This megalith of a film, as intricately layered as the American jazz its beats are cut to, teases out the complex, sordid details of Congo's liberation from Belgian colonial rule in June 1960, through to the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba three months later.

As newly independent African countries took their seats at the UN, causing a political earthquake with their potential for majority voting, the CIA mounted their operation in the new Republic of Congo and the US sent Louis Armstrong over on a PR distraction trip.

Director Johan Grimonprez’s syncopated masterpiece connects post-war jazz, decolonisation and the Imperial quest for African resources, culminating in musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crashing the UN Security Council in protest at Lumumba’s death.

With its dextrous command of abundant sources – from rich archive materials and eyewitness accounts to testimony from mercenaries and CIA operatives – Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat never misses a beat in a disturbing story mired in colonial machinations.

Followed by an in-person Q&A with director Johan Grimonprez.

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5th November - Clapham Grand

GIFT: A Live Score by Eiko Ishibashi X Film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
+ Klara Lewis

Musician Eiko Ishibashi and filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi have teamed up again following their successful collaboration on the critically acclaimed film Drive My Car. Their latest project, titled GIFT, features a silent film directed by Hamaguchi, accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by Ishibashi.

This collaboration originated when Ishibashi asked Hamaguchi to create visuals to accompany her live performance. Hamaguchi decided to create a film with dialogue as a starting point, then turn it into a silent film for Ishibashi’s live performance.

Consequently, the project yielded two distinct works: a live score film performance, GIFT, and a feature film Evil Does Not Exist. GIFT offers a constantly-evolving cinematic experience, with Ishibashi’s improvised live performance intervening in Hamaguchi’s visuals, seeking to reimagine the relationships between sound, image, and narrative.

Supported by The Japan Foundation

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Screening and Q&A with composer Eiko Ishibashi

Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house; offering city residents a comfortable ‘escape’ to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the nature plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life deeply. From the director of Oscar® and BAFTA winner Drive My Car.

Book tickets to the screening and Q&A here.

Eiko Ishibashi's live score performance GIFT will take place on 5th November at The Clapham Grand, the day after the Q&A screening of Evil Does Not Exist. GIFT is the latest collaboration between Eiko Ishibashi and Ryusuke Hamaguchi and can be seen as a concentrated, dynamic flipside of Evil Does Not Exist. For more details please visit the website.

Jazz and decolonisation are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the U.N security council in protest against the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.

Crackling with energy and verve, this masterful film takes history and creates an audacious musical documentary. Winner of the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation. Modern Films works with rising and established filmmakers to bring innovative global stories to local audiences.

The Modern Film Club screens films and creates an in-conversation with cultural commentators who are seeing the film for the first time. Come and be part of the conversation.

Monday, October 28 · 6:30 - 10pm GMT. Doors at 6pm
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Nezouh + Q&A with director Soudade Kaadan | Senior Community Screening

14-year-old Zeina and her family are the last to have stayed in their besieged hometown of Damascus in Syria. A missile rips a giant hole in their home, exposing them to the outside world. When a rope is mysteriously lowered into the hole, Zeina gets her first taste of freedom, and an unimaginable world of possibility opens up for her.

As the violence outside escalates, the family is pressured to evacuate, but Mutaz, her father is adamant that they stay, refusing to flee to the uncertain life of a refugee. Faced with a life or death dilemma, Zeina and Hala, her mother, must make the choice whether to stay or leave.

This stunning drama from Soudade Kaadan’s Venice Film Festival award-winner offers a powerful and moving perspective on the Syrian conflict.

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“Girls Will Be Girls stands as a riveting contemplation on female sexuality, the bloom of youth, and the yearning for adulthood.” - Kristy Strouse, Film Inquiry

 A model student, 16-year-old Mira (Preeti Panigrahi in a radiant debut performance) is the first-ever female prefect in charge of enforcing rules at a straitlaced Indian boarding school in the Himalayas. Despite her ambition and primness, she can’t help but fall for new student Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron), and steals away with him to flirt and stargaze. With frankness and sensitivity, writer-director Shuchi Talati uncovers the contradictory layers of Mira’s sexual awakening, the complicated feelings triggered in her protective, unfulfilled mother, and the school’s lax penalties for boys’ transgressive behavior. 

Shuchi Talati’s thrilling and intimate debut won two prizes at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival: the World Cinema Drama Audience Award and a Special Jury Award for Acting for Panigrahi. 

Join us after the film for a Q&A with lead actor Preeti Panigrahi. 

