Press room

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events:

• Glasgow Film Festival Preview: On Falling – Sat 1 Mar
• Noah Davis film programme – Wed 12 Mar + Sat 22 Mar
• London Soundtrack Festival: Tár + introduction with Cate Blanchett and Hildur Guðnadóttir – Fri 21 Mar
• UK Premiere: Inside My Heart (Relaxed Screening) + ScreenTalk with Curator Lillian Crawford and Daniel Vais - Mon 31 Mar 

Regular Programme strands:

• Family Film Club:
• Tabby McTat + Music with Tara Franks – Sat 1 Mar
• International Women's Day Short Film Programme – Sat 8 Mar
• Fox and Hare Save the Forest – Sat 15 Mar
• Little Women – Sat 22 Mar
• Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang + introduction from director Susanna White – Sat 29 Mar
• New East Cinema: Under the Grey Sky + ScreenTalk with Mara Tamkovich 
  – Tue 25 Mar
• Senior Community Screenings:
• Crossing – Mon 3 Mar
• Dahomey – Mon 17 Mar
• Emilia Pérez – Mon 31 Mar
• Relaxed Screenings:
• The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – Fri 14 Mar
• Inside My Heart – Fri 28 Mar
• Pay What You Can Screenings – Every Fri
   

Event Cinema:

• Royal Ballet & Opera Live: Swan Lake – Sun 2 Mar
• MET Opera Live in HD: Fidelio – Sat 15 Mar
• Royal Ballet & Opera Live: Romeo & Juliet – Sun 23 Mar
• NT Live: Dr Strangelove – Thu 27 Mar

Barbican Cinema begins March with the Noah Davis film programme, with screenings of Prince’s Purple Rain and Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life, which have been programmed as they reflect relevant themes found in the Noah Davis exhibition, which opened in the Barbican Gallery on Thu 6 Feb.

The London Soundtrack Festival presents a screening of the hit 2023 film Tár – with an introduction from Cate Blanchett and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir – in this Oscar nominated drama about the rise and fall of the fierce musical maestro Lydia Tár.

This month also includes a Glasgow Film Festival preview screening of the British/Portuguese film On Falling, about a lonely migrant who works as a picker in a Scottish warehouse, in an immersive character study that also shines light on the precarity modern employment. New East Cinema also presents Under The Grey Sky, which exposes the harsh realities of the Belarusian regime, with a ScreenTalk with Mara Tamkovich, the film’s director.

Further March highlights include the UK premiere of Inside My Heart, a captivating documentary in which filmmaker Saskia Boddeke follows the rehearsal of an ensemble of neurodivergent and disabled actors staging a fairytale about lust and anger. This relaxed screening will also include a ScreenTalk with the Curator Lillian Crawford and Daniel Vais, founder of Drag Syndrome, about inclusion and representation in the arts.

Family Film Club also celebrates International Women’s Day in March, with a line-up of films made exclusively by women, with screenings of Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 adaption of Little Women, and the joyful Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, plus an intro from director Susanna White, as well as the popular annual shorts programme.

Senior Community Screenings this month include the Georgian film Crossing, the documentary Dahomey and the multiple Oscar nominated crime comedy Emilia Pérez.

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events

Glasgow Film Festival Preview: On Falling
UK/ Portugal 2024, Dir Laura Carreira, 104min
Sat 1 Mar, 6.30pm
Cinema 2

Writer/director Laura Carreira immerses us in the life of Aurora (Joana Santos) in her moving character study of a Portuguese migrant working as a picker in a Scottish warehouse.

Aurora's workdays are dictated by the bleep of a machine and her evenings are strained by loneliness in shared accommodation as she dreams of securing a better job. An empathetic social realist snapshot that offers a window into the financial precariousness of the gig economy, delivered with a lightness of touch that stresses the importance of everyday connection.

The Noah Davis film programme:
Purple Rain (15) + Imitation of Life (12)

Wed 12 Mar + Sat 22 Mar

The Los Angeles based artist Noah Davis created a body of figurative paintings that explored a wide range of Black life. His work was heavily influenced by cinema and Purple Rain was a film that had a profound impact on his art. The melodrama Imitation of Life deals with identity, aspiration and representation, themes which are also recurring motifs in his paintings.

