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Barbican Cinema programme: November 2024

Our Screens Bring You Closer*

November brings an eclectic and bold cinema programme at the Barbican, with two returning partner Festivals including LondonPalestine Film Festival and the London International Animation Festival, now in its 21st year. 

Barbican Cinema is also delighted to present a special preview of Blitz and ScreenTalk with the Academy Award Winning writer/director Steve McQueen. Set in London during World War II, his latest film stars Saoirse Ronan, Paul Weller, Elliott Heffernan and Kathy Burke.

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events

Regular Programme strands

Event Cinema

  • MET Opera Live: Tosca – Sat 30 Nov 

 

Music fans will also enjoy the EFG London Jazz Festival: Jazz on Screen season, with rarely seen films that shine a light on the modern jazz legends Max Roach and Duke Ellington, complementing the EFG London Jazz Festival concerts at the Barbican.

November’s Silent Film & Live Music presents the eerie1926 film By the Law, from the former Soviet Union, which tells the story of a group of prospectors in the Yukon, who manage to strike gold but are left with murder on their hands! With live accompaniment by Stephen Horne, on piano, and Martin Pyne, on drums. 

Further cinematic highlights this month include Jarman Award Screening: The Time of Our Lives + ScreenTalk with Sin Wai Kin; New East Cinema’s screening of the tender Azerbaijani film Return of the Projectionist + ScreenTalk; and Experiments in Film: Efforts of Nature VI, a selection of old and new films that examine the human body as a place of pleasure, illness and the possibility for transcendental experiences. 

Family Film Club also returns in November with a focus on classic animation from the Wallace and Gromit crew with the family favourites A Grand Day Out and The Wrong Trousers; and Amazing Animations for 0-7 year-olds (as part of the London International Animation Festival). 

*Our Screens Bring You Closer

With concrete heritage, eclectic programming and accessible to all, Barbican screens are here week-in, week-out, waiting to bring audiences closer to unforgettable moments shared with friends, or enjoyed alone.

The screen brings people closer to each other. Sharing the drama together create a community, joined through a passion for the biggest stories. Barbican screens introduce a new generation to a lifelong love of cinema.

Barbican Cinema champions emerging filmmakers to cinema legends through unforgettable ScreenTalks and film festivals, bringing cinema goers closer to lesser-seen gems and the conversations keeping them alive. 

At the Barbican Cinema, screens bring audiences closer to each other, to unforgettable experiences, and to international cinema every day. 

 

LISTINGS

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events 

Blitz (12A) + ScreenTalk with writer/ director Steve McQueen
US/ UK 2024, Dir Steve McQueen, 120 mins
Thu 31 Oct, 6.10pm 
Cinema 1 
Academy Award Winning writer/director Steve McQueen is back with this historical drama following a young boy as he tries to make his way back to his mother through London during World War II.

Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to Rita and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, ensues on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son. 

After the film, Barbican Cinema is pleased to welcome Steve McQueen on-stage for a ScreenTalk about his latest work. 

The Barbican is delighted to be one of three selected Cinemas in the UK to be screening Blitz before its general release. See the film in our Cinemas from 1 November.

Rewriting the Rules: Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970 
Sat 2 Nov – Thurs 12 Dec

Cinema 1 & 3 
Barbican’s Cinema’s major three month-long season Rewriting the Rules: Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970, which showcases the innovative work of the Indian new wave of filmmakers from 1970s to the 1990s, continues in November. This is an integral part of the Barbican’s major exhibition The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998 (5 October 2024 – 5 January 2025) which explores a period of significant cultural and political change in India’s recent history.

The November programme includes The Circus Tent (India 1978) which is hailed by many as Keralan filmmaker Govindan Aravindan’s masterpiece; and is a stunning and poetic exploration of the inner lives of a travelling circus troupe in which old age, loneliness and regret becomes magnified through the filmmaker’s salient observational perspective.  

This follows with Duvidha (India 1973, Dir Mani Kaul), in which a bride’s life takes an unexpected turn when a ghost falls in love with her and assumes her husband's identity. Anchored in an evocative feminist perspective, this is a virtuoso blend of folklore and avant-garde cinema, deeply rooted in Rajasthani culture.  

