Featuring exclusive film previews, interviews and much more, this is the place for anyone slightly obsessed with cinema.
23 Nov 22
'An Intro To...' is a fantastic season of monthly screenings giving audiences a taster of aspects of independent cinema that you may not have had a chance to explore before or that you would like a refresher in.
Through their interactive events, you will get the chance to experience 6 different genres of independent cinema with a community of like-minded people.
Whether you can name every Scorsese film ever made, you've yet to set foot back in a cinema since the pandemic, or you just want to escape the outside world for a few hours; this is a space for you to make your own, to share stories and maybe even to discover a love for film along the way.
Queen And Slim — Monday 24 April at 6.30pm
Queen & Slim is the feature directorial debut for Melin Matsoukas centring on the story of a young couple who go on the run following their self defence killing of a police officer at a traffic stop. Whilst on the run, the couple find that their actions have become much bigger than themselves, they have become a symbol of trauma, grief, pain and protest.
Through this event we will be questioning how film can be used to unearth difficult topics, and how it can force us to look at our society for what it is and talk back to the politics of a time with a new voice.
Find out more and book tickets here.
Persepolis — Monday 5 December at 6.30pm
Moonlight — 21st November, 6:30pm
In 2017 Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins, became the first LGBTQ film with an all-black cast to win the Oscar for Best Picture. It's editor Joi McMillon became the first black woman to be nominated for an editing Oscar, and actor Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim to win an acting Oscar.
Through this event we will be asking are awards important? What is it that makes a film 'Oscar worthy'? And how has this category of the 'award worthy film' been used to exclude underrepresented voices from cinema?
"A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighbourhood of Miami. At once a vital portrait of contemporary African-American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship, and love, Moonlight is a groundbreaking piece of cinema that reverberates with deep compassion and universal truths."
La Haine — Monday 30 January at 6.30pm
La Haine has been described as "a landmark of contemporary French cinema" and "one of the most profound, political films in French history." Its explosive story takes an unflinching look at the volatility of racial and cultural relations in modern-day France, and the tensions that underpin 'a society in free fall.'
Through this event we will explore how translation and translated film is key to seeing worlds outside our own, and how the art of translation works to share stories with new audiences and allows more and more voices to be heard.
Flee — Monday 20 February at 6.30pm
Flee is a documentary following the story of a man fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark, told through the form of animation. Flee won a number of awards including Best Feature Film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Best Animated Feature at the 49th Annie Awards - it was the first ever animated documentary film to win either of these awards.
Through this event we will be questioning what 'the documentary' means and how this can be challenged and pushed, and how the forms of the documentary and animation can blend together to make a new kind of storytelling.
Pariah — Monday 13 March at 6.30pm
Pariah follows the story of Alike, a 17 year old black teenager starting her journey into embracing her identity as a lesbian whilst juggling the minefields of friendship, heartbreak and a family that doesn't understand her. As Dee Rees' debut feature film, Pariah took five years to receive funding to be able to complete the project and at the time of release (2011) was one of very few films that showed a coming of age story of a young black queer person.
Through this event we will be looking at how queer cinema has been silenced over the years, and asking why it is still so difficult to see non-white queer stories on screen.
With the support of the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to bring this project to more audiences across the UK.
