MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI LAUREL AND HARDY ALEXANDER KORDA CHINESE NEW YEAR JAN 2019 BFI SOUTHBANK

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1 MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI LAUREL AND HARDY ALEXANDER KORDA CHINESE NEW YEAR JAN 2019 BFI SOUTHBANK

2 ORIGINAL VINTAGE POSTERS Wide variety of posters from around the world: Travel Sports incl. Ski Posters War and Propaganda Advertising Film Posters Poster Restoration Poster Auctions AntikBar Original Vintage Posters 404 King s Road, London SW10 0LJ Tel:

3 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 BIG SCREEN CLASSICS The timeless films we urge you to see (for just 8), programmed by theme NEW RELEASES The best new cinema for you to enjoy, with plenty of screening dates to choose from SEASONS Carefully curated collections of film and TV, which showcase an influential genre, theme or talent Häxan (p36) Stan & Ollie (p10) L eclisse (p20) BOOKING DATES PATRONS AND CHAMPIONS Mon 3 Dec (from 11:30) MEMBERS Tue 4 Dec (from 11:30) PUBLIC Tue 11 Dec (from 11:30) bfi.org.uk/whatson :30 20:30 daily In person 11:00 20:30 daily JOIN TODAY FOR PRIORITY BOOKING AND DISCOUNTS: BFI.ORG.UK/JOIN The BFI is proud to screen on film where possible, showcasing restorations and sourcing archive prints from our partners. Look out for 16mm, 35mm or 70mm in the film credits. IN PERSON & PREVIEWS 4 MEMBER EXCLUSIVES 7 NEW RELEASES 8 RE-RELEASES 14 SEASONS MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI 16 ALEXANDER KORDA 22 LAUREL AND HARDY 28 BIG SCREEN CLASSICS 34 SPECIAL FILMS & EVENTS 40 REGULAR PROGRAMME AFRICAN ODYSSEYS, TERROR VISION WOMAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA EXPERIMENTA, SONIC CINEMA BFI FAMILIES 48 FUTURE FILM 50 BFI PLAYER 52 LIBRARY, MEDIATHEQUE, MEZZANINE GALLERY 54 SHOP, IMAX 56 Cover: La notte

4 Talent Q&As and rare appearances, plus a chance for you to catch the latest film and TV before anyone else IN PERSON & PREVIEWS TRAILBLAZING AND BOUNDARY- PUSHING FEMINIST WRITER AND PERFORMER COLETTE FINALLY GETS THE BIOPIC SHE DESERVES ANNA BOGUTSKAYA, EVENTS PROGRAMMER Colette (see p5) Preview: Beautiful Boy USA Dir Felix van Groeningen. With Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan. 112min. Digital. 15. Courtesy of STUDIOCANAL David Sheff (Carell) leads a charmed California lifestyle, with a loving family and a successful career, until he slowly becomes aware of his teenage son s (Chalamet) addiction to crystal meth. Carell and Chalamet WED 2 JAN 20:30 NFT1 blister on screen as father and son, in an intimate take on addiction that reveals the tough and wrenching toll it takes on loved ones. Audio description is available at this preview Tickets 15, concs 12 (Members pay 2 less) Preview: Destroyer USA Dir Karyn Kusama. With Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Tatiana Maslany, Toby Kebbell. 120min. Digital. Cert tbc. Courtesy of Lionsgate An almost unrecognisable Nicole Kidman stars as jaded LAPD detective Erin Bell, still reeling from the trauma she experienced after she and her partner (Stan) were placed undercover in a notorious crime gang led by the unpredictable Silas (Kebbell). When it appears that Silas has re-emerged, Bell becomes even more determined to close the case for good. Audio description is available at this preview Tickets 15, concs 12 (Members pay 2 less) TUE 8 JAN 20:30 NFT1 book online at bfi.org.uk

5 DOC Preview: Colette + Q&A with producers Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen UK-Hungary-France Dir Wash Westmoreland. With Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Denise Gough, Fiona Shaw. 112min. Digital. Cert tbc. Courtesy of Lionsgate Free-thinking, boundary-pushing French author and iconoclast Sidonie- Gabrille Colette (Knightley) finally gets the biopic treatment with this charming, rollicking film. The story focuses on Colette s marriage and professional relationship with sleazy publisher Willy (West), and her growth from provincial maiden to a rule-breaking, defiant writer and feminist who led one of the most exciting lives of the 20th century. Tickets 15, concs 12 (Members pay 2 less)\ Audio description is available at this preview Preview: Hale County This Morning, This Evening USA Dir RaMell Ross. 76min. Digital. Cert tbc. Courtesy of ICA Photographer-turned-filmmaker RaMell Ross has crafted an innovative, impressionistic portrait of contemporary life in Hale County, Alabama, offering a new way of seeing and experiencing the heat and the hearts of people in the Black Belt region of the USA. Captured over five years, the film is not so much a narrative as a series of vignettes and moments that hold within them urgent questions about stereotypes and representations of black America. Tickets 15, concs 12 (Members pay 2 less) IN PERSON & PREVIEWS WED 9 JAN 20:15 NFT1 TUE 15 JAN 18:15 5

6 KERMODE LIVE IN 3D Let s talk about film... IN PERSON & PREVIEWS Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the BFI TRT 90min Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the BFI is a monthly conversation between you (the audience) and one of the nation s favourite and most respected film critics. With the help of surprise guests from the industry, Kermode will explore, critique and dissect movies past and present and reveal his or his guests cinematic guilty pleasures. Get involved by tweeting your questions in advance #MK3D. Tickets 16.50, concs (Members pay 2 less) 12 Stars TRT c120min 12 Stars is our monthly series offering filmmakers and thinkers an opportunity to reflect on European cinema and identity at a time of profound cultural and geopolitical transition. For our first event in 2019, we re partnering with Institut français UK and their annual Night of Ideas, a global project to celebrate the exchange of ideas between countries, cultures, topics and generations. With this year s theme of facing our time, the question of how we respond to the present technological, social, environmental and geopolitical challenges will be at the heart of this event. In partnership with Institut français UK and EUNIC: European Union National Institutes of Culture Please check bfi.org.uk for guest updates MON 28 JAN 18:30 NFT1 6 book online at bfi.org.uk WED 30 JAN 18:00 NFT1

7 MEMBER EXCLUSIVES These events are exclusive to BFI Members and their guests. Join today at bfi.org.uk/join TALK Member Salon: Sorry to Bother You TRT 60min Our regular discussion series for Members and their guests returns this month with a closer look at Boots Riley s dark satirical debut (see p8). Join your fellow Members to discuss Riley s vision as to where contemporary capitalist and consumerist society might be THU 10 JAN 20:10 BLUE ROOM headed, and what role corporations could play in our future. Members can book a joint ticket to the salon and the screening on Thu 10 Jan 18:10 NFT3 for themselves and their guests in advance for just 6. Members who ve watched the film on another date are welcome to come along to the free salon discussion and show their membership card for admission on a firstcome, first-served basis. All Member exclusive tickets are just 6 unless otherwise stated. Champions and Members can book as soon as their priority booking opens and tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Remaining tickets will be released to the public, as a taster of the benefits of Membership, once public booking opens. TALK Behind the Scenes at the BFI Behind the Scenes brings BFI curators, programmers and policy-makers together to give you a glimpse into how we work. This event looks at BFI Southbank and focuses on some of our upcoming seasons and events, exploring how we decide what to THU 31 JAN 18:10 NFT3 programme, where we source our prints from and also looking at the work of the BFI Reuben Library and the BFI Mediatheque. Tickets 6 MEMBER 7

8 NEW RELEASES The best new cinema for you to enjoy, with plenty of screening dates to choose from (see pull-out calendar) A TOUCHING INSIGHT INTO THE WORKING RELATIONSHIP AND DEVOTED FRIENDSHIP OF COMEDY S GREATEST DUO JUSTIN JOHNSON, LEAD PROGRAMMER Stan & Ollie (see p10) book online at bfi.org.uk Sorry to Bother You USA Dir Boots Riley. With Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Jermaine Fowler. 112min. Digital. 15. A Universal Pictures release Writer-director Boots Riley s breathlessly inventive satire is bursting with wit and panache Mild-mannered call-centre employee Cassius (Stanfield) discovers he has a talent to adopt a white voice an ability which promptly lets him climb the corporate ladder. But as he draws closer to disturbed entrepreneur Steve (Hammer), there might be more at stake than just his career, friendships with his co-workers and his relationship with his activist girlfriend Detroit (Thompson). In his dark satirical debut, Boots Riley firmly establishes himself as a powerful new voice in contemporary cinema. Gaylene Gould, Head of Cinema and Events See p7 for a Member Salon Audio description available at all screenings Hearing-impaired subtitles available: Thu 3 Jan 14:30 Studio Sun 6 Jan 15:30 Studio CONTINUES FROM FRI 28 DEC

9 Free Solo USA Dirs Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin. 100min. Digital. 12A. A Dogwoof release A nail-biting documentary from award-winning filmmaker Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and world-renowed photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin This poignant, in-depth portrait of noted American rock climber Alex Honnold follows him as he attempts to become the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite s 3,000ft high El Capitan Wall with no ropes or safety gear. This is a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat experience, filmed with vertigo-inducing camerawork that looks into the life and motivation of an athlete determined to push himself to the extreme in his quest to achieve the perfect climb. Honnold challenges not only his body but his beliefs, especially when the unexpected twist of falling in love threatens his focus... Anna Bogutskaya, Events Programmer NEW RELEASES DOC CONTINUES FROM FRI 28 9

10 NEW RELEASES Relaxed Screening Welcome to an accessible screening of Stan & Ollie for people who prefer a relaxed cinema environment. Presented for those who have autism, Asperger Syndrome or learning disabilities and their carers and assistants. More detailed information about this event can be found at bfi.org.uk/relaxed Tickets for this pilot event are free but should be booked in advance Stan & Ollie UK-Canada-USA Dir Jon S Baird. With John C Reilly, Steve Coogan, Nina Arianda, Shirley Henderson. 97min. Digital. Cert tbc. An Entertainment One release Witness the touching relationship of cinema s greatest double act, both on and off screen It s 1953 and Hollywood has fallen out of love with Laurel and Hardy, the once golden duo of international comedy. In the hope of re-igniting their career, the pair embark on a tour of the UK s seaside towns and music halls, but audiences are sparse and impresario Bernard Delfont is already looking for ways to break their contract. With hilarious recreations of Way Out West on film and County Hospital on stage, Coogan and Reilly excel as the beloved entertainers and give a heart-warming depiction of a lifelong friendship under pressure. Justin Johnson, Lead Programmer Audio description available at all screenings Hearing-impaired subtitles available: Sat 19 Jan 16:00 NFT3 Wed 23 Jan 14:30 Studio See p28 for our Laurel and Hardy season MON 21 JAN 14:00 NFT3 OPENS FRI 18 JAN 10 book online at bfi.org.uk

