BFI Southbank Programme Notes

Cinema Architecture and Atmosphere

In this special edition of our new strand ‘Art in the Making’, we sing the praises of cinema theatres, their design and their histories, focusing on the architectural visions that have shaped movie...

September 23, 2021 | ART IN THE MAKING

Richard Pryor
Live on the Sunset Strip

In his return to the stage after a highly publicised, drugged-fuelled accident, Pryor somehow outdoes himself, oscillating between some of his best-loved riffs and characters and a confessional mod...

September 21, 2021 | A PRYOR ENGAGEMENT

Flesh and Blood

Introduced by Jason Morell, actor and son of Joan Greenwood In a denouement befitting these times, the last act of Flesh and Blood sees Charles Cameron (Todd) fight a deadly epidemic. Based on a s...

September 21, 2021 | PROJECTING THE ARCHIVE

Talking about Trees

Current moving-image culture is frequently characterised in terms of abundance: an excess of films being made, a cacophony of other competing forms, an embarrassment of ways of watching. But, of co...

September 20, 2021 | THE TIME IS NEW

The Selfish Giant

+ Q&A with director Clio Barnard SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant bears a tenuous relation to the Oscar Wilde children’s story ...

September 20, 2021 | NFTS AT 50

Prime Suspect
30th Anniversary

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first transmission of Prime Suspect, created by Lynda La Plante and starring Helen Mirren as the tenacious DCI Jane Tennison. Winning both Emmy and BAFTA...

September 19, 2021 | IN PERSON & PREVIEWS

Short Films by Eden and Andrew Kötting

Working across features, animations, VR, performance and music, Andrew Kötting has been creating in an open, exploratory way with friends and family members for years. In part two of this focus we ...

September 18, 2021 | EXPERIMENTA

Gallivant

Introduced by Eden and Andrew Kötting. Andrew Kötting will sign copies his of new book Quantum Shenanigans , available from the BFI Shop, after the screening. Big Granny and Little Eden The pro...

September 18, 2021 | EXPERIMENTA

Rose Plays Julie

It’s during a term studying animal euthanasia that veterinary student Rose (Ann Skelly) decides to contact Ellen (Orla Brady), the birth mother who gave her up for adoption. But Ellen, who is now a...

September 17, 2021 | NEW RELEASES

Richard Pryor
A Comedy Genius

We are delighted to welcome comedian, writer and presenter Angie Le Mar and comedian, writer and actor Kojo Anim for this discussion hosted by Anthony Andrews (We are Parable). Join us for a richl...

September 16, 2021 | A PRYOR ENGAGEMENT

Tlamess

The word ‘Tlamess’ means an enchantress’ spell, as well as something inexplicable, and Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim’s beautifully shot second feature is as enchanting and intriguing as the na...

September 14, 2021 | THE TIME IS NEW

Let’s Talk (Ehkeely)

+ pre-recorded Q&A with director Marianne Khoury A mother and her daughter explore together four generations of women from the same family, an Egyptian family, originally from the Levant, a fa...

September 13, 2021 | THE TIME IS NEW

The Fallen Idol

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. Alexander Korda had something of a genius for teaming up creative personnel. Having matched Michael Powell with Emeric Pressburger,...

September 13, 2021 | SENIORS

Silver Streak

Set on a train from Los Angeles to Chicago, Silver Streak marks Pryor’s first collaboration with his frequent co-star Gene Wilder. The film mixes romance, comedy, caper, and big-budget action, and ...

September 12, 2021 | A PRYOR ENGAGEMENT

Sicario

Denis Villeneuve’s drugs-war thriller Sicario opens in heart-stopping fashion with a raid on a house near Phoenix, Arizona. What FBI agent Kate Macer (an excellent Emily Blunt) and her SWAT team fi...

September 12, 2021 | DENIS VILLENEUVE
THE PATH TO DUNE

The Last Tree

+ Q&A with director Shola Amoo British writer-director Shola Amoo’s second feature, The Last Tree, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film set in the early 2000s. It centres on a young b...

September 11, 2021 | NFTS AT 50

It Must Be Heaven

While some writer-directors give themselves the best lines, Elia Suleiman has uttered three words in his four self-starring, feature-length films. Significantly, those trio of words all appear in ...

September 11, 2021 | THE TIME IS NEW

Incendies

SPOILER WARNING The following notes give away some of the plot. From the outset, Incendies is clearly not going to be your average tale of conflict in the Middle East. We open with a slow, dreamy ...

September 11, 2021 | DENIS VILLENEUVE
THE PATH TO DUNE

Car Wash

‘Car Wash’: a contemporary review At a time when many of the old-style forms of community-minded entertainment have virtually vanished from American cinema – a demise unwittingly highlighted by suc...

September 11, 2021 | A PRYOR ENGAGEMENT

Blazing Saddles

Richard Pryor co-wrote this Mel Brooks classic and was originally meant to star in it, but unfortunately he was uninsurable at the time of shooting. One of Brooks’ bawdiest spoofs sees a corrupt Ol...