BFI Southbank Programme Notes

Ali & Ava

The romance of Clio Barnard’s fourth feature Ali & Ava has a naturalism rarely captured in cinema. Instead of the lovers existing in a bubble, apart from other people, multicultural Bradford is...

March 11, 2022 | NEW RELEASES

The Beatles and India

+ intro by co-director Pete Compton and producer Reynold D’Silva The Beatles and India is a unique historical chronicle of the enduring love affair between The Beatles and India that started more ...

March 10, 2022 | FILM WALLAHS

Happening

+ pre-recorded Q&A with director Audrey Diwan I got knocked up like a poor girl. This is the story of Anne, a young woman who decides to abort to finish her studies and escape the social const...

March 9, 2022 | GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL

Gentleman Jack

+ Q&A with creator, writer and executive producer Sally Wainwright and stars Suranne Jones and Sophie Rundle. Hosted by Miranda Sawyer. Yorkshire, 1834. All eyes are on Anne Lister (Suranne Jo...

March 9, 2022 | TV PREVIEW

Marie Antoinette

The screening on Tuesday 8 March will be introduced by Hannah Strong, Little White Lies Digital Editor and author of Sofia Coppola: Forever Young. The spirit of fashion as creative reinvention, pe...

March 8, 2022 | SEEN & HEARD

Cow

+ Q&A with director Andrea Arnold Director’s Notes – Andrea Arnold Whenever I have felt troubled or lost or overwhelmed with life, I have always sought nature. It has always grounded me and pu...

March 8, 2022 | THE CAMERA IS OURS
BRITAIN’S WOMEN DOCUMENTARY MAKERS

White Riot

During the opening sequence of Rubika Shah’s exhilarating documentary White Riot, which charts the rise of the Rock Against Racism movement, a sequence of familiar, grainy footage plays. Groups of ...

March 7, 2022 | THE CAMERA IS OURS
BRITAIN’S WOMEN DOCUMENTARY MAKERS

True Things

+ Q&A with director Harry Wootliff Director’s Notes by Harry Wootliff True Things is a cautionary tale of a destructive sexual relationship that is both complex and ordinary – a relationship s...

March 7, 2022 | WOMAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA
POWERED BY JAGUAR

Water Lilies

Céline Sciamma on ‘Water Lilies’ Unfolding in an anonymous Parisian suburb over the course of a languid summer, Céline Sciamma’s debut Water Lilies is a coming-of-age tale set within the world of ...

March 6, 2022 | SEEN & HEARD

The Joyless Street

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. By the mid-1920s, films of the calibre of Vanina and Erdgeist were becoming scarce. Many studios had fallen into the hands of greedy...

March 6, 2022 | IN THE EYES OF A SILENT STAR
THE FILMS OF ASTA NIELSEN

From the Caribbean to West Africa
Edric Connor’s Travelogues

+ discussion with Kevin Le Gendre and Alex Pascall, chaired by Colin Prescod. Join us for an afternoon of beautiful, restored colour films of Africa and the Caribbean, made by Edric Connor – actor...

March 6, 2022 | AFRICAN ODYSSEYS

Doctor Who
Revelation of the Daleks

We are delighted that we will be joined by actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Colin Spaull. There will also be a signing following the screening. It was inevitable that the desire on the part ...

March 5, 2022 | EVENTS & PREVIEWS

Nashville

One afternoon in the mid-1970s, I bunked off studies to catch the first screening at the local arts cinema of an American movie set in the capital of country music. After nearly three hours in the ...

March 5, 2022 | BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

From the Sea to the Land Beyond

Reflections on making ‘From the Sea to the Land Beyond’ One of life’s guilty pleasures is being safely inside somewhere lovely in the daytime while it’s raining outside, watching wonderful old bla...

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

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 ...