Films That Love the Cinema

Films That Love the Cinema

Season

Please note : this season finished in Sept 2020

... and love to be seen in the cinema

A message from Mark Cosgrove, our Cinema Curator:

It has been - and continues to be - the strangest of times. Normal has been flipped on its axis. Cinemas, like everywhere else, have been closed for the longest time in their history generating for some (well me) something of an existential crisis which you can read about here. Thinking about what our reopening programme would be, I wanted to present films which have at their very core the essence of the cinematic - that unique intense experience shared in the darkened auditorium. I thought about the profound impact of Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, the haunting dreamlike images of Mati Diop’s Atlantics, the exquisite composition of Diao Yinan’s The Wild Goose Lake, the passions and pleasures of Céline Sciamma’s glorious Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I thought also of Mark Jenkin’s Bait which playfully speaks to the history of film, the revelatory and exquisite richness of Pedro Costa’s Vitalina Varela, the mysterious simplicity of Oliver Laxe’s Fire Will Come and the heightened melodrama of Pablo Larrain’s absorbing Ema.

All these filmmakers - and for me they are amongst the most exciting directors making films today - believe in the power and value of the cinema. Yes their work can be viewed in other ways but it is in the cinema that they are at their most intense, revelatory and beautiful. This is an opportunity to remind ourselves of that experience.

I have also included two archive films from 50s Hollywood which, in the spirit of the sadly cancelled Cinema Rediscovered Festival, we can rediscover; one was made by a British emigre, the other by an Austrian emigre. One discovered the power of montage from Russian filmmaking, the other learned his craft amongst the creative ferment of Weimar Germany. Both went on to make exceptional American films during the golden age of Hollywood. North by Northwest sees the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock at his most playful and colourful (and of course stars suave Bristol boy Cary Grant), Sunset Boulevard is Billy Wilder’s scabrous look into the dark heart of tinsel town.

It’s always important to put things in perspective. So our first screenings since Lockdown also include Suhaib Gasmelbari’s documentary Talking About Trees, a wonderful portrait of cinephiliac passion which follows four elderly Sudanese filmmakers whose careers were stopped by a military coup in Sudan thirty years ago as they valiantly and with great generosity and camaraderie, try to re-open a cinema.

Quite a few of the films above we have screened before and presented with some of the many partners we collaborate with. Partnership is key to what we do at Watershed and I'd like to thank all of our partners and distributors and look forward to working with you all again to showcase some exciting film, events and filmmaking talent.

Finally, new releases will kick off with Ladj Ly’s tense, socially aware Paris set drama Les Miserables which screened at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and the delicate romance of British directorial debut Real from actor turned writer/director Aki Omoshaybi which premiered at last year's London Film Festival.

So, a host of great cinema finally and thankfully awaits and I look forward to seeing you at Watershed over the opening weeks.


Previous screenings in this season

Ema

classified 15 S Films That Love the Cinema
Ema
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

Visionary director Pablo Larraín (Jackie) returns with a dazzling, intoxicating look at sex, power, family and chaos in modern-day Chile.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

classified 15 S Films That Love the Cinema
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

Céline Sciamma’s striking fourth feature is an exquisite tale of female desire, hidden love, art, and the gaze.

Moonlight

classified 15 Films That Love the Cinema
Moonlight
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

An exquisite coming of age drama, Barry Jenkins' Oscar® winning masterpiece chronicles the life of a gay black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in Miami.

North by Northwest

classified PG Films That Love the Cinema
North by Northwest
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

The master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock is at his most playful and entertaining in this gloriously colourful cascade of thrills, spills and mistaken identity starring Cary Grant.

Fire Will Come

classified 12A S Films That Love the Cinema
Fire Will Come
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

A pyromaniac returns to his mother's farm in Oliver Laxe's visually jaw-dropping study of the Galician landscape - winner of the Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year.

The Wild Goose Lake

classified 18 S Films That Love the Cinema
Wild Goose Lake
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

After winning the Berlinale Golden Bear with Black Coal, Thin Ice - director Diao Yinan returns with a hyper-stylised noir set in modern China’s underbelly.

Sunset Boulevard

classified PG Films That Love the Cinema
Sunset Boulevard
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

Billy Wilder's definitive statement on the dark and desperate side of Hollywood starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden.

Atlantics

classified 12A S Films That Love the Cinema
Atlantics
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

Winner of the Cannes Grand Prix, the debut feature from director and actor Mati Diop is a haunting, fantastical depiction of young love and migration.

Vitalina Varela

classified 12A S Films That Love the Cinema
Vitalina Varela
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

Portuguese auteur Pedro Costa (Horse Money) returns with a moody drama based on the real-life experiences of Cape Verdean star Vitalina Varela - who waited 25 years for a plane ticket to join her husband in Lisbon, only to discover she just missed his funeral.

Bait

classified U Films That Love the Cinema
Bait
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

Stunningly shot on a vintage 16mm camera using monochrome Kodak stock, Mark Jenkin’s remarkable new film is a timely and funny, yet poignant tale that gets right to the heart of a Cornish community facing an unwelcome change.

Talking About Trees

classified PG S Films That Love the Cinema
Talking About Trees
Please note: This was screened in Sept 2020
Film

Four Sudanese filmmakers (retired, but not through their own choice) embark on a heroic adventure to revive a cinema in a country under an oppressive regime in this powerful documentary by director Suhaib Gasmelbari.

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