Deep Focus: 23 - 29 June 2025
Young Soul Rebels at the Barbican, Voices from Gaza at The Castle Cinema, and CODE: DAMP at the BFI...
Isaac Julien’s Young Soul Rebels screens at the Barbican on Thursday as part of its Rebel Radio season
Monday, Takeshi Kitano’s Brother screens on 35mm at The Prince Charles Cinema. The Regent Street Cinema’s Monday Matinée is The Night of the Hunter. The Garden Cinema’s Noir International season continues with a matinée of Victims of Sin. Curzon Bloomsbury has Haneke’s Code Unknown. Alan Smithee and Jud Taylor’s Fade In, Barbara Loden’s first leading role, is in NFT2.
Tuesday, Filmed during the first intifada, Voices from Gaza screens at The Castle Cinema followed by a panel discussion. Watch Out for Zouzou comes to the ICA as part of SAFAR Film Festival. The Green Film Festival continues with The Here Now Project at The Rio, an international diary chronicling the impact of climate change. Marry Me, introduced by comedian Miles Jupp and James Kettle is on 35mm in NFT1. There’s another chance to see The Last Days of Disco on 35mm at Prince Charles. Curzon Hoxton has Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy.
Wednesday, CODE: DAMP Experimenta Mixtape , a cut-up screening dérive exploring the “textures, domestic surrealism and atavistic underbelly,” of the British sitcom is at NFT3, followed by a Q&A with CODE: DAMP author Sophie Sleigh-Johnson and hosted by comedian Stewart Lee. The Barbican’s Queer 70s season rolls on with My Dearest Senorita (Mi querida señorita), introduced by Anick Soni. Cine-real presents Monty Python and the Holy Grail on 16mm at The Castle Cinema, and again on Sunday afternoon. Linklater’s Dazed and Confused is at The Prince Charles Cinema. Jargon presents Ralph Bakshi’s American Pop at The Garden Cinema as part of its Beyond Jewish Cinema season. All Out of Bubblegum Film Club presents The Matrix at The Rio. There's one last chance to see Wanda in NFT3
Thursday, a Long Take highlight, Isaac Julien’s Young Soul Rebels is at the Barbican as part of their Rebel Radio season, followed by a screentalk with lead Mo Sesay and Tobi Kyeremateng. Phantom Beirut, Ghassan Salhab’s “haunting exploration of the official silences and collective amnesias” of conflict is at Cine Lumière as part of SAFAR Film Festival. Fleet Street’s MayDay Rooms has a screening of Harun Farocki’s On Display: Peter Weiss to celebrate the long-awaited English translation of the final volume of Weiss’ The Aesthetic of Resistance. Backronym presents Lukas Moodysson’s Show Me Love, followed by a queer-centered speed dating session at The Fellowship Inn. Pink Palace returns to the Rio to present “a rare VHS screening” of Velvet Goldmine. Kelly Reichardt’s debut, River of Grass is in NFT3 and again on Sunday. Benny’s Video is on 35mm at Genesis
Friday, Mascara Film Club returns for their 35th edition with a programme of “kaleidoscopic, non-linear, and open-ended” feminist shorts at Newington Green Meeting House, featuring work by Beatrice Gibson, Ana Vaz and Basma al Sharif. A “visually arresting, poetic meditation on memory,” Perfumed with Mint receives its UK Premiere at the ICA, followed by a Q&A with director Muhammed Hamdy. Shifting Tides Shorts Programme, a “luminous and stirring” collection of shorts ushers the SAFAR Film Festival into its final weekend at the Barbican. Fernando Di Leo’s Milano Calibro 9 is at The Nickel. The Silence of the Lambs screens at The Prince Charles Cinema. Haneke’s Happy End is at the BFI Southbank.
Saturday, there’s another chance to see Cassavettes’ A Woman Under the Influence on 35mm in NFT1 as part of Wanda and Beyond. Allan Moyle’s Pump up the Volume is at Prince Charles. Branded to Kill is at The Garden Cinema, introduced by filmmaker and critic Jasper Sharp. Japanese Film Club launches at The Rio with a screening of Tampopo, “the greatest film about food ever made,” followed by a Japanese disco after party.
Sunday, Cine Lumière’s Jacques Rozier retrospective continues with Maine Ocean. Hitchcock’s playful London thriller, Sabotage, is at the BFI Southbank. Deeper Into Movies has a double bill of Welles’ masterpiece F For Fake and Claudia Weill’s Girlfriends at Farr’s Dalston. Curzon’s satellite Haneke retrospective has The White Ribbon on 35mm at Curzon Soho. Ozu’s Early Summer is at the Phoenix Cinema. Never on Sunday returns to Close-Up with Kubrick’s directorial debut, Fear and Desire.