WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933 STANLEY KUBRICK VICTORIAN FILM NICK BROOMFIELD HIROKAZU KORE-EDA
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MAY 2019
BFI SOUTHBANK
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919–1933
STANLEY KUBRICK
VICTORIAN FILM
NICK BROOMFIELD
HIROKAZU KORE-EDA
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THIS MONTH AT BFI SOUTHBANK
Welcome to the home of great film and TV, with a world-class library, free exhibitions and Mediatheque and plenty of food and drink
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS NEW RELEASES SEASONS
Talent Q&As and rare appearances, plus a chance The best new cinema for you to enjoy, with plenty of screening Carefully curated collections of film
for you to catch the latest film and TV before dates to choose from and TV, which showcase an influential
anyone else genre, theme or talent
Herbert Campbell. (Victorian film season)
Support the Girls
High Life
BOOKING DATES IN PERSON & PREVIEWS 4 REGULAR PROGRAMME
MEMBER EXCLUSIVES 9 BFI FLARE, 46
PATRONS AND CHAMPIONS bfi.org.uk/whatson TERROR VISION
NEW RELEASES 10
Mon 1 Apr (from 11:30) WOMAN WITH A MOVIE 47
020 7928 3232
MEMBERS RE-RELEASES 12 CAMERA
11:30 – 20:30 daily
Tue 2 Apr (from 11:30) EXPERIMENTA, 48
In person SEASONS
PUBLIC PROJECTING THE ARCHIVE
Tue 9 Apr (from 11:30) 11:00 – 20:30 daily WEIMAR CINEMA 16
SENIORS, FUTURE FILM 49
STANLEY KUBRICK 24
BFI FAMILIES 50
VICTORIAN FILM 30
JOIN TODAY FOR PRIORITY BOOKING AND DISCOUNTS: BFI.ORG.UK/JOIN BFI PLAYER 52
KORE-EDA 34
LIBRARY, MEDIATHEQUE, 54
The BFI is proud to screen on film where possible, showcasing restorations BIG SCREEN CLASSICS 38 MEZZANINE GALLERY
and sourcing archive prints from our partners.
SPECIAL FILMS & EVENTS 42 SHOP, IMAX 56
Look out for 16mm, 35mm or 70mm in the film credits.
Cover: Our Little Sister (p35)
Talent Q&As and rare appearances,
plus a chance for you to catch the
latest film and TV before anyone else
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS
Preview: Vox Lux
USA 2018. Dir Brady Corbet.
With Natalie Portman, Raffey Cassidy,
Jude Law, Willem Dafoe. 115min. Digital. 15.
Courtesy of Curzon-Artificial Eye
In 1999, a teenage Celeste survives
a high-school shooting and, inspired
by her experience, performs a song TV Preview: Victorian Sensations + Q&A with exec producer
that captures the public imagination
Sebastian Barfield, series producer Helen Nixon, presenter Philippa Perry
and catapults her into pop stardom.
After his striking debut The Childhood
and BFI curator Bryony Dixon
BBC Four 2019. Clips from Eps 1&2 + complete Ep3: TRT 110min
of a Leader, Brady Corbet presents a
film of contrasts, looking at celebrity Victorian Sensations transports us to on the newly available BFI National
and artistry through the journey of the thrilling era of the 1890s, a decade Archive collection of Victorian films,
a fictional pop diva (superbly played of rapid and often bewildering the series reveals a Britain bewitched
by Cassidy and Portman at discovery and change, which by electricity and x-rays, a time when
‘THIS IS A different stages). continues to resonate today. In their decadence and artistic genius went
MOODIER TAKE Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less) respective films, mathematician
Dr Hannah Fry, actor Paul McGann
hand in hand and when a mass-
media revolution encompassed the
ON STARDOM and psychotherapist Philippa Perry dawn of cinema – and some very
THAN A STAR
explore the technology, art and Victorian fake-news scandals.
culture of the last years of Queen For an update on guests visit bfi.org.uk
IS BORN’ Victoria’s reign. Drawing extensively See p30 for our season on Victorian film
ANNA BOGUTSKAYA,
EVENTS PROGRAMMER WED 1 MAY THU 9 MAY
Vox Lux (adjacent) 18:15 NFT1 18:15 NFT3
book online at bfi.org.uk
AFRICAN ODYSSEYS
Inspirational films by and about the people of Africa, from archive classics
to new cinema and docs
Image courtesy of Wild Bunch
JOINT
TICKET
Claire Denis in Conversation Preview: Beats
TRT 90min UK 2019. Dir Brian Welsh. With Martin Donaghy,
With her newest film High Life (p10) Brian Ferguson, Laura Fraser. 101min. Cert
tbc. Digital. Courtesy of Altitude Entertainment
hitting UK screens this month, and
with one of the most impressive In the summer of 1994, in a small
filmographies of any contemporary town in central Scotland, best mates
filmmaker, we welcome French Johnno and Spanner (Donaghy and
director Claire Denis to the BFI to Ferguson) head out for one last night UK Premiere: HERO – Inspired By The Extraordinary Life & Times
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS
discuss her work so far, her move into of raving together before Johnno’s Of Mr. Ulric Cross + Q&A
English-language filmmaking, and family move away. Shot partly on Canada-Trinidad and Tobago 2018. Dir Frances-Anne Solomon. With Nikolai Salcedo,
the state of French and European gritty black and white, Beats effortlessly Joseph Marcell, Rudolph Walker. 110min. Digital. Cert tbc
cinema today. taps into a youthful nostalgia for
Trinidadian Ulric Cross had a independence movements, Black
Joint ticket available with the preview of an endless party, and for the
distinguished career as a soldier, Power and the rise of a new brand of
High Life on Thu 9 May £25, concs £20 counterculture movement of the 90s.
jurist and diplomat in a life that black leadership around the world,
(Members pay £2 less) Audio description available spanned momentous political change events that define our present reality.
A season of Claire Denis films will be coming Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less)
to BFI Southbank in June
in the 20th century. Archive footage We’re pleased to host this UK premiere
and drama are used to tell the story and welcome special guests to the
of his extraordinary life: a story BFI stage.
that encompasses WWII, African Please check bfi.org.uk for updates
Tickets £12.50, concs £10.50
(Members pay £2 less)
THU 9 MAY MON 13 MAY SAT 18 MAY
18:10 NFT1 20:35 NFT1 14:00 NFT1
@BFI 5
KERMODE LIVE IN 3D
Let’s talk about film...
Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the BFI Preview: Too Late to Die Young
TRT 90min Tarde Para Morir Joven + Q&A with
Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the director Dominga Sotomayor
BFI is a monthly conversation Chile-Brazil-Argentina-Netherlands-Qatar
between you (the audience) and one 2018. Dir Dominga Sotomayor Castillo.