11 Bergman: A Year in a Life Bergman ett år, ett liv Sweden-Norway Dir Jane Magnusson. With Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Gunnel Lindblom, Elliott Gould. 117min. Digital. EST. 15. A BFI release This centennial portrait of the great Swedish writer-director is perceptive, penetrating and packed with wonderful footage Jane Magnusson s documentary centres on 1957, a turbulent but miraculously productive year when Bergman, besides unveiling The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries and working extensively in theatre and TV, led a messily complicated domestic life that included a spell in hospital. This focus is merely the springboard for a survey that spirals out to embrace everything from childhood to old age, touching on his many creative achievements, his strengths and failings as a man, and the way his art derived from his life. Illuminating anecdotes are offered by many who knew him none, however, perhaps quite as revealing as Ingmar s own testimony. Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-large Also available on See overleaf for more Bergman screenings NEW RELEASES DOC OPENS FRI 25 11

12 INGMAR BERGMAN FOCUS The Seventh Seal Det sjunde inseglet Sweden Dir Ingmar Bergman. With Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Bibi Andersson. 96min.Digital. EST. PG Vividly recreating a medieval world tormented by plague and superstition, Bergman s allegorical drama centred on a knight (von Sydow) returned from the Crusades who challenges Death to a game of chess in order to postpone his demise remains fascinating (and finally rather touching) as a study of faith in crisis. Full of powerful images, it punctuates its bleakness with moments of pleasingly pawky humour. Also available on Wild Strawberries Smultronstället Sweden Dir Ingmar Bergman. With Victor Sjöström, Ingrid Thulin, Bibi Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand. 91min. Digital. EST. 15 One of Bergman s warmest films boasts a magnificent performance by Sjöström as ageing, grouchy academic Isak Borg, who is driving to Lund to receive an award; the trip takes in memories, reveries and illuminating encounters with family members and strangers alike. Famous for its early dream sequence, the film is nevertheless most impressive for its rich, vivid characterisations from a superb cast of Bergman regulars. Also available on 12 SUN 13 JAN SAT 19 JAN MON 28 JAN WED 30 JAN 18:00 NFT1 16:10 NFT1 14:30 NFT3 20:50 NFT1 book online at bfi.org.uk TUE 1 JAN SUN 20 JAN TUE 22 JAN SUN 27 JAN 15:40 NFT3 20:00 NFT2 14:30 NFT3 15:30 NFT1

13 BACKED BY THE BFI COLETTE Dir. Wash Westmoreland COLETTE 9 JANUARY Directed by Wash Westmoreland and starring Keira Knightley and Dominic West, Colette is the story of a woman who has been denied her voice by an overbearing man, and who goes to extraordinary lengths to find it. ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS 11 JANUARY Gabrielle Brady s first feature takes place on Christmas Island where 50 million crabs make their annual voyage to the ocean s edge. The same jungle hides thousands of asylum seekers who have been locked away indefinitely. IN CINEMAS ACROSS THE UK #NationalLottery #BFIBacked bfi.org.uk/filmfund

14 RE-RELEASES We ve selected these key classics (many newly restored) for you to enjoy, with plenty of screening dates to choose from (see pull-out calendar) ANTONIONI S CLASSIC BOASTS A PEAK-FORM NICHOLSON AS A BURNT-OUT CASE GEOFF ANDREW, PROGRAMMER-AT-LARGE The Passenger (adjacent) book online at bfi.org.uk The Passenger Professione: reporter Italy-France-Spain Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry. 126min. Digital. 12A. A BFI release Jack Nicholson is excellent as a burnt-out political correspondent in what is one of Antonioni s greatest achievements When David Locke (Nicholson) impulsively exchanges identities with a businessman he finds dead in a North African hotel room, he believes he s starting anew. But passing himself off as someone else doesn t mean he s escaping the past... Working from a superb script by Mark Peploe and Peter Wollen, Antonioni creates some of his most memorable scenes and eloquent images: Locke breaking down in the Sahara; soliciting help from a tourist (Schneider) in Gaudi s Barcelona; trying to evade various people pursuing him through the arid landscapes of southern Spain. Suspense, intrigue, wit, visual beauty, ideas: this classic has them all in spades. Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-large Seniors matinee + intro Mon 14 Jan 14:00 NFT1 See p16 for our Antonioni season, and p21 for a Philosophical Screens discussion on this film FROM FRI 4 JAN

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16 Carefully curated collections of film and TV, which showcase an influential genre, theme or talent SEASONS GLAMOUR, ADVENTURE, ROMANCE, COMEDY THE GOLDEN AGE OF ALEXANDER KORDA OFFERS THIS AND SO MUCH MORE JOSEPHINE BOTTING, SEASON PROGRAMMER Alexander Korda season (p22) Confronting the modern world with style

17 UNTIL THE FILM IS EDITED, I HAVE NO IDEA MYSELF WHAT IT WILL BE ABOUT... PERHAPS THE FILM WILL ONLY BE A MOOD, OR A STATEMENT ABOUT A STYLE OF LIFE MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI With their groundbreaking style and distinctive worldview, the influential films of Michelangelo Antonioni feel strangely timeless, says season programmer Geoff Andrew Never really a neo-realist, the former critic quickly established himself with a striking series of features notable for their visual elegance, narrative subtlety, and cool yet compassionate fascination with people striving to find satisfaction in a modern world devoted to material wellbeing, progress and fleeting passions and fashions. Wary of melodrama and genre, Antonioni focused on mood, gesture and environment; silence was as meaningful as dialogue, and figures moved through landscapes that spoke volumes about longing, spiritual listlessness and solitude. In 1960, with the controversial L avventura, his importance as an experimental innovator was recognised internationally: with its enigmatic characters and ambiguous storylines, its long shots and long takes, its chic costumes, distracted dancing and casual sex, modern art-cinema had truly arrived. WANT MORE? See p14 for screenings of The Passenger, and p34 for our Big Screen Classics at just 8 Coming in part two in Feb: Red Desert, Blow-Up, Identification of a Woman and more... IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TALK Michelangelo Antonioni: Chronicle of a Modernist s Career TRT 100min In this introductory survey of Antonioni s work as a writer-director of international renown, season curator Geoff Andrew will discuss both his steady development of what became a highly distinctive and extremely influential style of cinematic storytelling, and the themes which preoccupied him over the years. The talk will make lavish use of film clips, some of them from deservedly famous sequences. Tickets 6.50 Chronicle of a Love Affair (aka Story of a Love Affair) Cronaca di un amore Italy Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Lucia Bosé, Massimo Girotti, Ferdinando Sarmi. 101min. Digital. EST. PG A rich industrialist, provoked by groundless jealousy, hires a detective to investigate the past of the young woman (Bosé) he impulsively married several years earlier: the move has unfortunate consequences. While the narrative is more focused than in his later work, this is undoubtedly an Antonioni film, with striking compositions, an implacable sense of place and a nagging atmosphere of confused anxiety. MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI WED 9 JAN 18:10 NFT1 WED 2 JAN SUN 6 JAN SAT 19 JAN 18:20 NFT1 20:15 NFT3 20:40 17

18 N.U. MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI The Lady Without Camelias La signora senza camelie Italy Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Lucia Bosé, Andrea Checchi, Gino Cervi, Alain Cuny. 102min. Digital. EST. PG Even by his second feature Antonioni s interest in fragile relationships between restless, intelligent women and insecure or feckless men is evident. Bosé, drawing on her own history, excels as a shopgirl-turnedmovie star whose idolising but possessive producer husband has plans for her career... The compositions and camera movements evoke the protagonist s entrapment, even as Antonioni gently guys Italy s mainstream movie business. Antonioni s Short Films TRT c.111min. EST Antonioni s early documentaries, all running to approximately 10 minutes, are the closest he came to neo-realism, though even in his debut, People of the Po Valley (1947) he seems more interested in atmosphere, imagery and ideas than in any pointed narrative. Architecture, urban or rural, ancient or modern, features strongly in N.U. and Seven Reeds, One Suit (1948), The Funicular of Mount Faloria and The Villa of Monsters (1950), and a dry wit enlivens Loving Lie and Superstitions (1949). Finally, the selection includes two segments made for portmanteau films: the documentary Attempted Suicide (1953) from Love in the City, and the fiction Il provino (1965) from Three Faces of a Woman. The Vanquished I vinti Italy-France Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Jean-Pierre Mocky, Franco Interlenghi, Anna Maria Ferrero, Patrick Barr. 110min. Digital. EST. Advised 18 Three episodes set respectively in Paris, Rome and London inspired by recent, apparently motiveless murders perpetrated by young delinquents see Antonioni taking a typically detached approach to questions of cause or psychology: no explanations are offered for the crimes. Rather, the killers relationships to the world around them are examined in terms of space and mood. Unsurprisingly, the film met with censorship troubles. THU 3 JAN SAT 12 JAN 18:30 NFT1 20:30 NFT3 SAT 5 JAN FRI 18 JAN 20:30 NFT3 18:10 NFT2 SAT 5 JAN SUN 20 JAN 17:45 NFT3 20:15 NFT3 18 book online at bfi.org.uk

19 Le amiche The Girlfriends Italy Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Eleonora Rossi Drago, Valentina Cortese, Gabriele Ferzetti, Yvonne Furneaux. 103min. Digital. EST. PG A young woman, back in Turin to open a fashion house, finds an unsuccessful suicide in an adjoining hotel room; the discovery leads to her taking up with a group of friends, and to one of Antonioni s most astute and darkly ironic explorations of different attitudes towards love, life and work. The quietly virtuoso deployment of place, space and movement is supremely expressive. WED 9 JAN WED 16 JAN WED 23 JAN 20:40 NFT2 18:30 NFT2 18:20 NFT2 SUN 27 JAN 20:20 NFT1 Il grido The Cry Italy-USA Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, Betsy Blair, Dorian Gray. 116min. Digital. EST. 12A Focused for once on a working-class protagonist, this follows factory worker Aldo (Cochran) though an impoverished, wintry Po Valley after his lover (Valli) suddenly ends their affair. Accompanied by their daughter, he seeks work and solace, but times are tough. Episodic yet fluid, mist-filled yet lucid, downbeat but strangely dynamic in its halting progress, this visually exquisite film eloquently evokes Aldo s tortured soul. SUN 13 JAN WED 16 JAN SUN 20 JAN 20:00 NFT2 20:45 NFT2 17:50 NFT1 L avventura The Adventure Italy-France Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari. 138min. Digital. EST. PG Antonioni s first collaboration with poet Tonino Guerra extended his experiments with narrative: the sudden disappearance of a diplomat s daughter while holidaying with friends in the Aeolian Islands is less the start of a mystery than of a cool TUE 1 JAN SAT 12 JAN TUE 22 JAN SUN 27 JAN 20:10 NFT3 17:30 NFT1 18:30 NFT1 17:30 NFT1 dissection of the relationship that develops between her lover and her best friend as they search for her. Pace, positioning and perspective are all-important. MICHELANGELO 19

