BFI Southbank Programme Notes

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

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

While on first glance it might seem the quintessential Spielberg film, discrepancies place Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) slightly apart. When considered in relation to Spielberg’s later...

February 23, 2022 | MEMBER PICKS

The Representation of Women in Truffaut’s Films

The role of women in Truffaut’s life and their representation in his films constitute one of the most complex areas of his work. Truffaut’s films evidently favour female characters and offers star...

February 18, 2022 | FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT
FOR THE LOVE OF FILMS

Mädchen in Uniform

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. While Mädchen in Uniform and its sympathetic depiction of lesbian love now enjoy an unassailable place in the history of queer cinem...

February 18, 2022 | BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

Flee

I’ve heard it argued, even by some in the animation industry, that animation is the art of embellished movement, wild transformations and fantastical scenarios, and that any film that doesn’t chann...

February 18, 2022 | NEW RELEASES

The Proposition

+ Q&A with director John Hillcoat, actors Emily Watson, Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone, and producers Cat Villiers and Chiara Menage. John Hillcoat, Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Ray ...

February 16, 2022 | IN PERSON & PREVIEWS

Ballet Black

Followed by a discussion of the making of the film and its legacy by two of its stars, Jaqueline Boatswain ( Shameless, Cuckoo ) and Colin Charles ( Cats – original production, English National Ope...

February 15, 2022 | EXPERIMENTA FOCUS - STEPHEN DWOSKIN