THE BALLY #201: What to see in London this week [12 to 18 MAY 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!

Venerable film format 16mm has been unspooling for a century, and to celebrate I’ve chosen two indie film exhibitors to be my Featured Attractions of the Week (both screening at The Cinema Museum)! Lost Reels(the cinema artist formerly known as Lost Vampires) projects two big-beast monster movies (13 MAY) and then Kennington Bioscope does their beautiful thing with two Western-themed silent films (17 MAY).

If you want more of all these things then support their work by rocking up and buying a ticket (Kennington Bioscope screens regularly throughout the year and Lost Reels has just announced spectacular events for August and Halloween). Hungry for even more…? BFI Southbank presents their Film On Film festival (08 to 11 JUN – selling fast!) which includes a 16mm strand, amongst many other delights. I’ll be launching a summer season of kaijū films at Genesis Cinema with the latest spawning of my cult film night BAR TRASH, MONSTER MAYHEM! (opening night = GODZILLA Gojira 31 MAY).

Elsewhere, JW3 launches their compilation archive programme with Jewish Britain On Film at both JW3 and The Lexi Cinema (see listings for 14 MAY). Evolution of Horror Podcast returns to one of their regular haunts with THE INVISIBLE MAN: 90th Anniversary at the sumptuous Regent Street Cinema (17 MAY). And, as if to take us all by surprise, Rio Cinema’s regular queer night Pink Palace skips to a Thursday for KAMIKAZE HEARTS (18 MAY 19:30). Finally, thank you to reader Daniel for drawing my attention to the PERANKH: THE JUNE GIVANNI PANAFRICAN CINEMA ARCHIVE season at Raven Row Gallery. Another new season SKIP NORMAN: HERE AND THERE from Open City Docs at Goethe-Institut and ICA joins them here and in my epic monthly roundup for May.

See you in the darkness, and stay safe.

Richard // RADIANT CIRCUS

PS – For the restless, Picturehouse Cinemas has announced THE WORLD’S BIGGEST ALL NIGHTER at Picturehouse Central (17 JUN) with seven rooms of slumbering sensations. My favourite programme is the anime one because – holy AI mother of all parodies – please save me from more Wes Anderson retrospectives….

“Monsters Attack!” 16mm Double Bill featuring THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS d. Eugène Lourié, 1953 + EMPIRE OF THE ANTS d. Bert I. Gordon, 1977 presented by Lost Reels at The Cinema Museum (13 MAY 18:00).

“Lost Reels launches a series of classics, curios and forgotten gems on 16mm with the pairing of Ray Harryhausen’s golden age stop-motion sci-fi / horror masterpiece THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953) and Bert I. Gordon’s unintentionally hilarious cult classic, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977).” (Lost Reels)

Western 16mm Double Bill featuring THE WESTBOUND LIMITED d. Emory Johnson, 1923 + THE LAST OUTLAW d. Arthur Rosson, 1927 + Intro by Chris Bird & Live piano accompaniment by Meg Morley & Colin Sell, presented by Kennington Bioscope at The Cinema Museum (17 MAY 19:30).

“The Kennington Bioscope is a regular cinema event featuring live accompaniment to silent films that takes place at the Cinema Museum. We present a double bill of flms with a western theme, screened on 16mm and presented by Chris Bird. Meg Morley will be providing live piano accompaniment for the first half and Colin Sell for the second half of this show.” (Kennington Bioscope)

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Full daily listings in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

COURIER CINEMA at Biddle Bros

• Includes (check venue for full listings): QUICKSILVER d. Thomas Michael Donnelly, 1986 (16 MAY 20:00).
• Presented by Mondo Nights.

More seasons listed in this week’s SCREEN GUIDE.

• Beyond Words French Literature Festival (12 to 21 MAY).
• In Short: Europe Awakening (12 to 13 MAY).
• LOCO London Comedy Film Festival (11 to 14 MAY).
• SERET Israeli Film & TV Festival (18 to 25 MAY).
• Syrian Arts & Cultural Festival (11 to 23 MAY).
• UK Asian Film Festival (04 to 14 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. //.