20 MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI La notte The Night Italy-France Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti. 121min. Digital. EST. 12A An afternoon and a night in the lives of a married couple: he s a successful but blocked writer, she feels bored and unloved. A friend s illness and a rare night out conspire to provoke a moral crisis. Visually, this is one of Antonioni s most striking and sophisticated works; notice the play with shadows, reflections and frames within frames, which mirrors the measured study of filtered emotions. Also available on L eclisse The Eclipse Italy-France Dir Michelangelo Antonioni. With Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Francisco Rabal. 126min. Digital. EST. PG The narrative fractures and uncertainties in this third film in the loose trilogy that began with L avventura mirror those of the characters: Vittoria (Vitti), who s just ended her relationship with an older man, and Piero (Delon), a go-getting stockbroker who soon signals his interest in her. The final sequence is rightly famous, but the stockmarket scenes are equally extraordinary. 20 TUE 1 JAN MON 7 JAN FRI 25 JAN MON 28 JAN 18:10 NFT1 18:15 NFT2 20:45 NFT1 20:40 NFT1 book online at bfi.org.uk FRI 4 JAN FRI 11 JAN SAT 26 JAN TUE 29 JAN 20:30 NFT2 18:00 NFT1 20:30 NFT2 20:45 NFT1

21 SENIORS Free matinees and talks for the over-60s BFI COURSES Evening and weekend courses for adults on a range of craft subjects FREE DOC TALK Philosophical Screens: The Passenger TRT 75min The latest event in our popular angles, with questions around discussion series exploring cinema identity and self-knowledge, the through a philosophical lens will importance of space and the desert, consider Michelangelo Antonioni s and the role of non-events. last American film. Join film Free to ticket-holders of The Passenger philosophers Lucy Bolton, William on Thu 17 Jan 17:50 NFT3, otherwise 6.50 (must be booked in advance due to capacity) Brown and John Ó Maoilearca to explore this classic from a variety of Free Seniors Talk: Dear Antonioni + intro by BFI programmer David Somerset BBC Dir Gianni Massironi. 93min Using a star-studded array of interviewees including David Hemmings, Sarah Miles, Jack Nicholson and Vanessa Redgrave, and taking its cue from a letter from the philosopher and critic Roland Barthes, this acclaimed documentary offers a captivating portrait of an intriguing director. Free for over-60s (booking by phone or in person only), otherwise normal matinee price See p14 for a seniors matinee of The Passenger, and p27 for a free seniors archive matinee Remaking the Image: An Introduction to the Work of Michelangelo Antonioni This six-session evening course begins on Wed 9 Jan at 18:10 with an illustrated overview of our film season. The following five sessions, led by Dr Matilde Nardelli, Senior Lecturer at the University of West London (plus special guest speakers to be announced) will explore a range of perspectives and focus on different moments in Antonioni s career, including his early film criticism, documentary work, video production and painting, as well as the famous films that cemented his place as one of the founders of modern cinema. Course fee 72, concs 60 MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI THU 17 JAN 20:20 BLUE ROOM MON 14 JAN 11:00 NFT1 EVERY WED FROM 9 JAN-13 FEB 21

22 KORDA WAS THE NEAREST THING TO A MAGICIAN THAT I EVER MET... HE COULD MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE SEEM POSSIBLE RALPH RICHARDSON Meet the maverick producer-director whose vision and ambition transformed British cinema, writes season programmer Josephine Botting Alexander Korda was the first filmmaker to earn international acclaim for British cinema and challenge the dominance of Hollywood. As a charming but reckless wheeler-dealer, his profligacy was legendary and he was as creative with ideas as he was with finance. Korda pushed the boundaries of British filmmaking with his bold and quixotic approach, from erecting sumptuous sets at his Denham studio to shooting in colour in far-flung locations. A Hungarian émigré himself, he employed creative talent from all over Europe and his films testify to his skill at bringing together wonderful actors and artists, both literary and visual. Knighted in 1942 for his services to the industry, Korda was at his most inspired during the 1930s, directing lavish biopics and producing visionary sci-fi films, elegant romantic comedies and extravagant Technicolor fantasies. WANT MORE? See p55 for a free Mezzanine exhibition, and p34 for our Big Screen Classics

23 TALK Introducing Britain s Movie Mogul TRT 90min To launch our Alexander Korda season we explore what made him earn the title of Britain s Movie Mogul. How did he manage to challenge the dominance of Hollywood? How did his background as a Hungarian émigré impact his approach to production and collaboration? Korda s biographer Charles Drazin, producer David Korda and academic Sarah Street will discuss the extraordinary career of Alexander Korda with season curator Josephine Botting. Tickets 6.50 The Private Life of Henry VIII UK Dir Alexander Korda. With Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, Robert Donat, Miles Mander. 94min. Digital 4K (newly restored by the BFI). U The first British film to garner an Oscar, The Private Life of Henry VIII earned Laughton the Best Actor award for his spirited performance as the tyrannical king who veers between monarch and man-child. Korda s biopic focuses on the man rather than the office, and ignores politics (except the sexual kind) as Henry s six wives each bring out a different aspect of his personality as he grows older, but matures little. Restored by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation, in association with ITV and Park Circus. Funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation The Ghost Goes West UK Dir René Clair. With Robert Donat, Jean Parker, Elsa Lanchester, Eugene Pallette. 82min. 35mm U As producer, Korda consolidated his transatlantic success with this tale of a Scottish ghost shipped to America along with his ancestral pile. Appealing to the romantic notion of British heritage and nobility, the film is a paean to simpler times, with innovative French director René Clair contributing comic touches delivered by the ever-charismatic Robert Donat, fresh from his success in The 39 Steps. + Workers and Jobs UK min A short about the work of the labour exchange. ALEXANDER KORDA TUE 8 JAN 18:10 NFT3 TUE 1 JAN FRI 4 JAN TUE 8 JAN 18:30 NFT2 18:20 NFT2 20:20 NFT3 TUE 1 JAN SUN 13 JAN 20:40 NFT2 17:50 23

24 ALEXANDER KORDA Rembrandt UK Dir Alexander Korda. With Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester. 85min. 35mm U. 18* Laughton delivers a powerful performance as the Dutch painter whose work went unappreciated during his lifetime. Though this biopic failed to replicate the success of Henry VIII, its depth and complexity make it one of the finest portraits of artistic temperament ever produced. The magnificent sets, designed by Korda s brother Vincent, are superbly filmed by French cinematographer Georges Périnal. + The W. Stab UK min. 18 A commercial for cigarettes in fictional form. *Due to combined content of this programme Things to Come + intro by Valeria Carullo, Curator, RIBA Photographs Collection* UK Dir William Cameron Menzies. With Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott. 100min. Digital. PG Alexander Korda s collaboration with writer HG Wells may not have been Britain s first science fiction film but it was certainly the most ambitious to date. It charts the story of a century; of humanity s near destruction in a war, enslavement by a fascist dictator, and our eventual flight to the stars. In terms of sheer spectacle, few British films have tried to match it since. Also available on The Man Who Could Work Miracles UK Dir Lothar Mendes. With Roland Young, Ralph Richardson, Edward Chapman. 82min. 35mm U Producer Alexander Korda and writer HG Wells continued their collaboration with this inspired comic fantasy, in which Roland Young revels in the role of a draper s assistant granted the power to perform miraculous acts. His determination to use his powers for good leads to an exploration of class politics, but the madcap situations and inspired effects inject plenty of entertainment into the proceedings. + Fox Hunt UK min Britain s first Technicolor animation. SUN 6 JAN TUE 22 JAN 15:40 NFT2 20:30 NFT3 THU 3 JAN SAT 5 JAN THU 10 JAN 20:30 NFT3 16:00 NFT2 18:20 NFT2* SAT 5 JAN SUN 20 JAN 20:40 NFT2 15:45 NFT3 24 book online at bfi.org.uk

25 Knight Without Armour UK Dir Jacques Feyder. With Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat, Irene Vanbrugh. 100min. 35mm U Alexander Korda scored a major coup in getting Dietrich to star in this tale of a young Englishman (Donat) who falls in love with a Countess while caught up in the Russian revolution. It was Dietrich s first British role and she is well served by Belgian director Feyder and the lively script adapted from James Hilton s novel. Over the Moon UK Dir Thornton Freeland. With Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison, Ursula Jeans. 78min. 35mm U When Jane Benson (Oberon) inherits 18 million, she leaves her drab life behind to see the world, acquiring Paris fashions and a gaggle of gold-diggers, but losing her fiancé Dr Jarvis (Harrison). This lavish romantic comedy in vibrant colour was a glamorous vehicle for Alexander Korda s new bride, and Oberon rises to the occasion beautifully. + A Day at Denham UK min A short documentary about Korda s studio complex. The Four Feathers + intro by Dr Emma Sandon, Birkbeck University of London* UK Dir Zoltan Korda. With John Clements, Ralph Richardson, June Duprez. 115min. 35mm U This boy s own tale of derring-do is based on the novel by AEW Mason, in which a young man is driven to prove his mettle after being branded a coward for refusing to fight in the Sudanese war. Shooting on location with unwieldy Technicolor cameras was an incredible undertaking that demonstrates Alexander Korda s ambition and risk-taking as a producer. Also available on ALEXANDER KORDA SUN 6 JAN FRI 11 JAN 18:00 NFT3 20:40 NFT2 SAT 12 JAN TUE 15 JAN 16:00 NFT2 18:20 NFT2 SUN 13 JAN WED 30 JAN 14:50 NFT3 18:05 25

26 DOC ALEXANDER KORDA The Thief of Bagdad UK Dirs Tim Whelan, Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger. With Sabu, Conrad Veidt, June Duprez, Rex Ingram, John Justin. 106min. Digital. U This triple Oscar -winner (for visual effects, cinematography and set design) offered audiences an exotic and lavish distraction from the privations of the Second World War. A young thief (Sabu) tries to help King Ahmad defeat the scheming Vizier and win the hand of the Sultan s beautiful daughter. Will good triumph over evil? *Family ticket price applies, see p48 That Hamilton Woman (aka Lady Hamilton) USA Dir Alexander Korda. With Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Gladys Cooper. 128min. 35mm PG Surely the most British film ever made in America, this historical drama recreates the romance between Lord Horatio Nelson and Lady Hamilton, portrayed by real-life lovers Olivier and Leigh. The film became a key element in the propaganda campaign to persuade America to join the fight against fascism an aim so important that Korda returned to directing after a five-year break. Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding from the AFI/NFA Preservation Grants Programme Also available on UK Premiere: Churchill and the Movie Mogul + Q&A with director John Fleet and academic Charles Drazin UK Dir John Fleet. 65min. Digital. Cert tbc We present the UK premiere of a new documentary with contributors including Stephen Fry and Charles Drazin exploring the relationship between two great men. During Churchill s wilderness years, Alexander Korda employed him as a screenwriter and historical advisor. Churchill s life-long interest in storytelling influenced his approach to politics and ultimately his wartime strategy, while, in turn, his political views shaped Korda s cinematic output. SAT 5 JAN MON 28 JAN 13:30 NFT2* 20:30 NFT2 SAT 19 JAN THU 24 JAN 18:10 NFT2 20:30 NFT3 THU 24 JAN 18:10 NFT3 26 book online at bfi.org.uk