Purple Rain (15)
US 1984, Dir Albert Magnoli, 101min

Wed 12 Mar, 6.15pm
Cinema 1

Purple Rain follows the journey of 'The Kid', a talented but troubled musician finding his voice amid personal and creative struggles. Davis often drew inspiration from Purple Rain, not only for its electrifying performances and vibrant aesthetic, but also for its celebration of individuality and artistic ambition.

This screening highlights the influence of Purple Rain on Davis’s work, particularly his creation of The Purple Garden, an homage to Prince’s legacy and the transformative power of art.

Imitation of Life (12)

US 1959, Dir Douglas Sirk, 125min
Sat 22 Mar, 3.20pm
Cinema 1

Sirk’s lush melodrama examines the intersecting lives of two women – one Black and one white – and their daughters, navigating the complexities of race, class, and familial sacrifice. The film’s exploration of constructed identities and societal expectations resonates with Davis’s work, which reimagines illusions of prosperity and cultural symbolism as layered narratives about value and visibility.

This screening invites audiences to consider how both Davis and Sirk use their respective mediums to critique systems of representation and question the ways we assign meaning to art, labour, and life.

London Soundtrack Festival: Tár (15) + introduction with Cate Blanchett and Hildur Guðnadóttir, hosted by Matthew Sweet

US 2022, Dir Todd Field, 156 min

Fri 21 Mar, 5pm
Cinema 1

Set in the international world of classical music, the renowned Lydia Tár is widely considered one of the most remarkable living composers and first-ever female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Consumed by her ambitions to achieve greatness and her growing infatuation with one of her ingenues, Tár's reputation begins to shatter as she struggles to hold on to the women in her life she has taken for granted, played by Noémie Merlant and Nina Hoss.

Charming, ruthless, and shamelessly unapologetic, Cate Blanchett makes an iconic return as Lydia Tár. Todd Field's antiheroine commands the screen in this psychological drama which examines the changing nature of power, its impact and durability in our modern world. 

Presented with the London Soundtrack Festival

UK Premiere: Inside My Heart (Relaxed Screening) + ScreenTalk with Curator Lillian Crawford and Daniel Vais
Netherlands 2022, Saskia Boddeke, 86min

Mon 31 Mar, 6.15pm
Cinema 3

Inspired by the work of her husband Peter Greenaway, Saskia Boddeke blurs the lines between the stage and reality in this compelling feature. Inside My Heart combines documentary filmmaking with painterly tableaux to showcase both the performance of Furia by Oscar Wagenmans, and the passions, struggles and relationships of Kamak, a professional ensemble for actors with intellectual disabilities.

With astonishing visuals in rich, saturated colours and compelling footage of the camaraderie and occasional tensions within the acting troupe, Inside My Heart blends the magic of an opera and the depth of a documentary.

This screening will be followed by a ScreenTalk with the curator Lillian Crawford and Drag Syndrome founder Daniel Vais, who will discuss inclusion and representation in the arts.

Regular Programme Strands

Family Film Club

Every Sat, 11am

Tabby McTat + Music with Tara Franks (U)
UK 2023, Dir Jac Hamman & Sarah Scrimgeour, event running time approx. 55min

Sat 1 Mar, 11am
Cinema 2

A special toddler friendly screening with live music from Tara Franks before the film, this tells the warm-hearted story of Tabby McTat, Fred the busker’s cat, based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Age suggestion: 3+

International Women's Day Short Film Programme (U)
Dir various
Sat 8 Mar, 11am
Cinema 2

For International Women’s Day today there will be a line-up of short films all directed by female filmmakers from around the world. This is a great way to introduce children
Full programme will be announced in late Feb
Age suggestion: 5

Fox and Hare Save the Forest
Netherlands 2024, Dir Mascha Halberstad
Sat 15 Mar

A charming stop motion for young audiences about Fox and Hare and their friends. This is a gentle story about friendship full of fun songs, sweet characters and beautiful animation.