With Demian Hernández, Antar Machado,
of the nation’s favourite and most
Magdalena Tótoro. 110min. Digital. EST. 15.
respected film critics. With the help Courtesy of Day for Night
of surprise guests from the industry, Preview: Support the Girls
In the summer of 1990, as democracy
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS
Kermode will explore, critique and USA 2018. Dir Andrew Bujalski. With Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Shayna McHayle. 93min.
returns to Chile in the aftermath of Digital. Cert tbc. Courtesy of Bulldog Films
dissect movies past and present and
Pinochet’s regime, teenagers Sofía Double Whammies – a ‘sports bar with a group of (female) workers’ solidarity
reveal his or his guests’ cinematic
and Lucas, uprooted by their parents curves’ or ‘breastaurant’ –provides versus corporate ruthlessness,
guilty pleasures. Get involved by
to a tiny town away from the turmoil a distinctly American setting for this all wrapped up in a delightful, witty
tweeting your questions in advance
of the big city, are living through their heartfelt comedy from indie filmmaker and tender package, with a standout
to @KermodeMovie #MK3D.
first loves. Sotomayor’s confident Andrew Bujaslski (Computer Chess, Regina Hall.
Tickets £20, concs £16
(Members pay £2 less)
third feature is a coming-of-age Funny Ha Ha). Taking a day-in-the-life Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less)
story for its characters as much as it approach, Support the Girls is a look at
is for Chile.
Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less)
See p47 for Woman with a Movie Camera
MON 20 MAY THU 23 MAY TUE 28 MAY
18:30 NFT1 18:15 NFT1 20:30 NFT1
6 book online at bfi.org.uk
A FOCUS ON NICK BROOMFIELD
We celebrate Broomfield’s 50 years of filmmaking and welcome the renowned documentary director to the BFI stage In association with Kew Media Distribution
JOINT JOINT
DOC TICKET DOC TICKET DOC
Nick Broomfield in Conversation The Leader, His Driver and Future Film Labs: Biggie & Tupac
+ Behind the Rent Strike the Driver’s Wife + intro Documentary Filmmaking + intro by Nick Broomfield
UK 1974. Dir Nick Broomfield. 50min. by Nick Broomfield Masterclass with Nick Broomfield UK 2002. 108min. Digital (new restoration). 15
Digital (new restoration). PG UK 1991. Dir Nick Broomfield. 80min. Aimed at 16 to 25 year-olds Nick Broomfield looks into the unsolved
We celebrate the career of Nick Digital (new restoration). 12A Nick Broomfield, the hugely influential murders of the rappers Christopher
Broomfield this weekend, beginning Nick Broomfield’s seminal documentary British filmmaker, has adopted many Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls/
with an on-stage interview covering following his quest to interview different approaches during his The Notorious B.I.G) and Tupac
his start in documentary filmmaking, Eugene Terre Blanche, the far-right career to tell stories about people Shakur, sifting through a collection
IN PERSON & PREVIEWS
his move towards fiction films and leader of the AWB Afrikaner Party and situations that still feel fresh of questionable testimonies from
his wider career. Behind the Rent Strike, in South Africa, is funny, insightful and compelling when viewed today. their friends, relatives, lawyers
one of his earliest works, has been and disturbing in equal measure. With a new film under his belt and more. With the suggestion of
restored by the BFI National Archive Despite the leader’s reluctance to be (Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love), collusion by the LAPD and a strong
and looks at the residents of a interviewed, Broomfield carves a Broomfield talks about his extensive case against Suge Knight, who ran
housing estate in Kirkby, Liverpool relationship out with his loyal driver, career and shares his experiences Death Row Records, Broomfield‘s
and their protest against newly and in-turn his wife, succeeding in as one of the world’s leading quest for the truth is an uphill struggle.
introduced housing legislation. antagonising Terre Blanche with his documentary filmmakers. Don’t forget that 16 to 25 year-olds get £3 tickets
Tickets £15, cons £12 (members pay £2 less) perceived irreverence and persistence. See p49 for more Future Film on the day (subject to availability)
Joint ticket available with The Leader, For joint ticket offer see left Tickets £5
His Driver and the Driver’s Wife £20, concs £16
(members pay £2 less)
FRI 31 MAY FRI 31 MAY SAT 1 JUN SAT 1 JUN
18:30 NFT1 20:40 NFT1 12:30 NFT2 15:00 NFT2
@BFI 7
12 – 14 April 2019 at BFI Southbank
With new events added to the lineup, including
Peaky Blinders, a Hall of Fame award for Helen Mirren
and Mark Gatiss in conversation on Ghost Stories, the
TV Festival will be the small-screen event of the year.
bfi.org.uk/TVfest #TVfest
Image: Robert Viglasky /
© Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd 2017
MEMBER EXCLUSIVES
These events are exclusive to BFI Members and their guests.
Join today at bfi.org.uk/join
Champion Preview: High Life Member Picks
UK-USA-France-Germany-Poland 2018. Share your choice with us at
Dir Claire Denis. With Robert Pattinson, bfi.org.uk/memberpicks
Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin,
Mia Goth. 113min. Digital. 18.
Courtesy of Thunderbird Releasing Wake in Fright
Be among the first to see Claire Denis’ Australia-USA-UK 1971. Dir Ted Kotcheff.
hotly anticipated tale of the mysteries With Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond,
Member Salon: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying of birth and the challenges of Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay. 109min. Digital. 18
MEMBER EXCLUSIVES
and Love the Bomb survival starring Robert Pattinson
(includes scenes of animal violence that
some viewers may find upsetting)
Celebrate our Kubrick film season with Members can book a joint ticket to the
and Juliette Binoche. See p10 for
a focus on this classic Cold War Member Salon screening and discussion on This cult favourite depicts a young
Tue 21 May for themselves and their guests further details of this new release.
political satire. Join fellow Members teacher stranded in a brutal Outback
in advance for just £6. Members who have Audio description available town who finds himself challenged
to discuss the film’s contemporary watched the film on another date are also Champion Members are invited to book up
relevance, meticulous production welcome to come along to the free discussion by the people and their questionable
to two tickets to this exclusive preview for
design and unforgettable performances. and show their Membership card to admit only £6 each
ways. This classic of the Australian
themselves and a guest on a first-come,
See p5 for Claire Denis in conversation
new wave is still controversial for
first-served basis. its kangaroo hunt, but remains
a powerful piece of filmmaking.
FILM: TUE 21 MAY SALON: TUE 21 MAY
18:15 NFT3 20:00 BLUE ROOM ‘It’s funny and compelling. It captures
the toxicity at the heart of booze culture.
All Member exclusive tickets are just £6 unless otherwise stated. Champions It has a strong claim to being the best
and Members can book as soon as their priority booking opens and tickets film many people have never heard of’
will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Remaining tickets will be Steven Hall, Champion Member
released to the public, as a taster of the benefits of Membership, once public
TUE 7 MAY THU 30 MAY
booking opens.
20:30 NFT3 18:15 NFT3
@BFI 9
The best new cinema for you to High Life + Q&A
enjoy, with plenty of screening with director Claire Denis*
dates to choose from UK-USA-France-Germany-Poland 2018.