Book tickets here.

This screening includes an intro and Q&A with actor Preeti Panigrahi.

Mira is a perfect teenage student in her final year at a strict school in the Himalayas. However, her life is thrown off course by her sexual awakening, as she becomes passionately involved with a new student, recently arrived from abroad. It’s a situation soon complicated by a controlling and desirous mother, in this explicit and intimate coming-of-age tale.

DAILIES will be partnering with Modern Films to present Shuchi Talati's Sundance winning feature. Founded by filmmaker Tomisin Adepeju, DAILIES curates spaces for film lovers to foster connections, inspire conversations, and spark creativity. They work through curated film nights, development programmes, and critical features.

In a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance. But her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother who never got to come of age herself.

Followed by a Q&A with the lead actress Preeti Panigrahi and Tomisin from Dailies

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The film will be followed by a panel discussion.

In the murky and perilous forests of the "green border" dividing Belarus and Poland, a calculated and dangerous game unfolds. Refugees from the Middle East and Africa, desperate to reach the safety of the European Union, find themselves ensnared in a sinister geopolitical scheme orchestrated by Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko. The refugees are unwitting pawns in Lukashenko's brazen attempt to incite Europe. Deceived by false promises of easy passage, they are drawn to the border through relentless propaganda. Among them are Julia, a passionate new activist who has abandoned her comfortable life for the cause, and Jan, a young border guard navigating a moral labyrinth. Their fates become entwined with that of a Syrian family, each caught in the web of this manufactured crisis. Against the backdrop of an era defined by shifting political landscapes, GREEN BORDER, the stirring new film by three-time Oscar Nominee Agnieszka Holand, thrusts us into a world where idealism collides with harsh realities. This poignant narrative doesn't merely unfold - it challenges us to confront the ethical dilemmas faced by ordinary individuals in extraordinary times, reminding us of the human stories obscured by the grand designs of power and politics.

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Screening and panel event

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called "green border" between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.

Book tickets here.

This one-off, all inclusive Green Screen will be followed by a panel with a special guest host, TBC. 

This screening has both SDH (subtitles for Deaf & Hard of Hearing) & AD (Audio Description).

Based on the much-loved, best-selling children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted for screen by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. KENSUKE’S KINGDOM has an international voice cast including Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins and Ken Watanabe and  tells of the epic adventure of Michael, a young boy, shipwrecked on a remote island, who must adapt to life alone.

Over time, he feels another presence, learning that this world is home to both unimaginable danger and beauty, in this gripping animated adaptation of a beloved novel.

Green Screen is a Picturehouse initiative showing environmental themed films followed by a panel discussion, where possible, made up of locally relevant experts and the filmmakers. Site permitting, all are invited to stay after the screening to continue the conversation in the bar / cafe and if you have brought your keep cup you get a free tea or filter coffee.  

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Q&A with directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce and actors Aaron MacGregor and Raffey Cassidy.

Based on the much-loved, best-selling children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted for screen by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, KENSUKE’S KINGDOM tells of the epic adventure of Michael, a young boy, shipwrecked on a remote island, who must adapt to life alone. Over time, he feels another presence, learning that this world is home to both unimaginable danger and beauty, in this gripping animated adaptation of a beloved novel.

KENSUKE’S KINGDOM’s illustrious voice cast includes Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Paddington), Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Oppenheimer), Raffey Cassidy (Snow White and the Huntsman, Tomorrowland), newcomer Aaron MacGregor (Puffin Rock and the New Friends) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Letters from Iwo Jima, Tokyo Vice).

Book tickets here.

Screening and panel event

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.

Book tickets here.

Followed by Q&A with Melanie Manchot moderated by Steven Eastwood

Visual artist Melanie Manchot works with a recovery group in Liverpool, who take up roles in a semi-fictional film-within-a-film that explores addiction and mental health from multiple perspectives. It is centred around Stephen, a character recovering from alcohol misuse, who takes on the fictional role of a gambler. References to the first police crime reconstruction, filmed in Liverpool in 1901, are a reminder that addiction has long existed within the fabric of our culture. It’s a tough process and emotionally charged scenes reveal inner truths, which gain additional power when the people playing the roles are, in some sense, playing themselves. Visually striking, Stephen is a startling record of the power of filmmaking and a reminder of how dextrous the documentary form can be.

The screening will begin with a 5 minute excerpt from The Stimming Pool – an experimental – at times fantastical – hybrid feature film, co-created by a collective of autistic artists, the Neurocultures Collective, and filmmaker Steven Eastwood.

