Under the aegis of the Consulate General of Italy in London, this event is included in the “Vivere all’Italiana” (Italian Way of Life) integrated promotion plan, launched by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
‘I was convinced he was the world’s greatest actor. His impact – the power and feeling he conveyed – was unmatched by anyone. None of the great actors I’ve known – not Cagney, not Bogart, not Spencer Tracey – had Brando’s range, from violence to utter pathos. A range that grew out of his deep convictions. I loved him for it.’ Stanley Kramer
Get in the festive spirit with some of our most treasured Christmas films, perfect for the whole family. Screening every weekend and all day on the 27 & 28 December.
You can also join us every weekend for some of our favourite family classics. For cinema lovers of all ages.
All Tickets are Pay What You Can:
I struggle to meet my basic needs: £0
I just about cover my basic needs: £3
I can cover my basic needs: £6
I comfortably meet my basic needs: £9
I have expendable income and financial security: £12
Have a childhood favourite you’d like screened at The Garden Cinema? You can propose a film in our Members’ Area, after logging into your members’ account.
The Garden Cinema celebrates the life and career of Sidney Poitier with a selection of our favourite performances. If you would like us to screen a Sidney Poitier film not included in the season, please get in touch.
A season of films celebrating the masterpieces of French cinema from the 1930s and 1940s. Join us every Thursday for expert introductions and post film discussion.
In collaboration with CinemaItaliaUK, we are screening some of the very best Anna Magani films, with guest introductions and post-show discussions.
The Garden Cinema presents an ongoing exploration of Film Noir from across the world.
June/July 2022: Classic Hollywood Noir
July/August 2022: French Noir
August/September 2022: British Noir
A season of original films which were better than their remakes.
The Garden Cinema looks back at the extraordinary Marlene Dietrich, alluring for both her beauty and her remarkable self-assurance on screen. She made such an impression in 1930 as the seductive cabaret singer in The Blue Angel that she was immediately brought to Hollywood by her svengali director, Josef von Sternberg. And when she donned a man’s tailcoat and trousers in another von Sternberg film of the same year, Morocco, she became a cinematic icon.
This season shows how she developed as an actress from the early films with von Sternberg, to her more playful roles with director George Marshall and her cold-hearted role as Christine in Billy Wilder’s 1957 Witness for the Prosecution. Join us in celebrating Marlene Dietrich – a star unlike any other.
Women in Italian Cinema: An Inclusive Project, the first international project aimed at promoting Italian cinema written, produced and directed by women, also available in an accessible version. Co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Culture.
From a fledgling actress in the outrageous melodrama Jamón Jamón (1992) to her ripe performance in Parallel Mothers (2021), Penélope Cruz has come a long way. Cruz first made a splash in Spain, then sauntered into Hollywood and became a mainstream success. But it wasn’t until she was reunited with Pedro Almodóvar as Raimunda in Volver (2006) that she cemented herself as one of the most iconic stars of modern cinema.
The Garden Cinema dedicates August to Penélope Cruz. Come enjoy the Mediterranean air of Jamón Jamón (1992), the romantic angst of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and – of course – Almodóvar’s best work, featuring his muse Penélope.
The UK’s largest celebration of Irish film is back with a bang!
Irish Film London is excited to once again be celebrating Irish Film at our flagship event Irish Film Festival London with the biggest ever festival line-up for 2022.
This year’s festival, taking place between 16th- 21st of November, will have 20+ events including feature films, short film programmes and industry events. This year’s festival will also be characterised by live performances which will take place across the festival period, and include live music, spoken word and even dramatic performances
Doc’n Roll Film Festival 9th London edition returns to celebrate music subcultures by providing a unique platform to support creative, compelling and unforgettable documentaries that celebrate the performers, labels, scenes, and stories.
Both screenings at The Garden Cinema are premieres, with director Q&A’s.
THE PICCADILLY RATS: LIVE IN MODERATION pays hilarious and heartbreaking tribute to Manchester’s most famous buskers, recently featured in The Guardian.
CITY OF A MILLION DREAMS: PARADING FOR THE DEAD IN NEW ORLEANS offers a vivid, fascinating portrait of the extraordinary jazz funeral traditions of the Crescent City.
The 30th anniversary edition of the French Film Festival UK runs from 2 November to 15 December 2022 in more than 40 cinemas across the UK and at home in partnership with Curzon at Home. Highlights include 28 UK premieres and 6 classic screenings, with special guests including Charlotte Gainsbourg and Blandine Lenoir, in a festival focused on female talent, as well as veteran director Patrice Leconte.
Beginning in 1992 in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the Festival has grown exponentially in scope and stature, retaining its passion for exciting new cinematic voices.
“For three decades the French Film Festival UK has been on a journey to explore the richness and diversity of Francophone cinema and to expand cultural horizons. Post-Brexit the event’s sense of purpose in bringing together our French-speaking neighbours from Europe and beyond has become even more acute and essential. The organisers pay tribute to our audiences, sponsors and funders as well as passionate and committed individuals, who every year ensure the festival comes to vibrant life, not only in November and December but also influencing film events throughout the year. Vive le cinéma!
The Garden Cinema is proud to present a double bill of Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock and Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides to mark the launch of Hannah Strong’s book, Sofia Coppola: Forever Young.
To activate the multibuy discount (£16 for both films), add the seats you want for both films to the basket. Proceed to checkout where the discount will be automatically applied.
Hannah will introduce both films and will be signing copies of her book in the interval between screenings.
About Sofia Coppola: Forever Young
Sofia Coppola: Forever Young offers a rich and intimate look at the overarching stylistic and thematic components of Coppola’s work. In addition to critical essays about Coppola’s filmography, the book will include interviews with some of her closest collaborators, including musician Jean-Benoît Dunckel and costume designer Nancy Steiner, along with a foreword by Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher. It engages with her creative output while celebrating her talent as an image maker and storyteller. Along the way, readers meet again a cast of characters mired in the ennui of missed connections: loneliness, frustrated creativity, rebellious adolescence, and the double-edged knife of celebrity, all captured by the emotional, intimate power of the female gaze.
Ticket holders for either/both screenings can purchase the book for a special discounted price of £27 (RRP £35).
About the Author
Hannah Strong is the Digital Editor at Little White Lies magazine. Her work has appeared in Vulture, Gawker, The Times, GQ, The Guardian, and Dazed & Confused, and she regularly appears on television and radio as a film critic. Sofia Coppola: Forever Young is her first book.
