The Garden Cinema Film Talk
Celebrating the Art of Film. The Garden Cinema is an independent art-house cinema in Central London. We invite directors, producers, actors, and film commentators to talk about the films we show. Most of our podcast episodes are recorded post-screening, and with a live audience. We welcome recommendations! Our first few episodes feature Garden Cinema founder Michael Chambers.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Another Reality screening: Genre cinema in the Arab world
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
AWAN partnered with The Arab Film Club to present Another Reality: Genre Shorts by Arab Women Filmmakers, here at the Garden Cinema, a programme curated by Sarah Agha.
AWAN is the UK’s only contemporary multi-arts festival dedicated to showcasing inspiring works from Arab female artists.
Sarah discusses the shorts with their respective directors, and the growth of genre cinema in the Arab world more generally, with input from our audience.
Ladies Coffee (2024) by Amal Al-Agroobi - 10’
On the prowl for lady suitors, Roula invites Zeina and her daughter over for Arabic coffee. But when young Reem participates in a cup reading ritual, she gets more than she bargained for.
The Call (2023) by Riffy Ahmed - 14’
During a difficult visit to her single immigrant mother, Athena discovers that what she thought was age-related mental decline is in fact an inherited magical gift.
In Vitro (2019) by Larissa Sansour - 28’
In an underground orchard in Bethlehem, decades after an other worldly eco disaster, two scientists ruminate on exile, loss, identity and nostalgia.
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Journalist and critic Sophie Monks Kaufman discussed the The Zone Of Interest with the Garden Cinema's Joe Miller. Sophie and Joe talk in-depth about all the inception of the film, the cinematography, the many layers and themes the film evokes, history, resonance, resistance and the dehumanisation of others.
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
SCALA!!! chat with directors Jane Giles & Ali Catterall
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
...OR, THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE RISE AND FALL OF THE WORLD'S WILDEST CINEMA AND HOW IT INFLUENCED A MIXED-UP GENERATION OF WEIRDOS AND MISFITS
A feature-length big screen documentary telling the riotous inside story of the infamous sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll repertory cinema which inspired a generation during Britain's turbulent Thatcher years.
Journalist Saskia Baron discusses the history of the iconic venue and the filmmaking process with its two directors here at the Garden Cinema, with input and comments from our audience!
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Visionary storytelling in the Black diaspora: Irenosen Okojie on Black To The Future
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
We discuss new forms of storytelling, genre, Afrofuturism and conversations around storytelling amongst the Black diaspora with writer Irenosen Okojie who curated the Black To The Future festival. We are very pleased to be showing two of the programme's films here at the Garden Cinema. We strive to expand the reach of the films we show and look forward to introducing new and original work to our members and visitors. You can find the listings, and book here.
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, tells the story of Syrian refugees relocated in a old mining village in the Northeast of England, amidst poverty, resentfulness and anger. As ever, Loach’s message is one of compassion and hope. Dave Turner who plays the lead character of TJ Ballantyne, the pub landlord, joined us at the Garden Cinema for a chat with journalist Steve Topple (whose voice you might recognise from the Bella Ciao discussion, which can also be found in this podcast series).
@thegardencinema
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Alborada teamed up with the Garden Cinema to show the documentary Chicago Boys, which explores the The film tells the story of the Chicago Boys, a group of Chilean economists who studied at the University of Chicago, under Milton Friedman returned to their country after Augusto Pinochet's coup to become the main architects of the neoliberal economic model in Chile, which also served as a template for other countries around the world.
We discuss the film with scientist and ex-political prisoner Roberto Navarrete, journalist John McEvoy (Declassified UK) who explores the role of Britain in the coup and the policies that resulted from it, and our audience.
Monday Aug 14, 2023
Monday Aug 14, 2023
Every winter Mikma and her family travel by foot from their village deep in the Himalayas of Nepal to sell local medicinal plants in urban markets. This year, construction of a new highway to China has begun in their roadless valley, and things are never going to be the same.
The documentary film Baato, distributed by Tull Stories is at once a sensitive portrait of a family that has thus far existed largely apart from the trappings of modernity, a fascinating chronicle of the epic journey they embark on each year, and a penetrating depiction of the culture and politics of Nepal.
The Garden Cinema's Joe Bond talks to co-director Lucas Millard during a satellite Q&A following a screening of the film.
Monday Jun 19, 2023
Monday Jun 19, 2023
We were joined by director Dionne Edwards, producer Georgia Goggin and editor Andonis Trattos, the team behind Pretty Red Dress, a BFI-distributed gem of a film currently on here at the Garden Cinema for a post-screening chat with our audience.
Join us to delve behind the scenes of this wonderfully nuanced and upbeat film, as we chat about filming in South London, Natey Jones' gracefulness on screen, casting Alexandra Burke, the tussle between masculinity and femininity and the script development process.
We welcome all comments, input and recommendations!
Monday Jun 05, 2023
AMANDA - A chat with Carolina Cavalli about her debut feature
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Writer-director Carolina Cavalli’s darkly comic feature debut, which received its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, is a deliciously satirical character study of a twentysomething looking for purpose… and maybe also a friend.
We had the opportunity to chat with Carolina over zoom about the film, her previous work, her time studying in Paris, audience expectations and the particular role of childhood friends in the lives of expat children!
Amanda will be screened from 9 June at the Garden Cinema.
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Arab women filmmakers - a panel chat about contemporary Arab film
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Wednesday May 10, 2023
We chat to a panel of producers, actors and directors about the current film scene in the Arab world, what is means to be an "Arab film", what the sources of funding tend to be, the topics and genres that appeal most internationally, the intricacies of subtitling and other issues our audience asked about. The event was held as a launch night for the Arab women filmmakers season at the cinema and involved producer and curator Elhum Shakerifar, actress and programmer Sarah Agha and filmmaker Soudade Kaadan.
The Garden Cinema Film Talk
This podcast comes from the Garden Cinema, an independent cinema in Covent Garden, in the heart of London. We chat with filmmakers, actors, producers and film commentators about the art of film. We talk about the films they made, how they made them, the films they want to make and the problems they encounter.