(see pull-out calendar) Dir Claire Denis. With Robert Pattinson,
Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin,
Mia Goth. 113min. Digital. 18.
A Thunderbird release
The messiness of sex, the mysteries
of birth and the moving spectacle of
devoted parenting in the face of
impending oblivion create a potent
atmosphere in Claire Denis’ latest
A man (a career-best Pattinson)
and a charming baby are the last two
survivors on a once-chaotic spaceship
full of convicts. Their government-
issued mission – to harvest energy
from black holes, overseen by the foxy
Dr Dibs (Binoche) – is overwhelmed
by feral dynamics that shift between
NEW RELEASES
violent and erotic. Juliette Binoche
channels unabashed sensuality
in one unforgettable sequence.
Featuring a haunting score by Denis’
long-term musician collaborator,
Stuart Staples, this is poetic, image-
driven cinema that defies convention
to embrace something wilder.
Critics’ Salon: High Life Sophie Monks Kaufman, season programmer
TRT 60min Audio description available (all screenings)
‘THIS IS POETIC, Join invited speakers to discuss Closed Captions/Hearing-impaired
subtitles available:
IMAGE-DRIVEN the first English-language film
from Claire Denis – a hypnotic and
Sun 19 May 15:10 Studio
CINEMA original work that takes the sci-fi
Wed 22 May 18:40 Studio
*Preview + Q&A Thu 9 May 20:15 NFT1
THAT DEFIES genre to new heights.
Free to ticket holders of High Life on
Tickets £15, concs £12 (Members pay £2 less),
CONVENTION’ Tue 14 May 18:10 NFT3 (must be booked
in advance due to capacity), otherwise £6.50
joint ticket available with Claire Denis
in conversation (p5) £25, concs £20
(Members pay £2 less)
SOPHIE MONKS KAUFMAN,
SEASON PROGRAMMER TALK TUE 14 MAY 20:15 BFI REUBEN LIBRARY OPENS FRI 10 MAY
High Life (see adjacent)
book online at bfi.org.ukNew Visions for Cinema 12–20 April 2019 www.ica.art/FoR19 #FoR19
We’ve selected these key Maborosi Maborosi no hikari
classics (many newly restored) Japan 1995. Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda.
for you to enjoy, with plenty of With Makiko Esumi, Takashi Naito,
screening dates to choose from Tadanobu Asano. 110min. Digital.
Cert tbc. EST. A BFI release
(see pull-out calendar)
Kore-eda’s first fiction feature is
an exquisite meditation on loss,
loneliness, uncertainty and coming
to terms with the past
By 1995 Kore-eda was already
well established as a documentary
director, but it was his fiction debut
that brought him international
attention, winning prizes in Chicago,
Vancouver and Venice, and securing
commercial releases in western
countries. An apparently happy
marriage is abruptly ended by the
husband’s sudden death, but was
it accident or suicide? Kore-eda’s
haunting, meditative film traces
a widow’s attempts to cope with
RE-RELEASES
and comprehend her bereavement.
With its static camera set-ups and
long takes evoking the work of the
great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu
and Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-Hsien,
‘KUBRICK’S FILM Maborosi announced a vital new
ABOUT THE presence in Japanese cinema.
Alexander Jacoby, season programmer
WRONG FINGER Also available on
ON THE NUCLEAR See p34 for our Kore-eda season
BUTTON HAS
NEVER FELT
MORE TIMELY’
JUSTIN JOHNSON,
LEAD PROGRAMMER CONTINUES FROM FRI 26 APR
Dr. Strangelove... (p13)
book online at bfi.org.ukDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
USA-UK 1963. Dir Stanley Kubrick.
With Peter Sellers, George C Scott,
Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn. 94min.
Digital 4K. PG. A Park Circus release
‘Gentleman. You can’t fight in here!
This is the War Room!’
Adapted from sci-fi novel Red Alert
by Peter George, Kubrick’s tour-de-force
of political satire feels unnervingly
prescient in the context of current
global politics. Set mainly within
legendary production designer
Ken Adam’s imposing war-room,
Dr. Strangelove... charts an absurd
but inexorable path towards nuclear
oblivion that’s triggered when an
unhinged American general believes
the Russians have caused his impotency.
With a razor-sharp script and dazzling
RE-RELEASES
performances, the film critiques
America’s fixation on military might,
and lampoons the men who sit
in the seats of power. It’s a film
about communication – or more
accurately, the consequences
of miscommunication.
Stuart Brown, Head of Programme
and Acquisitions
+ Stanley Kubrick Considers the Bomb
UK 2019. Dir Matt Wells. 6min
This new short takes us inside Kubrick’s
mind while making Dr. Strangelove...
See p24 for our Kubrick season,
and p9 for a Member Salon
FROM SAT 18 MAY
@BFI 13The Blue Angel Der blaue Engel
Germany 1930. Dir Josef von Sternberg. With
Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron,
Rosa Valetti. 108min. Digital. EST. PG.
A Eureka release
Marlene Dietrich is sensational in her
breakthrough role as Lola Lola, star
attraction of The Blue Angel beer hall
Raunchy, witty, self-possessed,
Lola exudes erotic power. ‘Beware of
blonde women,’ she sings, but no
one heeds this advice – neither her
schoolboy fans, nor their sexually
repressed teacher (Jannings) whose
moral outrage dissolves in lust.
Loosely based on a novel by Heinrich
Mann, Sternberg’s masterpiece is
a dazzling construct of enigmatic
lighting, décor and sound, featuring
real-life stars of Weimar cabaret
(Gerron, Valetti) and the now classic
songs of Friedrich Hollaender.
RE-RELEASES
For leftist critics it lacked satirical
edge, yet it conjures a transgressive
realm that recalls the paintings
of George Grosz and Otto Dix.
An enduring classic; its subversive
vitality is undiminished.
Margaret Deriaz,
Weimar season programmer
See p16 for our Weimar season
FROM FRI 31 MAY
14 book online at bfi.org.ukMEMORIES ARE MADE IN FRONT OF A CINEMA SCREEN Name a seat at BFI Southbank bfi.org.uk /nameaseat
Carefully curated collections of
film and TV, which showcase an
influential genre, theme or talent
‘IMAGINATIVE,
INNOVATIVE,
SEASONS
ASTONISHINGLY
MODERN,
THESE GROUND-
BREAKING FILMS
STILL FASCINATE
US TODAY’
MARGARET DERIAZ,
SEASON PROGRAMMER
Weimar season (adjacent)‘EXPRESSIONISM IS A GAME...
