THE BALLY #125: What to see in London this week [15 to 21 OCT 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

Continuing the great venue news from last week, Act One Cinema did indeed open last week and continues this week with screenings of NO TIME TO DIE. Tickets are also now on sale for the reopening programme at The David Lean Cinema, starting with Oscar favourite, Chloé Zhao’s NOMADLAND and Questlove’s SUMMER OF SOUL on 26 OCT. Twickenham Cinema Club is also planning to return to public events with a seasonally suitable screening of Jennifer Kent’s THE BABADOOK at The Venue at Heatham House (04 NOV).

In new releases, and in the spirit of this scariest of seasons, I’m excited to see David Gordon Green’s next iteration in the sprawling franchise HALLOWEEN KILLS (probably against my better judgement…). You can also see Małgorzata Szumowska’s latest NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN in the same week that Catford Mews brings her THE OTHER LAMB back to the screen as part of their excellent TWISTED FOLK season. I’m also delighted to see Francis Ford Coppola’s restored THE OUTSIDERS: THE COMPLETE NOVEL get a good showing (for purely sentimental reasons…). Several BFI London Film Festival titles are ready for their general releases, my pick of this week’s titles being Todd Haynes’ exceptional documentary, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. Then, of course, DUNE opens across the board on the 21 OCT: you can still get tickets for Denis Villeneuve in Conversation at BFI Southbank at the time of posting (19 OCT).

In seasons, Halloween-themed programming continues across town. My pick of the bunch being Claire Denis’ TROUBLE EVERY DAY 35mm, concluding student programmer Geoffrey Badger’s excellent LOST VAMPIRES season at The Prince Charles (20 OCT). Taking a very different theme, NFTS classmate Yvonne Wootton starts new season ONE WORLD UNSPOKEN this week, opening a series of films exploring our relationship to the environment with THE RED TURTLE at Ciné Lumière (17 OCT). A TRIBUTE TO JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO gets underway at Close-Up.

After LFF wraps at BFI Southbank, their epic JAPAN 2021 season finally gets an in-venue engagement, including a bunch of 35mm and 4K projections. The BFI also awards significant screen estate to two directors to project some of their own choices this month: MIKE LEIGH’S CHOICES is designed to accompany the complete season of his own works, and EDGAR WRIGHT’S LONDON AFTER DARK shares some of his inspiration for forthcoming release, LAST NIGHT IN SOHO.

In stand-alone events and limited runs, it’s a strong week for Black-centred work, including: Ladj Ly’s LES MISÉRABLES at Catford Mews (16 to 18 OCT); Karin Slater’s SISTERS OF THE WILDERNESS at The Africa Centre (16 OCT); Renzo Martens’s “powerful and provocative dissection of art, class and decolonisation”  WHITE CUBE at ICA (17 to 21 OCT); a Melvin van Peebles Double Bill, THE STORY OF A THREE DAY PASS + SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG at Rio Cinema (17 OCT); Perry Henzell’s THE HARDER THEY COME 16mm at The Castle, and NO PLACE LIKE HOME at Riverside Studios (17 OCT); Julius Amedume’s RATTLESNAKES at Whirled Cinema (18 to 20 OCT); Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ doc TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM at Screen25 Cinema (20 OCT); Isaac Julien’s FRANTZ FANON: BLACK SKIN WHITE MASK at BFI (21 OCT); and, also at BFI, Marlon T Riggs’ TONGUES UNTIED (20 OCT) and BLACK IS… BLACK AIN’T (21 OCT), which is our Featured Attraction Of The Week.

See you in the darkness, 

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

BLACK IS… BLACK AIN’T d. Marlon T Riggs, 1994 + Short: HOW TO RAISE A BLACK BOY d. Justice Jamal Jones, 2021 + Intro by programmer Rico Johnson-Sinclair presented by BFI Flare at BFI Southbank (21 OCT 20:40):

• “Marlon T Riggs’ final film, made as he died from AIDS-related complications, directly addresses issues with misogyny and homophobia in the Black community that still exist to this day. Interviews with Marlon himself, from his hospital bed, are interspersed throughout the film and serve as testimony to the work we need to do to be truly united.”

Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

A TRIBUTE TO JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO at Close-Up

• Includes (check venue for full listings): PIERROT LE FOU d. Jean-Luc Godard, 1965 (16 OCT 20:15); LE DOULOS d. Jean-Pierre Melville, 1962 (17 OCT 18:00); BREATHLESS d. Jean-Luc Godard, 1959 (17 OCT 20:15).

All London’s rep seasons listed in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

More new releases listed in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

• Banff Mountain Film Festival – London (11 to 19 OCT).
• BFI London Film Festival (06 to 17 OCT).
• ECOFeminism Short Film Festival (16 OCT).
• London East Asia Film Festival (21 to 31 OCT).
• Native Spirit Festival (12 OCT to 20 NOV).
• Sci-Fi-London 21 (19 to 24 OCT).

• 
  Sine Screen presents Vulnerable Histories at Close-Up & The Garden Cinema (19 to 26 AUG 2023)
• 
  Lost Reels presents 16mm & 35mm screenings at The Cinema Museum & ICA (19 & 31 AUG 2023)
• 
  The Duke Mitchell Film Club presents DukeFest 2023: A Brave New World (13 to 16 AUG 2023)
• 
  Cinema Mentiré launches with OLHAR PERIFERICO season (AUG 2023)

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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. //.