Restored & Rediscovered
Amadeus

Restored & Rediscovered

Cinema Rediscovered 2025

Season

Until Sun 27 July

Experience some of the latest new restorations and rediscoveries on the big screen, many UK premieres, from Miloš Forman’s multi Oscar®-winning Amadeus (1984, presented by international conductor Charles Hazlewood, to Charles Burnett’s directorial debut Killer of Sheep (1977), a touchstone of the influential LA Rebellion movement coming straight from this year’s edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna. Film curator, programmer and producer Mosa Mpetha pays homage to the late Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé (1940 – 2025) with Yeelen (1987).

Our collaboration with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project continues with a special presentation of Ardak Amirkulov’s staggering historical epic The Fall of Otrar (1991) which spurred a wave of great Kazakh films in the 1990s. Film writer and critic Christina Newland is back to present two brand new restorations c/o Radiance Films, Rosa la Rose, Fille Publique (1986) from Paul Vecchiali perhaps best known as the producer of Chantal Akerman’s groundbreaking Jeanne Dielman and Toru Murakawa’s Yajû shisubeshi (The Beast to Die, 1980), a vital addition to the pantheon of Japanese crime epics with an anti-war message.

Stephanie Rothman will join us remotely for the UK Premiere of a recent restoration of The Working Girls (1974) arguably her most uncompromising and accomplished film. Film historian and writer Pamela Hutchinson presents a pair of newly-restored Anglo/German silents directed by Richard Eichberg and starring style icon Anna May Wong.

We also continue to collaborate with a range of co-curators as part of our Other Ways of Seeing open call initiative, with support from BFI Awarding Funds from National Lottery to bring you a range of new restorations from Czechoslovak New Wave director Věra Chytilová’s Kalamita (1982) and Sidney Sokhona's first film Nationalité: Immigré (France, Mauritania, 1975) to Joan Didion’s modern classic, Play it as it Lays (1972) adapted by Frank Perry (screening alongside cult classic The Swimmer (1968). Cinema Mentiré bring us two little known feminist gems by trailblazing Argentinian filmmaker María Luisa Bemberg (1922-1995) on the 30th anniversary of her passing.

Other rediscoveries include One Potato, Two Potato (1964), Larry Peerce’s pioneering indie drama about interracial marriage set at the height of the USA Civil Rights movement. You can also catch two of the early titles acquired by Scala boss Stephen Woolley’s new company Palace Pictures, Sam Raimi’s uproarious debut The Evil Dead (1981) and the original Cinema du look sensation Diva (1981).

There’s also a chance to experience Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981), an extraordinarily inventive fantasy in which schoolboy Warnock is rescued from a dull suburban existence by a band of time travellers.

There’s plenty more to discover and rediscover in the line-up so start exploring...


Upcoming screenings in this season

UK Premiere: Amadeus

classified PG Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Amadeus
Until Sun 27 July
Film

Gloriously restored in 4K, Miloš Forman’s triumphant drama examines the rivalry between classical masters Salieri and Mozart through a uniquely inquisitive lens.

The Swimmer

classified PG Restored & Rediscovered
The Swimmer
Until Sat 26 July
Film

She wrote, he directed: The Swimmer, adapted by husband-wife duo Frank and Eleanor Perry, is a surreal odyssey through the suburbs starring Burt Lancaster.

Barry Lyndon (50th Anniversary)

classified 12A Restored & Rediscovered
Barry Lyndon (50th Anniversary)
Today at 09:50
Film

Stanley Kubrick's breathtaking exploration of Wiliam Makepeace Thackeray's novel sees his 18th century Irish adventurer meet his share of women, take part in the Seven Years' War, get recruited as a spy and marry into the English aristocracy, inventing new stories about himself at every turn of the road.

UK Premiere: The Fall of Otrar

classified 18 (CTBA) S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Fall of Otrar
Today at 10:00
Film

From state-of-the-art 13th-century warfare to perfumed sex, The Fall of Otrar is a hypnotic epic about one of world history’s crucial battles championed by Martin Scorsese.

Yeelen

classified PG S Restored & Rediscovered
Yeleen
Today at 13:00
Film

This seminal African allegory by the late Souleymane Cissé (1940 – 2025) exists outside of time and space to act as a powerful commentary on fathers and sons, light and dark.

Time Bandits

classified PG Restored & Rediscovered
Time Bandits
Today at 14:00, 14:10
Film

An extraordinarily inventive fantasy from Terry Gilliam in which schoolboy Warnock is rescued from a dull suburban existence by a band of time travellers.

UK Premiere: Diva

classified 12 S Restored & Rediscovered
Diva
Today at 15:20
Film

Two tapes, two Parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed.

Young Mr. Lincoln

classified U Restored & Rediscovered
Young Mr. Lincoln
Today at 15:50
Film

The early life of influential American President Abraham Lincoln becomes cinematic nirvana in the hands of director John Ford and actor Henry Fonda.

Compensation

classified 15 PS Restored & Rediscovered
Compensation
Today at 16:00
Film

The plight of the African American Deaf community is put under the spotlight in this moving and ambitious landmark of independent cinema.

UK Premiere: Yajû shisubeshi (The Beast To Die)

classified 18 (CTBA) S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Yajû shisubeshi (The Beast To Die)
Today at 18:00
Film

Toru Murakawa’s gritty and violent thriller is a vital addition to the pantheon of Japanese crime epics, centring on a deeply scarred war photographer turned bank robber.

