Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Cinema Rediscovered 2025
Until Sun 27 July
At the beginning of the 1980s, writer Colin Welland famously said “the British are coming” as he picked up his Oscar® for Chariots of Fire original screenplay. They never quite arrived in the way they were expected. Instead, the industry and audience went into near terminal decline...
However, amidst these turbulent times and against the political and social upheaval of Thatcherism seeds of renewal could be seen dotted across the independent film community; from the arrival of Channel 4 to the rise of maverick distributor/producer Palace Pictures and the emergence of new filmmaking voices.
This season presents some of these ambitious and now influential films and filmmakers who redefined British independent cinema and who went against the grain of the decade.
Special guests include multi-award-winning director Sir Stephen Frears and actor Gordon Warnecke and playwright and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi CBE presenting My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) restored ahead of its 40th anniversary re-release in cinemas c/o Park Circus; influential film festival programmer, producer and author Lynda Myles, who received the BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution to Film last year, sharing her debut producing journey with Defence of the Realm (1985); the star of Ping Pong Lucy Sheen plus BAFTA-winning. Oscar®-nominated Producer Stephen Woolley also delivers the Opening Night Keynote and presents our Opening Film Absolute Beginners (1986).
Upcoming screenings & events in this season
Absolute Beginners
classified 12 Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Set against a backdrop of emerging teen culture and rising racial tension in late 50s London, Colin MacInnes' cult novel is brought to the screen in Julien Temple's exuberant musical adaptation with a who's who cast of music luminaries from Bowie and Ray Davies to Sade.
Handsworth Songs
classified 18 (CTBA) Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
A groundbreaking experimental film essay on race and disorder in Britain, filmed by John Akomfrah from the Black Audio Film Collective in Birmingham and London during the riots of 1985.
The Gold Diggers + Short: The London Story
classified U Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Made with an all female crew, Sally Potter’s (Orlando, The Tango Lesson) ground-breaking first feature is a key film of early ‘80s feminist cinema.
The Angelic Conversation + Short: Dungeness
classified 18 Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Structured around fourteen of Shakespeare's sonnets read by Judi Dench, Derek Jarman’s film is an exploration of love and desire between two men.
A Zed and Two Noughts + Short: Ghost of The Past
classified 15 Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Following a fatal car crash involving a swan outside a zoo, twin-brother zoologists Oliver and Oswald become fascinated by the processes of decay.
Angel
classified 15 Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Neil Jordan’s strikingly poetic debut feature explores the numbing violence of the Troubles starring actor Stephen Rea as Saxophonist Danny, one of the first films commissioned by Channel 4.
My Beautiful Laundrette
classified 15 Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Who would have thought that this small budget film made for Channel 4 from a script by a then unknown writer about a young Pakistani Londoner (Gordon Warnecke), his ambitions for his uncle’s laundrette and his developing relationship with a skinhead (Daniel Day-Lewis in a breakthrough role) would become one of the most successful and iconic films of the 80s?
Deaf Conversations about Cinema: My Beautiful Laundrette
Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
We are delighted to be hosting a special Deaf Conversations About Cinema event as part of this year’s Cinema Rediscovered.
The Gold Diggers + Tour & Intro
classified U Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
The ground-breaking first feature from the director of Orlando and The Tango Lesson, The Gold Diggers is a key film of early '80s feminist cinema.
Rita, Sue and Bob Too
classified 18 Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema
Alan Clarke’s screen adaptation of playwright Andrea Dunbar’s uninhibited portrait of working-class life caused outrage at the time and reset the debate about class and representation on screen.
Individual events and screenings unless otherwise specified:
£11.50 full (plus 12% booking fee*)
£9.00 concessions / Refugees and Asylum Seekers (plus 12% booking fee*)
£6.00 24 or under (plus 12% booking fee*)
Concessions apply to Full Time Students, Job Seekers Allowance and Employment Support Allowance, 66+ who have retired, Equity and BECTU members and disabled people. Where applicable please produce proof of eligibility when collecting a ticket.
*Booking fee applies to online and phone booking only.
Complimentary tickets are available for Personal Assistants accompanying customers who are Deaf / Disabled and can be booked through the Box Office, or online after joining our Access Register.
Cinema Rediscovered Festival Pass
The Cinema Rediscovered Pass allows you to select from 80+ Cinema Rediscovered screenings and events between Wed 23 - Sun 27 July. Subject to availability, terms and conditions apply. Buy your Pass here. Pass holders get a free three-month trial from curated online film streaming platform MUBI.
Pass prices: £120 full / £100 concessions / £80 24 and under.
Multi-Ticket Package Offer
Get 20% off the regular ticket price when you book 4-10 Cinema Rediscovered screenings and/or events. The discount will automatically apply when you add the tickets to your basket.
Club Shed members get 20% off all individual Cinema Rediscovered tickets.
All Cinema Rediscovered Pass and ticket holders can get 20% off any 6 O'Clock Gin & Tonic (including Watershed’s very own) at the Café & Bar and Undershed Bar during the Festival. Pass and ticket holders can also enjoy Spritz time - get any drink from our Spritz menu for the reduced price of £8 between 17:00 - 20:00 at the Café & Bar and Undershed Bar during the Festival.
Please note: the Cinema Walks, Projection Tours, 16mm Projection Taster Sessions and the Film Quiz are excluded from the Pass and Package.