India Cabaret + Maid Servant is a double bill of documentaries focusing on women’s rights and perspectives. India Cabaret (India 1985), directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding), is set in the hidden world of Mumbai’s cabaret dancers, and Maid Servant (India 1981) made by the Yuganthar feminist film collective examines the economic struggles, gender dynamics and class disparities facing a rural migrant who becomes a domestic worker for a rich family.  
View the full season press release: 
www.barbican.org.uk/our-story/press-room/rewriting-the-rules-pioneering-indian-cinema-after-1970 
 

Jarman Award 2024: The Time of Our Lives (12) + ScreenTalk with Sin Wai Kin 

and Lotte Johnson

4 Nov, 6.30pm
Cinema 2 

An evening introducing three new interconnected works by Sin Wai Kin premiering in 2024 on themes of time, reality and human nature. The Fortress, a single channel film following Wai King and introducing a new character, The Mask. The Time of Our Lives, a science fiction sitcom featuring Wai King, V Sin and The Storyteller.  A two-channel video installation featuring a 'live' studio audience which plays with relative time as a metaphor for constructed realities. Essence (Digital Display), is a three-channel video advertisement featuring Wai King on a journey to find what is intrinsic to his nature, part of a campaign for a conceptual men's cologne. 

London Palestine Film Festival 
15 – 26 Nov
Cinema 1, 2 + 3 
The London Palestine Film Festival (LPFF) returns this November, bringing a powerful selection of films that offer profound insights into Palestinian life, culture, and resistance. Screening at various venues across London the Barbican programme includes: 

Opening Night: A Grain of Sand (حبة رمل)
Exclusive Mixed-Media Live Performance
Fri 15 Nov, 7pm
Cinema 1 
Performed by Sarah Agha and directed by Elias Matar, A Grain of Sandtells the story of Renad, a young Gazan girl searching for hope amidst devastation. Her journey between life, death, and rebirth reflects the lived experiences of many Palestinians.
Followed by a conversation with Sarah Agha and Elias Matar.

To a Land Unknown
UK 2024, Dir Mahdi Fleifel, 105min 
Mon 18 Nov, 6.10pm 
Cinema 2
A screening followed by a Q&A with director Mahdi Fleifel, exploring the search for identity among Palestinian refugees.

There will be a repeat screening of To A Land Unknown on Thu 21 Nov, 8.30pm, Cinema 2  

Shorts Session: Dreams and Ghosts
Wed 20 Nov, 8:45pm
Cinema 2
A series of short films touching on the visible and invisible in Palestinian life, as characters grapple with the ghosts of the past while yearning for a better future.

Edward Said: The Last Interview
UK 2004, Dir Michael Dibb, 120min
Tue 26 Nov, 6:30pm 
Cinema 3 
An introduction by author Isabella Hammad will precede the screening of the last recorded interview with Palestinian intellectual Edward Said.

EFG London Jazz Festival: Jazz on Screen
Sat 16 Nov – Sat 23 Nov
Cinema 2 + 3 
Coinciding with the EFG London Jazz Festival from 15 – 24 November 2024, Barbican Cinema is pleased to present Jazz On Screen, a series that explores the intersection of jazz and film and offers audiences a journey through the sights and sounds that have shaped the genre’s enduring influence on media and culture. 

So Watt: Jazz and Improvisation on British TV and ScreenTalk with comedian/ writer Stewart Lee, jazz vocalist Maggie Nicols and writer Ian Greaves
Dir various 
Sat 16 Nov, 2.30pm
Cinema 3 
Through rare archival footage this programme revisits the groundbreaking moments when jazz innovators boldly redefined the genre's boundaries on screen. The Barbican is delighted that the renowned comedian Stewart Lee, known for his love of jazz, will lead a ScreenTalk and panel discussion with the celebrated jazz vocalist Maggie Nicols and the co-curator and writer Ian Greaves.

Max Roach @ 100: Noi insistiamo. Suite per la libertà subito 
Italy 1964, Dir. Gianni Amico, 16min
+ Black Sun 
Japan 1964, Dir. Koreyoshi Kurahara, 95min
Sun 17 Nov, 3.30pm 
Cinema 2
Coinciding with the concert Charles Tolliver celebrates Max Roach @ 100 taking place in the Hall on Mon 18 Nov – Barbican Cinema presents two films, both made in 1964, which bring together the cinema and the music of drummer Max Roach. 

The first, Noi insistiamo. Suite per la libertà subito, is a short directed by Gianni Amico based on Max Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite and is a photographic montage that illustrates the history of Black emancipation, with Roach's compositions inspired by Oscar Brown Jr.'s poems. 