27 SILENT CINEMA Enjoy the best international restorations, often with a live musical accompaniment PROJECTING THE ARCHIVE A rare chance to see rediscovered British features from the BFI National Archive FREE Seniors Free Archive Matinee: The Scarlet Pimpernel + intro by BFI programmer David Somerset and Lalit Mohan Joshi, SACF UK Dir Harold Young. With Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Nigel Bruce. 97min. 35mm U This perfect example of producer Alexander Korda s customary lavish production values boasts a witty screenplay that amusingly includes actual historical figures in a tale about a vigilante who rescues aristocrats from the blade of the guillotine. As the most successful adaptation of the Baroness Orczy s famous anglophile romance, this film owes much to the perfect casting of Leslie Howard in the lead role. Free for over-60s (booking by phone or in person only), otherwise normal matinee price A Modern Dubarry Eine Dubarry von heute + intro by BFI Curator Bryony Dixon Germany Dir Alexander Korda. With María Corda, Alfred Abel, Friedrich Kayssler, Marlene Dietrich. c102min. 35mm EST. With live piano accompaniment by Jonathan Best Made in Germany, set in France and pitched to attract international markets, this frothy drama features Korda s first wife María Corda, star of the Austrian silent screen, as Toinette, a shopgirl who rises to success in a fashionable dress salon. Corda s performance dazzled contemporary audiences. Watch out for Marlene Dietrich in a small part as a French coquette. Service for Ladies (aka Reserved for Ladies) + intro by BFI Curator Josephine Botting UK Dir Alexander Korda. With Leslie Howard, Benita Hume, Elizabeth Allan, George Grossmith. 90min. 35mm PG Alexander Korda s directorial debut in the UK is head and shoulders above the output of the rest of the British industry in the early sound years, both technically and creatively. Howard is effortlessly suave as a head waiter-cum-social guru who acts as adviser to his wealthy clientele. But when he falls in love, he finds himself in need of guidance. In the second adaptation of Hungarian writer Ernest Vajda s novel (the American silent version with Adolphe Menjou is sadly lost), the story s comic potential revolving around mistaken identity is brilliantly exploited by Korda, while the romantic moments are sensitively directed. Readers of fan magazine Film Weekly voted it their second favourite British film of ALEXANDER KORDA MON 7 JAN 14:00 NFT1 SUN 6 JAN 13:30 NFT3 TUE 22 JAN 18:10 27

28 WE DID A LOT OF CRAZY THINGS IN OUR PICTURES, BUT WE WERE ALWAYS REAL OLIVER HARDY With over 100 hilarious Laurel and Hardy shorts and features, the challenge in putting together this season is that they re just too good, says Lead Programmer Justin Johnson Our Comedy Genius season draws to a close with this rare opportunity to focus on the greatest comedy duo of all time, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy a dream partnership that united a disciplined, thoughtful Englishman from Ulverston in the Lake District and a pompous but likeable American from Harlem, Georgia. Both worked for producer Hal Roach and his studio independently until he brought them together. He managed their very successful transition from silents to talkies right up until 1940 when, feeling creatively stifled, they left. Their output with Roach represents their best work and in this season we concentrate on that period. WANT MORE? See p48 for our families programme, and p10 for screenings of Stan & Ollie PART OF

29 Laurel and Hardy Shorts 1 TRT 79min. With live piano accompaniment on the silent titles. U Our first selection looks at Laurel and Hardy s early shorts with Hal Roach, including silent films You re Darn Tootin (1928) with the boys as street musicians, and Big Business (1929), where they sell Christmas trees. Moving into sound, we also screen That s My Wife (1929) where Stan has to pass himself off as Ollie s wife, and Perfect Day (1929), about a picnic that doesn t go as planned. Laurel and Hardy Shorts 2 TRT 99min. U In Brats (1930) Stan and Ollie play their own children, Helpmates* (1932) sees Ollie s house ruined by a party, and in Dirty Work (1933) an eccentric scientist tries to reverse the ageing process. We also screen Me and My Pal (1933) with the boys trying to complete a jigsaw, and The Live Ghost (1934), which brings them face to face with the supernatural... or does it? *35mm restored print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive Sons of the Desert USA Dir William A Seiter. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase. 68min. Digital. U Stan and Ollie belong to the Sons of the Desert fraternity and swear an oath to attend the annual convention in Chicago, but must resort to desperate measures involving a concocted medical trip to Honolulu when one of their wives refuses to let them go. This fan favourite has seen the international Laurel and Hardy society adopt Sons of the Desert as its name. Sons of the Desert You re Darn Tootin The Live Ghost + The Music Box USA Dir James Parrott. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy. 30min. Digital. U This comedy classic won an Oscar and features comedy s finest double act trying to deliver a piano to a customer s address only to discover that the house is situated at the top of a very large flight of stairs but they refuse to give up. LAUREL AND HARDY WED 2 JAN SUN 6 JAN 18:30 NFT2 16:00 NFT3 SAT 5 JAN SAT 12 JAN 15:30 NFT3 13:30 NFT2 TUE 1 JAN TUE 15 JAN 15:50 NFT1 20:30 29

30 Bonnie Scotland Our Relations LAUREL AND HARDY Babes in Toyland USA Dirs Gus Meins, Charles Rogers. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Virginia Karns. 77min. 35mm U In a film loosely based on the 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland, Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee live in a shoe with Mother Peep and her daughter Little Bo-Peep. With plenty of songs and characters such as Old King Cole and Mother Goose, this family comedy is great fun, and features an ultimate battle between good and evil. + Busy Bodies USA Dir James W Horne. 19min. 35mm restored print. U Enjoy some supreme slapstick in a saw mill. Prints courtesy of UCLA Film and Television Archive Babes in Toyland Bonnie Scotland USA Dir James W Horne. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, June Lang. 80min. 35mm U Stan and Ollie escape prison and stowaway on a boat to Scotland believing that a significant inheritance awaits them from Stan s late grandfather. When this doesn t materialise, the boys unwittingly join a Scottish regiment on tour to India. + Midnight Patrol USA Dir Lloyd French. 20min. 35mm restored print courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. U The boys play a couple of cops who interrupt a safe robbery. Our Relations USA Dir Harry Lachman. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Alan Hale. 73min. 35mm courtesy of Bill Duelly, Strasburg Strand Archive and Brian Bavosa. U Its double trouble as our comic duo play themselves and their twin brothers in this perfectly paced piece. While Stan and Ollie are upstanding, respectable citizens, their sea-faring siblings Alf and Bert are amiable but hopeless fools who are always messing things up. + Berth Marks USA Dir Lewis R Foster. 20min. 35mm restored print courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. U Laurel and Hardy s second sound film sees them causing havoc during a train journey. TUE 8 JAN SAT 12 JAN 18:20 NFT2 15:50 NFT3 THU 3 JAN FRI 18 JAN 18:10 NFT3 17:50 NFT3 FRI 11 JAN MON 21 JAN 18:20 NFT2 20:30 NFT3 30 book online at bfi.org.uk

31 Way Out West Block-heads Way Out West USA Dir James W Horne. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sharon Lynn. 65min. Digital. PG Stan, Ollie and Dinah the mule are travelling through the Wild West and arrive in the town of Brushwood Gulch. They have an important deed to deliver, but after offending the Sheriff and his wife they re issued with an ultimatum and told to leave. Featuring The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, one of the great comic moments of all time, Way Out West is a true classic. + Laughing Gravy USA Dir James W Horne. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harry Bernard. 31min. Digital. U It s a snowy winter s night. Stan and Ollie are staying in a boarding house with a no dogs policy but haven t the heart to send their dog Laughing Gravy out into the cold, so must keep him as quiet as possible. When the landlord cottons on to their flouting of his rules, it becomes very clear that they have a long and cold night ahead of them. *Family ticket price applies, see p48 Block-heads USA Dir John G. Blystone. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Patricia Ellis. 58min. 35mm from the collection of the Library of Congress. U World War One has ended and the armistice has been signed but nobody has thought to tell Stan who s been guarding his trench heroically, after his military brothers went over the top 20 years earlier. He is reunited with Ollie, who takes him home to meet his wife, but mayhem follows their every move as they squabble with the neighbours in his apartment block. + Chickens Come Home USA Dir James W Horne. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch. 30min. 35mm U Ollie is a mayoral candidate who finds himself up to his ears in trouble due to his earlier philandering ways. When a greedy ex threatens to blackmail him, he enlists the help of Stan to ensure that his wife doesn t work out what s going on, but this just makes matters worse as a farcical series of mishaps ensues. LAUREL AND HARDY SUN 13 JAN SAT 19 JAN 13:00 NFT1* 20:30 NFT3 SUN 13 JAN SAT 26 JAN 15:40 NFT2 15:50 31

32 LAUREL AND HARDY Swiss Miss The Flying Deuces Swiss Miss USA Dir John G Blystone. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Grete Natzler. 75min. 35mm from the collection of the Library of Congress. U Stan and Ollie travel to Switzerland but find themselves penniless after a business venture backfires. Forced to clean dishes in a hotel s kitchens, they find themselves embroiled in many mishaps and adventures including a troublesome gorilla, and Ollie and his nemesis, the hotel chef, both falling for a chamber maid. + County Hospital USA Dir James Parrott. 19min. 35mm restored print courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. U This classic short sees Ollie in hospital with a broken leg. A Chump at Oxford USA Dir Alfred J Goulding. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Forrester Harvey. 63min. 35mm U Laurel and Hardy play a couple of down-and-outs who, after a piece of good luck, get sent overseas on a scholarship to Oxford to receive a formal education. They find themselves at the wrong end of student pranks, get into trouble with the Deans, and discover that Stan has a noble heritage. It s a comedy masterclass. A Chump at Oxford + The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case USA Dir James Parrott. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Frank Austin. 32min. 35mm from the collection of the Library of Congress. U The one where Ollie first says Here s another nice mess you ve gotten me into finds the duo visiting an old country house for the reading of a will, but they soon discover that they re suspects in a murder case and in danger from the killer. The Flying Deuces USA Dir A Edward Sutherland. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker. 65min. Digital. U When Ollie s romantic prospects take a sour turn, he and Stan decide to join the French Foreign Legion, a change in career that promises much but delivers very little, and soon they consider desertion an ill-advised crime with a harsh penalty. + Towed in a Hole USA Dir George Marshall. 20min. Digital. U Stan and Ollie set off on a commercial fishing expedition. SUN 20 JAN THU 24 JAN 18:00 NFT2 20:40 NFT2 MON 14 JAN FRI 25 JAN 18:00 NFT3 20:30 NFT3 SAT 26 JAN TUE 29 JAN 18:10 NFT2 18:00 NFT3 32 book online at bfi.org.uk

