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

#QueerHorrorNights continue with a double bill of PSYCHO II & PSYCHO III at The Cinema Museum (Sunday 24 JULY 18:30): booking now!

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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FRIDAY

THE FLY d. David Cronenberg, 1986 + Intro presented by Queer Horror Nights (24 JUN 19:00) / Part of SUMMER OF SCI-FI at The Castle Cinema.

This is a film still from BEING BEBE - THE BEBE ZAHARA BENET DOCUMENTARY dir Emily Branham, 2021.

SATURDAY

BEING BEBE: THE BEBE ZAHARA BENET DOCUMENTARY d. Emily Branham, 2021 for Pride Month at Bertha DocHouse (25 JUN 20:30).

This is a film still from THE BATWOMAN dir René Cardona, 1968 screening at Close-Up (26 JUN 2022).

SUNDAY

Never On A Sunday: THE BATWOMAN d. René Cardona, 1968 UK premiere of new restoration + Intro by Viviana García-Besné at Close-Up (26 JUN 20:15).

MONDAY

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).

This is a film still from SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON VS THE MONSTERS dir Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1970

TUESDAY

SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON VS THE MONSTERS aka Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos d. Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1970 presented by Mondo Nights at Biddle Bros E5 (28 JUN 21:00).

This is a film still from CERTAIN WOMEN dir Kelly Reichardt, 2016 showing at BFI Southbank (29 JUN 2022).

WEDNESDAY

CERTAIN WOMEN d. Kelly Reichardt, 2016 + Intro by Jason Wood, BFI Director of Public Programme and Audiences (29 JUN 18:10) / Part of BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: AFTER BRESSON… at BFI Southbank.

This is a film still from BROWN GIRL BEGINS dir Sharon Lewis, 2019 showing at Barbican (30 JUN 2022).

THURSDAY

BROWN GIRL BEGINS d. Sharon Lewis, 2019 + Recorded intro by the director (30 JUN 18:20) / Part of JOURNEYS ACROSS AFRO-FUTURISM at Barbican.

Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.
OUT OF THE PAST dir Jacques Tourneur, 1947.

CELEBRATING FILM NOIR at The Garden Cinema

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

ROOFTOP FILM CLUB at Bussey Building, Peckham

FAYA DAYI dir Jessica Beshir, 2022.

MOON, 66 QUESTIONS aka Selini, 66 erotiseis dir Jacqueline Lentzou, 2020

THEO AND THE METAMORPHOSIS aka Théo et les métamorphoses dir Damien Odoul, 2021

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. //.