BFI Southbank Programme Notes

Billy Bang Lucky Man

+ intro by author Kevin Le Gendre, and Q&A with co-director Markus Hansen In March 1967 Billy Bang was conscripted to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. On his return to the US he experienced a...

December 11, 2021 | AFRICAN ODYSSEYS

The Lonely Passion of
Judith Hearne

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. Jack Clayton’s first British film in twenty years, and his last cinema feature, was adapted from Brian Moore’s 1956 novel, its actio...

December 10, 2021 | A CLASS OF HIS OWN
THE FILMS OF JACK CLAYTON

Death by Hanging

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. Nagisa Ôshima’s most radical and brilliant film starts with an unsuccessful execution and proceeds into a stylised re-enactment of t...

December 10, 2021 | JAPAN 2021
100 YEARS OF JAPANESE CINEMA

tick, tick...BOOM!

+ pre-recorded Q&A with director Lin-Manuel Miranda, producer Julie Oh, executive producer Julie Larson, writer Steven Levenson and actors Andrew Garfield, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexandra Shipp, Rob...

December 9, 2021 | IN PERSON & PREVIEWS

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 ...

December 9, 2021 | JAPAN 2021 AT THE BFI IMAX

The Servant

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. Adapted from a novel by Robin Maugham, The Servant was the first of three collaborations between Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter. It ...

December 9, 2021 | BOGARDE AT 100

Pale Flower

Fresh out of a stretch in prison, ageing yakuza Muraki (Ryo Ikebe) returns to an underworld he barely recognises. He becomes romantically entangled with the mysterious, beautiful Saeko (Mariko Kaga...

December 9, 2021 | JAPAN 2021
100 YEARS OF JAPANESE CINEMA

Battle Royale

Made with a cast of 35-year-old cowboys, soldiers or gangsters, Battle Royale would be no more shocking than any other post-Peckinpah bloodbath, and many violent dystopian satires – from Peter Watk...

December 9, 2021 | JAPAN 2021 AT THE BFI IMAX

The Passions of
Jack Clayton

Join our special guests, Melanie Williams, Neil Sinyard and Elena Lazic, to explore what made Jack Clayton one of Britain’s most distinctive auteurs. In this richly illustrated event, hosted by the...

December 8, 2021 | A CLASS OF HIS OWN
THE FILMS OF JACK CLAYTON

Gremlins

Joe Dante on ‘Gremlins’ I never happened to believe that Gremlins was a movie that scared children. That was a thing that came up when the movie was released, and there were articles in the paper....

December 8, 2021 | BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

Boiling Point

+ Q&A with director Philip Barantini and actors Ray Panthaki, Lauryn Ajufo and Alice Feetham Actor-turned-director Philip Barantini follows his award winning short of the same name and feature...

December 8, 2021 | PREVIEW

The Tourist

+ Q&A with actors Danielle Macdonald and Shalom Brune-Franklin, writers/executive producers Harry & Jack Williams and director Chris Sweeney. From Emmy-winning and BAFTA nominated writer...

December 7, 2021 | TV PREVIEW

Tim Burton's The Nightmare before Christmas

Director Henry Selick on ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’ The film has been marketed as Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas , but you’re the director. What do you think is distinctively yo...

December 7, 2021 | BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

The Mezzotint

+ Q&A with director Mark Gatiss and cast members Frances Barber, Robert Bathurst and Nikesh Patel. Hosted by Matthew Sweet. ‘For sale: Interesting mezzotint: View of a manor-house, early part...

December 7, 2021 | TV PREVIEW

Titane

+ pre-recorded Q&A with director Julia Ducournau In Titane we meet Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), a showgirl who performs ferociously sexual dances at a motor show and who has a strange, erotic co...

December 6, 2021 | PREVIEW

Scrooge

Although there will always be dispute over which is Alastair Sim’s finest screen performance, there’s little doubt as to which is the best known. His 1951 characterisation of Charles Dickens’ notor...

December 6, 2021 | BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

Doctor Who
City of Death

We are delighted to welcome actor Julian Glover, who will be joining us for a Q&A and will be doing a signing after the screening. David Fisher had impressed producer Graham Williams with his ...

December 5, 2021 | IN PERSON & PREVIEWS

A Christmas Tale

Arnaud Desplechin on ‘A Christmas Tale’ Arnaud Desplechin’s new film A Christmas Tale is another addition to the currently burgeoning French family-drama cycle, assembling a heavyweight cast whi...

December 5, 2021 | BIG SCREEN CLASSICS

Aimee Victoria + The Multi

+ Q&A Aimee Victoria is a deaf queer love story created entirely remotely during the height of lockdown in 2020. No members of the cast or crew met in person. One of the first films to feature...

December 5, 2021 | BUSTING THE BIAS

Love + Q&A

The creative team behind Love will be discussing disability, inclusivity and diversity within the film landscape and opening up the conversation about normalising creative support throughout the in...

December 4, 2021 | BUSTING THE BIAS