The Garden Cinema Film Talk

Masculinity and femininity, South Norwood and Tina Turner - Chat with the Pretty Red Dress team

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!

AMANDA - A chat with Carolina Cavalli about her debut feature

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. 

Arab women filmmakers - a panel chat about contemporary Arab film

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.

Bella Ciao - Song Of Rebellion - the origins, power and international appeal of the anthem - Liberation Day

To mark Italy's Liberation Day, we screened documentary Bella Ciao - Song Of Rebellion. The documentary traces the origins of the revolutionary song, the myths around it, its international appeal and use, its potential commercialisation. Directors Paul Russell and Andrea Vogt joined us to chat about making indie films, Bella Ciao and the deeply moving meanings behind it with Mydylarama journalist Steve Topple.

Actor David Wood on filming If...

Teenage rebel Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) returns to his upper-crust English public school, caught between the sadistic older boys known as the Whips and the first-year students, known as Scum, who are forced to do their bidding. The petty thefts and anti-social behavior of Travis and his two henchmen, Johnny (David Wood) and Wallace (Richard Warwick), soon attract the attention of both the Whips and the school's out-of-touch administration, and lead to an unexpected showdown.
This British classic was screened at the Garden Cinema with a Q&A with David Wood. David co-starred as one of the three rebel schoolboys in a public school, alongside Malcolm McDowell (Mick) and Richard Warwick (Wallace), and they led the revolution against authority – which was regarded by many as a metaphor for the social and political situation in the UK.
Join us for this podcast to hear David sharing behind the scenes stories and other anecdotes. 
This film was proposed by our member Paddy Cooper. To propose your own screening, log into your members’ account to visit the Members’ Area. We also show members’ choice selections as regular ticketed screenings.
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Memory, confronting the past and rediscovering Naples in Mario Martone’s Nostalgia

We chatted to Italian director Mario Martone about his latest feature film, Nostalgia, which stars one of Italy's most famous working actors, ‎Pierfrancesco Favino, sporting am eerily accurate Arabic accent. We delve together into the film's esoteric and spiritual dimensions, its gorgeous and loving portrait of Naples and its depictions of the city's element of criminality. 

”I’m very proud of her”: Curator John Marchant on Nan Goldin - All The Beauty And The Bloodshed

Curator, artist and Brighton-resident John Marchant joined us here at the Garden Cinema for a discussion following our screening of Laura Poitras's All The Beauty And The Bloodshed. The film tells the story of photographer Nan Goldin's tireless campaign to expose the crimes of the Sackler family and the part they played in the opioid crisis in the US and to kick the Sacklers out of the art spaces they gave money to to whitewash their actions. 
John tells us about her artistic process, her resilience, their work together and what the campaigning achieved.

”He put people through absolutely grim endurance tests” - The Shining: BFI Classics writer Prof. Roger Luckhurst on the film

We gathered here at the cinema after our screening of The Shining, as part of our Jack Nicholson season, with Professor Roger Luckhurst who wrote The Shining: BFI Film Classics. Roger shares with us gossip and tales from behind the scenes, tells us about the film's negative reception at the time and the differences with the novel and gives us some context to understand its place as part of the horror repertoire. 
Enjoy!
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Bar chat: Cityscapes, sweeping shots and an aimless Jack Nicholson in Antonioni’s The Passenger

We gathered in the Garden Cinema den with our regular group of City Lit film students to discuss and share anecdotes about Antonioni's The Passenger, screened as part of our Celebrating Jack Nicholson season. The Passenger was one of our most popular members' suggestions. Grab a drink and listen in!

Dr Lucy Bolton on Davis vs Crawford, the ”crazy old lady trope” and the legacy of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

Join us in the Garden Cinema Den for our post-film chat. 
Following our screening of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, as part of our Hollywood on Hollywood season, we all huddled around a drink in the den to chat about the film and listen to Dr Lucy Bolton share with us the gossip, highlights from and insights into the shoot. We chatted about the film's "useless" men, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis's legendary rivalry, the former's star power, the latter's dedication to her craft, and everything from Oscar shenanigans to the evolution in women's representation on screen. 
We've recorded this discussion for everyone to enjoy remotely, from home or on their commute. 
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