Join us for an evening of screenings and a live Zoom conversation with Ken Loach as he discusses some of his most controversial and suppressed films - works that TV networks and other institutions have tried to keep from the public. We will discuss The Gamekeeper, The Navigators, The Save The Children Fund Film, Which Side Are You On?, and A Question of Leadership. Films that revealed the complicity of union bosses, the creativity and solidarity of striking miners, the problematic attitude of large aid organisations, police brutality and a lot more...Discover the untold stories behind these banned and buried films, as well as first-hand accounts of the battles Loach fought to bring them to the general public.

Lebanon in the UK: Diaspora Shorts was a programme of short films by 5 (women) Lebanese filmmakers based in the UK, part of our season: New Lebanese Cinema: Reclaiming Storytelling. The season is focused on contemporary filmmaking in Lebanon which sees a new generation of directors telling authentic stories of life on the ground, eschewing as much as possible some of the constraints of European financing bodies and co-productions.  The five filmmakers discuss filmmaking in Lebanon today and what it means to be part of the diaspora. The films discussed are:  Neo Nahda, dir. by May Ziade A Tempo the 3rd Act, dir. by Maria Abdel Karim The Sun Sets on Beirut, dir. by Daniela Stephan Three Centimeters, dir. by Lara Zeidan Submarine, dir. by Mounia Akl https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/lebanon-in-the-uk-diaspora-shorts/

The Greek actress, best known for Yorgos Lanthimos' Alps, Dogtooth, and The Lobster, and currently to be seen in Mahdi Fleifel's To A Land Unknown, discusses Yannis Oukonomides' Matchbox and Greek cinema with Erifili Missiou, the curator of the Garden Cinema's Contemporary Greek Cinema: Beyond the Weird Wave season. 

A special event to mark the re-publication by leading London independent press Prototype of a facsimile edition of Derek Jarman’s early, extremely rare and only poetry book A Finger in the Fishes Mouth, originally published in 1972 Joining publisher Jess Chandler and editor Gareth Evans are poet and writer CAConrad and scholar Declan Wiffen. With thanks to James Mackay. More podcast episodes can also be found at:https://thegardencinemafilmtalk.podbean.com/ Recorded 30th November 2024 at The Garden Cinema39-41 Parker Street London WC2B 5PQ Visit our website: https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/TheGardenCinemaFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegardencinema

A creative biography of the Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. One of the most important women in British modern art, the painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was a highly inspirational figure, whose work was deeply impacted by a pivotal event in her life.     A Sudden Glimpse into Deeper Things feature documentary is Mark Cousins' love letter to Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, a significant yet often overlooked British modernist painter. True to Cousins' unique style, the film takes different angles to investigate her legacy, combining an account of Barns-Graham's climb to the top of a glacier in Switzerland that was pivotal to her art, a lengthy contemplation over one of her photographs as an elderly woman, and a documentation of his acquisition of a Barns-Graham-inspired tattoo. As with all love letters, Cousins' exploration of Barns-Graham's innovative mind is deeply personal and idiosyncratic, weaving together fragments of her life and art in a complex tapestry. Writer and director Mark Cousins joins us for a post-screening Q&A about the film.

Director Khalid and lead actor Rizwan joined us for a post-film Q&A to discuss researching and shooting In Camera with host Fatima Serghini and the Garden Cinema audience. 

Nida Manzoor, creator of the BAFTA, Peabody, and Rose d’Or award winning sitcom We Are Lady Parts, made her feature directorial debut with Polite Society. This exuberant feminist action comedy, turns genre etiquette on its head whilst examining the complexities of navigating life as a British-Pakistani teenager.  Actress Priya Kansara who plays the lead part of Ria joins film theorist and lecturer Kulraj Phullar to discuss her role, martial arts training and her foray into acting, genre-bending cinema, community, and South Asian Heritage Month. Polite Society is part of both the South Asian Heritage Month and the Women Aren't Funny seasons. 

Young people took to the streets with political muralism all over Chile in the late 60s, at the same time that young people in New York were starting modern graffiti, and May 68 took place in Paris. Chile Estyle is a documentary film which explores the past and present of Chile's unique street art tradition, which comes from a remix of political muralism and graffiti, and has been part of Chilean cultural and political life since the 60s. The result is a visually arresting, informative, and entertaining film. Director Pablo Aravena discusses his work and interest in street art, DJing, Hip Hop, and graffiti, and how the scene ties in with regional politics. 

Ernesto (Armando Espitia) is a young Guatemalan anthropologist tasked with identifying the bones of the people killed by the military government in the 1980s. One day, while hearing the account of an old woman, he thinks he has found a lead that might guide him to his father, a 'guerrillero' who went missing during the war. Meanwhile, his mother Cristina (Emma Dib), is about to testify at the trial of former soldiers who took part in the genocide.   Our Mothers is one of the rare films looking at the massacre carried out by the US backed military against the indigenous population.   Our Mothers won the Camera d'Or and the SACD Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It received six nominations at the 10th Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Díaz, winning Best First Feature Film. César Díaz talks to Pablo Navarrete from Alborada and our audience about the film. The screening is part of our New Central American Cinema season. 