Age suggestion: 4+

Little Women (U)
US 1994, Dir Gillian Armstrong, 119min

Sat 22 Mar, 11am
Cinema 2

Based on the book series by Louisa May Alcott, this 1994 adaptation, from Australian director Gillian Armstrong, follows four sisters in 1800s Massachusetts as they navigate adolescence, society, death, love and marriage, against the backdrop of the US Civil War.
Age suggestion: 7/8+

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang + live intro from Director Susanna White (U)
UK 2010 Dir. Susanna White 109min

Sat 29 Mar, 11am
Cinema 2

Rarely seen on the big screen, this exuberant adaptation sees Nanny McPhee return to help the Green family children resolve their differences and save the day. Family Film Club is delighted showcase the work of director Susanna White, a prolific talent who has directed several television series (most recently Andor) and to welcome her to the Barbican stage to introduce the film. 

Age suggestion: 5+
 

New East Cinema: Under The Grey Sky + ScreenTalk with Director
Mara Tamkovich (15*)

Poland 2024, Dir Mara Tamkovich, 81min
Tue 25 Mar, 6.20pm
Cinema 2

After a Belarusian journalist is arrested for livestreaming the government’s crackdown on peaceful demonstrations, she and her husband are forced into a fight against an inhumane regime.

After Lena’s (Aliaksandra Vaitsekhovich) arrest, she and her husband Ilja (Valentin Novopolskij) face a wave of repressions both in and out of prison. As Ilja plans their escape out of the country, Lena is offered freedom in exchange for her moral compass.

Inspired by the story of journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva, currently serving an 8-year sentence in prison, director Mara Tamkovich crafts a tense, oppressive atmosphere in a directorial debut that portrays the brutal realities of the Belarusian regime.

This screening is presented in collaboration with Kinoteka Polish Film Festival.

Senior Community Screenings:
Welcoming 60+ cinema goers to watch the latest new releases every other Monday morning:

Crossing (15) (AD)

Georgia/Turkey 2024, Dir Levan Akin, 106 min
Mon 3 Mar, 11am
Cinema 2

A retired Georgian woman travels to Istanbul in search of her long-lost niece, where she meets a trans activist lawyer who helps her with her, in Levan Akin's identity drama.

Dahomey (PG)
France/Senegal/Benin/Singapore 2024, Dir Mati Diop, 68min

Mon 17 Mar, 11am
Cinema 2

A poetic documentary which addresses self-determination and restitution as royal treasures are returned to the Republic of Benin (formerly Kingdom of Dahomey) from a Paris Museum.

Emilia Pérez (15)
USA 2024, Dir Jacques Audiard, 132 min
Mon 31 Mar, 11am

Cinema 2

This operatic crime comedy tells the story of high-powered lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaña) who takes on an unexpected assignment: helping a Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) fake their death and undergo sex reassignment operations.

Relaxed Screenings
Relaxed screenings take place in an environment that is specially tailored for a neurodiverse audience, as well as those who find a more informal setting beneficial:

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (12A)

New Zealand, Japan & US 2024, Dir Kenji Kamiyama, 134min
Fri 14 Mar, 12pm

Cinema 3

An animated anime Lord of the Rings story from Kenji Kamiyama. Based on characters created by J. R. R. Tolkein, featuring the vocal talent of Brian Cox (Succession), Luke Pasqualino (Skins) and Miranda Otto (returning from the Peter Jackson trilogy). 

Event Cinema

Royal Ballet & Opera Live: Swan Lake (12A)

Sun 2 Mar, 2pm
Cinema 3

Classical ballet's most powerful tale of love, treachery and forgiveness. Bringing together Tchaikovsky’s score with the imagination of choreographer Liam Scarlett and designer John Macfarlane.
 

MET Opera Live in HD: Fidelio (12A)

Sat 15 Mar, 5pm
Cinema 1

Following a string of awe-inspiring Live in HD performances, Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Leonore, the faithful wife who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny in Beethoven’s Fidelio. 
 

Royal Ballet & Opera Live: Romeo & Juliet (12A)

Sun 23 Mar, 2pm
Cinema 3

The greatest love story ever told – through ballet. An ancient family feud casts a long shadow over Verona. In this hothouse of tension, and both sides get caught in the crossfire.
 

NT Live: Dr Strangelove (#)

Thu 27 Mar, 7pm

Cinema 1

BAFTA Award winner Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge, The Trip) plays four roles in the world premiere stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece Dr. Strangelove.