Thu 27 - Sun 30 July 2017
part of The Archive Sessions
Waterside 1, Watershed
A practice based afternoon session designed to inspire and inform cinema professionals including case studies on how to approach screen heritage events from the tiny to the epic.
Celebrated French director Bertrand Tavernier, known for films rich in cultural and social commentary (Round Midnight, The Clockmaker), invites us on an insightful and entertaining voyage through his country's cinema.
Ticket holders get 20% off French red wine in our Café/Bar on the day. Santé!
A beautiful new digital restoration of one of Merchant Ivory's undisputed masterpieces, this Oscar®-winning drama stars Emma Thompson as a woman struggling to maintain her integrity.
With an introduction by Ian Whittaker, the Oscar®-winning set decorator for Howard's End
part of Manipulating The Message
Conceived, written and released in America during the Watergate crisis, Network is a meticulously researched, highly articulate attack on the demoralisation and dehumanisation of American life as exemplified by the crude commercialisation of television news.
With an introduction by Award-winning journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed, who amongst many other projects presents Newswatch on BBC1 and Radio 4’s Front Row.
An extremely rare chance to see Krzysztof Kieślowski's small screen classic - one of the twentieth century’s greatest achievements in visual storytelling - on the big screen, over ten superb hours.
With an introduction by Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator and short recorded introduction by Jason Wood, Artistic Director of Film at HOME, Manchester.
Waterside 1, Watershed
A one day talent development programme, reflecting on the state of things and things to come for film criticism and cinephilia in the UK and beyond.
Please note: Applications for 2017 have now closed and successful applicants will be notified by July 7th.
part of Girls Like Us
This all-female cast WWII film, co-adapted by Moie Charles from her own story, reveals the positive and courageous role women played in the war effort on home soil.
With an intro by South West Silents curator Rosie Taylor.
part of Girls Like Us
Sent away from home to work during the war, homesick Celia finds herself surrounded by women from all walks of life, discovering purpose and community in the most unlikely place.
Followed by a discussion with Girls Like Us curator Stephen Woolley wih author Lissa Evans (who wrote Their Finest Hour and a Half, the novel Their Finest is based on).
Looking back at Bristol’s own cinematic history, join Dr Peter Walsh on a tour around the centre reflecting on our city’s rich film-making and film-going past.
part of Manipulating The Message
Gus Van Sant's irresistible black comedy stars Nicole Kidman as a weather girl who will stop at nothing for television fame. A pre-internet tabloid classic that has lost none of its dark edge.
With an introduction by Louise Milsom, Watershed's MA in Curation student
part of Girls Like Us
A witty and finely tuned WWII charmer from Lone Scherfig (An Education) based on Lissa Evans' novel Their Finest Hour and a Half starring Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy.
With an introduction from producer Stephen Woolley and author Lissa Evans. Lissa will also be doing a book signing following the screening at the festival Information desk in the Café/Bar.
part of Manipulating The Message
Billy Wilder’s fierce satire of the media circus - about a reporter (Kirk Douglas) who sees a chance to manufacture a scoop when a man is trapped by a rockfall - is a no-holds-barred exposé of the American media’s appetite for sensation.
With an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson, freelance writer, film critic and contributer to Sight & Sound, The Guardian and Radio 4.
part of Direct From Il Cinema Ritrovato
As much as Woodstock is synonymous with the 60s and the summer of love, it was actually the Monterey International Pop festival which captured the mood of the era and helped transform the careers of the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin.
With an introduction by Mark Cosgrove, Watershed's Cinema Curator
Waterside 1, Watershed
Filmmakers Eileen Anipare and Jason Wood interviewed Krzysztof Kieślowski in January 1995 for their film, an attempt to examine the universal messages - as well as the idiosyncrasies- offered by Dekalog.
With an introduction by Mark Cosgrove. Watershed Cinema Curator
Café & Bar, Watershed
Join us for Live Music Influenced by Blood Simple in the Cafe/Bar with Mike Crawford and the Various Sorrows.
Where it all began for the Coen brothers on their career-long darkly comic road trip through misfit America, this razor-sharp, hard-boiled Texan noir sees a sleazy bar owner release a torrent of violence upon himself and those around him with one murderous thought.
Join us for Your Cheatin' Heart - Music Influenced by Blood Simple - a Pre-Party in the Cafe/Bar from 21:30. Pull up a chair, nurse your drink and broken heart to the tunes of love-lost Americana - with Mike Crawford and the Various Sorrows.
part of Come The Revolution
Julie Dash’s groundbreaking first feature returns restored and colour graded under the supervision of the film’s cinematographer, Arthur Jafa, a modern masterpiece that must be seen to be felt.
Come The Revolution curator Liz Chege introduces the screening and is joined by writer/curator Karen Alexander for a post-screening discussion on Daughters of Dash.
Café & Bar, Watershed
Families can get inspired by catching the original 1923 King Kong on the big screen, and get creative at this free drop-in workshop in which we'll be making King Kong masks in the Café/Bar.
Café & Bar, Watershed
Drop by our very own Film Fair in Waterside area of the Café/Bar where you can dig a little deeper by getting your hands on a whole load of great merchandise connected to the festival programme.
part of The Archive Sessions
Get insights from musicians and creatives about working with archives to create new works. Guests include musician Adrian Utley (Portishead), Charlie Harman from Compass Presents and Bristol-based filmmaker John Minton.
Eight decades on since its original release the mighty monarch of monster movies still deserves its classic status. A beast of stop-motion filmmaking that's still demanding our attention, join us for the one, the only, King Kong.
With an introduction by Peter Lord, Creative Director and Co-owner of Aardman.
part of India on Film
One of Satyajit Ray's most exquisite films, The Music Room brilliantly evokes the crumbling opulence of the world of a fallen aristocrat (the beloved actor Chhabi Biswas) desperately clinging to a fading way of life.