The second Koreyoshi Kurahara's Black Sun (Kuroi taiyo) is an unconventional anti-buddy film scored by Roach, about a young Japanese jazz fanatic and a Black American GI, both fugitives in Tokyo, as their relationship evolves into an absurd yet tragic cultural clash.

Symphonies in Black: Duke Ellington Shorts
Dir various 
Tue 19 Nov, 7.30pm
Cinema 3 
Jazz on Screen concludes with Symphonies in Black: Duke Ellington Shorts, a special screening event featuring 16 captivating films that highlight the extraordinary musical legacy of Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. Spanning nearly a quarter of a century (1929-1953), these films showcase Ellington’s performances in a variety of settings, often accompanied by dancers and singers, including the legendary Billie Holiday.
 


London International Animation Festival (LIAF 2024) 
Fri 22 Nov – Sun 1 Dec
Cinema 1 & 2 
Opening Night - LIAF 2024: Opening Night - UK premiere - Boys Go To Jupiter + Screentalk with Director Julian Glander and Producer Peisin Yang Lazo (15*) 

Approx running time: 140min
Fri 22 Nov 6:10pm

Cinema 1 

Set in the transitional days between Christmas and New Year’s, the story follows Billy 5000, a teenage gig worker, whose goal of earning $5,000 takes a turn when a quirky gelatinous alien appears. Featuring a voice cast of beloved oddball comedy stars, the film embraces a delightfully bizarre atmosphere. 

The British Showcase + filmmaker introduction (15*) 
Approx running time: 105min
Fri 22 Nov, 9pm
Cinema 1

Independent British animated films have carved out a unique niche in the cinematic landscape, characterised by their distinct artistic styles and innovative storytelling. Before the screening there is a chance to meet many of the animators and hear them talk about their films as they take to the stage to introduce their films.

Figures in Focus: Wanderlust + Screentalk (15*) 

Approx running time: 115min

Sat 23 Nov, 6pm
Cinema 2

This is a programme of contemporary animations in recognition of the under-representation of female and non-binary animators and their stories. The selected films examine the urge to explore the world, to travel, to feel the delight to roam. Filmmakers Jessica Ashman, Efa Blosse-Mason, and Silvana Roth will join programmer Abigail Addison for the post-screening discussion.

 

Marvellous Animations for 8-15 year-olds (PG*)

Approx running time: 85min
Sun 24 Nov, 2pm 

Cinema 2 

These nine films from seven different countries have been chosen especially for children aged 8 and upwards and include themes such as friendship, resilience, and self-discovery. 
They are films for the young but also the young at heart with several laugh-out-loud moments alongside tales that tug at the heart-strings.

 

Disrupting the Narrative: When Worlds Collide (15*) + Screentalk
Approx running time: 100min

Mon 25 Nov, 6:10pm

Cinema 2
Personal and political narratives are investigated beneath the microscopic eye of ten Black British and global majority animation directors with urgent tales to tell. Filmmakers Mary Martins, Gisela Mulindwa, Izzy Aghahowa and Erica Russell will join programmer Osbert Parker for the post-screening discussion.

Family Film Club: Amazing Animations for 0-7 year-olds (U*)
Approx running time: 82min
Sat 30 Nov, 11 am
Cinema 2
This carefully chosen programme for our littlest and most special audience features eleven of the best, most recent wonderful short animated films, full of joy, from all around the world. There’ll be talking animals, seriously fun adventures and wondrous tales to spark those little imaginations.

LIAF 2024: Closing Night Gala - The Best of the Fest (15*)
Approx running time: 120min
Sun 1 Dec, 5.20pm 
Cinema 1
This is the last chance to see these films before the curtain comes down on another LIAF. Selected by several panels of  industry experts and audience votes, these are the ‘must-see’ films of LIAF 2024.
For further information: https://liaf.org.uk/ 

Silent Film & Live Music: By the Law (a.k.a. Dura Lex, The Unexpected) (12A*) 

USSR 1926, Dir Lev Kuleshov, 70min  
Sun 24 Nov, 3pm
Cinema 1 

Thought your flat was small during lockdown? How about waiting out a Canadian winter in a primitive wooden cabin with just your husband, and a murderer, for company. 

On the banks of the Yukon river a group of prospectors are searching for gold. Soon after they strike lucky one of the party flips out, killing two others. Now the remaining couple must bury their partners (in a raging storm) and keep guard over the murderer through the long winter, until they can deliver him to the law. But as cabin fever sets in, will they be tempted to take matters into their own hands?  
 

