What to see in London this week: CARAVAGGIO at Everyman King's Cross, Art Fund fundraiser to help buy Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage (19 MAR).

FEATURED ATTRACTION: Our view of this week’s unmissable screen events

[13 to 19 MAR]: Looking for movies beyond the mainstream? Here’s our RADIANT CIRCUS view about what to see in London this week. Our Featured Attraction is always the event we’d most like to be at. Find full event listings in our comprehensive SCREEN GUIDE.

What to see in London today: DAISIES at The Curtain (13 MAR).
What to see in London this week: DAISIES at The Curtain (13 MAR).

By RADIANT CIRCUS

Twitter @radiantcircus | Instagram @radiantcircus

About that virus… With almost-ready-to-launch Garden Cinema postponing opening night indefinitely and House Of Vans (aka House Of Free Film Nights… ) closing all events globally, COVID-19 is making its presence felt. Based on current government advice, it still appears safe to go to the movies (just keep washing those hands and consider everyone else’s health alongside your own if you show any kind of symptoms…). Whatever happens over coming weeks, we will keep across the latest advice and events as they affect London’s alternative cinema screens.


UPDATE 13 MAR: Given the number of venues taking understandable precautions in current circumstances, we are suspending our daily updates so that we can keep across announcements as they happen. Our most accurate listing will therefore be our weekly digest [13 to 19 MAR]. Apologies in advance for these changes to our services and for any inaccuracies in our listings. But most importantly, keep well and keep safe.


Looking to the week ahead, start with an International Women’s Day screening of DAISIES by our friends at Zodiac Film Club (13 MAR). If you haven’t booked in advance, you won’t be able to get in, so take the opportunity to celebrate a very different day with a timely day/date screening of FRIDAY THE 13TH at The Prince Charles. Staying with horror, we’d recommend joining World Wide Weird! for their Bollyhorror: VEERANA extravaganza, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support (14 MAR). Sunday gives one of two opportunities this week to boost your film knowledge, with The World of Studio Ghibli lecture and rare shorts presented by Deeper Into Movies at Moth Club (15 MAR). Genesis’ Revelations brings another Monday to life with Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER (16 MAR), before that second chance to get educated with Film School’s postmodern analysis of WESTWORLD at The Cinema Museum (17 MAR). There’s another chance to see THE GREAT BUSTER with author and Keaton enthusiast David Macleod at DocHouse (18 MAR) and Nick Walker opens up Genesis Cinema’s Cult Classic Collective with a 35mm screening of Godard’s WEEKEND (19 MAR).

What to see in London this week: CHRONICLE OF THE YEARS OF FIRE, part of AUTOBIOGRAPHY & AUTOFICTION at Ciné Lumière (15 & 17 MAR).
What to see in London this week: CHRONICLE OF THE YEARS OF FIRE 4K, part of AUTOBIOGRAPHY & AUTOFICTION at Ciné Lumière (15 & 17 MAR).

In this week’s repertory seasons, we’re drawn to the 4K restoration of a rarely-seen Palme d’or winner, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina’s CHRONICLE OF THE YEARS OF FIRE (part of AUTOBIOGRAPHY & AUTOFICTION at Ciné Lumière, 15 & 17 MAR). A WINTER’S TALE 35mm opens a new season dedicated to ÉRIC ROHMER at The Prince Charles (MAR to APR), whilst TILDA SWINTON continues to be mostly SOLD OUT! at BFI. Given our love of genre, we’re already booked for the “shot on Super 8/never read the source book” adaptation of THE CHILDREN OF THE DEAD, part of JELINEK – HANDKE AND THE SILVER SCREEN at Austrian Cultural Forum (17 MAR – FREE!).

Matching pace are this week’s film festivals. Alongside a clutch of outdoorsy events, several big-hitters loom into view: BFI Flare London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival (18 to 29 MAR); Human Rights Watch Film Festival (12 to 20 MAR); and, Kinoteka Polish Film Festival (19 MAR TO 05 APR). Keeping the independent spirit burning, London Independent Film Festival illuminates Genesis Cinema with a filmmaker-friendly programme (13 to 22 MAR).

What to see in London this week: CUNNINGHAM at DocHouse & Barbican (13 to 19 MAR).
What to see in London this week: CUNNINGHAM at DocHouse & Barbican (13 to 19 MAR).

In new releases, we’re pleased to see Alla Kovgan’s dance film CUNNINGHAM get a grind show run at DocHouse. It also performs at Barbican where you can catch a couple of special 3D screenings (13 & 15 MAR). The 40th Anniversary 4K restoration of THE ELEPHANT MAN should be an absolute treat at Ciné Lumière, whilst BACURAU at The Castle rounds-off our pick of this week’s bunch.

There are many reasons why we’ve chosen the CARAVAGGIO fundraiser at Everyman King’s Cross (19 MAR) as our featured attraction of the week. You’ll know that Derek Jarman is our RADIANT CIRCUS godhead, and CARAVAGGIO is one of his absolute finest. You’ll also know that we’ve railed against the top-downism of director-driven programming, so it’s great to see costume designer Sandy Powell taking centre stage. However, the main reason is that saving Jarman’s former Dungeness home will preserve his legacy to inspire future generations. If you can’t get a ticket, you can donate to Art Fund’s #SaveProspectCottage campaign HERE.

See you in darkness…

Richard – Barker-In-Chief, RADIANT CIRCUS

Featured image: Prospect Cottage needs you now – Art Fund.


> FIND EVERYTHING listed in our weekly screen digest [13 to 19 MAR].


Subscribe & support

“Home of alternative screen culture in London” (Film London)

RADIANT CIRCUS is supported entirely by readers’ monthly subscriptions. Subscribers get our unique listings emailed as well as other great rewards. With enough subscribers backing us, we will be able to: 1) keep listing far into the future, 2) expand our content to explore more indie screen events, & 3) recruit & reward a team of new contributors. Our target in 2020? One hundred new monthly subscribers supporting what they love so that many more can discover it. Subscribe at patreon.com/radiantcircus

“I love everything you’re doing with RADIANT CIRCUS, the output is brilliant. And just so great to see it grow. Kudos to you.” (A fan via email!).

#LDNindieFILM


*THE SMALL PRINT: As accurate as we could make it. Apologies for any errors. Updates & corrections will be made to the online version. Event dates/times are subject to change by the venue/organiser. We try to only list events you can book for at the time of posting: however, some events may still be sold out. Please click quickly! We don’t filter by age/certification: all readers & subscribers should be 18+.