IT’S BLACK AND EVERYTHING ELSE:
‘… I got my mind. And what goes on in it. Which is to say, I got me.’ – Toni Morrison
There have been many different cinema seasons for black history month, but films that highlight black pain and the injustices of an institutionally racist system are frequently foregrounded. Important though many of these films may be, they become tiring to black people, exposing them again and again to a history and presence of suffering. Navigating life is exhausting enough for black people without them having to engage with suffering and trauma in cinema. This season prioritises the interiority of black life and includes work which depicts black people within a variety of generic frameworks to explore their experience. We cannot escape racism, but we can show how black people experience it: as a distraction, as an annoyance that to be dealt with, and as a constant stress that we live with rather than struggle against. In our selections we hope to provide a more holistic examination of the interior life of black people rather than the constant battles of racism.
Playing Away
UK, 1987, Horace Ové, 100 mins
In a misplaced bid for multiculturalism, the fictional town of Sneddington invites The Conquistadors, a cricket team based in Brixton, made up of players with West Indian heritage to play a match in celebration of their ‘Third World Week’. This comedy from Horace Ové shocks and pokes fun with the reversal of white and black stereotypes. A British cricket movie that is largely ignored but deserves to be seen and talked about again.
Burning an Illusion
UK, 1981, Menelik Shabazz, 105 mins
Burning an Illusion follows Pat (Cassie McFarlane) and her social life. In the backdrop of a Thatcherite West London, Shabazz eschews the politicised, the radical and foregrounds a young black woman and leads us through how the pressures of society slowly leads her to radicalisation.
Daughters of the Dust
USA, 1991, Julie Dash, 112 mins
Julie Dash directs the first feature film distributed in the USA made by a Black woman. The story follows three generations of Gullah women of the Peazant family migrating from Saint Helena Island to the North. Shot beautifully by early Spike Lee collaborator and acclaimed video artist Arthur Jafa, Dash’s film gained critical acclaim for its lush visuals, nonlinear storytelling and sense of family, place and memory.
The Stuart Hall Project
UK, 2013, John Akomfrah, 96 mins
John Akomfrah’s archival study of the cultural theorist Stuart Hall is presented with a pointed use of Miles Davis, using the improvisation of jazz and the harmony of a jazz band in relation to the trumpet to present a multi-cultural identity to Black Britain.
Ganja and Hess
USA, 1973, Bill Gunn, 110 mins
Ganja & Hess is a unique and radically black take on the vampire genre. With hallucinatory visuals, it not only reshaped the black imagination, it also changed what vampires could signify on screen. Although director Bill Gunn – riding a wave of blaxploitation bloodsuckers in the early 1970s – said ‘the last thing I want to do is make a black vampire film’, he paved a path for black filmmakers to use genre to say what is unsayable without it.
After a break of over three years, the London Australian Film Festival returns to London screens from 5 – 13 November 2022, with screenings at Regent Street Cinema and the Garden Cinema.
The centrepiece of the 2022 festival is a tribute to Yolŋu actor and dancer David Gulpilil, with an Opening Gala screening of Molly Reynolds’ remarkable documentary portrait, MY NAME IS GULPILIL (2021) at Regent Street Cinema, followed by a short retrospective at the Garden Cinema featuring an illustrated talk, short film programme, and key features from across Gulpilil’s career.
Also screening at the Garden Cinema is a special collection of recent Australian shorts from festival partners, Australian Short Film Today, and a very special 25th Anniversary screening of legendary Australian comedy, THE CASTLE.
The London Australian Film Festival is supported by the Menzies Australia Institute (King’s College London).
DAVID GULPILIL RETROSPECTIVE
The London Australian Film Festival, in association and the Menzies Australia Institute (King’s College London), is proud to present a series of events to celebrate the life and legacy of legendary Yolŋu actor and dancer, David Gulpilil.
From the reinvigoration of feature filmmaking in the 1970s, to the flourishing of Indigenous work in the last decade, no individual has had as much impact on Australian cinema as Gulpilil. His death, late last year at the age of 68, brought to an end a miraculous but tumultuous career, and a life dedicated to taking his culture to the world.
Over the years, Australia’s leading Indigenous performer lent his unmistakable nuance to the full gamut of Aboriginal types, from the mystical stranger in Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout (1971), to a variety of trackers, tricksters, and downtrodden elders. His long-standing collaboration with Dutch-Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer – from The Tracker (2002) and Ten Canoes (2005), to Charlie’s Country (2015) – have transformed Indigenous representation and given him space to tell his own stories. From his stunning debut, right up to the recent documentary portrait My Name is Gulpilil (2021), his is a truly captivating screen presence.
To celebrate David Gulpilil’s life and work, this year’s London Australian Film Festival pays tribute with a short retrospective, as well as an illustrated talk from LAFF programmer (and Australian cinema expert), Dr Stephen Morgan.
The Garden Cinema presents Mike Leigh in Conversation, a curated retrospective in two parts, exploring the themes of his work as they have developed over the course of his career.
All screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion about their themes and content. Mike Leigh himself will be our guide, joined by friend and collaborator Gary Yershon.
2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the Raindance Film Festival, the UK’s leading indie film festival, and this year’s edition will be a celebration of 30 years of independent film in the UK. Running 26 October – 5 November, Raindance will revisit some of the most pivotal films from its archive in a series of special screenings. Raindance will also look towards the next 30 years with a programme of fresh, relevant, and radical world premieres as well as a selection of must-see titles cherry-picked from the international film festival circuit.
Discover the best new Czech films, engage with interactive augmented reality, listen to Czech music, and let yourself be carried away by Miroslav Holub’s poetry. In the 26th edition of Made in Prague Festival (1 Nov – 4 Dec 2022)
Film crosses genre with music, science enters poetry, and visual arts fuse with music to offer a rich multisensory experience in collaboration with many UK partners.
The 26th Made in Prague Festival in collaboration with the Garden Cinema proudly presents the UK Premiere of Kunstkamera, the last film by Jan Švankmajer, part of the New Czech Cinema strand showcasing the best Czech films, cherry-picked from the international festival circuit.
Organised by the Czech Centre London
The London Korean Film Festival will return to celebrate its 17th year from 3 November – 17 November 2022, featuring 35+ cinema screenings in leading venues around London.
The London Korean Film Festival has grown from humble beginnings to become one of the longest running and most respected festivals dedicated to Korean cinema in the world. It has built a name upon presenting line-ups consisting of everything from the country’s most successful blockbusters to thought-provoking independents from its finest auteurs. Across a variety of finely curated strands, LKFF aims to cater for general audiences to committed cinephiles, and everyone in between.