Regular Programme Strands

Family Film Club 

Every Sat, 11am 
Cinema 2 

Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out + The Wrong Trousers(U) 
UK 1989, Dir Nick Park,  23min + UK 1993, Dir Nick Park, 29min

Sat 9 Nov 11am
Cinema 2 

These are family favourties with heart, humour and sublime animation, these are the perfect chance to introduce the next generation of film fans to some classics. 

Puffin Rock and the New Friends (U) 
Ireland 2023, Dir Jeremy Purcell, 80min 

Sat 16 Nov, 11am
Cinema 2 

Featuring the dulcet tones of Chris O’Dowd on narration duty and a whole host of new beautifully realised animal friends, this delicate animated story from the award-winning studio Cartoon Saloon is a delight.

Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave + A Matter of Loaf and Death (U)
UK 1995, Dir. Nick Park, 29min + UK 2008, Dir Nick Park, 30min
Sat 23 Nov, 11am 
Cinema 2 

A double bill of two of the greatest from one of the UK’s best animators, programmed to coincide with the London International Animation Festival taking place in Barbican Cinemas in November.  

 

Experiments in Film: Efforts of Nature VI (18*)

Tue 5 Nov, 6.30pm 
Cinema 1 
This selection of old and new experimental films and spoken word looks at the human body as a place of pleasure, illness, and as a site for transcendental experiences. Efforts of Nature VI is the sixth and final iteration of an expanded screening programme arranged by Morgan Quaintance, that both includes and expands from his film of the same name. 

This version of the combined programme, featuring moving image and spoken word work by Marthe Peters, Jerry Tartaglia, Marlon Riggs, Xiaolu Wang, Pedro Pietri and Anne Charlotte Robinson, considers the human body as both grounded locus for affects, pleasures and illnesses; and as a vessel through which carnal realities lead to transcendental experience. 

New East Cinema: Return of the Projectionist (12A*) + ScreenTalk
Germany/ France 2024, Dir Orkhan Aghazadeh, 97min

Wed 27 Nov, 6.20pm 
Cinema 3 
In a remote village in Azerbaijan's Talysh Mountains, Samid, a television repairman, is trying to fix his old Soviet projector and revive the local cinema.

Filmed observationally, Orkhan Aghazadeh’s feature debut often blurs the lines between documentary and fiction, with beautifully composed shots and carefully planned camera angles that capture the essence of the village, its community, and its surroundings – serene landscapes evoking those seen in the cinema of neighbouring Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.

Senior Community Screenings 
Welcoming 60+ cinema goers to watch the latest new releases every other Monday morning: 
La Chimera
Italy/UK 2024, Dir Alice Rohrwacher, 131min

Mon 04 Nov, 11am
Cinema 2 
Josh O'Connor digs himself into a mess in this arthouse 80s drama about a troupe of Italian grave robbers.

Shayda
Australia 2024, Dir Noora Niasari, 118min
Mon 11 Nov, 11am
Cinema 2 
Shayda and her six year old daughter find refuge in an Australians women's centre, until her ex-husband arrives, in Noora Niasari's powerful debut feature. 

Bye Bye Tiberias
France, Palestine, Belgium, Qatar 2023, Dir Lina Soualem, 82min 
Mon 25 Nov, 11am
Cinema 2 
Years after leaving her Palestinian village Hiam Abbass returns home in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.
 

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:

Janet Planet (12A)
US/UK 2024, Dir Annie Baker, 96min
Mon 11 Nov, 6.15pm 
Cinema 3 
From Pulitzer winning playwright Annie Baker comes her debut feature film, in the form of this textured and intimate mother-daughter story.

Babes (AD) 
US 2024, Dir Pamela Adlon, 106min
Fri 29 Nov, 12pm 
Cinema 3 
A carefree woman gets pregnant after a one-night stand in this Bridesmaids-esque comedy starring Ilana Glazer.

Pay What You Can Screenings
Every Friday one of the new release film screenings is priced Pay What You Can. 
This is for customers where ticket price may be a barrier, or for those who want to help others enjoy a visit to the cinema; audience members are invited to pay between £3-£15.

Event Cinema 

MET Opera Live: Tosca (15)

Sat 30 Nov, 6pm
Cinema 1 
Extraordinary Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen stars as the passionate diva in David McVicar’s thrilling production, broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera stage.

 

Press Information

Ian Cuthbert, Communications Manager, Cinema : [email protected] / 07980 925 352

Sumayyah Sheikh, Communications Assistant (Theatre & Dance and Cinema) : [email protected]

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