THE BALLY #155: What to see in London this week [27 MAY to 02 JUN 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! 

Stow Film Lounge opens up your new screen week with Kenneth Branagh’s BELFAST at Creative Works, whilst Rare Cinema Europe does what it says on the tin with a screening of LIFE IS A DOG aka Život je pes at The Cinema Museum. Terror Vision continues at BFI with Abel Ferrara’s MS .45 (aka Angel of Vengeance) and one of two chances this week to join Rebel Reel Cine Club starts with a 25th Anniversary late night screening of GUMMO at Rio Cinema (all 27 MAY).

Saturday invites you over the threshold of the weekend to encounter Hammer Horror’s DRACULA at Grove Gardens Chapel, or you could catch one of several screenings this week by the fabulous folk at Doc’N Roll with IN A SILENT WAY at The Castle Cinema. Wonder Reels – proponents of live music and film events at The Cinema Museum – pair Pasolini’s TEOREMA from 35mm with artist Marta Salogni who “duets with tape machines, using them as instruments to weave intricate mazes of tape loops and echoes through the manipulation of both live and recorded sounds”, which sounds pretty amazing… (all 28 MAY).

On Sunday, there’s a special Tribute to Verity Lambert at Riverside Studios, Ciné-Real 16mm Film Club concludes their trio of screenings of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S from 16mm at The Castle Cinema, The Vito Project LGBTQ+ Film Club continues their Re-Opening the Celluloid Closet programme with COMPULSION from 35mm at The Cinema Museum, and Queer Film Club at London LGBTQ+ Community Centre presents one of this week’s two screenings of Cheryl Dunye’s THE WATERMELON WOMAN.

Monday used to be the quietest of screen days, but this week we get COME AND SEE aka Idi i smotri from Deeper Into Movies at Farr’s Dalston, a ‘Gaspar Noé presents’ screening of TOKYO STORY at Picturehouse, and another excellent Ukraine fundraiser from King’s College London, Un/Building: Short Films & Architecture in Ukraine. Of course, NEVER TOO YOUNG TO DIE from Crap Film Club featuring The Celluloid Sorceress is entirely irresistible (all 30 MAY).

Wimbledon Film Club gives you good reason to ‘go West’ on Tuesday with a special screening of hugely popular ‘one take wonder’ BOILING POINT including a Q&A with producers Bart Ruspoli & Hester Ruoff at Curzon Wimbledon. Mondo Nights have teamed up with Hackney Cop Watch to present William Friedkin’s CRUISING which will be preceded by a ‘Know Your Rights’ training session at Biddle Bros, and Tufnell Park Film Club pay their respects to Ray Liotta with GOODFELLAS at The Lord Palmerston (all 31 MAY).

Wednesday gives you in-person encounter directors of genre cinema, including a preview screening of DASHCAM presented by Evolution of Horror at Genesis (currently looking sold out!), and a double bill of SPRING + THE ENDLESS featuring an intro/Q&A with directors Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead at The Prince Charles. Doc’N Roll have another event at The Castle with KAREN DALTON: IN MY OWN TIME, and it’s great to see more regular film programming returning to Tate Modern with the UK premiere of Karimah Ashadu’s PLATEAU. This is also your second chance this week to see THE WATERMELON WOMAN, this time as part of the Pink Palace programme at Rio Cinema in their basement bar (all 01 JUN).

Thursday wraps your week with a free screening of THE 39 STEPS at Fontaine’s, and a special presentation of FLASH GORDON including a live Smersh Pod recording at Phoenix Cinema. I don’t normally cover family-focused screenings on these pages, but a quick ‘hat tip’ to Black History Walks at Phoenix Cinema for their African Superheroes Day of animation & discussion (all 02 JUN). There’s also a rather significant national celebration straddling your extended Bank Holiday weekend, but more of that in a bit…

It’s a crossover week when rep programming steps boldly into a new month, leading to refreshed programmes and new seasons. An A-Z of this week’s new arrivals includes the following: the concluding part of ICA’s CATALAN CINEMA NOW! trilogy, looking at IDENTITIES; CELEBRATING FILM NOIR at The Garden Cinema; CHISWICK PRIDE at Chiswick Cinema; COLLECTIVE MOBILISATION also at ICA; JOURNEYS ACROSS AFRO-FUTURISM at Barbican; JUDY GARLAND: A STAR IS REBORN at BFI; and OF SIN & SALVATION: THE CINEMA OF ROBERT BRESSON and companion season BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: AFTER BRESSON… also at BFI. We’ll cover the full month in our next epic roundup, coming soon…

I think it’s a quiet week for festivals, although sometimes it’s hard to tell… That just means you’ve got even more reason to check out the spellbinding programme at Queer East Film Festival before they’re gone for another year (venues across London until 29 MAY).

In this week’s new releases, revivals and restorations, I’ve taken a shine to new title LUZZU from Alex Camilleri, and freshly polished 4K versions of Mike Hodges’ GET CARTER and Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO (which includes 13 seconds of footage cut by censors after the film’s initial theatrical release*).

I’ve chosen Rebel Reel Cine Club’s Alternative Jubilee at Rio Cinema as my Featured Attraction of the Week. Obviously this is entirely in-keeping with a guide about DIY/alternative screen culture, but also Jarman x Jordan.

See you in the darkness, and stay safe.

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

*If you like the look of PSYCHO, you should definitely discover what Norman did next…

The Alternative Jubilee featuring Pre-show DJ Martin Green + JUBILEE d. Derek Jarman, 1978 + Shorts presented by Rebel Reel Cine Club at Rio Cinema (02 JUN 17:00 + 18:00).

“Derek Jarman’s JUBILEE, the 1978 cult punk film that portrayed the physical and moral decay of London, set at the time of the Queen’s 1977 Silver Jubilee.

“With Martin Green DJing before and a very special pre-screening show in tribute to the iconic Jordan, our true Britannia!”

“JUBILEE was one of the first films to screen at the newly opened Rio in 1979, the UK’s first community run cinema founded by a disparate group of local East End punks, feminists, dreamers and queers, an anti-establishment utopian space which it remains to this day.”

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Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

JOURNEYS ACROSS AFRO-FUTURISM at Barbican

• Includes (check venue for full listings): SPACE IS THE PLACE d. John Coney, 1974 + Short: HERE IS THE IMAGINATION OF THE BLACK RADICAL d. Rhea Storr, 2021 (02 JUN 18:30).

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

• Odyssey: A Chinese Cinema Season (10 MAY to 10 JUNE).
• Queer East Film Festival (18 to 29 MAY).

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. //.