The 17th London Korean Film Festival is organised by the Korean Cultural Centre UK with the support of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism, Korean Film Council.
Highlighting the often overshadowed efforts of crew behind the scenes, this season will celebrate some of the highlights in Angela Allen’s illustrious career as a script supervisor. In her six decades on set, she ensured continuity for over 90 productions, working alongside some of cinema’s most notable filmmakers, including John Huston, Robert Aldrich, Franco Zeffirelli and Jim Henson. She has brushed shoulders with an abundance of renowned actors, including James Mason, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Alan Bates, Oliver Reed and Charlotte Gainsbourg, to name but a few.
Having previously spoken about working with Carol Reed after our screening of The Third Man, Angela will return to the Garden Cinema to share her stories and anecdotes, as well as answer your burning questions.
To get a preview of what’s to come, listen to our recent podcast episode, where Angela featured as a guest:
The London International Animation Festival (LIAF 2022), the UK’s largest, longest-running and most eclectic animation festival returns for its 19th year with a mammoth 10-day celebratory feast of forums, screen talks and over 250 of the best recent, historical and retrospective animated shorts and features from around the world.
As ever, this year’s uncompromising programme promises to inspire, delight and challenge the notion that animation is merely for the 3D CGI blockbuster genre or cute cartoons for kids. Independent animation is an art form that continues to thrive and develop as a breathtaking medley of styles, materials, techniques and production – from hand drawn, paint on glass, collage, sculpture, cut outs, puppets, abstract, sand/salt, to some of the more interesting developments in CGI – all of which can be seen at this year’s LIAF.
We’ve emerged from under the pile of 2,400 entries to put together a series of screenings that showcase the best 87 new films from 30 countries around the world. They can be funny, dramatic, bizarre, subdued, scary or autobiographical. The one thing they have in common is that we think they’re the pick of the crop. 8 international competition programmes. Every technique, every genre, every style – this is your annual window into the international indie animation universe
NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 4
SCREENING IN CINEMAS AND ONLINE.
The London Short Film Festival returns for its 20th edition (20th – 29th January 2023).
20 years of radical short films, immersive events, live music and creative collaboration.
Each January, LSFF hosts ten days of short form, conversation and multidisciplinary curation. We present between 250-500 British and international films each edition, collaboratively programmed down from 5000+ open submissions, alongside Special Events and an industry offering of workshops, panels and discussions for filmmakers and workers.
London Migration Film Festival is an annual film festival that has been running since 2016. The aim of the festival is to challenge the narrow rhetoric on migration that often sees migration, and people on the move, framed in reductive and dehumanising binaries. The latest edition of the festival is taking place from 24-30 November 2022.
Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. www.filmlondon.org.uk/filmhub
Focus Hong Kong is a UK film festival dedicated to celebrating the amazing cinema and filmmakers of Hong Kong, from early works to the glory days of its reign as the Hollywood of Asia, through to new and exciting films. Focus Hong Kong screens a wide range of new releases and classics, films which are vibrant, exciting, innovative and artistic, and which above all are uniquely Hong Kong.
Live stand up comedy meets cinema with the launch of this brand new format. UK’s hottest comic minds select and introduce their favourite comedy classics!
Praising Jack Nicholson’s acting talent in an interview with him in 1985, Roger Ebert points to his ability to go from one extreme to the other on screen while remaining comfortable. Jack Nicholson returns:
“I think by choice I protected that. The terrible thing for American actors is, if they have a success, everyone that they collaborate with wants them to repeat that success… By the third or fourth time, it begins to wear thin. So now they try a departure from the formula, and if it doesn’t work, they’re dead. They have to go back to repeating what they did that once worked… they may never get free again”.
But wasn’t Nicholson also afflicted by this illness he describes? By the early 90’s he had comfortably settled into the role of “Jack”, the mischievous middle-aged frisky man with the devilish eyebrows beneath his iconic Ray Bans. Those who were introduced to his work at that time could have easily underestimated him.
But Jack Nicholson is great in spite of his “Jack” persona. As Chuck Bowen writes in Slant:
“It’s startling to remember what a heartbroken live wire the actor once was, how often he chose characters that spoke directly to the baby-boomer fear that their various rebellions wouldn’t come to much. Every classic Nicholson film follows a strikingly similar trajectory of the outcast who either lives by settling for casual tragedy or dies out of wounded stubbornness. Of all the great actors to emerge from the rich period of American films that kicked off in the late 1960s and unceremoniously concluded in the mid-1970s, Nicholson stood apart as the ideal embodiment of that era’s weirdly sexy resignation”.
When we asked our members to suggest a season for The Garden Cinema, Jack Nicholson was by far the most popular choice. We would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to delve into Nicholson’s incredible career with a line-up of films chosen by you in our members poll. Nicholson is not only a great actor, but also a great artist who embodied the visions of directors like Stanley Kubrick, Milos Forman, Roman Polanski, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese. Not to mention he invented “Jack” – our favourite artificial Hollywood persona of all time. We love every inch of him!!
Klassiki, the world’s first streaming platform dedicated to classic and contemporary cinema from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, are proud to partner with the Georgian National Film Centre to program a five-film retrospective of Georgian auteur Eldar Shengelaia, running from 9 February to 2 March 2023. Highlights include cinema screenings of classic Shengelaia titles The White Caravan (1964) and Blue Mountains (1983) at the Garden Cinema, London, as well as the online premieres of both these films alongside An Unusual Exhibition (1968), Eccentrics (1974), and The Chair (2017). These films will then be available in the Klassiki library.Classic Georgian cinema has long been defined by the auteurs who lit up the Soviet studio system with their poetic visual imagination: Tengiz Abuladze, Otar Iosseliani, and others. Perhaps the most under-appreciated of these figures outside of Georgia, Eldar Shengelaia, is nonetheless one of the most significant film artists the country has produced, his works retaining their political and artistic sharpness to this day.The scion of a filmmaking family – his father Nikoloz and brother Giorgi were both directors – Eldar’s subversive satires pointedly attack the strictures of the Soviet system but never resort to crass political statements. He often explores the role of the artist in society, including in his two most celebrated features, Blue Mountains (1983) and An Unusual Exhibition (1968). Shengelaia is best-known in Georgia for his post-film career as a pro-independence politician who helped bring down the curtain on Soviet rule in the country: a remarkable second act in the life of an artist who provides an irreplaceable connection to the cultural and political legacies of the twentieth century.
