HAT d. Mark Sandrich, 1935 presented by PitshangerPictures at St Barnabas Church (17 NOV 14:00).
  • VITA & VIRGINIA d. Chanya Button, 2018 presented by PitshangerPictures at St Barnabas Church (17 NOV 20:15).

THURSDAY 18 NOV

  • ALIDA d. Mimmo Verdesca, 2020 + Intro by the director presented by CinemaItaliaUK at Garden Cinema (18 NOV 19:00).
  • A Selection of Short Films presented by Odelay Films at The Prince Charles (18 NOV 17:45 – FREE).
  • Russian Movie Night: AUTUMN MARATHON aka Osenniy marafon d. Georgiy Daneliya, 1979 at Close-Up (18 NOV 19:15).
  • BLADE 4K d. Stephen Norrington, 1998 + Recorded intro by Dr Adilifu Nama, author of Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes at Barbican (18 NOV 20:10).
  • BONJOUR TRISTESSE d. Otto Preminger, 1958 presented by Lobotomy Room at Fontaine’s Bar (18 NOV 20:00 – FREE).
  • THE HAND OF GOD aka È Stata La Mano Di Dio d. Paolo Sorrentino, 2021 at BFI Southbank (18 NOV 18:30).
  • LA DOLCE VITA d. Federico Fellini, 1960 presented by Crofton Park Pictures at Rivoli Ballroom (18 NOV 19:30).
  • THE LAST BUS d. Gillies MacKinnon, 2021 at The David Lean (18 NOV 14:30 & 19:30).
  • Basma Alsharif’s OUROBOROS + a live-streamed music performance by Catherine Feliz presented by The Care-fuffle Collective at The Horse Hospital (18 NOV 19:00) / Part of REPEATED APPARITIONS.
  • WOHIN UND ZURÜCK PART III – WELCOME IN VIENNA d. Axel Corti, 1986 at Austrian Cultural Forum (18 NOV 19:00 – FREE).

35MM PRESENTATIONS at The Prince Charles

70MM PRESENTATIONS at The Prince Charles

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 70mm d. Stanley Kubrick, 1968 ‘unrestored version’ (18 NOV 20:15).

2007: A VINTAGE YEAR FOR CINEMA at The Prince Charles

AFRICAN ODYSSEYS: DARCUS HOWE at BFI Southbank

ANNIVERSARY SCREENINGS at The Prince Charles

BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: WATCHING THE DETECTIVES at BFI Southbank

BRIAN DE PALMA at The Prince Charles 

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): THE UNTOUCHABLES 35mm d. Brian De Palma, 1987 (17 NOV 18:00).

CINEMA OF THE SELF: PERSONAL DOCUMENTARY IN JAPAN at Close-Up

CULTPIX SEASON at Everyman Cinemas

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): ANITA: SWEDISH NYMPHET d. Torgny Wickman, 1973 + Intro by Christina Lindberg (16 NOV 20:30 – Everyman Broadgate / 19 NOV 23:00 – Everyman Screen On The Green).

EDGAR WRIGHT’S LONDON AFTER DARK at BFI Southbank

EXPERIENCE THE FLAVOURS OF JAPAN at Picturehouse Cinemas

EYES ON SPIES at Ciné Lumière

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): OSS 117: FROM AFRICA WITH LOVE aka OSS 117: Alerte rouge en Afrique noire d. Nicolas Bedos, 2021 (13 NOV 16:00); SPIONE d. Fritz Lang, 1928 (14 NOV 14:00).

THE FILMS OF PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON at The Prince Charles

IN FOCUS: RADU JUDE at ICA

JAPAN 2021 at BFI Southbank

MIKE LEIGH at BFI Southbank 

  • Includes (check venue for listings): NAKED 4k d. Mike Leigh, 1993 at BFI Southbank (daily 12 to 25 NOV); CAREER GIRLS d. Mike Leigh, 1997 (12 NOV 18:15); VERA DRAKE d. Mike Leigh, 2004 (12 NOV 20:40); NAKED 4k d. Mike Leigh, 1993 + Q&A with the director, David Thewlis & Lesley Sharp (13 NOV 17:20); ABIGAIL’S PARTY d. Mike Leigh, 1977 + Q&A with the director (14 NOV 12:00); TOPSY-TURVEY d. Mike Leigh, 1999 + Q&A with Mike Leigh & Jim Broadbent (14 NOV 17:30); HAPPY-GO-LUCKY 35mm d. Mike Leigh, 2008 (15 NOV 20:40).

MIKE LEIGH’S CHOICES at BFI Southbank

MOVIE MARATHONS at The Prince Charles

  • Includes (check venue for listings): THE RAID: DOUBLE FEATURE d. Gareth Evans, 2011 + 2014 + Q&A with the director (15 NOV 18:05).

OTHER CINEMAS NOVEMBER WEEKENDER at The Yellow

STEPHEN KING at The Prince Charles

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE d. Stephen King, 1986 (12 NOV 21:00).

STUDIO GHIBLI at The Prince Charles

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): WHISPER OF THE HEART d. Yoshifumi Kondô, 1995 (13 NOV 12:25 – Sub).

TALES OF TOMORROW: SCI-FI SELECTIONS at The Prince Charles

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 70mm d. Stanley Kubrick, 1968 ‘unrestored version’ (18 NOV 20:15).

URBAN, NATURAL, HUMAN: EXPLORING JAPAN ON SCREEN at Close-Up

  • Includes (check venue for full listings): BOOK-PAPER-SCISSORS d. Nanako Hirose, 2019 + Intro by Sonali Joshi (12 NOV 20:15); ASCENT d. Fiona Tan, 2016 + Intro by Sonali Joshi (13 NOV 20:15); THE INLAND SEA + Short d. Lucille Carra, 1991 (14 NOV 20:15).
  • Programmed by Day for Night.

WEREWOLF FILMS at The Prince Charles

THE WORLD OF WONG KAR WAI at The Prince Charles

  • Includes (check venue for listings): DAYS OF BEING WILD d. Wong Kar Wai, 1990 (12 to 18 NOV various).

BECOMING COUSTEAU d. Liz Garbus, 2021.

KEYBOARD FANTASIES d. Posy Dixon, 2019.

YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY d. Amjad Abu Alala, 2019.

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*THE SMALL PRINT: Opinions author’s own. // As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any errors. Updates & corrections will be made to the online version only. // Event dates/times/formats are subject to change by the venue/organiser. Events may already be sold out at the time of posting, so please click quickly. // We try to list as many original format screenings as we can (8 to 70MM), but sometimes formats change due to age of the print, availability, logistics etc, so please check ahead with your venue if the format is your thing. // All images are used in the spirit of fair use for reporting & review – no ownership is implied or intended / unless otherwise credited to RADIANT CIRCUS as the original rights holder. We will remove any images immediately upon request – just get in touch. // We don’t filter our listings by age/certification: all readers & subscribers should therefore be 18+. // Finally, we always try to follow The Carny Code by “not screwing up anyone else’s game”, but everyone can make mistakes… If something does go wrong, we will always do our best to put it right. //.