33 Saps at Sea TALK Swiss Miss Saps at Sea USA Dir Gordon Douglas. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson. 57min. Digital. U Stan and Ollie s final film with the Hal Roach Studio finds Ollie with hornophobia caused by working in a horn factory for too long. The perfect antidote appears to be a relaxing boat trip... until an escaped murderer joins them on board. + The Chimp USA Dir James Parrott. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Bobby Burns. 25min. Digital. U Two bumbling circus performers end up in possession of a flea circus and Ethel, a chimp dressed in a tutu and a hat. But Ethel also happens to be the name of their landlord s wife King s Key Scholars in Film Studies: I Want Music Everywhere : Music and Slapstick in Laurel and Hardy s Early Sound Films TRT 90min In the latest in this series of lectures featuring world-leading scholars, Professor Rob King (Columbia University) looks at the role of music in one of the most important Hollywood studios of the early sound era, the Hal Roach Studios, whose most famous stars were Laurel and Hardy. Exploring the studio s innovation of jazzy wall-to-wall musical scores, King s talk will shed new light on the ways in which film scoring was used to enhance slapstick pacing and tempo. King will also consider how these innovations took a different turn a few years later in a series of feature-length operettas starring Laurel and Hardy. Tickets 6.50 Presented in partnership with Department of Film Studies, King s College London LAUREL AND HARDY WED 23 JAN SUN 27 JAN 20:40 NFT2 18:15 NFT3 MON 21 JAN 18:10 33

34 The timeless films we urge you to see (for just 8), programmed by theme BIG SCREEN CLASSICS THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT Our daily classics this month feature some disquieting titles filled with haunted houses, spiritual threats and night-time chills. There are silent titles that unsettled audiences almost a century ago, such as Häxan and The Phantom of the Opera, two of the greatest vampire films made in the 1930s, and Tim Burton on fine form with comic scares in Beetlejuice. JUSTIN JOHNSON, LEAD PROGRAMMER See p44 for Terror Vision Tickets for these screenings are only 8 The Innocents + intro by Lucy Bolton, Queen Mary University of London* UK Dir Jack Clayton. With Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave, Peter Wyngarde. 100min. Digital. 12A Based on Henry James The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents follows a newly appointed governess who is responsible for two children at a large country estate. As she starts to suspect that her wards might be possessed by spirits, she uncovers THU 3 JAN SUN 6 JAN WED 9 JAN SUN 27 JAN 20:40 NFT2 17:50 NFT2 18:10 NFT3* 20:05 NFT3 the history of the property, and is forced to question her own sanity. With stunningly atmospheric cinematography from Freddie Francis and a fantastic score, this is a treat on the big screen. Dead of Night UK Dirs Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Chrichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer. With Michael Redgrave, Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers. 103min. Digital. PG This British horror anthology film features several eerie tales that unfold during an evening in a country house. The most chilling is undoubtedly the final story, which features Redgrave as a ventriloquist who believes his dummy is real. With stories by HG Wells and EF Benson, and an impressive line-up of directing talent, Dead of Night is more than capable of delivering its share of scares. Also available on TUE 8 JAN SAT 12 JAN THU 17 JAN 20:40 NFT2 20:40 NFT2 14:30 STUDIO FRI 25 JAN 18:20 NFT2 book online at bfi.org.uk

35 Cat People USA Dir Jacques Tourneur. With Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway. 73min. Digital. PG A young couple find their relationship tested by her belief that she s descended from a line of feline people who can transform into panthers when aroused and are capable of killing. This classic, atmospheric tale of suspense draws upon the power of suggestion, and depicted its horror in a groundbreaking and chillingly effective way that proved sometimes less is more. Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon) UK Dir Jacques Tourneur. With Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis. 95min. Digital. PG It s in the trees, it s coming... Jacques Tourneur s film is based on a story by MR James and features a satanic cult, an eerie séance and a demonic threat. Night of the Demon is now considered a gothic classic, and was chosen by Martin Scorsese as one of the scariest horror films of all times. Beetlejuice + intro by Justin Johnson, Lead Programmer* USA Dir Tim Burton. With Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin. 92min. Digital. 12A Tim Burton s second feature is the ultimate haunted-house movie. It features a belting soundtrack by Danny Elfman, impressive visual effects (a mixture of stop-motion, prosthetics and chroma key) and a knockout performance from Keaton as Betelgeuse, a crude spirit trying to help a recently deceased ghost couple rid their home of new inhabitants. This fun, scary, outrageous comic fantasy firmly put Burton on the map. BIG SCREEN CLASSICS MON 7 JAN FRI 18 JAN 20:45 NFT3 20:40 NFT2 THU 10 JAN MON 14 JAN MON 28 JAN 20:40 NFT2 20:40 NFT2 18:20 NFT2 FRI 4 JAN WED 30 JAN 20:50 NFT3 18:10 35

36 BIG SCREEN CLASSICS Häxan Witchcraft Through the Ages Sweden-Denmark Dir Benjamin Christensen. With Benjamin Christensen, Clara Pontoppidan, Oscar Stribolt, Maren Pedersen. c106min. Digital. *With live piano accompaniment. **With Matti Bye Ensemble score. EST. 15 Even upon release, Häxan s status as a great work of cinema was never under question, but its unadulterated horror led some critics to consider it unfit for public exhibition. Part documentary, part re-enactment, this silent, well-researched study of witchcraft and superstition adopts a subversive, surrealist approach that makes it both a chilling curio and a masterpiece in its own right. Gaslight + intro by Nathalie Morris, BFI National Archive Curator* UK Dir Thorold Dickinson. With Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingell. 84min. Digital. PG Despite MGM s attempts to dispose of it so as not to rival their lavish remake four years later, Thorold Dickinson s Gaslight thankfully survives. Newlyweds Paul and Bella arrive at a house that has been empty for years, having previously been the scene of a murder, and it soon becomes clear to Bella that her new home has been vacant for good reason. Gaslight has a sense of menace that enthrals throughout. The Old Dark House USA Dir James Whale. With Boris Karloff, Raymond Massey, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart. 72min. Digital 4K. PG Five travellers find themselves stranded in the Welsh mountains during a huge storm and are drawn towards an old, deserted house run by a sinister brother and sister and their mute butler (Karloff). In a film considered lost for many years, James Whale uses macabre humour and things that go bump in the night to tell a very creepy story. You can t call yourself a horror fan until you ve seen The Old Dark House. Also available on SAT 12 JAN SAT 19 JAN 18:10 NFT3* 18:15 NFT3** TUE 1 JAN WED 16 JAN SUN 20 JAN 16:10 STUDIO 18:10 NFT3* 15:40 NFT1 WED 2 JAN FRI 11 JAN TUE 29 JAN 20:40 NFT3 20:45 NFT3 18:30 NFT1 36 book online at bfi.org.uk

37 The Phantom of the Opera USA Dir Rupert Julian. With Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry. 90min. Digital. With Carl Davis score. PG This silent classic, made only 15 years after Gaston Leroux s novel was published, features Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Paris Opera House, who becomes fixated on the beautiful and vocally talented Christine, understudy to the prima donna of the company. After some ghostly sightings and other scares, Christine comes face to face with him but is he a man or a monster? Also available on Dracula USA Dir Tod Browning. With Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners. 74min. Digital. PG After a successful lawsuit against Murnau s 1922 Nosferatu, Bram Stoker s widow sold the rights to Universal for this horror classic, which sees Lugosi reprise his successful Broadway role as Count Dracula, a vampire who resides in a Transylvanian castle and feasts upon the blood of young women. The role that defined his career is powerful and compelling. BIG SCREEN CLASSICS SAT 5 JAN TUE 15 JAN 18:20 NFT2 20:40 NFT3 MON 21 JAN SAT 26 JAN TUE 29 JAN 20:45 NFT2 16:10 NFT3 20:30 37

38 BIG SCREEN CLASSICS Vampyr Vampyr: Der traum des Allan Gray Germany-France Dir Carl Theodor Dreyer. With Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel. 82min. Digital. EST. PG As one of two very different vampire pictures released within a year of each other, this is an interesting companion piece to Tod Browning s commercially successful Dracula. Here, Danish auteur Dreyer offers a different, more experimental take on the vampire story. His first sound film was shot in three languages on location and uses soft focus to enhance the atmosphere and make for a delightfully unsettling viewing experience. Also available on The Others + intro by Anna Bogutskaya, Events Programmer* USA-Spain-France-Italy Dir Alejandro Amenábar. With Nicole Kidman, James Bentley, Alakina Mann, Christopher Eccleston. 104min. 35mm 12A Alejandro Amenábar s chilling drama owes as much to The Turn of the Screw as it does to more recent horror stories. Grace Stewart and her two children live in a large country house after WWII. Grace becomes increasingly unsettled when she hears voices, and her daughter reports sightings of other people. Kidman has rarely been better, capturing the paranoia of a fragile woman trying desperately to protect her family. TUE 22 JAN THU 24 JAN THU 31 JAN 20:45 NFT1 18:20 NFT2 18:30 NFT1 SUN 13 JAN WED 23 JAN 19:50 NFT3 18:10 NFT3* 38 book online at bfi.org.uk

39 OUT 26 NOVEMBER INCLUDES New 2k restoration of Laurel & Hardy s final feature 5 early shorts and newsreel footage of The Boys Rare amateur films Newly recorded commentaries + much more! ORDER FROM BFI MEMBERS ENJOY 15% OFF

40 Dates for your cultural diary, from DVD/Blu-ray launches to weekenders, film summits and festivals SPECIAL FILMS & EVENTS CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE PIG, AND MARVEL AT THE VARIETY AND CALIBRE OF CHINESE CINEMA DAVID SOMERSET, PROGRAMMER Chinese New Year (see p42) 50th Anniversary Screening: Where Eagles Dare + Q&A UK-USA Dir Brian G Hutton. With Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure. 157min. Digital. PG Broadsword calling Danny Boy... Richard Burton s Major Smith leads his intrepid group into the heart of Nazi Bavaria to rescue a US General who knows too many military secrets. With some great plot twists and SAT 26 JAN 19:00 NFT1 outstanding stunts (including the classic cable car scene), Where Eagles Dare is deservedly considered one of the greatest action films of all time. Join us for an anniversary screening with special guests see bfi.org.uk for updates. Woody Woodpecker: A Celebration TRT 90min. With thanks to Universal Pictures International Created by Walter Lantz in 1940, Woody Woodpecker starred in hundreds of theatrical shorts until Lantz s studio closed in Today, our guest panel discusses what made this loveable bird such a huge success on both film and TV, re-appraising classics such as The Barber of Seville (1944) and Termites from Mars (1952), alongside a sneak peek at some brand new material that hasn t been released yet. *Family ticket price applies, see p48 SUN 20 JAN 13:30 NFT3 book online at bfi.org.uk