From Tuesday 3 until Tuesday 17 January, some familiar titles will be reappearing in the Garden Cinema programme. Forget Sight and Sound, these were the top ranking films in our Garden Cinema Staff Picks Poll 2022, chosen from all the films that we screened during the past year.
Join us to catch up with films you may have missed the first time, or to indulge in a repeat-viewing.
All films in this season received multiple votes, but the two films that came out on top were:
Best New Release: Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021, Japan)
Best Classic Title: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974, Germany)
Employing a unique blend of magical realism and anarchical wit, Terry Gilliam might be regarded as the king of cult cinema, his films ever-growing in status and adoration. In February, The Garden Cinema will be screening a selection of these extraordinarily imaginative and ambitious films.
Terry Gilliam will be at The Garden Cinema on Saturday 25th February for a post-screening discussion of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018), chaired by producer, presenter and film critic Jason Solomons. Additionally, Terry will introduce a screening of Tideland (2005) on the same day.
Booking will open for members at 1pm on Tuesday 17th January.
General sales will open at 1pm on Friday 20th January.
Kino Short Film has been running since 2009 and supports all levels of filmmakers, from absolute beginners to career professionals. Kino is infamous for their unique Short Film Open Mic – the most inclusive way to showcase short film. Additionally they offer a Short of the Week online series, industry networking opportunities, short film production support and the BIFA Qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival – run by filmmakers for filmmakers.
Buy tickets to each of the four Kino London Screenings and the fourth ticket will automatically be free.
Mini film festival ‘Donne di Mafia, having a voice’ returns for its third year at the Garden Cinema, in London.
Organised by CinemaItaliaUK and sponsored by Jacobacci & Associati and the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, University of Bath, Donne di Mafia film festival will take place at the Garden Cinema on 4 – 5 March 2023.
Two features and a short film will be shown over the course to the weekend. The two features address the question of women in the Calabrian and Sicilian mafia contexts, while the short film proposes a different reading of events of post-war Italy, mafia, secret services and politics.
Panels & Screening
Stay Behind (2022)
Film Director: Federica Schiavello
Introduced by Felia Allum, Professor of comparative organised crime & corruption, University of Bath
Una feminina, The Code of Silence (2022)
Film director: Francesco Costabile
Panel: Antonio Nicaso, author and mafia expert, &
Anna Maria Frustaci, Antimafia prosecutor, Procura di Catanzaro, Italy
Prima Donna, The girl from tomorrow (2022)
Film director: Marta Savina
Panel: Dr Rossella Merlino, University of Messina, Italy, &
Dr Adalgisa Giorgio, Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Bath & Associate Fellow, Institute of Languages, Cultures & Societies, University of London, UK
If tickets for Stay Behind, Una Femmina – The Code of Silence, and Prima Donna, The Girl from Tomorrow are all in the shopping basket the price will automatically reduce to the ‘mini-festival pass’ cost of £25.
Following on from our ‘Taste of Queer Cinema’ season in February, we are continuing our exploration of contemporary and future Queer classics. The season Celebrating Queer Cinema will include expert introductions, panel discussions, networking, a fundraiser, a Burlesque performance, and more!
We hope you’ll be able to join us for our screenings of these classics, as well as one of the special events outlined below:
Thursday 6 April, 20:20: Queerama + Pre-recorded introduction by Director Daisy Asquith and mingling in the bar with the Queer Filmmakers Network.
Sunday 9 April, 17:15: Beau Travail + Introduction by Professor Rosalind Galt.Thursday 13 April, 20:05: Tangerine + Panel discussion in partnership with oestrogeneration.Friday 14 April, 18:30: All About My Mother + Queer Members Mixer.Tuesday 18 April, 20:00: Moonlight + Panel discussion in partnership with BLKOUT_UK. Wednesday 19 April, 20:00 & Wednesday 26 April, 18:00: Rebel Dykes + Pre-recorded Q&A with the filmmakers.Friday 21 April, 20:00: Cabaret + Burlesque performance by Señorita Scarlett. Saturday 22 April, 14:00 & 15:45, & Friday 28 April, 18:00: Queer East FestivalSunday 23 April, 15:00: 120 BPM (Beats Per Minute) + Panel discussion in partenrship with The People’s Film Club. Funds raised will support the HIV charity Positive East.Thursday 27 April, 20:10: Portrait of a Lady on Fire + Introduction by Dr Alice PemberFrom Friday 5 May: The Blue Caftan– New ReleaseFriday 12 May, 20:45: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – Musical Friday
Additional Films & Sceenings Below:
The Garden Cinema is turning 1!
To mark one year of celebrating the art of film in the heart of London we’re handing over control to our fabulous members who have sustained us and continue to inspire us. On Saturday 25 March we will be showing members’ proposals all day. And as a thank you for your support, tickets for members will be £5 for any 1st Anniversary screening.
Join us in the evening for our Members only party followed by a screening of Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso.
Not a member? You can still take advantage of our £20 lifetime membership deal up until midnight on 25 March.
May 2023 will see the UK release of two films by Arab women directors, Myriam Touzani’s festival hit The Blue Caftan and Erige Sehiri’s Tunisian-set, Directors’ Fortnight entry Under The Fig Trees.
To celebrate these releases, we’ve collated recent key feature films made by Arab women directors that, together, offer a rich and diverse introduction to filmmaking from the region. We picked films that tell everyday, very human stories, away from sensationalist and reductionist portrayals too often offered up by depictions of the Arab world. These films together will form our latest season:
Mukhrijat: Arab Women Filmmakers. The films will be complemented by introductions, Q&As and events.
We will kickstart the season with a screening of contemporary shorts and a panel discussion about filmmaking in the region. The audience will have a chance to mingle with filmmakers and speakers in the bar afterwards.
After this, we travel across the Near and Middle East, to Lebanon with Cannes Jury Prize winner Capernaum by Nadine Labaki, who found fame with the beauty salon drama Caramel. Labaki’s compatriot Joana Hadjitomas is a renowned visual artist. Her film Memory Box, made with long-term partner Khalil Joreige, which tackles the troubled legacy of 1980s Lebanon, was a critical hit. Onto Egypt, where Ayten Amin’s Souad examines how three people’s lives become entangled through an exploration of social media identities.
Next stop, Palestine, where one of the most well-known Arab women filmmakers is Palestinian Annemarie Jacir, whose highly praised estranged father and son savage comedy Wajib, stars Saleh Bakri, the lead in The Blue Caftan. In fact, in recent years, Palestine has churned out the largest number of women filmmakers. As part of the season, we will be hosting an event to shed light on the current territorial issues faced by Palestinians by showing Between Heaven and Earth by Najwa Najjar. The film navigates the cruel and kafkaesque splintering of land through the prism of the seemingly mundane divorce proceedings of Salma and Tamer. This screening is part of double bill with Sarah Beddington’s stunning documentary Fadia’s Tree, which will be followed by a Q&A.