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For Menstrual Health Day we are hosting a special screening of Tiger Stripes followed by a post panel discussion with Bloody Good Period.

Twelve year old Zaffan lives in a small rural community in Malaysia. In full puberty, she realizes that her body is changing at an alarming rate. Her friends turn away from her when a mass hysteria hits the school. Fear spreads and a doctor intervenes to chase away the demon that haunts the girls. Like a tiger harassed and dislodged from its habitat, Zaffan decides to reveal its true nature, its fury, its rage and its beauty.

Rachel Grocott from Bloody Good Period, and Dawn Heels and Tanya Simon-Hall -  two advocates for menstrual health conditions - will join the panel discussion, which will be chaired by Queen Mary University Professor Athena Mandis.

On March 28th, 2023, legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away after his struggle against cancer. In the years leading up to his death, Sakamoto could no longer perform live. Single concerts, not to mention sprawling global tours, were too taxing. Despite this, in late 2022, Sakamoto mustered all his energy to leave the world with one final performance: a concert film featuring just him and his piano.

Curated by Sakamoto himself and presented in his chosen order, the twenty pieces performed in the film wordlessly narrate his life through his music. The selection spans his entire career, from his popstar Yellow Magic Orchestra period to his magnificent Bertolucci film scores to music from his meditative final album, 12.

Intimately filmed in a space he knew well, surrounded by his most trusted collaborators and directed by his son, Sakamoto bares his soul through his music, knowing this may be the last time he can present his art.

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Picturehouse Green Screen presents a special, one-off Green Screening of Evil Does Not Exist at Picturehouse Central on Sunday 07 April with a recorded introduction from dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, followed by a live panel conversation. 

Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house; offering city residents a comfortable ‘escape’ to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the nature plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life deeply. From the director of Oscar® and BAFTA winner Drive My Car.

Green Screen is a community-led space to discuss environmental issues raised in the films we show. Everyone is welcome to continue the conversation after the film in the First Floor Snug area of Picturehouse Central – enjoy a free tea or filter coffee when you bring a keep cup!

In times of turmoil, the urge for an uncomplicated way of life has never seemed so alluring. The panel will discuss themes of balance, harmony, nature, and the beauty of everyday things, as well as how generational stories can influence contemporary living to create more meaningful experiences.

CHAIR -Isabel Stevens, Sight & Sound
Roisin Inglesby from  ART WITHOUT HEROES   
Zaineb Abelque from Athene Club - Female hiking Club

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A young actor in rehab lands is casted as a gambler in a crime thriller based on a film from 1901. Realities are layered in a British visual artist's performative film about the risk - and freedom - of letting go of yourself and becoming someone else.

Stephen Giddings is in his late 20s. He lives in Liverpool, is a recovering drug addict and an actor. He is given an emotionally demanding challenge: to ‘become’ the fictional character of an obsessed gambler in a crime thriller inspired by the 1901 film ‘Arrest of Goudie’, recognized as the first reconstruction of a real-life crime story filmed on the actual locations in the city. ‘Stephen’ is a participatory work created in close collaboration with Stephen and the other participants, both professionals and amateurs. But even though it is a multi-layered hybrid film, something very real is at stake for everyone involved – not least Stephen himself, who grew up in a violent environment of abuse that he is now struggling to escape. Director Melanie Manchot is a visual artist who has previously worked with reconstructions and performance in other media. Her first feature film brings these experiences together in a cohesive, meaningful and thought-provoking form.

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Manchester Premiere

Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.

Winner of the Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival

Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Cast: Hitoshi Omika, Ryô Nishikawa, Ryûji Kosaka
Japan / 106 Minutes / Japanese Language / Certificate 15

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Sensitive drama exploring the ups and downs of a polyamorous relationship that develops after a woman discovers her minister husband has been having an affair for more than a year.

When politician Juulia (Alma Pöysti, Tove, Fallen Leaves) finds out that her minister husband Matias (Eero Milonof, Border) has been having an 18-month affair, instead of angrily demanding a divorce, she suggests they give polyamory a go using a book as a manual. Soon Matias’ lover Enni (Oona Airola) is part of their lives and things become more emotionally complex when Juulia takes on a non-binary partner, Miska (Pietu Wikström). Finnish writer-director Selma Vilhunen sensitively explores issues including gender, prejudice and bucking the trend of perceived ‘normality’ without sensationalising the subject. Her elegant drama is a humanistic and compassionate treat.

Finnish with English subtitles.

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