41 LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2019 LSFF returns for it s sixteenth year delivering the best in short form Gothic! TRT 91min Looming coastlines, Counts with suspect dinner invitations, heavy doses of Catholic guilt: check, check, check. These short films probe gothic in all its conceptions, from Americana to pastoral horrors with tinges of Angela Carter. We ve archaeologists unleashing evil nymphs and Game of Thrones Maisie Williams avenging bullies with a little crow-whispering. The programme also features Billie Piper, Sinéad Cusack and Harry Potter s Katie Leung. Beast It s a Sin To Know Him Derek Jarman: The Music Videos TRT 84min As music video emerged as a culturally significant medium in the early 80s, Derek Jarman found himself in high demand by outsider and queer artists who were breaking into the mainstream. LSFF presents a celebration of these oft-forgotten, aesthetically diverse gems, featuring his collaborations with The Smiths, the Pet Shop Boys, Suede and others. The screening will be followed by a Jarman disco in the BFI Bar and Kitchen. Jarman Volume Blu-ray box set will be released in Feb The Contouring of Deafhoods + Q&A TRT 130min Looking at how each D/deaf person moves through pockets of communities, this programme takes us from the harbours and cities of England to the refugee camps of the Sahara to the greenery of New Zealand. We prise out conversations on how culture, circumstance, race and gender relate to our deafnesses. With a BSL Q&A, and English interpretation provided. Fishing With John + Skype Q&A with John Lurie TRT 165min Musician John Lurie s deadpan (mis) adventure series follows Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe and others who are coerced into a variety of ill-prepared fishing trips. A surreal precursor to the scripted reality TV shows of the noughties, and pitched somewhere between a Discovery Channel travelogue and a hipsterised Beckett play, Fishing With John is a curiously heartwarming ode to friendship and reckless fishing. SPECIAL FILMS & EVENTS MON 14 JAN 20:15 NFT3 WED 16 JAN 20:30 NFT3 THU 17 JAN 20:20 NFT3 FRI 18 JAN 20:00 41

42 CHINESE NEW YEAR On Tue 5 Feb it s officially Year of the Pig, so join us to celebrate through cinema DOC DOC SPECIAL FILMS & EVENTS Turtle Rock China Dir Xiao Xiao. 101min. Digital. EST For nearly a century the village of Turtle Rock (named after a giant turtle-shaped rock formation) has been home to seven families. Originally fleeing war, they moved to this mountainous region and have eked out a simple life ever since. Filmed delicately from afar in black and white and incorporating a naturalistic soundtrack, this beautiful observational documentary captures the rhythm and remoteness of the residents lives as they weather the four seasons. UK Premiere: A Way Out China-Germany Dir Zheng Qiong. 94min. Digital. EST This documentary portrait follows the lives of three Chinese teenagers from vastly contrasting social backgrounds who are all striving for a better future. One is from a big city, one from a small provincial town and the third hails from a village in one of the most poverty-stricken areas of China. Over the course of six years we learn about their dreams, hopes and fears as they navigate their way in a modern world where success seems to be the only thing that matters. UK Premiere: Men on the Dragon + Q&A with cast and crew TBA Hong Kong Dir Sunny Chan. With Francis Ng, Chan-Leung Poon, Kenny Wong. 92min. Digital. EST This heartfelt comedy follows three employees of a broadband network company as they struggle to overcome life s daily grind. With massive layoffs afoot, they pledge their company loyalty by signing up for the newly formed dragon boat team. Once embarked on a rigid training programme, they re forced to confront their mid-life crises and rediscover their fight for life s wider challenges. Supported by Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London MON 21 JAN 18:30 NFT2 WED 23 JAN 20:30 NFT3 FRI 25 JAN 18:20 NFT1 42 book online at bfi.org.uk

43 Filming East Shorts Award Show + Q&A TRT 120min Co-produced by Filming East and Chinese Arts Now, this event is part of the British Chinese Film Day, and will present entries for the Filming East Short Film Award, the competition of short films produced by Chinese filmmakers in the UK. Films are selected from different genres and include narrative, animation, fashion video, and documentary. This special event will include a Q&A with the filmmakers. Presented by Chinese Arts Now Susu + Q&A with director Yixi Sun, producer Norman J Warren and other members of the production team UK Dir Yixi Sun. With Zitong Wu, Frederick Szkoda, Steve Edwin, Lin Zhu. 106min. Digital. EST Two Chinese students take a weekend job working on the archives of a famous Chinese opera star and find themselves involved in a chilling gothic mystery. This feature debut from UK-based Yixi Sun is produced by legendary horror director Norman J Warren and offers a unique twist on the traditional haunted-house story, and is a Cardiff International Film Festival winner. A wine reception will follow the screening UK Premiere: The Soul of Himalaya + intro by Yixi Sun, director of Filming East China Dir Zeng Yunhui. With Phurbu Tsering, Lhak Chong, Shaijikanbin Arbo. 109min. Digital. EST This epic drama is set in the eighth century and features the Bogar tribe, part of the mysterious Lhoba people who live in the forests of the Tibetan Plateau. Disaster has forced them to the edge of extinction and the story follows their attempt to reverse their imminent destruction. All supporting roles are performed by ethnic Lhobas who are real-life herdsmen, farmers or hunters. The film offers a rare glimpse into a Tibetan culture that s fast disappearing in the face of an encroaching modern world. UK Premiere: The Fragile House Hai shang cheng shi + intro by Filming East China Dir Lin Zi. With Zeng Xiaolian, Wei Heqing, Xiao Jie, Sang Guosheng, Ren Yuyu. 85min. Digital. EST This visually inventive directorial debut offers a fresh take on the traditional genre of the Chinese New Year film. Money and familial attachments collide when Huang CuiYing s younger sister drops by on New Year s Eve demanding repayment of a debt. Lin Zi takes the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar and uses it to reflect on the concept of family, which is under fire in the struggle for profit in modern China. CHINESE NEW YEAR SUN 27 JAN 12:50 NFT3 SUN 27 JAN 15:15 NFT3 WED 30 JAN 20:20 NFT3 THU 31 JAN 20:30 43

44 We have something for everyone whether you re into silent treasures, LGBTQ+ cinema, experimental works or want to bring the kids to a Funday preview AFRICAN ODYSSEYS Inspirational films by and about the people of Africa, from archive classics to new cinema and docs TERROR VISION The darker side of cinema; films that will horrify and astound REGULAR PROGRAMME See p27 for a free seniors matinee, p21 for a seniors talk and p27 for Projecting the Archive and Silent Cinema EXPECT STRANGE COMBINATIONS AND PLENTY OF GOLD, AS WE MINE THE FULLEST AND FURTHEST REACHES OF CINEMA WILLIAM FOWLER, PROGRAMMER Experimenta (see p47) Horace Ové Double-bill: Baldwin s Nigger + intro by visual artist Zak Ové UK Dir Horace Ové. 46min. 16mm In light of the recent film adaptation of James Baldwin s novel If Beale Street Could Talk, we screen this impassioned and entertaining portrait of the writer as he addresses a community activist group in 1960s London. Accompanied by the comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, Baldwin discusses, among other things, what it means to be black in America, comparing it to the experience of the British black community. SAT 19 JAN 14:00 NFT2 book online at bfi.org.uk Baldwin s Nigger + The Black Safari + Q&A UK Dir Colin Luke. With Yemi Ajibade, Merdelle Jordine, Bloke Modisane and Horace Ové. 60min. Video For years there have been white expeditions to deepest Africa. In this parody of such explorers and documentary films, an African expedition travels along the Liverpool to Leeds canal in search of Britain s heart. The intrepid explorers examine the quaint customs of the natives, delve into their folklore and record for posterity an exotic but fast-vanishing culture. Zombie (aka Zombi 2/Zombie Flesh Eaters) Italy Dir Lucio Fulci. With Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson. 88min. Digital. EST. 18 Initially billed as a sequel to Dawn of the Dead (despite no connection to Romero s classic), Fulci s film takes place on a Caribbean island, where a young woman stumbles upon an outbreak of the undead as she s searching for her missing father. Boasting some of the director s most outré set-pieces (zombie vs shark, anyone?), this eye-popping shocker gained infamy in the UK as an official video nasty. See p34 for Big Screen Classics: Things that Go Bump in the Night THU 31 JAN 20:40 NFT2

45 WOMAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA We celebrate women s contribution to cinema and spotlight female stories NOW OPEN DOC I Used to be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story + Skype Q&A with director Jessica Leski Australia-USA Dir Jessica Leski. 96min. Digital. Cert tbc To paraphrase the immortal words of Harry Styles, who s to say that a teen girl s musical taste is any less valuable than that of a 30-year-old hipster? In her documentary feature debut, which premiered to a rapturous reception at 2018 s London Film Festival, director Jessica Leski doesn t focus on the boybands themselves, but the adoration they inspire in women. Four in particular, from different generations (aged 14 to 64) and diverse backgrounds, with an array of boyband preferences: The Beatles; Backstreet Boys; Take That and One Direction. Leski presents fandom as a valuable rite of passage and a way for women to define their own identity, in a film exploding with so much colour and enthusiasm that you ll start smiling from the very first shot. Supported by Offering spectacular and previously hidden views of Waterloo Bridge and beyond, the new restaurant and bar offers a full Italian menu and features a beautiful new balcony overlooking the South Bank. Join us for a drink this winter. bfi.org.uk MON 7 JAN 18:10 NFT3

46 RING IN THE NEW YEAR at the newly opened The place to be for celebrations on the river with non-stop music and bubbles for all. 7pm - 3am Thames side views Live band - GIF booth - DJ Delicious canapés and bowl food Bubbles on arrival and at midnight Join us for an unforgettable start to 2019! Book your tickets now at Fancy the VIP treatment? Exclusive tickets available with access to the balcony and private bar

47 EXPERIMENTA Artist film and alternative moving-image culture; works that break with convention SONIC CINEMA Music-inspired films and events, a feast for the ears and the eyes Reeps One. Image: Elisa MacDougall Experimenta Mixtape #1 TRT 75min Think of this event as a continuous stream of choice items drawn from multiple sources; one film follows another and so on. The sequence will last roughly 75 minutes and titles will not be announced in advance. The only guide we offer is to say that it will collide timestreams and contexts, naturally, and the selection of work will be broad. Expect experimental films, artist films, short films, maybe even adverts and probably pop videos. Like any good mixtape, whether smoothly sequenced or roughly compiled, it should, we hope, articulate a sense of both openness and great intent, or better still, commitment. This first mixtape will be compiled by BFI programmer William Fowler. Reeps One: We Speak Music + live performance and Q&A TRT 90min We Speak Music is an exploration into the unexpected evolution of the human voice and technology. Fronted by visual artist and world-class beatboxer Harry Yeff (aka Reeps One) and presented by technological innovators Nokia Bell Labs, this series of six short documentaries investigates the little-studied and emerging areas of voice and communication beyond speaking. Reframing our understanding of the human voice and its potential, the series reveals the monumental growth of vocal experimentation among a diversity of communities around the world, and its groundbreaking importance for academia. In a finale concluding his journey, Reeps One collaborates with a vocal AI twin to expose the newest paradigm shift around voice, and an imminent future. Tickets 16.50, concs (Members pay 2 less) REGULAR PROGRAMME THU 10 JAN 20:30 NFT3 THU 24 JAN 20:50 47