The season Mukhrijat: Arab Women Filmmakers is curated in partnership with AWAN, Mydylarama, MENA Arts UK and the Arab Film Club.
Booking is now open for all films and events!
Queer East is a cross-disciplinary festival that showcases boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ cinema, moving image work and live arts from, and about, East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities. Its fourth edition runs from 18 to 30 April in venues across London, inviting everyone to be part of the conversation on what it means to be Asian and queer today.
The Clermont–Ferrand International Short Film Festival is one of the largest short film festivals in the world. Nestled within the mountainous region of Auvergne in France, it has a huge and eclectic programme of animation, experimental, audience screenings and more, and hosts 200,000 visitors every year. For the first time, the festival, with the support of programmer Tim Redford and Mydylarama, joins us on this side of the pond with 4 curated programmes, celebrating UK, French and international selections, in addition to a special ‘Pay What You Can’ screening of animated short films for the family.
Buy a ticket to two of the Clermont-Ferrand evening screenings for the discounted price of £15, buy a ticket to 3 of the evening screenings for the discounted price of £20. This applies to the following screenings- the LAB Competition, The French Competition and The International Competition. Prices will automatically update in your basket.
The UK’s largest festival of Arab cinema heads to Garden Cinema for the first time this July!
For its eighth edition, SAFAR is embarking on a journey through space and time in Arab cinema, mapping the region across a new axis and showcasing films which traverse territories and historical periods.
The programme hones in on films with distinct locations and settings rarely seen on screen. Several filmmakers venture into uncharted geographies to bring their tales to life, while others spin fresh perspectives on the domestic and the familiar. Some revisit the past to better understand their present, using archive, oral history, pop culture and period costume to uncover forgotten or unheard stories.
Documentaries and fictions transport the public through time to Cairo, Damascus and Beirut: as they were filmed in the 80’s and 90’s by revered filmmakers Youssef Chahine, Borhane Alaouié and Mohamed Malas, and as they are filmed today through new lenses.
A focus on contemporary Moroccan filmmaking presents a cinema not shying away from exploring queerness, classism and segregation, and a special programme of screenings and talks with Palestinian filmmakers and artists commemorates 75 years since the Nakba.
SAFAR is presented in partnership with the Shubbak Festival and is supported by the British Council, the Bagri Foundation and the City of London Corporation. It screens in 4 venues across London and 8 other cities across the UK from 29 June – 9 July. View the full programme here.
Focus Hong Kong is a UK film festival dedicated to celebrating the amazing cinema and filmmakers of Hong Kong, from early works to the glory days of its reign as the Hollywood of Asia, through to new and exciting films. Focus Hong Kong screens a wide range of new releases and classics, films which are vibrant, exciting, innovative and artistic, and which above all are uniquely Hong Kong.
Get ready for an out-of-this-world experience as the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival arrives at The Garden Cinema. The festival promises to deliver an exciting line-up of international science fiction cinema. From thought-provoking dramas to spine-tingling thrillers, this year’s festival is not to be missed. Explore the cutting-edge of the genre and be immersed in fantastical worlds and mind-bending concepts. Full festival details at https://sci-fi-london.com
Social media tags #SFL2023 #SFL48HR
In partnership with the German Screen Studies Network, The Garden Cinema presents an exploration of the innovative and influential filmmaking emerging from West Germany in the 1960s, with a particular focus on eight key films made between 1972 and 1979.
This season will present some of the most celebrated films from the key filmmakers of the movement. Enhanced by expert introductions and post film discussion groups, our audience will be encouraged to consider these films within the context of the physical and psychological wounds of WWII, and the sweeping social changes brought about by rapid economic growth in the postwar period.
These eight films were made by young directors attempting to break away from the shadow of the previous generation, whilst contending with the ideological and geographical divisions of the country in the midst of the Cold War. The influence of Hollywood cinema pushes up against the bomb scarred industrial cities in the early road movies of Wim Wenders and in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s melodramas, Werner Herzog mines history to explore wild states of human psychology, and Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta engage directly with 20th century politics and history through both journalistic realism and remarkable allegory.
“The old cinema is dead. We believe in the new cinema” – Oberhausen Manifesto (1962)
Throughout February The Garden Cinema is celebrating LGBT+ History Month. Expect panel discussions, poetry readings and filmmaker networking. Plus, join us in the bar to meet up with old friends and new.
Breakdown of screenings and events below:
From 27 January, don’t miss All the Beauty & The Bloodshed, which follows the photographer and activist Nan Goldin, famous for her intimate photographs documenting gay subcultures in New York, as she protests against the Sackler family for their role in the opioid crisis.
From 10 February, catch Georgia Oakley’s BAFTA-nominated debut Blue Jean: a searing portrait of life under Section 28 in 1980’s England. The screening on 15 February will be followed by a panel discussion with Hélène Sifre (producer of Blue Jean), Laila El-Metoui (Founder of Pride in Education), and Sarah Drummond (Director of Don’t Say Gay- a feature documentary uncovering the story of Section 28). The panel will be hosted by Trudy Howson (the LGBT Poet Laureate).
On 17 February, we are thrilled to present Gateways Grind + Q&A with director Jacquie Lawrence and producer Felicity Milton, hosted by the LGBT Poet Laureate Trudy Howson. The film relives the glory of the Gateways club, London’s longest-surviving lesbian club, with Sandi Toksvig as your guide.
On 22 February there’s also a chance to see the LGBT classic Victim on the big screen. Basil Dearden’s groundbreaking drama was one of the first films to address homophobia head-on, a cry of protest against British laws forbidding homosexuality.
From 24 February, we’re proud to be screening Saim Sadiq’s dazzling debut Joyland, which won the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Join the Queer Filmmakers Network for mingling in the bar before and after the screening on 24 February, or join us on 26 February for a special fundraiser screening and panel discussion.
*Stay tuned for our upcoming season in April, delving deeper into Queer Cinema*.
In partnership with Film Africa, and King’s College London and Screen Worlds, featuring expert introductions and post film discussion groups, this major new season at The Garden Cinema invites audiences to experience nine masterpieces arising from postcolonial and contemporary Francophone West Africa.
