THE BALLY #150: What to see in London this week [22 to 28 APR 2022]

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 another screen week! Don’t forget to collect your free badges on your way through the foyer…

This week’s programme of indie special events and film clubs gets started with the West London Queer Project sharing THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT at Chiswick Cinema, and Deeper Into Movies giving a free screening of Betsey Brown’s ACTORS at the recently reopened Rio Cinema (both 22 APR). Kennington Bioscope Silent Laughter Weekend takes over the weekend at The Cinema Museum (23 to 24 APR), but if tragedy is more your thing, No Bollocks Film Club presents THRONE OF BLOOD at The Castle Cinema to celebrate the day of Shakespeare’s birth (23 APR). Queer Film Club presents Katie Found’s MY FIRST SUMMER at the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre (also 23 APR). Sunday sees more spinning reels from Ciné-Real 16mm Film Club with EAST OF EDEN 16mm at The Castle, and there’s a special screening and podcast recording of SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET from 1936 with British movie expert Jade Evans joining the hosts as part of the Kino Quickies strand at Kino Bermondsey (both 24 APR).

Monday’s a little quieter, but the Ukraine Fundraiser screening of HOMEWARD at The Lexi deserves support, and Deeper Into Movies presents SUMMER OF SOUL at Farr’s Dalston (both 25 APR). Your choices on Tuesday include The Evolution Of Horror podcast launching their new regular film programme at Genesis Cinema with ERASERHEAD (join your hosts for drinks in the bar beforehand!), and Tufnell Park Film Club’s screening of THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER at The Lord Palmerston (both 26 APR). 4/26 is Alien Day, celebrated with both ALIEN and ALIENS at The Prince Charles and Picturehouse Cinemasin a variety of single screenings and double bills.

On Wednesday, Charmaine Simpson of Black History Studies will be leading a discussion after Kara Lynch’s film BLACK RUSSIANS at The Lexi, and new film club Film Rage presents Maria Beatty’s SPIT AND ASHES at Babel Art House (both 27 APR). You can wrap your week with BLACK ORPHEUS at Highgate Film Society (followed the next day by an online discussion), or a free screening of SORRY TO BOTHER YOU by Left Culture Club at Aelita Books (28 APR). On the same day, BFI presents a RADIANT CIRCUS favourite, Tobe Hooper’s THE FUNHOUSE, as part of their Terror Vision strand, and there’s a lavishly produced screening of TWO NUDES BATHING by Sir John Boorman at Curzon Mayfair with a plethora of special guests (both 28 APR).

Encore screenings of CODA continue with two special events of note this week: Emilia Jones appears for a BSL interpreted Q&A at Olympic Studios(23 APR), and DeafWatch and partners present a full line up of BSL interpreted performance, Q&A and a Deaf Rave at Genesis Cinema (28 APR).

This is the week that the GENESIS 23RD BIRTHDAY celebratory season gets underway on the Mile End Road. They’re projecting a whole season of films released since 1999 – including some from 35mm – that will only cost you a cost-of-living dial-back £2.50. Some concession stand and bar prices have been discounted too… Elsewhere, BFI’s ANIME season takes to the biggest of screens with GHOST IN THE SHELL and BELLE appearing at the BFI IMAX (both 25 APR) before giving you a chance to see PATLABOR and PATLABOR 2 back at the NFT (both 28 APR). Picturehouse Crouch End joins NIGEL KNEALE: A CENTENARY CELEBRATION with an excellent day of screenings and talks (23 APR).

In this week’s new releases, Audrey Diwan’s HAPPENING, Bruce LaBruce’s SAINT-NARCISSE (which also gets a video Q&A with the director at the ICA on Friday 22 APR), and Tom Gormican’s THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT all caught my eye. I made the error of embracing four titles that I really wanted to see last week, and only got to see one, THE NORTHMAN. So all bets are off this week… 

I’ve chosen the Bird’s Eye View and UK Jewish Film collaborative screening of Joan Micklin Silver’s HESTER STREET at Curzon Mayfair (24 APR) as my Featured Attraction of the Week.

See you in the darkness, and stay safe.

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

HESTER STREET d. Joan Micklin Silver, 1975 + Intro by Cristina Garcia + Zoom Q&A with production designer Stuart Wurtzel, Dr. Julia Wagner & Peter Bradshaw presented by UK Jewish Film & Birds’ Eye View at Curzon Mayfair (24 APR 15:00).

“A romantic film based on Abraham Cahan’s 1896 novella Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto, this is a new 4K restoration from the original negative of Joan Micklin Silver’s theatrical feature debut. Gitl (Carol Kane in her Academy Award nominated role) and her son arrive on the lower East side of New York in 1896 to join her husband Jake (Steven Keats). While Jake, who has a job in a sweatshop and an English-speaking girlfriend, has completely embraced America, Gitl clings to her old country ways. Jake is embarrassed to be seen with her as he struggles to assimilate by shedding his ethnic heritage. Gitl finds a way to become victor instead of victim.” (UK Jewish Film & Birds’ Eye View)

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Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

GENESIS 23RD BIRTHDAY at Genesis Cinema

• Includes (check venue for full listings): SCHOOL OF ROCK d. Richard Linklater, 2003 (22 APR 18:30); HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON d. Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois, 2010 (23 APR 13:00); FRANCES HA d. Noah Baumbach, 2012 (23 APR 18:30 – featured image); MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE d. Claude Barras, 2016 (24 APR 13:30); IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE d. Wong Kar-Wai, 2000 (25 APR 18:30); IN BRUGES d. Martin McDonagh, 2008 (27 APR 21:00); HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH d. John Cameron Mitchell, 2001 (28 APR 18:20).

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

• Essay Film Festival (19 MAR to 23 APR).
• Kennington Bioscope Silent Laughter Weekend (23 to 24 APR).
• Unrestricted View Film Festival (25 APR to 01 MAY).
• Women Of The Lens Film Festival (23 & 30 APR).

More new releases in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

• 
  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. //.