BUT WHY NOT? EVERYTHING
TODAY IS A GAME’
DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER
Prepare to be enthralled by the visionary power and
risk-taking vitality of Weimar cinema, writes season
programmer Margaret Deriaz
Revolutionary chaos, economic turmoil, the collapse of
authority: such was the shock experienced by Germans in
the turbulent aftermath of WWI. In the fast-paced, unstable
Weimar Republic, cinema was the latest sensation, a dream
machine for a new mass audience. Thanks to brilliant
aesthetic and technical innovations, Germany’s film industry Weimar Launch Night: Jonny Woo Heaven on Earth Der Himmel auf Erden
was second only to Hollywood, conjuring extraordinary presents ‘The Party at the End Germany 1927. Dirs Reinhold Schünzel,
of the World’ Alfred Schirokauer. With Reinhold Schünzel,
visions: dystopian cities, Alpine adventures, depraved nightclubs. Charlotte Ander, Adele Sandrock. 101min
Join us for the launch of our
And in its famous brand of ‘haunted screen’ horror, the two-month Weimar season:
35mm With live piano accompaniment. EST
darkest recesses of the human psyche found visible form. A hapless politician (comic genius
an evening of film, performance
Schünzel) leads a double life – publicly
Yet nightmares were only part of the dreamscape. Part one of and cabaret, curated and hosted
attacking the depravity of Berlin
our two-month survey celebrates the sheer diversity of styles by the inimitable Jonny Woo.
nightlife while secretly running
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933
We’ll be screening the silent comedy
and genres from this groundbreaking era of German cinema. Heaven on Earth (see adjacent) with
‘Heaven on Earth’, a notorious
nightclub. This delicious distillation
Most surprising is the wealth of comedies, largely driven by live accompaniment, followed by
of the contemporary debate around
Jewish talent. From gender-bending farces to sparkling musicals, a Weimar-themed cabaret and
moral degeneracy features raunchy
party in the BFI Bar & Kitchen.
their energy and charm are irresistible. chorus girls, a black jazz band, and a
Booking details can be found at bfi.org.uk
cross-dressing scene that anticipates
Some Like It Hot by several decades.
+ At the Film Studio Im Filmatelier
Germany 1927. Dirs Hedwig Otto,
WANT MORE? WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO
Gerda Otto. 4min
Season ticket offer: 3 films for £30* (no concs). Deutsche Kinemathek
A stop-motion ad for Bayer Aspirin by
*use promo code ‘Weimar’ when booking
a mother-daughter filmmaking duo.
And with the kind support of:
See p14 for screenings of The Blue Angel, Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv
and p54 for a collections focus in the Deutsches Filminstitut
BFI Reuben Library Filmmuseum München
Coming in part two in June: The Threepenny Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung FRI 3 MAY FRI 3 MAY SUN 12 MAY
Opera, Liebelei, M and many more...
BFI BAR & KITCHEN 18:20 NFT1 17:40 NFT2
@BFI 17IMAGINATION, INNOVATION, SPECTACLE
A cinema with international ambition, experimenting in a range of genres
Metropolis
TALK TALK
The Weimar Dream Factory: Sight & Sound Discussion: Opium Madame Dubarry
An Introductory Survey The Birth of Criticism Germany 1919. Dir Robert Reinert. Germany 1919. Dir Ernst Lubitsch.
TRT 75min With Eduard von Winterstein, Hanna Ralph, With Pola Negri, Emil Jannings,
TRT 90min Werner Krauss. 91min. Digital. Reinhold Schünzel. 114min. Digital.
Weimar cinema was Europe’s The birth of film and cultural With live piano accompaniment. EST. With live piano accompaniment. PG
Hollywood, supplying a new mass criticism could be traced back to the A reconstruction by Filmmuseum München Louis XV (Jannings) is smitten by
audience with thrills and sensations, Weimar Republic, with the rise of This sensational silent drama, made a Parisian shopgirl (Negri) with
from gothic hallucinations to comic prominent writers and critics such during the early censorship-free period, an insatiable appetite for sex, food,
fantasies. Emerging from the as Siegfried Kracauer, Theodor Adorno, warns against the perils of drug fashion and fun. But as she schemes
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933
catastrophe of WWI, it also projected Walter Benjamin and Lotte Eisner. addiction and sexual debauchery. to become the most powerful woman
visions of a new reality: glittering Sight & Sound editor Nick James Now newly restored in gorgeous colour, in France, the spectre of revolution
modernity, nightmare poverty, chairs a discussion about this it stars Werner Krauss (pre-Caligari) looms. Combining breathtaking
conflicting social and political ideals. influential time, which will look at as a Chinese opium dealer and spectacle with a sharp eye for telling
Making abundant use of film clips, the environment in which these Conrad Veidt as a love-crazed detail, this tragicomic epic was a
season programmer Margaret Deriaz practitioners flourished, consider English doctor. Its exotic scenery passport to Hollywood for both
guides us through a dazzling and their most prominent work, and and brazenly erotic opium dream Lubitsch and Negri.
disturbing dreamscape. explore the legacy of their writing on sequences were hailed as a triumph + Messter-Woche Newsreel
Tickets £6.50 the contemporary criticism landscape. of the cinematic medium. Germany 1920. 3min
Tickets £6.50 + The Victor Der Sieger President Ebert visits the set of
Germany 1922. Dir Julius Pinschewer, Lubitsch’s Anna Boleyn.
Walther Ruttmann. 3min
A hand-coloured animation from
pioneers of German film advertising.
TUE 7 MAY TUE 28 MAY SAT 4 MAY TUE 7 MAY SUN 12 MAY TUE 28 MAY
18:10 NFT3 18:15 NFT3 15:00 NFT3 20:40 NFT2 20:00 NFT2 18:10 NFT2
18 book online at bfi.org.ukDr. Mabuse, the Gambler The Chronicles of the Grey House Variety Varieté Metropolis
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler Zur Chronik von Grieshuus + intro by film historian and Germany 1927. Dir Fritz Lang. With
Germany 1922. Dir Fritz Lang. With Rudolf Germany 1925. Dir Arthur von Gerlach. filmmaker Kevin Brownlow* Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich,
Klein-Rogge, Bernhard Goetzke, Alfred Abel, With Paul Hartmann, Rudolf Forster, Rudolf Klein-Rogge. 149min. Digital.
Germany 1925. Dir EA Dupont. With Emil With Gottfried Huppertz score. EST. PG
Gertrud Welcker. 270min + interval. Digital. Lil Dagover. 97min. Digital. EST. With Gottfried Jannings, Lya de Putti, Warwick Ward. 95min.