The season begins with two films by ‘the father of African film’ Ousmane Sembène: Black Girl (1966), a new entry in the 2022 Sight and Sound top 100, and the 2020 restoration of Sembène’s satire of postcolonial Senegalese bureaucracy Mandabi (1968). Sembène is joined by his compatriot Djibril Diop Mambéty, whose classic Touki Bouki (1973 – also appearing in last year’s S&S poll – features here alongside his late masterpiece Hyenas (1992). We pay tribute to the great Malian director Souleymane Cissé with an extremely rare screening of the politically charged tale of youth in revolt, The Wind (1982), and the much-acclaimed Yeelen (1987), a magic infused counter narrative to Western ethnography. Also working predominantly in Mali, and with a new feature slated for release in 2023, Abderrahmane Sissako’s films confront immediate political and cultural fractures. In Bamako (2006) he stages an audacious trial to take the IMF and World Bank to task for their destructive legacy in Africa. And in Timbuktu (2014) Sissako finds poetry and humour in a heart wrenching story of life under Jihadist rule in the titular city. Our season culminates in diasporic filmmaker Mati Diop’s haunted, beautiful, and mourning tribute to Dakar and the young men who risk their lives attempting the perilous Atlantic crossing to Europe, Atlantics (2019). Additionally, selected features in the season will be paired with short films by contemporary filmmakers from the region.
Audiences will be encouraged to consider these films in relation to each other, as responses, echoes, or significant breaks away from European film movements, and other global cinemas. Does Francophone West African cinema construct a unique cinematic language or is such a notion impossible, given the colonial history of both the region and the art and technology of film itself? Can the immediate postcolonial responses of Sembène and Mambéty be compared to the more recent work by Sissako and Diop? We will question whether the categories of ‘African film’, or even ‘Francophone West African cinema’, are sufficient to contain the stories of such a vast and complex landscape.
Alongside films and talks, this season will include special events involving live music from kora maestro Kadialy Kouyate, readings, and food and drinks provided by Taste Black History, to augment selected screenings. See individual film pages for more details including guest speakers and discussion group dates and times.
Whilst Hollywood has often garlanded particularly slick and soft depictions of the movies with Oscars galore, our selection of Hollywood on Hollywood films spotlights the most bitingly satirical, truly interesting, or blissfully entertaining examples from the industry’s undying focus on itself.
Hollywood has documented, celebrated, and satirised itself since its foundation in the mid-1910s. A frustrated film director repeatedly pushes Chaplin’s Little Tramp out of his shot in Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914). Paramount advertised the new California dream factory in an early documentary, A Trip to Paramountown (1922), and the success stories of those drawn West seeking stardom were celebrated in silent comedies from major studios such as MGM and Paramount itself.
The impulse to stage the filmmaking process, the glitz of stardom, and the cutthroat nature of the industry, has prevailed over the last century. Our season begins in the 1950s and 60s, where celebrations of Hollywood history and movie-magic such as Singin’ in the Rain and A Star is Born sit side-by-side with savage depictions of stars discarded by the system in Sunset Boulevard and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. In the New Hollywood period and beyond, the studios’ collusion with McCarthy’s communist witch hunts is condemned in The Front, David Mamet skewers the on-set experience with razor sharp wit in State and Main, and Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman provided perhaps the best image of Hollywood in the metafictional Adaptation: a snake eating its own tail. Finally we present the most unclassifiable vision of Hollywood, David Lynch’s nightmarish and seductive Mulholland Drive.
Join us on 23 July for a triple bill of one of the great cinematic achievements: Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Trilogy.
A multibuy offer (you cannot refuse) applies to our Godfather Sunday.
Tickets to 2 of the 3 films in your basket will automatically discount to £20 (non-members) / £16 (members) total.
Tickets to all 3 films in your basket will discount to £28 (non-members) / £20 (members) total.
The Garden Cinema is delighted to host a weekend of screenings and events celebrating the films and music of one of the UK’s foremost artists: Sally Potter. This retrospective anticipates the 14 July release of Sally’s debut album, Pink Bikini, a semi-autobiographical collection of songs about growing up female in London in the 1960s, as a young rebel and activist. Sally will be live at the Garden Cinema for Q&As following Orlando and Yes and giving a special introduction to The Party. Additionally, Sally will be discussing her album, film music, and more with Miranda Sawyer on Friday 9 June.
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s award-winning trilogy explores the French Revolutionary ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood, and their relevance to the contemporary world. It is a snapshot of European life at a time of reconstruction after the Cold War, reflected through the filmmaker’s moralist view of human nature and illuminated by each title’s palette colour.
SUPAKINO presents a “Living For The City” double bill of Charlie Chaplin’s MODERN TIMES (1936) & Raj Kapoor’s SHREE 420 (1955). Ranjit S. Ruprai will be exploring the connections between these films and will be joined by special guest Dr. Kulraj Phullar, film scholar and teacher.
BOMBAY MIX: Indian cinema meets the rest of the world in a mix of movies that share themes, stories and genres. Part of an on-going programme of double bills that invite audiences to explore cinema and make new connections.
SUPAKINO: Ranjit S. Ruprai is an independent programmer and supporter of indie cinemas, film festivals and film clubs in London. Since founding SUPAKINO, he has been presenting friendly film screenings around fun and unusual themes including Turbans Seen On Screen, Bombay Mix double bills and Midnight Excess late-night shows. Learn more at: supakino.com
Individual tickets to each film are £12/£10 for members. If buying tickets to both films in the double bill, the price will automatically be discounted to £18/14 for members.
The Garden Cinema is proud to present a major retrospective of the legendary master of suspense: Alfred Hitchcock. Arranged in three parts, this season provides an overview of Hitchcock’s career and contains his most revered films.
Until 8 June:
Act I: 1927 – 1945, Britain and Early Hollywood years
We begin our journey on these shores, in the fog of the silent era, for Alfred Hitchcock’s breakthrough film, The Lodger (1927). After taking in some of the greatest British thrillers such as The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938), we’ll be whisked away to Hollywood by David O. Selznick for the first of his collaborations with Hitchcock, the hauntingly magnificent Rebecca (1940). Hitchcock’s favourite of his own creation, Shadow of a Doubt (1943), will round out Act I. Check listings for screenings with guest introductions and a specially commissioned new live score for The Lodger.
Until 19 July:
Act II: 1945 – 1954, Post-war Hollywood and Independent Productions
The end of WWII corresponds with the end of Hitchcock’s working relationship with David O. Selznick, but not before they make Spellbound. Having endured the spectre of Selznick’s influence over the production of Notorious, even after sale of the project to RKO, Hitchcock founded his own production company, Transatlantic Pictures. Stung by the interference of studios (and Selznick), independence allowed Hitchcock to experiment with Rope and, with considerable effort, to make Strangers on a Train. But despite their formidable status today, both films received lukewarm receptions from critics and audiences. We end this section of the season with a taste of what is to follow, a first collaboration with Grace Kelly with Dial M for Murder.
