Programme Notes

BFI Southbank

The Last Day

+ intro with author Anthony Hayward The story of the United States’ final withdrawal from Vietnam was one that John Pilger was inspired to turn into a screenplay, based on those events that he cov...

October 28, 2024 | HIDDEN TRUTHS
JOHN PILGER AND THE POWER OF DOCUMENTARY

RRR

S.S. Rajamouli’s big-budget, reimagined history of two real-life 1920s Indian freedom fighters was a worldwide sensation on its release. From the opening one-man-versus-a-crowd dust-up, RRR (Rise, ...

October 27, 2024 | ART OF ACTION
CELEBRATING THE REAL ACTION STARS OF CINEMA

I Am Not Your Negro

John Pilger’s call to ‘break the silence’ at the Power of the Documentary Festival in Sydney The term ‘documentary’ was coined by the Scottish director John Grierson. ‘The drama of film,’ he said,...

October 26, 2024 | TEAR THIS BUILDING DOWN - JAMES BALDWIN ON FILM
HIDDEN TRUTHS - JOHN PILGER AND THE POWER OF DOCUMENTARY

Halloween

In 1978 Halloween was a break with the then-dominant mode of American horror as represented by the likes of George A. Romero, early Wes Craven, Larry Cohen and Shivers-era David Cronenberg. In the ...

October 26, 2024 | HALLOWEEN SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Battleship Potemkin

Sergei Eisenstein on ‘Battleship Potemkin’ Every phenomenon has a chance, superficial manifestation. And underlying it is a profound feeling that reason has dictated it. So it was too with the film...

October 26, 2024 | ART OF ACTION
CELEBRATING THE REAL ACTION STARS OF CINEMA

Watership Down

A landmark in British animation, this adaptation of Richard Adams’ novel makes a welcome return to our screens. A building project threatens the tranquil lives of the wildlife residing in a British...

October 25, 2024 | RE-RELEASES

The Room Next Door

Pedro Almodóvar on ‘The Room Next Door’ You’ve described working in English for this film like embarking on a new genre. Yes, like working on a western, or a science-fiction film. But this wasn’t...

October 25, 2024 | NEW RELEASES

Layla

In Amrou Al-Kadhi’s directorial feature debut Layla, the eponymous drag queen (played with great frankness and sensitivity by newcomer Bilal Hasna) lives a life full of fun, though pocked by confli...

October 25, 2024 | NEW RELEASES

Dahomey

Unfortunately director Mati Diop can no longer introduce the film. There will still be further introductions from patrons and organisers prior to the screening. A voice floods the dark screen as i...

October 25, 2024 | FILM AFRICA 24
OPENING NIGHT

Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon

‘Adventure’ would certainly describe Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But even for seasoned Lee watchers, it’s a touch startling to find a director of his high aesthetic sensibility straying into a ...

October 25, 2024 | ART OF ACTION
CELEBRATING THE REAL ACTION STARS OF CINEMA

The Thief of Bagdad

Producer Alexander Korda originally assigned this Arabian Nights-style adventure – which had been a hit in its 1924 Hollywood version starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr – to the German director Ludwig B...

October 23, 2024 | ART OF ACTION
CELEBRATING THE REAL ACTION STARS OF CINEMA

The Long Kiss Goodnight

+ intro by Melanie Hoyes, BFI Director of Inclusion (Wednesday 23 October) SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. Eight years have passed since Samantha Caine emerged fro...

October 23, 2024 | ART OF ACTION
CELEBRATING THE REAL ACTION STARS OF CINEMA

Bullitt

Peter Yates’ first American movie is memorable less for its plot – about a San Francisco cop trying to track down a crucial witness in a Mafia trial – than for its dramatic use of the city’s locati...

October 23, 2024 | ART OF ACTION
CELEBRATING THE REAL ACTION STARS OF CINEMA

Round Midnight

+ discussion with writers Gary Younge and Caryl Phillips. The screening will be introduced by Caryl Phillips. Bertrand Tavernier on ’Round Midnight ’Round Midnight is a film about Black American ...

October 22, 2024 | AFRICAN ODYSSEYS PRESENTS

Timestalker

Alice Lowe on ‘Timestalker’ When and how did you come up with the story? Seven years ago. It was a slow percolation. It started off as a sketch that had a fucked-up Doctor Who thing – what if the...

October 21, 2024 | NEW RELEASES

Seven Samurai

When Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai premiered in Japan on 26 April 1954, it was the most expensive domestic production ever, costing 125 million Yen (approximately $350,000), almost five times the ...

October 21, 2024 | ART OF ACTION
CELEBRATING THE REAL ACTION STARS OF CINEMA

The Apprentice

Screenwriter Gabriel Sherman on ‘The Apprentice’ When did you first come across Donald Trump as a public figure, and what was your impression of him? I’ve been thinking and writing about him for ...

October 21, 2024 | NEW RELEASES

Blake's 7

+ Q&A with actors Jan Chappell and Sally Knyvette Britain’s answer to the worldwide success of Star Wars (1977) didn’t come from cinema – despite George Lucas’ blockbuster having been partly sh...

October 5, 2024 | EVENTS

The Goldman Case

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. The heated 1976 trial of French left-wing intellectual and activist Pierre Goldman, accused of murdering two pharmacists in a bungled...

October 4, 2024 | NEW RELEASES

Clean

Olivier Assayas on ‘Clean’ Was it very different writing about a character for Maggie to play as opposed to writing about her ‘as’ herself in Irma Vep ? For Irma Vep I was using the obvious image...

October 3, 2024 | MAGGIE CHEUNG
FILMS OF ROMANCE, MELANCHOLY AND MAGIC

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