With Aljoscha Zimmermann score. EST. PG Huppertz score. PG Digital. With live piano accompaniment. HG Wells called it ‘the silliest film,’
Nobody really knows Dr Mabuse, The Castle of Grieshuus, an eerie, EST. PG but Lang’s sci-fi epic is still astonishing:
the mysterious manipulator of fantastical old dark house, is the Rarely screened in the UK, this great a dystopian vision of a grotesquely
a vast criminal empire. Desperate object of a deadly inheritance dispute unequal society which threatens to
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933
German silent stars Emil Jannings as
to unmask him, Public Prosecutor between two brothers with strikingly Boss, a middle-aged circus acrobat implode – and a thrilling celebration
von Wenk plunges into a world of different wives. Pictorially ravishing whose life is derailed by a seductive of technology that also recognises
depraved nightclubs, aristocratic – even by Weimar standards – this stranger (Lya de Putti). His frankly its enslaving power. A visual marvel,
mansions and shadowy backstreets. period drama evokes the feudal past erotic obsession plays out against a this gargantuan attempt to outdo
Fritz Lang’s thriller is a self-conscious in all its uncompromising strangeness. backdrop of seedy showbiz glamour, Hollywood was a financial disaster
portrait of contemporary society, It’s renowned for its Rembrandt- culminating in trapeze scenes shot at for Germany’s UFA studios, but its
critiquing Weimar decadence while inspired lighting, magnificent Berlin’s world-famous Wintergarten. images now have iconic status.
catering to the filmgoer’s appetite for production design and wild, poetic Karl Freund’s vertiginously mobile *With live piano accompaniment
sensation. Fast-paced and brilliantly landscapes shot on location. camera work, which captures the Also available on
inventive throughout. *With live piano accompaniment aerial exploits – and emotional turmoil
Also available on – of Boss and his fellow performers,
will have you up there with them,
holding your breath...
Also available on
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@BFI 19WEIMAR GOTHIC
‘Haunted screen’ horror puts German cinema on the world map
The Fight for the Matterhorn Song Song. Die Liebe eines armen The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari The Golem Der Golem, wie er in die
Der Kampf ums Matterhorn Menschenkindes Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari Welt kam
Germany 1928. Dirs Mario Bonnard, Germany-UK 1928. Dir Richard Eichberg. Germany 1920. Dir Robert Wiene. Germany 1920. Dir Paul Wegener.
Nunzio Malsomma. With Luis Trenker, With Anna May Wong, Heinrich George, With Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, With Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück,
Clifford McLaglen, Peter Voss. 117min. Mary Kid. 122min. 35mm With live piano Lil Dagover. 77min. Digital. With score Ernst Deutsch. 76min. Digital.
Digital (new restoration). With live piano accompaniment by Studio für Filmmusik der Hochschule With live piano accompaniment. EST. PG
accompaniment. EST This superb melodrama, a British- für Musik Freiburg. EST. U Threatened with expulsion, the Jews
Out of the studio and into the wild: German co-production, was designed Who can say which of the characters of 16th-century Prague seek help from
this Alpine thriller (a peculiarly to appeal to international markets. in this multi-layered murder mystery the Golem, a clay monster brought to
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933
German genre) is based on the true Set in a bustling Asian port, it centres is deluded, deranged, or simply life through the cabbalistic arts of
story of English climber Edward on a vaudeville artist (Chinese- faking it? Premiered just 15 months Rabbi Loew. This landmark of horror
Whymper who vies with Jean- American star Anna May Wong) after the war’s end, this bizarre tale cinema is renowned for actor-director
Antoine Carrel, an Italian mountain whose emotional attachment to a of a fairground showman (Krauss) Paul Wegener’s unnerving portrayal
guide, to conquer the Matterhorn. knife-thrower (Heinrich George) is and his sinister somnambulist of the Golem and the expressionistic
Tyrolean athlete Luis Trenker, later complicated by the reappearance of (Veidt) caused an unexpected designs of architect Hans Poelzig,
a leading director, cuts a dash as his former mistress. A lavish treat, international sensation, creating whose labyrinthine ghetto seems
the mean and moody Italian. The with scintillating dance numbers and a vogue for expressionist design. weirdly alive. It’s magical and moving.
breathtaking camerawork creates mesmerising close-ups of Wong. ‘A film like a fever dream,’ wrote
nail-biting suspense. one contemporary.
*With live piano accompaniment
Also available on
MON 6 MAY SAT 18 MAY THU 9 MAY SAT 18 MAY MON 6 MAY SAT 25 MAY SUN 5 MAY WED 22 MAY
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20 book online at bfi.org.ukNosferatu Nosferatu. Eine Symphonie The Student of Prague
des Grauens Der Student von Prag + intro by
Germany 1922. Dir FW Murnau. Miranda Gower-Qian, programmer,
With Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Phoenix Cinema*
Greta Schröder. 95min. Digital.
With Hans Erdmann score. EST. PG Germany 1926. Dir Henrik Galeen.
With Conrad Veidt, Elizza La Porta,
A haunting masterpiece, FW Murnau’s Werner Krauss. 134min. Digital.
unauthorised version of Bram Stoker’s Waxworks Das Wachsfigurenkabinett A reconstruction by Filmmuseum München.
Dracula blurs the boundaries between With live piano accompaniment. EST
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933
Germany 1924. Dir Paul Leni. With Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, Wilhelm Dieterle.
dreams and waking life. The vampire 70min. 35mm With live piano accompaniment. EST This darkly romantic tale, with
(Schreck) is horribly convincing, This omnibus film about three Hollywood with his atmospheric echoes of the Faust legend and
while the almost documentary-style grotesque figures from a waxworks chillers for Universal. Of these Poe’s William Wilson, is a superbly
use of real locations – from picturesque show – Harun al-Raschid, Ivan the three brilliantly inventive scenarios, crafted remake of Stellan Rye’s
town squares to raging seascapes Terrible and Jack the Ripper – is the Ripper episode is easily the supernatural chiller of 1913.
– makes the supernatural eruptions Weimar horror at its most playful. most macabre. An impoverished student (Veidt)
all the more startling. Impossible to It was directed and designed by sells his mirror reflection to a
forget yet strangely elusive, Nosferatu Paul Leni, who would later dazzle moneylender and is subsequently
repays countless viewings. stalked by a Doppelgänger over whom
*With live piano accompaniment he has no control. Veidt’s virtuosic
Also available on portrayal of a split personality
plumbs terrifying depths.
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@BFI 21LAST LAUGHS
Gender-bending farces, rags-to-riches fantasies, sparkling musicals
The Oyster Princess
The Oyster Princess Die Austernprinzessin
Germany 1919. Dir Ernst Lubitsch. With Ossi Oswalda, Victor Janson, Harry Liedtke.
58min. Digital. With Aljoscha Zimmermann score. EST
‘If I don’t have a husband in five + I Don’t Want to Be a Man
minutes, I’ll demolish the entire Ich möchte kein Mann sein
house!’ Ossi Oswalda, one of the Germany 1918. Dir Ernst Lubitsch.
funniest females in screen history, With Ossi Oswalda, Curt Goetz. 45min. Digital.