From 11 August:
Act III: 1954 – 1963, Hitchcock’s Masterpieces
Our Hitchcock odyssey concludes with arguably his most fertile period: an inspired decade-long stretch during which he made some of Hollywood’s most beloved movies. Of the titles shown here, Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), Rear Window (1954), and North by Northwest (1959) feature in the top 50 of Sight and Sound’s recent greatest films of all time poll, with The Birds (1963) also listed in the top 200. Alongside this pantheon of classics are perhaps the lightest of his late works, To Catch a Thief (1955), and the only instance of Hitch reworking Hitch, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).
Check listings for screenings with guest introductions and discussions.
For the first time in the UK, masterpieces from 1980s, 90s, and 00s Taiwanese cinema will be screened collectively in a groundbreaking new season at The Garden Cinema.
Geopolitically unique, Taiwan [Republic of China] defines itself through and against a notoriously unstable relationship with Mainland China and the high stakes cultural, technological, and military competition that continues to escalate both regionally and globally.
It is tempting to draw similar comparisons between the cinema of Taiwan and the Mainland which pit creative freedom against state censorship, and cultural conservatism against progressive social attitudes. But whilst there is value in such assessments, to view New Taiwanese Cinema through such a prism is to negate more localised cultural and industrial currents and tensions in Taiwan during the late 20th century. Early portmanteau films in this season (In Our Time and The Sandwich Man) were produced through the Government’s Central Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC) in an attempt to define an authentic national cinematic style. But it was not until the 1987 Taiwan Cinema Manifesto that a concerted, and auteur driven, effort to deviate from the commercial style of filmmaking (effectively mimicking Hong Kong and Hollywood), arose. Whilst this marks a controversial moment in Taiwan cinema that sparked debates over the relationship between art, entertainment, and commerce, the subsequent period from the late 1980s to early 2000s saw the refinement of a cinematic movement that would result in some of the most beloved and highly regarded films of all time, made by a group of now-legendary directors.
Predicated around three pillars of Taiwanese cinema, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, and Tsai Ming-liang, this new season invites audiences to engage with a selection of films from the first (1980s) and second (1990s-2000s) waves of New Taiwanese Cinema on their own aesthetic and narrative terms, as well as within wider national and international contexts. Hou’s international breakthrough, the autobiographical A Time to Live, a Time to Die plays alongside the sumptuous new restoration of Flowers of Shanghai. Two of Tsai’s 90s queer cinema classics, Rebels of the Neon God and Vive L’Amour, complement his timeless meditation on cinema going, Goodbye, Dragon Inn (presented here in a double bill with King Hu’s wuxia classic Dragon Inn). Edward Yang is celebrated here with two works considered to be amongst the greatest of all time: his epic A Brighter Summer Day and Yi Yi.
Guided by regular introductions and discussion groups, these screenings offer the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in the cinema of Taiwan for the first time, or to experience these classics anew on the big screen.
…the art of sports documentary. This summer we will be screening a range of remarkable documentary films accompanied by a plethora of introductions and post-screening discussions in which we will be meeting with directors, athletes, journalists, authors and producers to contextualise and share our collective responses to these extraordinary films.
As recommendations of your favourite films have been pouring into our Members’ Area daily, our team have continuously been discussing your suggestions. Some have led us to films we have not previously seen, and others have reminded us of filmmakers whose work we’ve not had a chance to screen yet.
With so many incredible films to choose from, and a limited number of slots available for our Free Members’ Screenings, we have decided to create some extra space in our schedule to feature more of your best-loved films. This Summer, we will be screening a selection of the most up-voted film suggestions on the Members’ Area – the films that received the most likes, or gained the most enthusiastic response from fellow members.
We hope you’ll be able to join us throughout July and August, but we have every intention to keep adding members’ suggestions to our programming where possible. So please keep your recommendations coming – and don’t forget to ‘like’ or comment underneath any film proposals you agree with!
And if you’re not a member yet, but would like to get involved: Annual Membership is still available for just £20.
Throughout July and August, we’re excited to present an array of screenings and special events around South Asian Heritage Month 2023, which is themed ‘Stories to Tell.’ The films chosen include suggestions by our members and local residents, alongside partnership events with curator Anupma Shanker, SUPAKINO, and London Bengali Film Festival. The screenings will explore a range of themes, from identity and community to gender, faith, and family, with a special focus on music, dance and drama.
The season opens with Jean Renoir’s intoxicating first colour feature The River, a glorious tribute to the sights and sounds of Indian culture. The film will be introduced by Anupma Shanker and preceded by an Odissi dance performance by Prachi Hota. We also screen Satyajit Ray’s debut feature, Pather Panchali, which revolutionised Indian cinema.
On India Independence Day, there’s chance to see Sandhya Suri’s remarkable, Around India with a Movie Camera, which draws exclusively from the BFI National Archive and features some of the earliest surviving footage from India.
From Bangladesh, we are proud to present Tareque Masud’s rarely screened masterpiece, The Clay Bird, and London Bengali Film Festival also presents a preview of Muhammad Quayum’s award-winning debut feature, The Golden Wings of Watercocks.
For the 40th Anniversary of Octopussy, SUPAKINO brings Turbans Seen On Screen to The Garden Cinema: film screenings featuring notable characters wearing turbans. This under-screened Bond film is surrounded by many fascinating stories linking British film history to the British South Asian experience.
Saim Sadiq’s dazzling Joyland, one of the most acclaimed films of the year, will return to our screens, as well as Gurinder Chadha’s Bruce Springsteen jukebox comedy Blinded by the Light as part of Musical Fridays. Our Films For The Family screening is the Oscar-nominated animation, The Breadwinner.
See individual film pages for more details, including guest speakers.
This October, to mark Black History Month, the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush in the UK, and following from our recent Francophone West African season, we’re filling our regular Musical Friday slots with music inspired films, documentaries, and musicals that explore Caribbean culture and history.