48 Family-friendly film screenings, activities and workshops (look out for the family badge throughout the Guide...) BFI FAMILIES THE THIEF OF BAGDAD Will a humble young thief be able to thwart a ruthless vizier and unite our hero with the sultan s daughter? Don t miss this spectacular adventure full of giants, magic and flying horses! See p26 for screenings. WOODY WOODPECKER Everyone s favourite bird-brained cartoon character joins us on the big screen for a special event turn to p40 for some serious screwball fun. FUNDAY PREVIEW: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD + Q&A WITH DIRECTOR DEAN DEBLOIS AND PRODUCER BRAD LEWIS USA Dir Dean DeBlois. With the voices of Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett, Kit Harington. RT tbc. PG. Courtesy of Universal Pictures International The much-anticipated final instalment of this epic series finds the people of Berk happily living in harmony with the dragons, with Hiccup as their chief. However, a huge threat to the village means that Hiccup and Toothless must travel to find a hidden world, long dismissed as a myth. SAT 26 JAN 12:00 NFT1 FUNDAY WORKSHOP: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD Bring your little ones along to our dragon-inspired arts and crafts area, and be in with a chance to win some fangtastic prizes. We invite you to create fire-breathing creatures, dragon masks, animated adventures... just let your imaginations take flight! This is a drop-in workshop, free to ticket holders of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World SAT 26 JAN 10:30 FOYER 48 Under 16s 4, adults 8 (Members pay 2 less)

49 LOTS OF LAUGHS WITH LAUREL AND HARDY Take a look at our season on loveable slapstick legends Laurel and Hardy (see p28). We particularly recommend Way Out West as a perfect family treat (p31). SATURDAY FILM CLUBS Our Saturday film clubs are a must for any child who loves film and wants to have fun! Topics cover everything from animation and adverts, to sci-fi and special effects... More info can be found at bfi.org.uk/families. These clubs are hugely popular so book early. Mini Filmmakers (for ages 8-11) 10:30 12:30 ( 85 per child) Young Filmmakers (for ages 12-15) 14:00 16:30 ( 95 per child) For more info contact: joanna.vandermeer@bfi.org.uk BFI FAMILIES EVERY SAT FROM 12 JAN 16 FEB book online at 49

50 FUTURE FILM Screenings, industry guests and networking events for 16 to 25-year-olds REGULAR PROGRAMME L avventura Future Film Labs: The Celluloid Recalibration Future Film Labs offers industry scripting, casting, funding and insight, practical masterclasses, career surgeries with our partners professional advice and networking Euroscript, Backstage, Livetree for young emerging filmmakers. and Hiive. Inspiration awaits! From the latest VFX to the most Tickets 6 or bring a friend for 10 exciting new technologies how do Headline sponsor of Future Film Labs you prepare to be the filmmaker of and Future Film Recommends: the future? Find out in this month s discussion. We wrap up with free networking drinks featuring drop-in Future Film Recommends: Michelangelo Antonioni Our weekly slots of specially selected screenings to inspire you, programmed in collaboration with young programmers. Visit bfi.org.uk/futurefilmrec for why we think you ll love these titles, and for details on the discussion. L avventura Sat 12 Jan 17:30 NFT1 (see p19 for synopsis) The Passenger + post-screening discussion Tue 15 Jan 18:00NFT1 (p14) La notte Fri 25 Jan 20:45 NFT1 (p20) L eclisse Tue 29 Jan 20:45 NFT1 (p20) COMING SOON! 12th BFI Future Film Festival The UK s most important film industry festival for young, emerging filmmakers will return with another jam-packed line up of events to inspire you to make films, and provide you with the insight you need to pursue a career in the film, TV and creative industries. For more info and updates look out for details online, sign up to our mailing list or check out our February BFI Southbank Guide booklet. bfi.org.uk/futurefilmfestival SAT 19 JAN 12:30 NFT3 50 book online at bfi.org.uk

51 Discover your new film obsession BOOK ONLINE NOW BFI.ORG.UK/25-AND-UNDER Image: If Beale Street Could Talk

52 See something different SUBSCRIPTION Unlimited access to 400+ subscription-only films Ballast Enjoy hundreds of landmark films for one price. A free trial, then just 4.99 a month. Cancel any time. See films from Hitchcock, Fassbinder, Herzog, Kurosawa, Godard and many other legends. WHAT TO WATCH Suspiria (1977) Dario Argento s gothic shocker follows an aspiring dancer convinced of dark deeds at her ballet school. BFI PLAYER The greatest global cinema on demand. Discover films on desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile and selected Samsung TVs. Distinct cinema, three different ways: Subscription: classics from across the decades Rentals: latest titles, including cinema releases Free: your stories, from our archives Access exclusive video reviews from Mark Kermode the UK s best-known film critic and collections chosen by our expert curators. La notte (1961) A bored married couple are tempted by infidelity in Antonioni s drama, starring Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni. Heathers (1988) The odd-one-out member of a namesake clique has the urge to purge her hateful friends in this dark high-school satire. Ballast (2008) A double winner at Sundance, Lance Hammer s film of a Mississippi family riven by tragedy is utterly absorbing. 52 Postcards from London Start your free trial today, then just 4.99 per month

53 RENTALS More than 1000 contemporary and popular films from just 2.50 FREE Explore short films and features Yardie The Miseducation of Cameron Post A Day at Denham LATEST FILMS Postcards from London (from 10 Dec 2018) Beach Rats star Harris Dickinson is the aesthete teen new to Soho a life of vice and fine art. Matangi / Maya / M.I.A. (from 10 Dec 2018) This intimate and passionate portrait of Maya Arulpragasam (rapper M.I.A.) is blessed with two decades of footage and an eloquent, freethinking subject. Yardie (from 26 Dec 2018) Idris Elba s directorial debut is a raw and punchy drama of a Jamaican boy (Aml Ameen) arriving in London weighed down with cocaine and ambition. The Miseducation of Cameron Post (from 28 Dec 2018) After being sent to pray the gay away with Christian conversion therapy, Cameron (Chloë Grace Moretz) finds a new, disaffected tribe to join. Explore the Britain on Film map to find stories from local places that mean the world to you. BFI Player also hosts films and features from Britain and beyond, such as collections of newsreels, China on Film, The London Film-makers Co-operative, BFI Film Academy, BFI Future Film Festival and much more. KORDA ON FILM: FOUR TO TRY The Private Life of Don Juan (1934) Alexander Korda s lavish biopic of the legendary lover stars Douglas Fairbanks. The British Film Industry (1936) American newsreel shows the construction of the Korda s studio, and Alexander in conversation with HG Wells. A Day at Denham (1939) The Korda family allow the cameras behind the scenes at their vast film studio complex in a sleepy Buckinghamshire town. BFI PLAYER BFI Members get 15% off all rentals, simply enter your membership number when creating a BFI Player account The Biter Bit (1943) Ralph Richardson narrates this Korda-produced propaganda piece exalting the wartime bombing raids on 53

54 THE BFI REUBEN LIBRARY FREE TALK THE BFI REUBEN LIBRARY The BFI Reuben Library has the largest collection of material about film, television and the moving image in the world. It s a free resource and study space with state-of-the-art scanning facilities and an easy-to-use database to point you in the right direction. Open Tue to Sat 10:30-19:00 With thanks to our generous supporters: Principal Funders: The Reuben Foundation Major Benefactors: The Edwin Fox Foundation The Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation Additional Support: The Hintze Family Charitable Foundation Collections Focus: Dream Palaces and Flea Pits A Celebration of Cinemas We kick-start 2019 with a celebration of the architecture and design of cinema buildings. The BFI Reuben Library holds a rich and varied collection about the past, present and future of cinemas, from the picture palace to the multiplex. We aim to highlight the vital role these structures still play in showcasing the moving image and bringing generations of film audiences together. Feel free to explore this unique collection of material and build on your love of cinema. New Writings: Nationalism in Contemporary Western European Cinema TRT 90min In the latest of our series profiling new writings in film studies, we discuss Nationalism in Contemporary Western European Cinema (Palgrave 2018), a collection of work that provides a timely and bold inquiry into the social context of contemporary cinema. Editor James Harvey and contributors William Brown, Owen Evans and Mariana Liz will be joining us to explore recurrent thematic and stylistic motifs, and consider the ways in which film responds to contemporary developments of nationalism. Tickets 6.50 TALK Artist: Maciej Hibner Do Film Posters Inspire Watching Films? TRT 80min BFI Curatorial Archivist Nigel Arthur and Ewa Reeves, co-authors of the book 77 Posters/77 Plakatow, present a mind-bending slide show to explore poster art a key part of the cinema-going experience. Feast your eyes on fantastic film posters for classics such as A Matter of Life and Death through to obscure titles like Boom. Tickets 6.50 MON 14 JAN 18:30 BFI REUBEN LIBRARY MON 28 JAN 18:30 BFI REUBEN LIBRARY 54 book online at bfi.org.uk

55 BFI MEDIATHEQUE MEZZANINE GALLERY Displays from the BFI Archive Dark Eyes of London FREE Knight Without Armour Explore the digital collections of the BFI National Archive in our free Mediatheque. Whether you re just dropping in before a screening or settling in for some serious research, there s a comfortable viewing space and an exciting journey of discovery waiting for you... To find out more about our free collections visit bfi.org.uk/mediatheque With thanks to our generous supporters: The Rose Foundation The Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation Open Tue Sun 10:30 to 21:00 For education group bookings please call for more information Love on Wheels WELCOME TO THE DREAM PALACE This month BFI Southbank celebrates émigré powerhouse Alexander Korda (see p22). You can dive deeper into 1930s British cinema with this extensive collection of features, many unavailable on DVD or online. If you thought filmmaking in this period was all upper-class twits in dinner jackets and awfully nice ladies with impeccable cut-glass accents, Evergreen think again (though there are plenty of those). This Dream Palace houses everything from musicals to comedies, sci-fi to horror and even a western. For contemporary British audiences these films represented an escape from economic depression and escalating political tension at home and across Europe. Alexander Korda: Britain s Movie Mogul Charming and charismatic, Hungarian producer-director Alexander Korda dominated the British film industry in the 1930s following his huge international success with The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). His films were ambitious in story, style and scope, adopting lavish Hollywood production values and employing glamorous stars. This exhibition takes us on a journey through Korda s Golden Age and beyond, through posters, publicity and production papers drawn from the BFI National Archive s Special Collections. See p22 for our Korda season FROM FRI 11 JAN MEZZANINE GALLERY MEDIATHEQUE & 55

56 BFI SHOP OUR TOP PICKS BFI Members enjoy 15% off all products in the BFI shop, excluding gift membership BFI SHOP Cool Runnings For over 12 years Second Run have been responsible for introducing cinema enthusiasts around the world to films that have never been available on DVD. These have included Vera Chytilová s surrealist masterpiece Daisies and Yorgos Lanthimos 2005 experimental outing Kinetta. Each title is lovingly remastered to the best possible sound and picture quality under the supervision of the film s director whenever possible and presented in its original aspect ratio. Throughout January we ll be offering our customers two for 20 on selected Second Run titles. 56 buy online at bfi.org.uk/shop