With Neil Brand score. EST The Last Laugh Der letzte Mann
plays a spoilt young woman whose
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933
self-made millionaire father Why do men have all the fun? Germany 1924. Dir FW Murnau. With Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Hans Unterkircher. 90min.
promises to marry her to a prince. Chastised for her lack of ladylike Digital. With Giuseppe Becce score. EST. U
Lubitsch’s exquisitely orchestrated manners, a rebellious young woman An elderly porter (Jannings) stands with Karl Freund’s newly ‘unchained’
comedy satirises the fashion for all (the ever exuberant Oswalda) dons proudly by the revolving door of a camera dizzily capturing the porter’s
things American, with surreal gags top hat and tails and heads off to luxury Berlin hotel. In a ruthlessly disorientation. The result is witty and
about conspicuous consumption and a fashionable Berlin night haunt. fast-paced world, he’s about to suffer heart-rending, with a wonderfully
crazy dance styles. This gender-bending romp, made a life-changing shock. FW Murnau’s ironic coda.
shortly before the end of WWI, great tragicomedy is pure visual *With live piano accompaniment
is an utter delight. storytelling (there’s only one intertitle), Seniors’ matinee Tue 28 May
See p17 for screenings of comedy 14:00 NFT1
Heaven on Earth
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22 book online at bfi.org.ukA Blonde Dream Ein blonder Traum + intro by Margaret Deriaz, season programmer*
WEIMAR CINEMA 1919-1933
Germany 1932. Dir Paul Martin. With Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, Willi Forst. 87min
16mm EST
A penniless artiste (British-born joyously satirised in this massively
Lilian Harvey) is distracted from her popular Depression-era musical,
dreams of Hollywood stardom by two with a sparkling script co-written
hard-up but high-spirited window by Billy Wilder and some of the
Her Majesty, Love Ihre Majestät die Liebe cleaners, both called Willy. America’s catchiest hit songs of the time.
Germany 1931. Dir Joe May. With Käthe von Nagy, Franz Lederer, Szöke Szakall. 101min. grip on the Weimar imagination is
35mm EST
Her Majesty, Love is a comedy of class example of a New Woman and
differences, with delightful songs and an exhilarating display of urban
brilliant gags, about a debonair young modernity, the film is poignant
aristocrat (Lederer) who rebels when testimony to the wealth of Jewish
his family insists on his marrying for talent so soon to be dispersed.
money. Featuring a very naughty
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@BFI 23‘OBSERVANCY IS A DYING ART’
STANLEY KUBRICK
Kubrick’s films take on new meanings with each viewing,
says season programmer Stuart Brown
What is it exactly about Kubrick’s films that sustains such
unprecedented intellectual enquiry and continues to draw
in new generations of audience? The answer could be that
they’re like intellectual puzzles. Kubrick created a cinema
that deftly balances potent sensorial experience with a
deconstruction of established mechanics of storytelling,
creating in his work a kind of absence or space that
demands us, the audience, to participate and search for
meaning. In doing so, he made work that stands up to
multiple viewings. This is perhaps why he’s often considered
the most influential of all great auteurs. This month, as
we continue our exploration of his oeuvre, we also present
films by some of today’s leading directors that possess
some of the DNA of Kubrick’s cinema (see p27).
WANT MORE? OFFICIAL PARTNER
See p13 for screenings of Dr. Strangelove...
We’re pleased to screen selected titles
on 35mm
From 26 April the Design Museum presents
its version of the Deutsches Filmmuseum’s
hugely successful Kubrick Now exhibition,
which explores Kubrick’s life and work. With thanks to Warner Bros and
Revisit the oeuvre of this visionary auteur the Kubrick Estate
and get under the skin of his fascinations and
obsessions. designmuseum.org
Film notes co-written by Justin JohnsonA Clockwork Orange
TALK
Kubrick on Masculinity The Killing
TRT 90min USA 1956. Dir Stanley Kubrick. With Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards. 84min.
Across his work, Stanley Kubrick 35mm (2, 10 May). Digital (22 May). PG
consistently focused on and explored Kubrick’s prior experience paid off + Day of the Fight
male psychology – from criticism of when he delivered this compelling USA 1951. Dir Stanley Kubrick. 16min
toxic masculinity to an examination heist movie about an ex-con who Kubrick the photographer becomes
of the causes and consequences of brings a gang of criminals together a film director as he portrays
the destructive behaviour of men for one last job; to rob millions from Bronx middle-weight Walter Cartier’s Paths of Glory
STA N LE Y KUB RI C K
on society. Kubrick’s take on the a racetrack. With the narrative of pre-fight routine. USA 1957. Dir Stanley Kubrick.
troubled male psyche is ripe for the film jumping backwards and With Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker,
+ Flying Padre Adolphe Menjou, George Macready. 88min.
discussion in the current cultural forwards, and an impressive cast, USA 1951. Dir Stanley Kubrick. 9min 35mm (4, 25 May). Digital (6 May). PG
climate: join our guest panel for the film didn’t realise its full
An RKO documentary follow-up This powerful anti-war film, inspired
this timely conversation. potential at the box office but was
to Day of the Fight, this follows by true events, follows a French
Tickets £6.50 rewarded with critical acclaim.
Reverend Fred Stadtmuller as army officer (Douglas) defending
Part of Kubrick Now – a programme of events he flies around his 4000sq-mile
at BFI Southbank and the Design Museum three soldiers against a charge of
parish in New Mexico. cowardice in the trenches of WWI.
Using black and white to create
a further sense of bleakness, and
masterful tracking shots to reinforce
a sense of impending doom, Kubrick
shines a light on the hypocrisy of the
military and the powerless men they
have control over.
WED 15 MAY THU 2 MAY FRI 10 MAY WED 22 MAY SAT 4 MAY MON 6 MAY SAT 25 MAY
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@BFI 25Spartacus 2001: A Space Odyssey
USA 1960. Dir Stanley Kubrick. UK-USA 1968. Dir Stanley Kubrick.
With Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, With Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood,
Jean Simmons. 197min. 35mm (4, 19 May). William Sylvester. 147min. 70mm U
Digital 4K (27 May). PG Kubrick’s epic sci-fi chronicling
When Spartacus leads a slave rebellion humanity’s progress from its
in ancient Rome they push towards primitive beginnings through to
the Italian coast to make their way some kind of rebirth is also a fable Full Metal Jacket
Kubrick Now
STANLE Y K UBR ICK
home, but the Romans seek their about power, curiosity and control. UK-USA 1987. Dir Stanley Kubrick.
own justice... Kubrick came late to Dazzling to look at, it’s especially With Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Join us for more events happening
this project – making it the only film memorable for its ultra-realistic Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Ermey. 116min. at our partner venue, the Design
he didn’t have complete artistic depiction of silvery hardware sailing 35mm (4, 24 May). Digital (15 May). 15
Museum, across May and the
control over – but with a large budget slowly and elegantly through the The last film to be released during summer months. Highlights include
and the studio on his tails, he still silent (albeit Strauss-accompanied) Kubrick’s lifetime is a powerful a panel discussion on Kubrick’s
managed to put his own stamp on vastness of space. This is simply an look at the Vietnam war through fascination with all aspects of
the finished picture. unmissable experience on the big the eyes of recruits moving from the design and architecture,
screen, on 70mm. brutal US Marine training bootcamp a Museum Late that will explore
into the nightmare on the ground Kubrick’s audacious use of music,
overseas. Pessimism combined with and a programme of tours
dark comedy gives us a flavour of taking you to some of the most
what came before in Paths of Glory memorable locations used
and Dr. Strangelove... in his films.