Our mini-season begins on these shores with an extremely rare cinema screening of Steve McQueen’s magnificent and joyful Lovers Rock (2020) on 6 October – introduced by the film’s co-writer, playwright and novelist, Courttia Newland. . This screening is free and included in the ticket for our Garden Cinema house party. Our very own Blues Party is in partnership with Lin Kam Art and will see contemporary sets from the next generation of British DJ talent as well as Linett Kamala herself spinning lover’s rock and classic dub from a vintage soundsystem provided by Audio Gold in our bar – stocked with Red Stripe, Guinness, rum, and maybe even a Cherry B… A selection of short films and archive material curated by Theatrum Mundi will play in both screens during our late evening sets.
Tickets for the party are £14 (members) and £16 (non-members).
The UK’s leading black music expert and author Lloyd Bradley (Sounds Like London, Bass Culture) will be on hand on 13 October to introduce a screening of the enduring Jamaican classic, The Harder They Come (1972), fresh from 50th anniversary screenings last year, and the centrepiece of Lloyd’s ‘From Jamaica to the World: Reggae on Film’ season for the BFI in 2022.
Described by bfi.org as ‘the African musical masterpiece you’ve never seen’ (and featuring in the recent Sight and Sound greatest films of all-time list), Med Hondo’s West Indies (1979) is a wholly unique and utterly astonishing Brechtian depiction and critique of colonial rule in the French West Indies. This UK premiere of a new digital restoration on 20 October will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Theatrum Mundi co-director, curator, and poet, Labeja Kodua, and featuring Dr Sarah Jilani (City, University of London). The full list of panellists will be announced shortly.
The journey concludes on 27 October with the recent restoration and rediscovery of Kavery Kaul’s essential, nostalgic, and infectious document of the 1986 Trinidad and Tobago carnival, told through Calypso legends Lord Kitchener and Calypso Rose, One Hand Don’t Clap (1991). We’ll be pumping Soca and Calypso in the bar and serving up Dr Gee’s notorious rum punch all evening. Kavery Kaul herself will beam in via technology for a post screening Q&A/carnival memory sharing session.
Our line-up of screenings + events is as follows:
6 October: Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen, 2020) + Garden Cinema house party
13 October: The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1972) + introduction from Lloyd Bradley
20 October: West Indies (Med Hondo, 1979) + panel discussion
27 October: One Hand Don’t Clap (Kavery Kaul, 1991) + director Q&A + Soca takeover
We understand that cinema prices can be prohibitive to many during a cost of living crisis, and that West End venues might be seen as exclusory spaces for some. We are thus working with our partners, Lin Kam Art, Redeye, and the Black Cultural Archive’s Youth Forum to provide free tickets to all events in this season to Caribbean heritage audiences in London who might not otherwise be able to afford, or feel comfortable, attending.
As the nights draw in, and the mercury drops, steel your nerves as unfathomable horrors and restless spirits re-emerge into The Garden Cemetery…
Throughout October we’re celebrating cinema of the eldritch and condemned, with a macabre Members’ choice screening, a selection of creepy classics, several burnt offerings from some of our favourite regular partners, one dangerously cursed film quiz, and The Garden Cinema’s own Colour in the Dark mini-season, curated by our most Sinister Sister.
From 29/9: The Exorcist (50th anniversary screenings)
12/10: Cinema Rising present – The Empty Man
18/10: Members’ Halloween Film Quiz
From 20/10: Christine (40th anniversary screenings)
21/10: Colour in the Dark #1 – The Abominable Dr. Phibes
22/10: Colour in the Dark #2 – Daughters of Darkness
24/10: Members’ screening – Kwaidan (ticketed screening 1/11)
28/10: Colour in the Dark #3 – The Love Witch
29/10: Colour in the Dark #4 – Mystery movie
28,29/10: Family Screening – Hocus Pocus
30/10: Focus Hong Kong present – Visible Secret
31/10: Video Bazaar present – Eyes of Fire
4,5/11: Family Screening- Coco
This October, The Garden Cinema brings you two weekends of enchantingly chilling Halloween selections, handpicked by our lovable resident spook, the Sinister Sister. The mini-season will explore the brightly lit, dreamy and bedazzled facets of horror, from candy coloured cult classics to contemporary homages to all things sugar-sweet and kitch.
Robert Fuest’s horror Comedy The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Starring the inimitable Vincent Price as the titular Phibes, seeking revenge for the death of his wife in a technicolour frenzy of audacious schemes, elaborate wardrobes, and a gentle waltz or two..
Delphine Seyrig’s bewitching and mysterious Countess Bathory, lures you back into our darkened screens as she tightens her perfectly manicured grip around a pair of unassuming young newlyweds in Harry Kumel’s Daughters of Darkness.
Anna Biller’s The Love Witch finds Elaine, a beautiful young witch, breezing into the occult-friendly town of Arcata, California, determined to finally find a man to love her. A playful and fiery take on female desire, love, and independence, paying homage to 1950s Hollywood melodrama – laden with candles, cauldrons and catastrophe…
Join us after our screening of The Love Witch for an intimate soiree in the garden bar to sample our love potion cocktail and pose as your chosen tarot card in our mini photo booth.
Shhh! Colour in the Dark ends with a secret screening on 29 October, the title of which will be revealed only once you are comfortable in your seats. We may drop a few hints along the way, we can promise a little more of the bold and strange delights which you seek – but for now, let us keep you in the dark…
*Multi-buy Offer: With tickets for all four screenings in your basket, the price will automatically reduce to £25.
There’s something about old ladies… I can’t stand them! – The Ladykillers
This Autumn, The Garden Cinema is celebrating Ealing Comedies!
Every Wednesday, from October 25th and all the way to November, we will be screening a quintessential Ealing Comedy, followed by a discussion group in The Garden Cinema’s cosy den.
Grazia Ingravalle [QMUL] and Lawrence Napper [KCL] will be taking turns diving into The Ladykillers, Hue and Cry, The Man in the White Suit, Kind Hearts and Coronets, and Passport to Pimlico. They will be touching on the humour, political undertones, and lovable eccentricity of films that have made a mark on film history and are still admired by cinephiles worldwide. We will discuss Ealing’s depiction of communities and Britishness, light-hearted conservatism and gender stereotypes all the while revelling in their tongue-in-cheek comedy.
Ealing comedies had a knack for showcasing actors who would eventually become household names. Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, Stanley Holloway, Joan Greenwood, and others got their start in Ealing comedies.
We will launch on 25 October with an Ealing Comedies inspired members’ party, followed by a screening of The Ladykillers, and a panel discussion between Grazia Ingravalle and Lawrence Napper to introduce Ealing Comedies and the season’s format. The evening will culminate with drinks in our plush cinema bar, where Lawrence and Grazia will informally discuss The Ladykillers with you over a dedicated Ealing Comedy cocktail.
Let’s start the fun!