BFI Southbank Programme Notes

Earth Spirit

Another outstanding film of this [early 20s] period was Erdgeist, directed by Leopold Jessner. Based on the play by Frank Wedekind, the film features one of the most fascinating characters of the G...

March 5, 2022 | IN THE EYES OF A SILENT STAR
THE FILMS OF ASTA NIELSEN

The Camera Is Ours - Study Day
+ Independent Miss Craigie

For the first half of the day we have talks from specialist speakers, including Invisible Women, the archive activist film collective championing the work of female filmmakers, Toby Haggith from th...

March 5, 2022 | THE CAMERA IS OURS
BRITAIN’S WOMEN DOCUMENTARY MAKERS

37 Seconds

Writer-director HIKARI on ‘37 Seconds’ Firstly, in light of this being your first feature film, what was it like transitioning from the short film medium into the world of features, and why did yo...

March 5, 2022 | SEEN & HEARD

Rebel Dread + Q&A

+ Q&A with Don Letts Director’s Notes For Don Letts, the instrument is influence… influences from politics, film, fashion and music; influences that you can either play or be played by. Being...

March 3, 2022 | PREVIEW

From Beside the Seaside to The English Inn
Restoration Programme 1

Introduced by BFI curator Ros Cranston. Please note: Beside the Seaside depicts harmful racist views that were pervasive at the time. Marion Grierson launches our revelatory programme with her ly...

March 3, 2022 | THE CAMERA IS OURS
BRITAIN’S WOMEN DOCUMENTARY MAKERS

For Sama

Introduced by director Waad al-Kateab One of the things that almost all films get wrong about war is not only that most of the time nothing happens but that something resembling ordinary life can ...

March 3, 2022 | THE CAMERA IS OURS
BRITAIN’S WOMEN DOCUMENTARY MAKERS

Hamlet

‘I am telling all my friends to see this truly great picture and I could never tire of seeing it. It is thrillingly intellectual and passionately human, and she is great, GREAT, GREAT.’ (The actres...

March 2, 2022 | IN THE EYES OF A SILENT STAR
THE FILMS OF ASTA NIELSEN

Divines

Director Houda Benyamina on ‘Divines’ In French director Houda Benyamina’s feature-length debut Divines, Dounia (Oulaya Amamra) and Maimouna (Déborah Lukumuena) are schoolfriends who turn to a lif...

March 2, 2022 | SEEN & HEARD

42nd Street

Introduced by Miles Eady, BFI Cinemas and Events (Wednesday 2 March) ‘Naughty, bawdy, gaudy, sporty’, 42nd Street is a prime chunk of fantasy real-estate – not just a movie, but a novel, a song, a...

March 2, 2022 | BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

Skate Kitchen

Skate Kitchen simultaneously embraces and censures the world of skateboarding. As much as it highlights the elegance of skateboarders on screen, its coming-of-age story is an open critique of conte...

March 1, 2022 | SEEN & HEARD

The Power of the Dog +
Jane Campion in Conversation

Jane Campion in conversation with Noah Baumbach, presented in partnership with Directors UK. ‘They didn’t know who the hell they were any more, the young fellows – cowhands or moving picture peopl...

March 1, 2022 | EVENTS & PREVIEWS

Paper & Glue

+ pre-recorded Q&A with director JR In Paper & Glue, JR turns the camera on his own work as he builds some of his most monumental projects. From early illicit graffiti videos captured on ...

March 1, 2022 | EVENTS & PREVIEWS

Keep the Change

David and Sarah meet at a support group for autistic adults and begin a journey of discovery, getting to know themselves and each other. This award-winning comedy, based on real-life experiences ...

February 28, 2022 | RELAXED SCREENING

Ali & Ava

+ Q&A with writer-director Clio Barnard and producer Tracy O’Riordan Ali & Ava is inspired by two people Clio Barnard met whilst making her previous award-winning films The Arbor (2010), a...

February 28, 2022 | WOMAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA
POWERED BY JAGUAR

UNIQUE

Cinematic projections, live music and immersive technology – these are the elements that form UNIQUE, world-renowned artist Tupac Martir’s newest masterpiece, based on the premise of self-reflectio...

February 25, 2022 | BFI EXPANDED - WORLD PREMIERE

The Real Charlie Chaplin

Filmmakers’ Statement It begins with his eyes. When Chaplin looks at you, he demands your attention. In a flash, there’s a feeling of intimacy, like he’s telling you a secret. It’s just over a ce...

February 25, 2022 | NEW RELEASES

La Mif

Written and directed by Fred Baillif, La Mif is an intimate, naturalistic drama that offers a glimpse of life within a residential care home for at-risk teenage girls. The powerful and moving film ...

February 25, 2022 | NEW RELEASES

The People under the Stairs

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. For reasons that are hard to fathom, The People under the Stairs is one of Wes Craven’s less well remembered films, often overlooke...

February 24, 2022 | TERROR VISION

The Duke

+ Q&A with actor Jim Broadbent and producer Nicky Bentham Based on real events, The Duke is set in 1961 when Kempton Bunton (Broadbent), a 60-year-old taxi driver, stole Goya’s portrait of the...

February 24, 2022 | A TRIBUTE TO ROGER MICHELL

Towards the Light
Asta Nielsen

Towards the Light The last film that Nielsen ever made in Denmark is this captivating religious melodrama in which she plays a wealthy countess who strings along a series of suitors even though she...

February 23, 2022 | IN THE EYES OF A SILENT STAR
THE FILMS OF ASTA NIELSEN