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In Fading Light

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

In Fading Light

Set in the declining North Shields fishing industry, this drama came out of the Channel 4 supported workshop movement and clearly prefigures the localised work of contemporary filmmakers such as Mark Jenkin, with its focus on the realities of marginalised communities.

With an introduction by producer and researcher Andy Robson.

Ping Pong Mingle

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

Ping Pong Mingle

Waterside 1, Watershed

Made on the Moon is happy to host a friendly post-screening gathering that bridges the community of East and South East Asian creatives and the wider audience together to discuss the film Ping Pong.

Today

18:15 (ends 19:15) in Waterside 1

UK Premiere: My Beautiful Laundrette

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

Join director Stephen Frears, writer Hanif Kureishi and actor Gordon Warnecke for this 40th anniversary showing of the delightfully transgressive My Beautiful Laundrette, the story of two lovers attempting to open a glamorous laundromat amid the turbulence of life in Thatcher’s Britain.

With an in-person introduction and discussion with film director Stephen Frears, actor Gordon Warnecke and a remote contribution from writer Hanif Kureishi hosted by Cinema Rediscovered’s Mark Cosgrove.

The Velvet Vampire

part of Restored & Rediscovered

The Velvet Vampire

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.

Today

With an introduction by film curator Isabel Moir and Selina Robertson.

Irezumi (The Spider Tattoo) (Subtitled)

part of Masumura x Wakao

Irezumi (The Spider Tattoo)

Yasuzō Masumura adapts Junichiro Tanizaki’s story as a visually arresting story of sexually charged vengeance.

Today

With an intro by Rayna Denison, Professor of Film and Digital Arts and Head of Department for Film and Television at the University of Bristol.

Barry Lyndon (50th Anniversary)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

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.

There will be a 10 minute interval midway through the film.

UK Premiere: The Fall of Otrar (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Fall of Otrar

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

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.

With an introduction by writer, curator and filmmaker Daniel Bird.

Lunchtime Chat & Craft

part of Reframing Film

Lunchtime Chat & Craft

Waterside 2, Watershed

Join in a Chat & Craft drop-in workshop led by Cressida Williams inspired by the films showing at Cinema Rediscovered.

Sat 26 July

13:00 (ends 14:00) in Waterside 2

Yeelen (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Yeleen

The Cube Microplex (about 20 min walk from Watershed)

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.

With an introduction by film curator, programmer and producer Mosa Mpetha.

100 Years of the Film Society

part of Reframing Film

100 Years of the Film Society

This is part of a series of events which look at the UK-wide impact of London’s The Film Society in its centenary year. Co-curated by Bryony Dixon (BFI National Archive) and film historian Henry K. Miller.

Sat 26 July

Presented by Bryony Dixon and Henry K Miller in partnership with South West Silents.

UK Premiere: Diva (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Diva

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

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

With an introduction by film historian, repertory programmer and video essayist Jonathan Bygraves.

Compensation (Partially Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Compensation

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

Sat 26 July

With a pre-recorded introduction by director Zeinabu irene Davis and an in person introduction by film writer and historian Pamela Hutchinson. With BSL (British Sign Language) interpretation.

UK Premiere: Yajû shisubeshi (The Beast To Die) (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

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.

With an introduction by film writer and critic Christina Newland.

My Beautiful Laundrette

part of 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?

The Sun 27 July 11:20 screening includes an introductory chat with Karin Bamborough (Assistant editor, then commissioning editor for Film On Four, 1981-91) hosted by Cinema Rediscovered Founder Mark Cosgrove.

Late Night 16mm

part of Reframing Film

Lat Night 16mm

Café & Bar, Watershed

Join us in the in Café & Bar to re-ignite the spirit of the original London Film Society screenings with a free-flowing evening of vintage film shorts presented live-in-the-room on 16mm.

Sat 26 July

22:00 (ends 23:30)

Absolute Beginners

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

Opening Film: Absolute Beginners

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.

Sun 27 July

The screening in Cinema 1 features an introduction by producer Stephen Woolley and director Julien Temple hosted by season curator and Cinema Rediscovered founder Mark Cosgrove. This will be streamed live to the screening in Cinema 3.

The screenings are followed by an After-party with DJ Cheeba inspired by the riot of day-glo design and music that is Absolute Beginners. Free entry. Priority entry to Absolute Beginners ticket holders.

UK Premiere: Amadeus

part of Restored & Rediscovered

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

Sun 27 July

Ticketholders can get a complimentary Wiper & True beer in the Café & Bar before the Thursday screening from 19:30, where we will be joined by pianist Kevin Satizabal (Paraorchestra), immersing us in classical music.

With an introduction by international conductor Charles Hazlewood.

Cinema Walking Tour 2

part of Reframing Film

Cinema Walking Tour 2

College Green Bus Stop

Bristol has been an UNESCO City Of Film since 2017, but Bristol and cinema have been entwined since – some would say before – the beginning of moving pictures. Join local enthusiast and historian Mark Fuller for the second of two gentle walks.

UK Premiere: Schmutziges Geld (Song) (Partially Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Schmutziges Geld (Song)

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.