AWAN partnered with The Arab Film Club to present Another Reality: Genre Shorts by Arab Women Filmmakers, here at the Garden Cinema, a programme curated by Sarah Agha. AWAN is the UK’s only contemporary multi-arts festival dedicated to showcasing inspiring works from Arab female artists. Sarah discusses the shorts with their respective directors, and the growth of genre cinema in the Arab world more generally, with input from our audience.  Ladies Coffee (2024) by Amal Al-Agroobi - 10’ On the prowl for lady suitors, Roula invites Zeina and her daughter over for Arabic coffee. But when young Reem participates in a cup reading ritual, she gets more than she bargained for.   The Call (2023) by Riffy Ahmed - 14’ During a difficult visit to her single immigrant mother, Athena discovers that what she thought was age-related mental decline is in fact an inherited magical gift.   In Vitro (2019) by Larissa Sansour - 28’ In an underground orchard in Bethlehem, decades after an other worldly eco disaster, two scientists ruminate on exile, loss, identity and nostalgia.

Journalist and critic Sophie Monks Kaufman discussed the The Zone Of Interest with the Garden Cinema's Joe Miller. Sophie and Joe talk in-depth about all the inception of the film, the cinematography, the many layers and themes the film evokes, history, resonance, resistance and the dehumanisation of others.   

...OR, THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE RISE AND FALL OF THE WORLD'S WILDEST CINEMA AND HOW IT INFLUENCED A MIXED-UP GENERATION OF WEIRDOS AND MISFITS     A feature-length big screen documentary telling the riotous inside story of the infamous sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll repertory cinema which inspired a generation during Britain's turbulent Thatcher years. Journalist Saskia Baron discusses the history of the iconic venue and the filmmaking process with its two directors here at the Garden Cinema, with input and comments from our audience!

We discuss new forms of storytelling, genre, Afrofuturism and conversations around storytelling amongst the Black diaspora with writer Irenosen Okojie who curated the Black To The Future festival. We are very pleased to be showing two of the programme's films here at the Garden Cinema. We strive to expand the reach of the films we show and look forward to introducing new and original work to our members and visitors. You can find the listings, and book here. 

Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, tells the story of Syrian refugees relocated in a old mining village in the Northeast of England, amidst poverty, resentfulness and anger. As ever, Loach’s message is one of compassion and hope. Dave Turner who plays the lead character of TJ Ballantyne, the pub landlord, joined us at the Garden Cinema for a chat with journalist Steve Topple (whose voice you might recognise from the Bella Ciao discussion, which can also be found in this podcast series).    @thegardencinema

Alborada teamed up with the Garden Cinema to show the documentary Chicago Boys, which explores the  The film tells the story of the Chicago Boys, a group of Chilean economists who studied at the University of Chicago, under Milton Friedman returned to their country after Augusto Pinochet's coup to become the main architects of the neoliberal economic model in Chile, which also served as a template for other countries around the world.    We discuss the film with scientist and ex-political prisoner Roberto Navarrete, journalist John McEvoy (Declassified UK) who explores the role of Britain in the coup and the policies that resulted from it, and our audience. 

Every winter Mikma and her family travel by foot from their village deep in the Himalayas of Nepal to sell local medicinal plants in urban markets. This year, construction of a new highway to China has begun in their roadless valley, and things are never going to be the same.   The documentary film Baato, distributed by Tull Stories is at once a sensitive portrait of a family that has thus far existed largely apart from the trappings of modernity, a fascinating chronicle of the epic journey they embark on each year, and a penetrating depiction of the culture and politics of Nepal.   The Garden Cinema's Joe Bond talks to co-director Lucas Millard during a satellite Q&A following a screening of the film.

We were joined by director Dionne Edwards, producer Georgia Goggin and editor Andonis Trattos, the team behind Pretty Red Dress, a BFI-distributed gem of a film currently on here at the Garden Cinema for a post-screening chat with our audience.  Join us to delve behind the scenes of this wonderfully nuanced and upbeat film, as we chat about filming in South London, Natey Jones' gracefulness on screen, casting Alexandra Burke, the tussle between masculinity and femininity and the script development process.  We welcome all comments, input and recommendations!

Writer-director Carolina Cavalli’s darkly comic feature debut, which received its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, is a deliciously satirical character study of a twentysomething looking for purpose… and maybe also a friend. We had the opportunity to chat with  Carolina over zoom about the film, her previous work, her time studying in Paris, audience expectations and the particular role of childhood friends in the lives of expat children! Amanda will be screened from 9 June at the Garden Cinema. 

We chat to a panel of producers, actors and directors about the current film scene in the Arab world, what is means to be an "Arab film", what the sources of funding tend to be, the topics and genres that appeal most internationally, the intricacies of subtitling and other issues our audience asked about. The event was held as a launch night for the Arab women filmmakers season at the cinema and involved producer and curator Elhum Shakerifar, actress and programmer Sarah Agha and filmmaker Soudade Kaadan.

To mark Italy's Liberation Day, we screened documentary Bella Ciao - Song Of Rebellion. The documentary traces the origins of the revolutionary song, the myths around it, its international appeal and use, its potential commercialisation. Directors Paul Russell and Andrea Vogt joined us to chat about making indie films, Bella Ciao and the deeply moving meanings behind it with Mydylarama journalist Steve Topple.