57 BFI IMAX Britain s biggest screen Ad Astra Brazil-USA Dir James Gray. With Brad Pitt, Ruth Negga, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland. RT and cert tbc Twenty years after his father left on a one-way mission to Neptune in order to find signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence, Roy McBride (Pitt), travels through the solar system to OPENS FRI 11 JAN BFI IMAX find him and understand why his mission failed. Don t miss this intergalactic adventure on Britain s biggest screen. BFI MEMBER TICKETS AT BFI IMAX BFI Members enjoy 2 off up to four tickets booked in person on presentation of a valid Membership card, or online with a valid promo code. Members can request promo codes by ing bfimembers@odeon.co.uk and quoting a valid Membership number Glass USA Dir M Night Shyamalan. With Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, Samuel L Jackson. RT and cert tbc M Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout films Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) in one explosive, all-new thriller. Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn, Samuel L Jackson returns OPENS FRI 18 JAN BFI IMAX as Elijah Price (aka Mr Glass), and James McAvoy reprises his role of Kevin Wendell Crumb and his many personalities. Will Dunn be able to stop the monster within Crumb, or is it Price that holds the key? BFI IMAX For tickets go to odeon.co.uk/bfiimax or book in person from 30min before the first screening of the 57

58 SIGHT & SOUND A unique insight into the very best of film culture Subscribe now for a print or digital subscription. Every print subscription comes with a free digital edition plus access to our complete 85 year archive! Visit bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/ subscribe Back issues are also available. To order, call SIGHT & SOUND Choose to pay by direct debit and receive this BFI dual-format edition for free Terms and Conditions apply BFI Members enjoy 15% off Sight & Sound annual subscriptions. Find out more at bfi.org.uk/members 58 order online at bfi.org.uk/sightandsound

59 SUPERFOOD COCKTAILS A new range of nourishing and delicious drinks jam packed with blended fruit and veg to be enjoyed on their own or boosted into fabulous cocktails for guilt-free fun. Try them now at BFI Bar & Kitchen and BFI Stephen Street Kitchen. VERY BERRY BUSTER 5.00 Blueberries, blackberries, banana, dates, almond butter, ground almonds, lemon, apple juice Sparkle it up with prosecco for 2.50 UPLIFTED 5.00 Mango, orange, coconut milk, carrot juice, turmeric, lemon juice, ginger Spice it up with Havana 3 Years rum and vanilla liqueur for 2.50 FEEL GOOD 5.00 Mango, orange, carrot juice, goji berries, lemon, ginger, apple Booze it up with Plymouth Sloe Gin and fig liqueur 2.50

60 THE NOBLE COLLECTION COVENT GARDEN SHOP NEAL STREET, LONDON, WC2H 9PS HARRY POTTER characters, names and related indicia are & Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WB SHIELD: & WBEI. WIZARDING WORLD trademark and logo & Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights JKR. (s18)

61 THANK YOU TO ALL BFI SUPPORTERS Official Time Partner Provider of English soft-titles for screenings of unsubtitled prints CORPORATE MEMBERS Audi Bloomberg Digital Cinema Media Shell Warner Bros. Entertainment SPECIAL THANKS TO Official Hotel Partner Silent Cinema Advisors: Photoplay Productions Ltd (Kevin Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury) The BFI Film Forever Club, BFI Patrons, Trusts and Foundations and the many generous supporters of our year-round charitable activities. The BFI is a charity registered in England and Wales no ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Altitude Film Entertainment (Delphine Lievens); Enrica Antonioni; Arrow Films (Cameron Waaler); Brian Bavosa; BBC (Sharon Maitland); BBC Information & Archives; BFI Distribution; BFI Information & Documentation; BFI National Archive; Blue Underground (William Lustig, David Szulkin, Greg Chick); Channel Four (Shannon Ward); Cineteca del Friuli (Elena Beltrami); Curzon Artificial Eye (James King; Jamie Mendonça); Deluxe Film services (Katerina Barnby); DH Airfreight (Debbie Williams, Julie Bond); Dogwoof (Oli Harbottle, Marcel Karst); Entertainment One (Ben Metcalf); Eureka Entertainment (Steve Hills, Stephen Rae); Jeff Joseph; John Fleet; Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung (Patricia Heckert); Imperial Tobacco Limited (Sharon Black); ITV Global International; Library of Congress (Lynanne Schweighofer); Lionsgate (Matt Smith; Rachael Koczan); Lobster Films (Maria Chiba); Luce Cinecittà (Camilla Cormanni, Marco Cicala, Paola Ruggiero); Lux (Ben, Cook, Matt Carter, Alice Lea); Minerva Pictures (Francesca Delise); Miracle Communications (Martin Myers); Movietime (Barbara Varani); Mr Bongo Worldwide (David Buttle); National Autistic Society (Daniel Cadey); Park Circus Films (Nick Varley; Jack Bell, Gareth Tennant); Photoplay (Patrick Stanbury, Sophie Djian); Rai Cinema (Lucetta Lanfranchi, Alessandra Sottile, Cristina Cavaliere); Sabu Cat (Jeff Joseph); Sony Pictures Releasing (Paul Hoy); Strasburg Strand Archive (Bill Duelly); STUDIOCANAL (Natalie Ralph, Adam Cherrill); Surf Film (Monica Giannotti); Swedish Film Institute (Johan Ericsson); Thunderbird Releasing (Ed Fletcher, Dave Woodward, Freddy Gelati-Meinert); Twentieth Century Fox (Tara Barnett); UCLA Film & Television Archive (Todd Wiener, Steven K Hill); Universal Pictures (Dave Jarmain; Sarah Freeman, Brad Hirsch); Verve Pictures (Colin Burch); Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Inc (Sophie Doherty; Mark King); Warner Bros Entertainment UK (Neil Marshall, David Good, Mick McKenna); UCLA Film & Television Archive (Steven K Hill, Todd Weiner) PIANO ACCOMPANISTS Unless otherwise stated, all silent films will have live piano accompaniment by one of the following: Neil Brand, Costas Fotopoulos, Cyrus Gabrysch, Wendy Hiscocks, Stephen Horne, Megan Morley, John Sweeney, Andrew Youdell. THANK 61

62 INDEX 12 Stars 6 Ad Astra 57 amiche, Le 19 Antonioni s Short Films Babes in Toyland + Busy Bodies 30 Beautiful Boy 4 Beetlejuice 35 Behind the Scenes at the BFI (talk) 7 Bergman: A Year in a Life 11 Block-heads + Chickens Come Home 31 Bonnie Scotland + Midnight Patrol 30 Cat People 35 Chronicle of a Love Affair 17 Chump at Oxford, A + The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case 32 Churchill and the Movie Mogul 26 Colette 5 Dead of Night 34 Dear Antonioni (seniors talk) 21 Destroyer 4 Do Film Posters Inspire Watching Films? (talk) 54 Dracula 37 Experimenta Mixtape #1 47 Filming East Shorts Award Show 43 Flying Deuces, The + Towed in a Hole 32 Four Feathers, The 25 Fragile House, The 43 Free Solo 9 Future Film Labs: The Celluloid Recalibration 50 Gaslight 36 Ghost Goes West, The 23 Glass 57 grido, Il 19 Hale County This Morning, This Evening 5 Häxan 36 Horace Ové Double-bill 44 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 48 I Used to be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story 45 Innocents, The 34 Introducing Britain s Movie Mogul (talk) 23 King s Key Scholars in Film Studies: I Want Music Everywhere (talk) 33 Knight Without Armour 25 L avventura 19 L eclisse 20 Lady Without Camelias, The 18 Laurel and Hardy Shorts 1 29 Laurel and Hardy Shorts 2 29 LSFF: Derek Jarman: The Music Videos 41 LSFF: Fishing With John 41 LSFF: Gothic! 41 LSFF: The Contouring of Deafhoods 41 Man Who Could Work Miracles, The 24 Mark Kermode Live in 3D at the BFI 6 Member Salon: Sorry to Bother You 7 Men on the Dragon 42 Michelangelo Antonioni: Chronicle of a Modernist s Career (talk) 17 Modern Dubarry, A 27 New Writings: Nationalism in Contemporary Western European Cinema (talk) 54 Night of the Demon 35 notte, La 20 Old Dark House, The 36 Others, The 38 Our Relations + Berth Marks 30 Over the Moon 25 Passenger, The 14 Phantom of the Opera, The 37 Philosophical Screens: The Passenger 21 Private Life of Henry VIII, The 23 Reeps One: We Speak Music 47 Remaking the Image: An Introduction to the Work of Michelangelo Antonioni (course) 21 Rembrandt 24 Saps at Sea + The Chimp 33 Saturday Film Clubs 49 Scarlet Pimpernel, The 27 Service for Ladies 27 Seventh Seal, The 12 Sons of the Desert + The Music Box 29 Sorry to Bother You 8 Soul of Himalaya, The 43 Stan & Ollie + Stan & Ollie relaxed screening 10 Susu 43 Swiss Miss + County Hospital 32 That Hamilton Woman 26 Thief of Bagdad, The 26 Things to Come 24 Turtle Rock 42 Vampyr 38 Vanquished, The 18 Way Out West + Laughing Gravy 31 Way Out, A 42 Where Eagles Dare 40 Wild Strawberries 12 Woody Woodpecker: A Celebration 40 Zombie 44 IF YOU D LIKE TO ADVERTISE The BFI Southbank Guide is mailed to a committed membership base across the UK and on display in venue. Contact Neil on or at neil@cabbell.co.uk for more info. HOW ARE WE DOING? We are an inclusive venue and welcome all customers. Please talk to us if we can help you, or customerfeedback@bfi.org.uk with any questions regarding your visit. PLEASE NOTE At the time of going to print every effort was made to ensure the information in this Guide was correct. However, we reserve the right to make programme changes. See bfi.org.uk for updates. 62

63 HHHHH A gentle, humane, beautifully made and magnificently acted movie. PeterBradshaw, THE GUARDIAN HHHHH Sensual andlyrical,tremendouslywell-acted, andablazewithpastoral beauty. Robbie Collin, THE DAILYTELEGRAPH TheWild Pear Tree afilmby NURI BILGE CEYLAN 15 TBC HHHHH Ceylanisbackwithabig, bold masterpiece under his arm, his greatest work to date, andthe finest film to play across the entire Cannes line-up. DavidJenkins,LITTLE WHITE LIES IN CINEMAS NOVEMBER 30 DESIGN : E. DOROT - PHOTO NBC FILM

64 Faces Places HHHHH The Guardian a beguiling and unique piece of work Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian HHHHH Evening Standard A RELEASE OUT NOW ON DVD &BLU-RAY Available at Free Super Saver Delivery and Unlimited One-Day Delivery with Amazon Prime are available. Terms and Conditions apply. See Amazon.co.uk for details. Amazon, the Amazon logo and Amazon.co.uk are registered trademarks of Amazon EU SARL or its affiliates.