THE BALLY #118: What to see in London this week [06 to 12 AUG 2021]

Welcome to THE BALLY where we help you find what to see in London this week across DIY, indie & alternative cinema events, online, outdoors & in venues.

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

We’ve spotted a few additions to our epic monthly roundup of rep seasons this week, including THE FIGHT FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS at Bertha DocHouse (from 06 AUG), a celebratory weekender for JAMAICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY at Screen25 Cinema (06 to 08 AUG), and AN INTRODUCTION TO KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI at Genesis Cinema (from 10 AUG). If you’re in the mood for some of the Polish maestro’s work, THREE COLOURS: RED screens from 35MM at The Prince Charles this week (10 & 12 AUG) and we’ve spotted a coming attraction at The Castle Cinema, a double bill of A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE + A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING presented by No Bollocks Film Club (31 AUG).

Whilst we’re looking ahead at The Castle, Ciné-Real 16mm Film Club has announced their latest title: PULP FICTION 16MM (22 AUG 13:45 / 26 AUG 19:30 / 29 AUG 13:30). Grab a ticket while you can…

Queer themes continue to weave their way through London’s indie programming, with Women Over Fifty Film Festival continuing their tour of TWO OF US with LGBTQ+ charity Opening Doors at The Lexi (11 AUG) and the similarly brilliant NEW EAST CINEMA giving Reka Valerik’s gay martial arts doc SILENT VOICE a UK Premiere on the same night at Barbican (11 AUG). And you should definitely make space in your weekend for a CABARET SOIREE! featuring a screening of Bob Fosse’s impeccable movie musical plus a serving of high tea all dished up by the gorgeous We Do Good Disco at Ninth Life (08 AUG).

Elsewhere, it’s a quiet time of year for festivals (after the city-wide razzmatazz of Sundance London…), but The Blue Tick Festival (10 to 19 AUG) takes over Rio Cinema for a series of screenings that bring online comedians and creators onto the big screen. Let us know if we’ve missed anyone else!

It’s also a quiet week for new indie releases too, with several cinemas not picking up the latest offerings in favour of continuing with more mainstream affairs. Maya Da-Rin’s THE FEVER opens on a few screens along with the revival of NOW, VOYAGER that is re-released in conjunction with the BETTE DAVIS: HOLLYWOOD REBEL season at BFI Southbank. Janicza Bravo’s ZOLA gets a lot of love. Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS gets a weeklong run at The Prince Charles from 35MM.

RADIANT CIRCUS was born of our enduring fascination with what we call ‘the afterlife of moving pictures’, which pretty much accommodates everything that happens after their initial production and release. Which in turn leads to an obsession with learning about the long and sometimes arduous process it takes for some films to get (back) on screen.

With this in mind, there are two titles in London this week from the world famous Cinema Rediscovered festival at Bristol’s Watershed: Melvin Van Peebles’ 1968 film THE STORY OF A THREE DAY PASS 4K at BFI Southbank, and The Twelve30 Collective’s presentation of Perry Henzell’s NO PLACE LIKE HOME as part of Screen25 Cinema’s JAMAICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY celebrations (06 to 08 AUG). Which is more than enough reason to make them our joint Featured Attraction of the Week.*

See you in the darkness,

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

* Returning quickly to my crystal ball before we go, Barbican will be presenting another of Melvin Van Peebles’s films a little later in the year, WATERMELON MAN + Short: CINQ CENT BALLES (09 SEP 18:10).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME d. Perry Henzell, 1973 + Intro by Jonathan Ali & Lisa Harewood at Screen25 Cinema (06 AUG 19:45) / Part of JAMAICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKENDER.

• “Join us in celebrating Jamaican Independence Day with a screening of Perry Henzell’s long-lost second feature NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Susan (Susan O’Meara) is the American producer of a shampoo commercial being shot in Jamaica. When the star, PJ (PJ Soles, CARRIE and HALLOWEEN), abandons the shoot, Susan sets out to find her, with charismatic local fixer Carl (Carl Bradshaw, THE HARDER THEY COME). Making their way through the countryside, Susan and Carl find themselves attracted to each other. However, neither of them has any illusions about the separate and unequal worlds to which they belong. Reconstructed and restored, NO PLACE LIKE HOME went into production in 1973 and at last, achieves a theatrical release almost 50 years later. This definitive version of the film is both a sun-kissed love letter to Jamaica and a thoughtful examination of it.” (main featured image)

THE STORY OF A THREE DAY PASS 4K aka La Permission d. Melvin Van Peebles, 1968 at BFI Southbank (07, 08, 10 & 12 AUG) / Part of Cinema Rediscovered on Tour.

• “‘Among the great American films of the sixties’ (Richard Brody, New York Times). Melvin Van Peebles’ first feature is based on his own novel (written in French) and follows Turner, a Black American soldier stationed in France who’s granted a three-day pass of leave and travels to Paris, where he meets and falls for a white woman named Miriam. During the weekend, their romance throws up some of the casual and contradictory views on race found in the French capital at the time and Van Peebles deals with them head on and playfully, but with an element of subversion. With a look inspired by the French New Wave, this rarely seen picture is just waiting to be celebrated by a new generation in its new 4K restoration.”

JAMAICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKENDER at Screen25 Cinema

• Includes (check venue for full listings): NO PLACE LIKE HOME d. Perry Henzell, 1973 + Intro b Jonathan Ali & Lisa Harewood (06 AUG 19:45); GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI d. Sophie Fiennes, 2017 (08 AUG 11:00).

• The Blue Tick Festival (10 to 19 AUG).

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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. //.