SUN 5 MAY TUE 7 MAY SUN 26 MAY Visit designmuseum.org for further details
17:45 NFT1 20:15 NFT1 17:00 NFT1
SAT 4 MAY SUN 19 MAY MON 27 MAY WED 29 MAY SAT 4 MAY WED 15 MAY FRI 24 MAY
16:50 NFT1 13:30 NFT3 16:40 NFT1 18:00 NFT1 20:40 NFT1 20:30 NFT3 18:20 NFT2
26 book online at bfi.org.ukINSPIRED BY KUBRICK
A selection of films that are ‘Kubrickian’ by design
A.I. Artificial Intelligence HER
USA-UK 2001. Dir Steven Spielberg. USA 2013. Dir Spike Jonze.
With Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, With Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams,
Frances O’Connor, William Hurt. 146min. Scarlett Johansson. 126min. 15
35mm 12A Kubrick’s evocation of the definitive
A robotic boy has been programmed sci-fi AI with the HAL computer
to love, but finds it difficult to adjust in 2001: A Space Odyssey is updated
to life in a family home as he isn’t Dunkirk by Jonze in this subtle and spiritual
IN SPI RED BY STA NLEY KU B RI CK
sufficiently human or machine UK-Netherlands-France-USA 2017. Dir Christopher Nolan. With Fionn Whitehead, film – in the form the operating
enough to fit in. He begins a journey Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy. 106min. 70mm 12A system Samantha (Johansson).
to find out where he belongs. Out of all the auteurs who’ve been Nolan’s multi award-winning picture, Set in a technologically benevolent
Directed by Spielberg, but dedicated compared to Kubrick, Nolan perhaps a breathtaking piece of cinema, near-future LA, Her subverts the
to Kubrick, this passion project of most deserves the accolade with captures the Battle of Dunkirk from usual trope of AI; in that instead
Kubrick’s remained unfulfilled until regards to both his ability to defy land, sea and air – and in doing so, of seeking to destroy mankind,
after his death due to his lack of genre and to successfully ensure full creates a unique perspective of this it simply outgrows us.
confidence in the CGI required to creative control over his projects. turning point in WWII.
make it plausible.
SUN 12 MAY SAT 25 MAY MON 6 MAY SUN 26 MAY WED 29 MAY SUN 12 MAY SAT 18 MAY
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@BFI 27Enter the Void Under the Skin Ex machina Ex machina
France-Germany-Italy-Canada-Japan 2009.
Dir Gaspar Noé. With Nathaniel Brown,
UK 2013. Dir Jonathan Glazer.
With Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams,
UK 2014. Dir Alex Garland.
With Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac,
Relaxed Screening
Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy. 161min. Digital. 18 Paul Brannigan, Adam Pearson. 108min. Alicia Vikander. 108min. Digital. 15 Relaxed screenings are presented
Digital. 15 each month for those in the
Like Kubrick, Noé is a director When a young computer engineer
Visually and aurally audacious, neuro-diverse community and their
preoccupied with the form of cinema, (Gleeson) wins a competition to spend a
Under the Skin is a dramatic departure carers and assistants. More detailed
and in his work we can see the week with the reclusive CEO of the tech
from Jonathan Glazer’s previous work information about these screenings
same restless pushing and testing firm that he works for, he encounters
can be found at bfi.org.uk/relaxed
IN SPI R ED BY STA NLE Y KUB R ICK
of cinema’s boundaries that we (Birth, Sexy Beast). This enigmatic the world’s first advanced artificial
sci-fi is a brilliant amalgam of fantasy Tickets £3
recognise in Kubrick’s. In Enter the intelligence. Alex Garland deliberately
and reality, it’s both creepy and Audio description available
Void we follow Oscar’s path from life sought to achieve a kind of Kubrickian
to death and beyond. This visceral, luminous in its metaphysical precision, space within his stunning directorial
psychedelic cinematic experience – and Johansson is nothing short of debut; by creating ambiguity around
a grandiose imagining of death as spectacular as the alien creature his character’s motivations, he asks
the ultimate trip – owes a debt of who stalks human prey. With visual us to construct our own understanding
inspiration to 2001: A Space Odyssey. nods to Kubrick and a similar use of and interpretation of events.
Also available on licence in his approach to adaptations, Audio description available
this is a contemporary classic.
Also available on
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28 book online at bfi.org.uk‘IT BRINGS THE PAST TO THE PRESENT AND ENABLES THE PRESENT TO BE HANDED DOWN TO THE FUTURE’ RH MERE ‘THE WONDERS OF THE BIOGRAPH’ PEARSON’S MAGAZINE 1899 Film historians the world over acknowledge the crucial contribution of Britain’s early filmmakers, writes silent film curator, Bryony Dixon Britain has a film legacy to be proud of, but it has been difficult for people to see these early works, until now. The BFI National Archive’s entire collection of British Victorian film (1895-1901) has been digitised and is available to all. More than 500 titles have been transferred from the best available film sources, and with the pre-1901 titles from Mitchell & Kenyon this makes well over 700 extant films, showing the incredible range and inventiveness of our dynamic and youthful pioneers (all in their twenties and thirties). They experimented greatly with the new medium during these first five years, creating news, animation, drama and fantasy, sometimes in colour or with sound. Crucially, they recorded the world of the late Victorians themselves – not the stiff, buttoned-up, austere figures of the photographs but laughing, moving people, quite a lot like us. Digitisation funded by the BFI’s Unlocking Film Heritage programme and the National Lottery WANT MORE? WITH THANKS TO See p4 for a TV preview of Victorian Sensations, p55 for a free exhibition in the Mezzanine gallery, and p50 for a families’ TV preview of Horrible Histories, plus workshops The BFI’s Victorian collection can be seen free on BFI Player from May 3rd
Afternoon Tea at Clarence House
Vegetable Market, Venice
FREE TALK
VR to VR: Victoria’s New Media Victorian Film Study Day
For a limited period only, come Celebrate the launch of the BFI’s
Trafalgar Day
and compare the look and feel newly digitised collection of 500+
of how Victorian audiences British films from the earliest
experienced moving images to how days of projected moving pictures
we see them, through the media of with this day of papers, panels
our own times. From the vibrant and screenings. Our invited experts
Victorian music-hall show of the and historians will be on hand to Six Stories About London in Victorian Film
THE VICTORIAN FILM
1890s to the online platforms share their insights into the research, TRT 90min. With live accompaniment
and VR of today, you’ll see that the identification, restoration and What can Victorian film tell us about film piracy, a near mishap with
proliferation of moving images is not digital preservation of the films. life in London in the last five years the Queen of England’s coffin,
just a 21st-century phenomenon. of Victoria’s long reign? Join us for the search for London’s first film
Please visit bfi.org.uk for further details six of the quirkier stories about the studio and more.
