Screen Notes

Barbican Cinema curator Matthew Barrington, explores the history behind this classic of 70s African American cinema, directed by legendary director, Melvin Van Peebles.

Rediscover the excitement of the metropolis - this new cinema season explores cities across the world.

Edwin Rostron explores the diverse animations from our 'Enter the Brainbox' screening, curated by Christopher Childs and part of Emerging Film Curators 2020.

Journalist Kevin Le Gendre looks at two films documenting the celebration of post-colonial African nations.

Explore complex, revealing and often provocative takes on men and masculinity, as seen through the lens of female filmmakers around the world.

We embark on a noctural journey full of passion, transgression and joy as we look at these films exploring what happens in bars and clubs after dark.

We explore how man-made, physical borders are represented, challenged and transgressed through the medium of film in our November cinema season.

Author and anime expert, Helen McCarthy presents a short history of anime at the Barbican and introduces the films selected for Anime’s Human Machines cinema season.

Cinema curator Tamara Anderson takes us back to the heady days of 1970s France and tells us how the films that came after the Nouvelle Vague were influenced by the turbulent political events of May 1968 – and why these films are still so relevant today.

Late-50s New York. In Greenwich Village bars and Times Square burger joints painters, writers, critics, musicians were making a new world. Filmmakers were right there too, advocating for freedom from convention.

Explore the work of one-time arthouse sensation Lina Wertmüller, one of the most acclaimed directors in world cinema in the 1970s whose work has been near-impossible to see in the UK, until now.

Explore key moments in Russian history and the films in the 'Generations' season in our interactive timeline.