Sun 27 July

With an introduction by film writer and historian Pamela Hutchinson and live music accompaniment by Stephen Horne.

The Gold Diggers + Tour & Intro

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

The Gold Diggers + Tour & Intro

Curzon Cinema (about 45 min bus journey from Watershed)

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.

With an introduction by writer and film curator So Mayer.

Doors to Curzon Clevedon open at midday to give you the opportunity to see behind the scenes of this historic cinema.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too

part of 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.

Sun 27 July

With an introductory chat with Karin Bamborough (Assistant editor, then commissioning editor for Film On Four, 1981-91) hosted by Cinema Rediscovered Founder Mark Cosgrove.

UK Premiere: Großstadtschmetterling (Pavement Butterfly) (Partially Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Großstadtschmetterling (Pavement Butterfly)

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.

Sun 27 July

With an intro by film writer and historian Pamela Hutchinson and live music accompaniment by Stephen Horne.

UK Premiere: Seisaku no Tsuma (The Wife of Seisaku) (Subtitled)

part of Masumura x Wakao

UK Premiere: Seisaku no Tsuma (The Wife of Seisaku)

The festival closes with the UK premiere of Yasuzō Masumura’s impassioned drama, which acts as a fierce critique of Japanese society.

Sun 27 July

With an intro by Rayna Denison, Professor of Film and Digital Arts and Head of Department for Film and Television at the Unversity of Bristol.

Previous events in this programme

Reframing Film Sessions

part of Reframing Film

Reframing Film Sessions

Please note: This event took place in July 2025

Join some of the most inspiring voices in film exhibition, restoration and distribution to reflect on and re-imagine how we present cinema of the past.

Opening Keynote: Stephen Woolley

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

Opening Keynote: Stephen Woolley

Please note: This event took place in July 2025

BAFTA-winning and Oscar®-nominated producer Stephen Woolley (of The Scala Cinema and Palace Pictures fame) delivers our Opening Night Keynote, ushering in the festival’s main strand Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema.

The Opening Keynote is being presented in Cinema 1, which will be live-streamed to Cinema 2.

UK Premiere: Reifezeit (Time of Maturity) (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Reifezeit (Time of Maturity)

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

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

With an introductory chat with Cinema Rediscovered Founder Mark Cosgrove.

Colonial Reels: Histories and Afterlives of Colonial Film Collections Discussion

part of Reframing Film

Colonial Reels: Histories and Afterlives of Colonial Film Collections Discussion

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

Waterside 3 Event Space, Watershed

Colonial Reels: Histories and Afterlives of Colonial Film Collections is a three-year research project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. This event, organised by the project lead, Jacqueline Maingard, Associate Professor in Film at the University of Bristol, and the project team, puts colonial film collections in conversation with the Pan African cinema archive.

Absolute Beginners (Relaxed Screening)

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

Absolute Beginners (Relaxed Screening)

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

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. This is a Relaxed Screening.

Los Golfos (The Delinquents) (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Los Golfos (The Delinquents)

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

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.

With an introduction by Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and Senior Visiting Curator: Film at HOME in Manchester.

UK Premiere: Nationalité: Immigré + Ballade aux Sources (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Nationalité: Immigré + Ballade aux Sources

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

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.

With an introduction by co-curator Abiba Coulibaly.

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

part of Restored & Rediscovered

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

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

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.

With an introduction from Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and Senior Visiting Curator: Film at HOME in Manchester.

Slovenian Double-bill: Alpe-Adria Underground! (Subtitled)

part of Reframing Film

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

Join co-directors Matevž Jerman and Jurij Meden (Austrian Film Museum in Vienna) for a brief and imperfect history of artists' film in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia.

With an introduction by curator with Niyaz Saghari, co-director Matevž Jerman and graphic designer Jan Virant.

UK Premiere: Belarmino (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Belarmino

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

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.

With an introduction by co-curators Bruno Castro and Carlota Matos.

UK Premiere: The Working Girls

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: The Working Girls

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

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?

With an introduction by film curator Selina Robertson and a Q&A with director Stephanie Rothman joining us remotely.

Slovenian Double-bill: Short Film Programme (Subtitled)

part of Reframing Film

Slovenian Double-bill: Short Film Programme

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

Co-director of Alpe-Adria Underground! Matevž Jerman has selected some recently restored experimental/avant-garde shorts from the Socialist Republic of Slovenia (1945-1991).

With an introduction and post-screening Q&A with Alpe-Adria Underground! co-director Matevž Jerman (Slovenian Cinematheque) and graphic designer Jan Virant hosted by curator Niyaz Saghari.

Please note: The following short in this series contains flashing imagery: Ljubezen na prvi pogled (Love at First Sight).

Defence of the Realm

part of Against the Grain: 1980s British Cinema

Defence of the Realm

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

Secrets, lies, communism and loyalty all loom large in this criminally underseen British political thriller shot by a young Roger Deakins starring Gabriel Byrne in one of his early leading roles.

With an introduction by producer Lynda Myles and a pre-recorded conversation with Gabriel Byrne hosted by season curator and Cinema Rediscovered founder Mark Cosgrove.