June 2014 at BFI Southbank
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June 2014 at BFI Southbank Dennis Potter, The World Before The War, A Century of Chinese Cinema, Meltdown, Sheffield Doc/Fest x Messages for Posterity: The Complete Dennis Potter, Part One for the first time brings together the ǯ Ǥ unique programme will mark the 20th anniversary of ǯ death and screens over two years, with Part Two concluding in June and July 2015. Highlights of Part One, which runs from June-July this year,, include screenings of TV landmarks such as Stand Up, Nigel Barton (1965), Brimstone and Treacle (1976) and Pennies from Heaven (1978). x The War That ChanGed Everything: The World Before The War is the first part of the ǯ four year project to commemorate the Great War, this first instalment examines the period of change that led to the outbreak of WWI in 1914. This project will continue in 2016 and 2018, but begins with films including Eric von Stroheimǯ satire The Wedding March (1928), Jean RenoirǯFrench Cancan (1954) and Michael Hanekeǯ The White Ribbon (2009), as well as an Extended Run of Frank BorzageǯA Farewell to Arms (1932). x BFI Southbank celebrates A Century of Chinese Cinema with the largest and most varied exploration of Chinese cinema ever to be held in the UK. A five-month season will showcase ͺͲǡǮ ǯ1930s and 40s, ǯ climate, classic martial arts movies to cutting-edge contemporary titles. A highlight of this ǯ will be the UK-wide release and Extended Run at BFI Southbank of the BFI digital restoration of Spring in a Small Town (Xiao Cheng zhi Chun, 1948), by Fei-Mu, on Friday 20 June x ǯMeltdown is curated by ǯfounder James Lavelle and BFI Southbank is proudly screening his selection of accompanying films including the seminal graffiti and hip- hop Wild Style (1983) and Dick FontaineǯBeat This! A Hip-hop History x Another returning festival is the Sheffield Doc/Fest 2014 ǯ festival screening at BFI Southbank. The hotly anticipated Pulp, A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets (2014), a behind-the- ǯ ǡ preview on Saturday 7 June with a live satellite link to the opening night event in Sheffield attended by Pulp. Sheffield Doc/Fest announces its full programme on 8 May at BFI Southbank x Further highlights in June include the continuation of our strands Hollywood Babylon: Early Talkies Before the Censor and Mark Cousins Presents: The Cinema of Childhood, plus previews of the haunting Lilting (2014) - ǯȂ and Camile Claudel 1915 (2012), starring Juliette Binoche SEASONS: A Century of Chinese Cinema Commencing on 1 June and continuing until 7 October 2014, the BFI will present the largest and most comprehensive exploration of Chinese cinema from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan ever to be undertaken in the UK. A Century of Chinese Cinema is programmed in partnership with TIFF as part of Electric Shadows, the Chinese term for film and the name of ǯextensive year-long programme of business, trade, creative and cultural collaborations with China. The season will showcase more than 80 films over the subsequent months, and there are some very exciting events and guests still to be announced. This wide-ranging celebration will also include screenings of classic Chinese films in key cities throughout the UK, a lavishly illustrated new BFI Compendium publication on the history of Chinese cinema, and digital content on the BFI Player of incredibly rare non-fiction films of China from 1901 to 1949 from the BFI National Archive. The Golden Age of Chinese Cinema was defined by the classics of Shanghai cinema from the 1930s and 1940s. Some of the best known films of this era include New Women (Xin Nüxung, 1935) starring Ǯ ǯRuan Lingyu whose tragic early death at the age of 24 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema, and the musical Street Angel (Malu Tianshi, 1937) ǯ ǤRegarded as the finest work from the first great era of Chinese filmmaking, the exquisite Spring in a Small Town (Xiao Cheng zhi Chun, 1948) was produced prior to the Communist takeover in China and subsequently long suppressed by the regime. It is now seen as a masterpiece and one of the greatest Chinese films ever made. The BFI will release the film in a new digital restoration in selected cinemas nationwide from 20 June. The victory of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 marked the birth of a radically different nation. A New China follows ǯ and the volatile years leading up to the Cultural Revolution in 1966. One of the major discoveries of this season is Shangrao Concentration Camp (Shangrao Jizhongying, 1951) set in the hellish confines of a Nationalist prison. Dubbed the Ǯ ǯ, The Love Eterne (Liang Shanbo yü Zhu Yuingtai, 1963), a musical, sparked fanaticism amongst