This is a film still from THE ASCENT.

THE BALLY #129: What to see in London this week [12 to 18 NOV 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

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.”
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FRIDAY

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE d. Stephen King, 1986 at The Prince Charles (12 NOV 21:00).

This is a film still from THE ASCENT.

SATURDAY

ASCENT d. Fiona Tan, 2016 + Intro by Sonali Joshi presented by Day For Night at Close-Up (13 NOV 20:15) / Part of URBAN, NATURAL, HUMAN.

This is a film still from DIRECTOR DISQUALIFIED screening at Close-Up Film Centre (14 NOV 2021).

SUNDAY

DIRECTOR DISQUALIFIED d. Katsuyuki Hirano, 2011 presented by Wavelength Docs at Close-Up (14 NOV 18:00) / Part of CINEMA OF THE SELF.

This is a film still from PETITE MAMAN d. Céline Sciamma, 2021.

MONDAY

PETITE MAMAN d. Céline Sciamma, 2021 + Q&A with the director presented by Birds’ Eye View #ReclaimTheFrame at Ciné Lumière (15 NOV 18:20).

This is a film still from GINGER SNAPS d. John Fawcett, 2000.

TUESDAY

GINGER SNAPS d. John Fawcett, 2000 at The Prince Charles (16 NOV 18:30).

This is a film still from THE EAGLE d. Clarence Brown, 1925

WEDNESDAY

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).

This is a film still from THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD d. Radu Jude, 2009

THURSDAY

THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD d. Radu Jude, 2009 at ICA (18 NOV 13:45) / Part of IN FOCUS: RADU JUDE.

Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

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 – main featured image); THE INLAND SEA + Short d. Lucille Carra, 1991 (14 NOV 20:15).
  • Programmed by Day for Night.

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

More rep seasons listed in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

BECOMING COUSTEAU d. Liz Garbus, 2021.

KEYBOARD FANTASIES d. Posy Dixon, 2019.

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

More new releases in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

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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. //.