THE BALLY #159: What to see in London this week [24 to 30 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!

Opening this week’s special events with a busy Friday, we have Newham Community Cinema’s presentation of HOUSE OF GUCCI which includes a fascinating Q&A, Rare Cinema Europe’s screening of J’ACCUSE! at an otherwise quiet Cinema Museum, and Drunken Scorpion continuing his late night fight club with THE SHAOLIN PLOT and full supporting bar programme at Genesis (all 24 JUN).

Saturday is similarly busy with Bertha DocHouse’s screening of BEING BEBE for Pride Month, a special presentation of PRESSURE at The Ritzy as part of the Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (17 JUN to 17 JUL), and Stow Film Lounge taking to a car park for what I hope won’t be a prophetic screening of SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (all 25 JUN). CinemaItaliaUK’s two-part symposium and screening Women in Italian Cinema continues to cement their strong contribution to The Garden Cinema (also 25 JUN). On Sunday, I’d either want to be at Close-Up (see below…) or with the wonderful people from Ciné-Real 16mm Film Club for their screening of THE MALTESE FALCON at The Castle Cinema (both 26 JUN).

The spirit of Pride Month continues throughout the week. 

On Monday, The Batty Mama is showing UNDER YOUR NOSE, Veronica McKenzie’s documentary about the pioneering Black Lesbian and Gay Centre, at Stanley Arts, there’s a fabulous selection of shorts from the Women Over 50 Film Festival (WOFFF), ‘Old, Bold, and Queer’, at Riverside Studios, and Unicorn Nights screens PRIDE at The Prince Charles (all 27 JUN). On Tuesday, there’s a fundraiser screening of Derek Jarman’s BLUE in support of The National AIDS Trust at The Castle Cinema, and Tufnell Park Film Club presents Bill Weber & David Weissman’s fabulous documentary about THE COCKETTES at The Lord Palmerston (both 28 JUN). Wrapping your week up in a Pride flag of gorgeousness (pick whichever variant you wish…), Rio Cinema continues their Pink Palace strand with Ashley Joiner’s history of parties and protest, ARE YOU PROUD? (29 JUN), and JW3 presents Eli Zuzovsky’s short MAZEL TOV with an in-person Q&A with the director (30 JUN).

Outside of the ever-reliable 35mm and 70mm PRESENTATIONS at The Prince Charles, and the BIG SCREEN CLASSICS strand at the BFI, rep seasons are a little quiet this week, with CELEBRATING FILM NOIR at The Garden Cinema presenting one of the richest runs of titles. Forgive me then for highlighting two games I’ve got skin in, as Queer Horror Nights will be showing David Cronenberg’s THE FLY at The Castle Cinema as part of their SUMMER OF SCI-FI (24 JUN), and Lou Ferrigno’s HERCULES will be my next BAR TRASH event at Genesis Cinema (29 JUN).

In festivals, London Indian Film Festival (23 JUN to 05 JUL) continues to make the biggest splash this week at multiple venues across town. There’s also a clutch of smaller festivals shining light into our darkness, including ‘Queer’ Asia Film Festival (25 JUN to 26 JUN), The Hornet Student Film Festival (26 JUN), and Sunday Shorts Film Festival (26 JUN). For the queer/horror inclined, Sohome Horror Pride 2022 (24 to 26 JUN) takes place online with a number of UK and World premieres alongside a series of live events (the Eurovision Horror Contest looks particularly juicy…).

I’ve highlighted Jessica Beshir’s FAYA DAYI, Jacqueline Lentzou’s MOON, 66 QUESTIONS, and Damien Odoul’s THEO AND THE METAMORPHOSIS as my picks of this week’s new releases. Wim Wenders’ WINGS OF DESIRE is also re-released in a shiny new 4K restoration and brings the director to two in-person events at Curzon Mayfair (launching their new In Frame strand, 24 JUN) and at BFI Southbank (25 JUN). Scroll down for all the details.

My special mention of the week goes to two Mexican wrestling movies, Never On A Sunday’s screening of THE BATWOMAN at Close-Up (26 JUN), and Mondo Night’s presentation of SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON VS THE MONSTERS at Biddle Bros (28 JUN). Because there really ought to be more of this kind of thing…

I’ve chosen Lost Vampire’s 35mm presentation of Alan Clarke’s BILLY THE KID AND THE GREEN BAIZE VAMPIRE + special guests at The Prince Charles (27 JUN) as my Featured Attraction of the Week because it’s simply amazing to see promoter Geoffrey Badger pour so much love and passion into a film I never thought I would hear much of again. Which is exactly what these pages are about…

See you in the darkness, and stay safe.

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

BILLY THE KID AND THE GREEN BAIZE VAMPIRE 35mm d. Alan Clarke, 1985 + Q&A with Phil Daniels, Louise Gold & Eve Ferret presented by Lost Vampires at The Prince Charles (27 JUN 18:15).

“Rarely screened cult musical is one of the boldest and strangest films ever to emerge from the UK, a unique collaboration between director Alan Clarke, writer Trevor Preston and composer George Fenton.”

Up-and-coming snooker player, Billy Kid (Phil Daniels) is manipulated by his debt-ridden manager, T.O. (Bruce Payne) into a high-stakes grudge match with The Vampire – world champion Maxwell Randall (Alun Armstrong) – the loser agreeing never to play the professional game again. With a rousing musical score performed in surreal theatrical settings, the drama builds to a truly nail-biting snooker game climax. Part gangster parody, part rock opera, part social commentary, critic Peter Wollen described it as “arguably [Alan Clarke’s] best film” and Anne Billson proposed it was one of the “most undervalued and underseen” films of the 1980s.”

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Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

CELEBRATING FILM NOIR at The Garden Cinema

• Includes (check venue for full listings): THE MALTESE FALCON d. John Huston, 1941 (24 JUN 17:45 / 29 JUN 20:10); LAURA d. Otto Preminger, 1944 (25 JUN 15:50); DOUBLE INDEMNITY d. Billy Wilder, 1944 (25 JUN 17:50); THE BIG HEAT d. Fritz Lang, 1953 (26 JUN 16:40); KISS ME DEADLY d. Robert Aldrich, 1955 (27 JUN 20:15); TOUCH OF EVIL d. Orson Welles, 1958 (28 JUN 16:00); OUT OF THE PAST d. Jacques Tourneur, 1947 (28 JUN 18:00).

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

• The Hornet Student Film Festival (26 JUN).
• London Bengali Film Festival (21 to 26 JUN).
• London Indian Film Festival (23 JUN to 05 JUL).
• ‘Queer’ Asia Film Festival – London (25 JUN to 26 JUN).
• RAFT Festival (10 JUN to 08 JUL).
• Sohome Horror Pride 2022 (24 to 26 JUN – online).
• Sunday Shorts Film Festival (26 JUN).
• Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (17 JUN to 17 JUL).

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. //.