audiences and broke box-office records throughout Asia on its release; while The Winter (Dong Nuan, 1968) saw historical epic specialist Li Han-HsianG create a profound, romantic drama that would go on to influence both Hou Hsiao-hsien and Ang Lee. This landmark season continues with Swordsmen, Gangsters and Ghosts in July, New Waves in August, and New Directions in September and early October. This programme was made possible through the co-operation of the China Film Archive, Chinese Taipei Film Archive and Hong KonG Film Archive With the generous support of our season sponsors: With special thanks to Cathay Pacific Airways ProGrammed in partnership with: Messages for Posterity: The Complete Dennis Potter Dennis Potter (17 May 1935 Ȃ 7 June 1994) is generally acknowledged as ǯ and most innovative TV writer. He produced a body of work specifically for television that redefined the TV drama, daring to challenge ǯvieweǯ Ǥ Ken Trodd, who was ǯproducer for most of his career and who is assisting the BFI on the season says, Ǯhat Dennis left is an enormous, daunting, inviting and revealing feast of brilliance. ǯ freshness and originality of it all. Tune in, watch, and feel yourself Ǩǯ This month BFI Southbank is proud to launch the definitive guide to Dennis Potter as for the first time ever we begin to screen the entire surviving canon of his work, from 6 June, marking the 20th anniversary of his death. The catalogue of work is so vast that it will be screened in four ǡǡ ǡǮPolitics and Betrayal.ǯ From the deeply personal Potter was able to create universal stories and Ǯ ǯ in the immediate and powerful impact his work had on the viewing public. For Paper Roses (ITV, 1971), Potter drew on his experiences as a Fleet Street journalist, tackling the tabloids, settling old scores and addressing the manufacturing of headlines, while his unsuccessful pursuit of a career in politics left him with inspiration for Stand Up, Nigel Barton and Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton (both BBC, 1965). Also screening will be Saturday Night Theatre: Lay Down Your Arms (ITV, 1980), in which a Private recruited for British Intelligence battles with the Establishment and challenges patriotism which ultimately leads to betrayal. On Thursday 26 June Mark Ravenhill will offer his thoughts on the legacy of Potter following the documentary: Close Up: Dennis Potter: Under the Skin (BBC, 1998). Prior to this will be Dennis Potter in Edinburgh + Panel Discussion on The Politics of Potter on Thursday 12 June, when, amongst others, Ken Trodd, Peter Flannery and Trevor Griffiths will discuss the Ǯ ǯǡ views on Thatcher and the Murdoch Empire. Coming in July, part two of our Dennis Potter season: The Outsider Inside, featuring the complete Pennies from Heaven and Brimstone & Treacle; and in June 2015: Faith and Redemption, followed by Sex & Death in July The War That Changed Everything: The World Before The War This month marks the start of the ǯct to commemorate The Great War. The first instalment (with parts two and three to follow in June 2016 and June 2018) The World Before the War will look at life in the years before war broke out. The season will provide a broader context to the conflict through films such as The Wedding March (1928), a satire on the greed and hypocrisy of the Viennese bourgeoisie, Liebelei (1933), in which ill-starred love is declared between a young lieutenant and ǯ and Jean Renoirǯ French Cancan (1954), a loving tribute to the Paris painted by his father. The season will also include screenings of key films depicting the period such as The Winslow Boy (1948), Days of Heaven (1978) and The White Ribbon (2009), as well as an Extended Run of ǯ A Farewell to Arms (1932), digitally restored for the centenary and re-released UK-Wide by the BFI. In addition, a special additional programme will bring rare colour footage from Europe and Asia to The Middle East and Africa in On the Eve of War: Around the World in 80 Films. These silent films have been newly restored to share with modern audiences the thrills of globetrotting, like a latter-day Phileas Fogg, prior to 1914. Each compilation will be accompanied by a live piano score, and will transport viewers to a variety of locations: London, New York, Shanghai, Berlin and Paris, as well as remoter regions, where one may witness the site where Livingstone stayed in Victoria Falls during his legendary expedition, a day in the life of a rickshaw boy in Durban, or the camel routes of the Gobi desert in Mongolia and more. This programme will also be available on BFI Player. In June 2016 The Experience of War will focus on feature films and actuality footage which show the realities of war on both sides, marking the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.