Created in partnership with Wimbledon capital and early film, including a
College of Arts (Set Design for Screen) Thames-side tragedy, a tale of early
FROM MAY FRI 10 MAY FRI 10 MAY
ATRIUM 10:30-17:00 NFT3 18:10 NFT3
@BFI 31Grandma’s Reading Glasses
Me and My Two Friends
TALK
Heroes of the Victorian Film The Great Victorian Moving Picture Show
THE VICTORIAN FILM
TRT 90min. With live accompaniment TRT 85min
The French have the Lumière tech-savvy and financially astute The bold experimenters at the dawn 60mm and 68mm films from the
brothers and the Americans have heroes of British Victorian film in of the moving-picture revolution Victorian era is presented by the BFI’s
Thomas Edison, but how many a live debate with film screenings. were quick to explore the possibilities Bryony Dixon, with John Sweeney
people in Britain can name our Experts will champion the filmmaker of the medium. The large-format film and his Biograph Band – reprising
own pioneer filmmakers? Come and they think deserves to be known was one way to astound audiences their spectacular sell-out event at the
meet the youthful, adventurous, by everyone in the land. with the depth and clarity of the 2018 London Film Festival. Advanced
images projected onto a massive booking highly recommended.
screen. The BFI National Archive’s
restoration of these astonishing
SAT 11 MAY SAT 11 MAY
16:00 NFT3 19:00 NFT1
32 book online at bfi.org.ukDiamond Jubilee Procession
Magic Extinguisher
Silent Cinema presents: Screening the Victorians BFI Course: An Introduction to Victorian Film (1895-1901)
THE VICTORIAN FILM
TRT 90min. With live accompaniment Join film lecturer Nick Scudamore expert insight and guidance, the
Nearly every aspect of filmmaking Dixon will take you on a tour of on a short evening course (across course will encourage students
that we know today was tried during highlights from the BFI’s newly three consecutive Tuesdays) that to develop a fresh perspective on
the first few years of projected digitised 500+ Victorian films, and will take you on a fascinating some of the very first films, and
moving pictures: sound and colour, will show how they can still charm journey back to the beginnings of on the Victorians themselves.
news, travelogues, drama, fantasy and entertain audiences over a film. Vividly illustrated with Course fee £35
and comedy. BFI curator Bryony century later. newly-digitised material, and with
SUN 12 MAY TUE 14, TUE 21, TUE 28 MAY
14:30 NFT1 18:30-20:30 STUDIO
@BFI 33‘KORE-EDA HAS LONG BEEN HAILED AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP DRAMA FILMMAKERS’ VARIETY Kore-eda’s recent work cements his status as the master chronicler of the modern Japanese family and 21st-century Japanese society, writes season programmer Alexander Jacoby In the last decade, Kore-eda’s cinema has gone from strength to strength. With his films now virtually guaranteed critical acclaim, commercial success and international attention, he’s been able to direct more frequently. He continues to explore fresh territory, as in courtroom drama The Third Murder, but his central subject remains the Japanese family. In this, Kore-eda seems ever more the heir to Ozu, and increasingly he works, like Ozu, with a company of regular actors – most notably the late Kirin Kiki – who enact variations on a set of key themes, helping to imbue his work with a specific and personal flavour. With a forthcoming film, La Vérité, shot in France with an international cast, thus marking a new departure, it’s a fitting time to take stock of his recent work. WANT MORE? The BFI is proud to release a four-disc Blu-ray box set celebrating the works of Kore-eda this summer
Like Father, Like Son Soshite chichi ni naru
THE CINEMA OF KORE-EDA
Japan 2013. Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Lily Franky,
Yoko Maki. 121min. Digital. EST. PG
An ambitious architect and his wife The most melodramatic of Kore-eda’s
learn that their six-year-old son was family films asks probing questions
swapped at birth with the child of about gender, class, life-work balance,
a suburban shopkeeper. Now, the nature versus nurture and, above all,
I Wish Kiseki parents must decide whether to what it really means to be a father.
Japan 2011. Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Koki and Oshiro Maeda, Jo Odagiri, Kirin Kiki, exchange the boys they have raised. Also available on
Hiroshi Abe. 128min. Digital. EST. PG
Two brothers, living in different cities upbeat film, which boasts charmingly
as a result of their parents’ separation, naturalistic lead performances from
believe their wishes will be granted real-life brothers (and stand-up
if they witness the crossing of trains comedy duo) Koki and Oshiro Maeda.
on a newly opened bullet-train line. Also available on
Kore-eda again illustrates his sensitivity
to childhood experience in a gentle,
WED 1 MAY SUN 26 MAY SUN 5 MAY TUE 21 MAY
18:10 NFT3 17:50 NFT3 16:30 NFT3 20:40 NFT2
@BFI 35Our Little Sister Umimachi Diary
THE CINEMA OF KORE-EDA
Japan 2015. Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose.
127min. Digital. EST. PG
After their father’s death, three adult grows between its members and the
sisters invite their teenage half-sister effect they have on the community
to live with them. In his sweetest around them. ‘Every living thing
and most optimistic film, Kore-eda requires effort,’ one character
depicts another atypical family and remarks; Kore-eda reminds us that After the Storm Umi yori mo mada fukaku
gently sketches the affection that the effort is well worth making. Japan 2016. Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Hiroshi Abe, Kirin Kiki, Yoko Maki, Sosuke Ikematsu.
118min. Digital. EST. PG
Ryota Shinoda (Abe) is a published follow-up to Still Walking, the film,
novelist – but at 50, down on his luck, which reaches an exquisite climax at
he works as a private detective, is the approach of a typhoon, boasts
estranged from his wife and rarely superb performances from Kore-eda
sees his son. A darker, more acerbic, regulars Hiroshi Abe and Kirin Kiki.
though still touching and humane, Also available on
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20:10 NFT2 15:10 NFT3 18:00 NFT2 20:00 NFT2
36 book online at bfi.org.ukThe Third Murder Sandome no satsujin
THE CINEMA OF KORE-EDA
Japan 2017. Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda . With Masaharu Fukuyama, Koji Yakusho,
Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Suzu Hirose. 125min. Digital. EST. 15
Kore-eda took a step into the happened, or understand its
territory of the courtroom drama motivation. As lawyer Tomoaki
with this film, which has been Shigemori investigates an apparently
described as his Rashomon: less an open-and-shut murder case,
enquiry into guilt or innocence tantalising layers of ambiguity Shoplifters Manbiki kazoku
than an attempt to question how undermine his, and the Japan 2018. Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda. With Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Kirin Kiki, Mayu Matsuoka,
reliably we can know what has viewer’s, assumptions. Jyo Kairi. 121min. Digital. EST. 15
Also available on Kore-eda scooped the Palme d’Or at Kirin Kiki (who died in September
Cannes for this dark yet touching 2018) sums up his most frequent
account of an unorthodox family themes: nature versus nurture,
that relies on shoplifting to make crime and urban alienation, and
ends meet. The director’s last the question of what it means to
collaboration with his regular actress be part of a family.
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