THE BALLY #183: What to see in London this week [06 to 12 JAN 2023]

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 and my first edition of THE BALLY in 2023 (although I hope you’ve already discovered my epic roundup of the month’s rep seasons)!

It’s great to see so many film clubs projecting their love back onto our screens at the start of the year. The wonderful Ciné-Real 16mm Film Club gets started with two screenings of A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH from 16mm at The Castle Cinema (08 & 12 JAN). Umit and Liam have also announced a series of events for 2023, so get clicking as their shows pretty much always sell out (now booking through to 26 MAR). Bounce Cinema are also back on Sunday with their popular programme (but their ‘luxury screening’ of KING RICHARD looks pretty much sold out at the time of posting…).

On Monday, Herb Shellenberger presents nearly five hours of Jonas Mekas’ AS I WAS MOVING AHEAD OCCASIONALLY I SAW BRIEF GLIMPSES OF BEAUTY at The Prince Charles. For a study in contrasts, Deeper Into Movies screens Zach Cregger’s BARBARIAN at Farr’s Dalston, whilst Transmissions presents JUNO at Dalston Superstore on the same day (all 09 JAN).

Tuesday sees several of London’s most reliable film clubs leap into action. Head to: Richmond Film Society for EVERYTHING WENT FINE, Tufnell Park Film Club for MYSTERY TRAIN, Wimbledon Film Club for OFFICIAL COMPETITION, and Sands Films Cine Club for GERMINAL (all 10 JAN). You can then wrap your week with a choice of either a free screening of BARBARELLA from Ms Fontaine’s Film Club at Fontaine’s in Dalston, or Jellied Reels’ first screening of the year, ROMY & MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION at The Castle Cinema (both 12 JAN).

In seasons, major new openings include a complete AKIRA KUROSAWA retrospective (featuring lots from 35mm) and the SIGHT & SOUND GREATEST FILMS OF ALL TIME 2022 at BFI Southbank (and a little later in the month at BFI IMAX). Elsewhere, there’s another strong showing from students on the NFTS curating MA, including Chris Cassingham’s BEYOND INTERPRETATION at ICA, and Heeyeon Park’s ‘I PURPLE U’ at The Prince Charles. 

JOHN SMITH: INTROSPECTIVE (1972–2022) – previously at ICA and Close-Up – was such a success in 2022 that two sold out programmes from ICA will be re-screened at Close-Up this month. And if that’s not enough for you, CELEBRATING JACK NICHOLSON opens at The Garden Cinema (there’s a season intro, party and screening of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST on 06 JAN if you’re a member…). I’ve chosen MARK JENKIN’S THE CINEMATIC DNA OF ENYS MEN at BFI Southbank as my Featured Attraction of the Month. 

This week’s new releases include Carla Simón’s ALCARRÀS, François Ozon’s PETER VON KANT, Carlota Martínez-Pereda’s PIGGY, and Chinonye Chukwu’s TILL. The re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s RASHOMONscreens at several venues across town and Sam Mendes’ love letter to cinema, EMPIRE OF LIGHT, gets a wide release from Monday (including some 35mm). The Prince Charles starts a long engagement with GLASS ONION from 35mm. Head to the GRIND SHOW section of this week’s SCREEN GUIDE for all the details.

Getting back to film clubs, I’ve chosen Kennington Bioscope’s screening of Fritz Lang’s sublime SIEGFRIED from 16mm at The Cinema Museum as my featured attraction of the week (11 JAN). It’s one of the greatest works of fantasy cinema and should make for a spell-binding event. 

See you in the darkness, and stay safe.

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

SIEGFRIED 16mm d. Fritz Lang, 1924 + Short: SUNKISSED 35mm d. Julia Vogl + Live piano accompaniment by Costas Fotopoulos, presented by Kennington Bioscope at The Cinema Museum (11 JAN 19:30).

“Siegfried (1924). 16mm print, German with English titles. The film has been praised for Carl Hoffman and Gunter Rittau’s ground-breaking cinematography, Otto Hunte’s spectacular set designs, Paul Gerd Guderian’s extraordinary costumes and Lang’s exceptional sense of framing and composition. Die Nibelungen: Siegfried is part one of The Nibelungs’ Saga, part two being Kriemhild’s Revenge. The screenplays for both films were co-written by Lang’s then-wife Thea von Harbou, based upon the epic poem Nibelungenlied written around 1200 AD. Die Nibelungen received its UK premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where it played for 40 performances between 29 April and 20 June 1924. As a curtain raiser, we are very pleased to welcome back the American social sculptor and silkscreen artist Julia Vogl, now living in South London with her latest multi-coloured silent film.” (Kennington Bioscope).

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Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

MARK JENKIN’S THE CINEMATIC DNA OF ENYS MEN at BFI Southbank

• Includes (check venue for full listings): SYMPTOMS + STIGMA ds. José Ramón Larraz, 1974 + Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1977 (06 JAN 18:10); LOST HIGHWAY + JAUNT ds. David Lynch, 1997 + Andrew Kötting, 1995 (06 JAN 20:15); HAUNTERS OF THE DEEP + THE LIVING AND THE DEAD EP2 ds. Andrew Bogle, 1984 + Alice Troughton, 2016 (08 JAN 13:20); WALKABOUT d. Nicolas Roeg, 1971 (09 JAN 20:30); LONG WEEKEND + BETWEEN THE TIDES 35mm ds. Colin Eggleston, 1978 + Ralph Keene, 1959 (10 JAN 18:20); PENDA’S FEN + A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS ds. Alan Clarke, 1974 + Lawrence Gordon Clark, 1972 (11 JAN 17:50).

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

• COMING SOON: London Short Film Festival (20 to 29 JAN).

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. //.