Join GP Surgery and Siren Screen in The Atrium Bar for a special event titled 'Obliterated by the Sun - Acts of Creation and Destruction', a double-bill of two experimental films celebrating the myths around creation, in an event beckoning in the Summer Solstice through telling tells of the summer’s alchemical role within our own cyclical life seasons.

Celebrating two incredibly talented auteurs within experimental cinema, we will be showing an double-bill of the incredibly rare 16mm film print of the Stan Brakhage's short film “The Horseman, The Woman, and The Moth” (1968), 16mm print courtesy of LUX Moving Image, alongside feature film “Red String and Blood Tea” (2006) - a gothic stop-motion experimental fairytale that was lovingly crafted over 13 years by director Christiane Cegavske.

"Red String and Blood Tea" is a 1hr 11min stop-motion dark fable that’s completely dialogue-free. Inspired by the work of Czech Surrealist animator Jan Svankmajer, the feature unfolds its own unique narrative of a gothic feminist folk fable, exploring the cycle of creation through the perspective of woodland creatures. The tale centers on the struggle between the aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak, which resemble bats with beaks and chirp like birds, over the doll of their heart's desire.

Stan Brakhages' 19-minute short “The Horseman, The Woman, and The Moth” is "a long myth drawn directly onto the films surface, which is painted, dyed, treated so that it will grow controlled crystals and mould – as textures of the figures and forms of the drama, some images stamped through melted wax crayon techniques, some images actual objects (such as moth wings) collaged directly on the celluloid…so that the protagonists of this myth (as listed in the title) weave through crystalline structures and organic jungles of the colourful world of hypnagogic vision-edited into ‘themes and variations’ that tell a ‘thousand and one ‘stories while at the same time, evoking Baroque music…. the primary musical inspiration being harpsichord Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. – S.B." This film print will be projected by the excellent 16mm Film Projectionist John Wilders.

We are offering audiences a chance to enact their own creation and destruction with a raffle lottery prize of the pagan cookbook HOW TO BAKE A BREADLING (@bardo.bread) - a recipe providing a traditional folk food to bake then enjoy! We will also have a few other fun raffle prizes.

About the collective:

GP Surgery is a film collective founded by Jaison Washington (he/they) who is an independent film curator, archivist at LUX Moving Image, researcher, and filmmaker based in London. GP Surgery specialises in Experimental Film and Artist Moving Image as a means of catharsis, healing, and challenging our audience.

Siren Screen is a London-based community film club screening fantastical, esoteric and cult cinema from around the globe – celebrating the mythic in motion. The film club was founded by Georgia Hunter (she/her), a freelance film programmer working within the arts and cultural sector.

The short film contains flashing imagery for photosensitive and epileptic viewers.

Please note that whilst The Garden Cinema is wheelchair accessible, the cinema can only accommodate one wheelchair user in the Atrium. Please visit The Garden Cinema accessibility page for more information about how to book this