Save the dates for the 10th edition of Cinema Rediscovered!
Posted on Fri 12 Dec
We can’t quite believe it but we’re fast approaching the 10th edition of Cinema Rediscovered Wed 22 - Sun 26 July 2026, Watershed’s annual festival that brings great films back to the big screen.
Taking inspiration from the pioneering Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Italy but with a distinctive Bristol twist, Cinema Rediscovered launched in July 2016 with David Bowie in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence as our poster boy.
With the help of Bristol’s burgeoning cinema community - 20th Century Flicks, South West Silents and Come The Revolution – plus collaborators from further afield such as curator Karen Alexander and the Independent Cinema Office, we set about presenting our first edition which consisted of just 36 events; from a rare Ganja & Hess showing on 35mm to an unlikely pairing of Anthony Harvey films The Lion in Winter and Dutchman plus filmmaker John Akomfrah talking about the influence of Tarkovsky’s Mirror on his own practice. We were also joined by Il Cinema Ritrovato’s head honcho Gian Luca Farinelli, for a presentation of Kinemacolor shorts restored by L'Immagine Ritrovata labs and an “official blessing” for this new festival which he referred to as “a British offspring” which we were happy to take!
Our 2nd edition then marked Bristol becoming a UNESCO City of Film. To celebrate, encouraged by Il Cinema Ritrovato’s spectacular Piazza Maggiore, we boldly put on two free outdoor screenings at the heart of the harbourside with the support of IMDb; most memorably Bristol born director Mike Hodges (1932 – 2022) presented his cult classic Flash Gordon to a packed crowd set against a lush red sky backdrop. In the spirit of honesty, our second outdoor screening involved a handful of brave souls who sat through 134 minutes of Black Panther under the pouring rain, and at that point, we realised that here in Bristol, we might need to rethink our piazza plans.
2017 also saw the launch of our first UK tour, collaborating with Arrow to present a new restoration of Kieslowski’s Decalogue (1988) in thirteen venues and realised there was a growing appetite for repertoire cinema across the UK and Ireland.
Zoom forward to 2025, the festival and touring programme reached over 12,000 admissions across over 50 venues across the UK and Ireland; and was the launchpad for several theatrical re-releases of restorations including Amadeus and My Beautiful Laundrette. We were also proud to team up with British Council to present our Against The Grain: 1980’s British Cinema strand as part of a country focus at Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC) in Mexico where outdoor screenings are possible!
“It is testament to audiences’ appetite for seeing classic films and discovering lost gems in the cinema that we are celebrating a 10th edition of Cinema Rediscovered. There is nothing quite so thrilling than collectively immersing yourself into the glow of projection on a screen. Hell, even the Pope agrees! ‘ ! ‘Entering a cinema is like crossing a threshold. In the darkness and silence, vision becomes sharper, the heart opens up and the mind becomes receptive to things not yet imagined.’ I’ll drink to that and look forward to welcoming you to the birthday cinematic celebrations in July 2026.” - Mark Cosgrove, Founder of Cinema Rediscovered
The festival will take place in and around Bristol at Watershed and other great venues including 20th Century Flicks, the Bristol Megascreen, Curzon Cinema & Arts in Clevedon and more to be revealed; also launching a UK and Ireland wide touring programme of highlights.
We can’t reveal too much at this stage but here’s a few teasers. You can expect be a playful strand celebrating the power of cinema. With a little help from some Manchester based friends, we will be returning to our favourite Hollywood decade the 70s, but this time, going seriously rogue… There’ll be plenty of rediscoveries from the UK and across the globe, many new restorations plus a chance to see lesser-known cinematic voices and film on film. Closer to home, we also plan to celebrate Aardman’s 50th anniversary to coincide with “Cracking Exhibition Gromit: 50 Years of Aardman in Bristol” at M Shed. As always, there’ll be plenty of guests, opportunities for conversations and getting together including our now legendary Film Quiz.
Over the decade, thanks to your support and that of our many partners, co-curators, sponsors and funders, Cinema Rediscovered has evolved into the UK’s leading festival of film restorations and rediscoveries and we can’t wait to welcome to Bristol UNESCO City of Film (and/or at one of our many partner venues) for our 10th anniversary edition.
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