With an introduction by Suman Ghosh, Subject Leader, Film and Media at Bath Spa University.
Independent filmmaker, artist and critic Lizzie Borden made her feature debut with this bold and brilliant fusion of sci fi and feminist politics, a comic fantasy of female rebellion that we welcome to Bristol for this extremely rare screening.
With an introduction and discussion hosted by film critic/curator Tara Judah with writer/curator Karen Alexander, author Sophie Mayer and film programmer Muffin Hix.
Join us on a tour of Watershed’s projection booth and discover how the films screening at the festival make it to the screen at festival's like Cinema Rediscovered.
part of Manipulating The Message
With its fast-paced dialogue, hardboiled characters and rampant cynicism, this restored classic, which would be remade nine years later as the better known His Girl Friday, is the grandfather of Hollywood newspaper movies.
With an introduction by critic and programmer Tara Judah and Tom Vincent, film archivist at Aardman Animations plus a screening of a short documentary about the restoration (5mins)
part of Come The Revolution
This classic comedy/drama sees a rich couple's liberal principles tested by the proposed marriage of their daughter to a black doctor (the wonderful Sidney Poitier).
With an introduction by Karen Alexander, writer/curator and Roger Griffith, Chair of Ujima Radio and Come The Revolution curator.
part of The Archive Sessions
Victoria Forrest (VIKA Books) talks about In The Shadow, a gorgeous app that brings the photobook firmly into the digital age, and discussion how its template can be applied to a variety of other archives.
part of The Archive Sessions
Waterside 1, Watershed
Mark Cosgrove, Watershed’s Cinema Curator, outlines the fascinating history of film and the moving image from the early days of experiments with making still images move in machines like the kinetoscope, to our current exploration of virtual reality.
part of Manipulating The Message
Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis star as tabloid baron J.J. Hunsecker and scheming press agent Sidney Falco in Alexander Mackendrick’s classic New York noir and sharp satire on the grasping world of newspaper’s gossip columns.
With an introduction by James Harrison, co-founder of South West Silents
part of India on Film
Waterside 1, Watershed
Celluloid Man is a tribute to film archivist and obsessive cinephile P.K. Nair, a man whose childhood fascination with cinema finally led to the creation of the National Film Archive of India.
With an introduction by Dr Suman Ghosh, Subject Leader, Film and Media at Bath Spa University.
Director Stephen Frears' film (blazingly scripted by Alan Bennett) is a brilliant and painfully raw portrait of the troubled, tragic relationship between the ill-fated playwright Joe Orton and his troubled partner.
part of Manipulating The Message
Regularly cited as the greatest American film ever made, Orson Welles’ story of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane’s meteoric rise and fall is a fascinating portrait of America's love of power, materialism and the corruption it fosters.
With an introduction by Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator
The Cube (about 20 min walk from Watershed)
Based on a enigmatic true story, Sidney J. Furie’s cult classic interrogates repressed memories, assault and rape culture and stars horror icon Barbara Hershey.
part of Manipulating The Message
Discover the magic of cinema at one of the oldest running cinema venues in the UK. Visit Curzon Cinema & Arts in Clevedon for a special screening, guided tour, Christie organ demonstration and refreshments. Travel from Bristol to Clevedon included, spaces limited.
part of India on Film
In this specially curated programme selected from the BFI National Archive, South West Silents presents an unparalleled collection of rare films of pre-Independence India, from the earliest days of Indian cinema.
With an introduction by curator Ros Cranston (BFI) and followed by an informal Q&A
part of Direct From Il Cinema Ritrovato
Travel back in time with a selection of Kinemacolor shorts straight from this year’s II Cinema Ritrovato festival, including some brand new restorations from L'Immagine Ritrovata labs.
With an introduction by Ehsan Khoshbakht, Il Cinema Ritrovato Curator
Jean-Luc Godard's critique of radical student politics pre May 1968 focuses on five university students who spend their summer holed up in an apartment before deciding to achieve revolution through violent means.
With a video essay introduction by 20th Century Flicks' Jonathan Bygraves
part of Direct From Il Cinema Ritrovato
Lovingly pieced together with rare footage of American movies, Bill Morrison uncovers the amazing history of an unwitting repository for hundreds of reels of once lost nitrate film.
With an introduction by writer and curator Tara Judah
Rarely seen since its initial 1940 theatrical release, Herbert Kline’s pulse-pounding documentary traces the final months of an un-easy peace in 1939 and records a Europe on the brink of total war.
With an introduction and discussion hosted by Andrew Kelly, director of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership and Bristol Festival of Ideas, a visiting professor at the University of the West of England.
Fresh from its premiere at Cannes, this new documentary from Mark Kidel presents a radically new perspective on Cary Grant, examining his journey from Bristol boy Archibald Leach to one of Hollywood’s greatest ever actors.
With an introduction and Q&A with director Mark Kidel
This black comedy from Douglas Hickox based on the 1964 play of the same title by Joe Orton (whose life is the subject of Prick Up Your Ears, also screening as part of the Festival) sees a woman and her closeted brother both fall for the enigmatic Mr. Sloane.
Before the screening, Jo Bligh from THORNY will be in conversation with Mike O'Callaghan & Robert Howes from Outstories Bristol, a project recording the lives of LGBT+ people in Bristol, to find out more about their experiences of living pre- and post- 1967; the year Joe Orton passed away and that homosexuality was partly decriminalised.
Café & Bar, Watershed
Wind down and rediscover the movie trivia hidden in the recesses of your brain with the help of your neighbourhood video shop hosts Dave "Herzog" Taylor and Mr Bags as they present a very special edition of the infamous 20th Century Flicks Film Quiz in the Café/Bar.