UK Premiere: One Potato, Two Potato

classified 15 Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: One Potato Two Potato
Today at 18:10
Film

A white Midwestern divorcee, Julie (Barabara Barrie), and her black co-worker Frank Richards (Bernie Hamilton) fall in love but racial prejudice gets in the way with devastating consequences.

Themroc

classified 15 S Restored & Rediscovered
Themroc
Today at 20:40
Film

Rebelling against dull conformism, Michel Piccoli is mesmerising as a factory labourer suffering a meltdown and regressing to a caveman in this anarchic assault on bourgeois ideals.

UK Premiere: Northern Lights

classified 15 Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Northern Lights
Today at 20:40
Film

One of the most moving and committed works of political cinema from the late 1970s America.

UK Premiere: Schmutziges Geld (Song)

classified 15 PS Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Schmutziges Geld (Song)
Sun 27 July 11:00
Film

In this, her first European film, Anna May Wong (Shanghai Express) plays a dancer drawn into a tragic romantic triangle when she meets a cabaret knife thrower and his capricious sweetheart.

UK Premiere: Großstadtschmetterling (Pavement Butterfly)
Sun 27 July 14:10
Film

In her final silent film set in in Paris and the French Riviera, Anna May Wong (Shanghai Express) stars as a Chinese variety dancer who models for a young artist and ends up falling in love.

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.

Previous screenings in this season

UK Premiere: Rosa la rose, fille publique

classified 18 (CTBA) S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Rosa la rose, fille publique
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

Marianne Basler shines as a Parisian sex worker looking for an authentic connection in this moving drama of identity and class consciousness.

The Velvet Vampire

classified 18 (CTBA) Restored & Rediscovered
The Velvet Vampire
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

A young Los Angeles couple is invited by the mysterious Diane to her secluded desert home. Unbeknownst to them, she is a centuries-old vampire, and it’s not long before they become the objects of her desires.

UK Premiere: Mulher de Verdade (A Real Woman)

classified 15 S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Mulher de Verdade (A Real Woman)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

A sharp, satirical tale of love, class and female resilience in 1950s Brazil, from globe-trotting auteur Alberto Cavalcanti - newly restored and ripe for rediscovery.

The Evil Dead

classified 18 Restored & Rediscovered
The Evil Dead
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

Uproarious and hugely influential, Sam Raimi’s cabin-in-the-woods horror comedy was the very first title acquired by Stephen Woolley’s Palace Pictures.

UK Premiere: Kalamita (Calamity)

classified 15 S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Kalamita (Calamity)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

In this spirited comedy, an aimless young man’s search for purpose, sex and self-identity becomes a microcosm of Czechoslovakian life amid the height of the Cold War.

UK Premiere: Yo, La Peor de Todas (I, the Worst of All)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

17th-century Mexican nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, defies social expectations, becoming a renowned intellectual and writer during the Spanish Inquisition.

UK Premiere: Play it As It Lays

classified 18 (CTBA) Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Play it As It Lays
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

She wrote; he directed: Joan Didion’s modern classic is adapted by Frank Perry in this elliptical, introspective interrogation of 1960s Hollywood starring Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins.

UK Premiere: Señora de nadie (Nobody's Wife)

classified 15 S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Señora de nadie (Nobody's Wife)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

After being betrayed by her husband, Leonor embarks on a quest for self-discovery and begins to live new experiences.

UK Premiere: Killer of Sheep

classified 15 Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Killer of Sheep
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

Charles Burnett’s pioneering account of blue-collar existence paved the way for African American representation on the big screen.

Desert Hearts

classified 18 Restored & Rediscovered
Desert Hearts
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

Forty years after its release, Donna Dietch’s 1950s set romance remains one of the most influential and beautifully shot lesbian films of all time.

Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)

classified 15 S Restored & Rediscovered
Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

This daring and progressive account of a complex love triangle broke all manner of taboos to emerge as India’s first queer film and an icon of Parallel Cinema.

UK Premiere: The Working Girls

classified 15 Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: The Working Girls
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

1974 LA, and three self-determined young women look for their place in the world. Female friendship, work and utopian socialism braid the narrative beautifully together. Will the women do anything for money?

UK Premiere: Belarmino

classified 15 S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Belarmino
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

One of the iconic films of Portuguese Cinema Novo, a vivid portrait of a former boxing star (and of 1960s Lisbon) with stunning cinematography by Augusto Cabrita and a jazz score by Manuel Jorge Veloso.

UK Premiere: Deprisa, Deprisa (Hurry, Hurrry!)

classified 18 (CTBA) S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Deprisa, Deprisa (Hurry, Hurrry!)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

Winner of the Golden Bear at the 1981 Berlin Film Festival, Carlos Saura’s raw, startlingly naturalistic tale of love outside the law reflects the turmoil of a generation navigating the social upheavals of the post-Franco Spanish society.

UK Premiere: Nationalité: Immigré + Ballade aux Sources

classified 18 (CTBA) S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Nationalité: Immigré + Ballade aux Sources
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

A manifesto shot between 1972 and 1975, Sidney Sokhona's first film tells the story of the struggle of immigrant workers in France showing alongside Med Hondo’s debut.

Los Golfos (The Delinquents)

classified 18 (CTBA) S Restored & Rediscovered
Los Golfos (The Delinquents)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

Carlos Saura’s début feature film, presented here in a restored and uncensored version remains one of cinema's most distinctive portraits of those living on the margins in Madrid, shot entirely on location.

UK Premiere: Reifezeit (Time of Maturity)

classified 15 S Restored & Rediscovered
UK Premiere: Reifezeit (Time of Maturity)
Please note: This was screened in July 2025
Film

A young boy comes of age amid a challenging upbringing in this sensitive emblem of 1970s New German cinema.

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