GOTHIC: THE DARK HEART OF FILM CHILLS THE NATION’S SOUL November 2013 – February 2014
London, 21st November 2013. Thousands have already enjoyed feeling the fear in the BFI’s GOTHIC: THE DARK HEART OF FILM project launched in October. But GOTHIC horror isn’t just for Hallowe’en. As we approach the season for traditional Christmas ghost stories there’s a wealth of darkly thrilling cinema to chill the blood in the continuing programme of great GOTHIC screenings and events across the UK, as the BFI Film Audience Network (BFI FAN) celebrates GOTHIC, the hideous and alluring dark heart of film (through February 2014), part of the biggest BFI blockbuster project ever.
Monsters and demons, ghouls and vampires, are haunting the nation and capturing imaginations with an extraordinary range of film experiences and special events in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and all the English regions. Dark passions for the darkest days of winter. There’s nowhere to hide…
Thrilling GOTHIC highlights in every part of the UK include:
Hereford: A Haunted Ghostwalk and screening of The Innocents at The Courtyard cinema (22 Jan 2014). Manchester: Grimm Up North festival features monster‐themed screenings in the Gothic splendour of the John Rylands Library (10 Jan); Cornerhouse has a Ghost Walk (21 Dec) and special screening of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with cabaret performance (12 Jan) Scratch ‘n’ Sniff immersive cinema presentation of The Wicker Man (also at Wem Town Hall) Northern Ireland: Haunted Screen ‐ Belfast Film Festival screenings in ancient houses, including The Innocents in Lissan House (30 Nov) and Ghost Stories for Christmas in Narrow Water Castle (14 Dec) plus a bumper batch of classic horror films at the Queen’s Film Theatre (throughout Dec 2013 & Jan 2014) Lancaster: The Duke’s classic titles including Scratch ‘n’ Sniff The Wicker Man, Night of the Demon and La Belle et la Bête(6 Dec 2013 – 27 Jan 2014) Glasgow: Glasgow Film Theatre presents screenings with special introductions (Nov 2013 – Jan 2014) including Frankenstein (1931) and The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) Wales: Chapter (Cardiff) presents, Silent Horror Shorts with live piano accompaniment (24 & 26 Nov), Blood on Satan’s Claw (28 Nov) and National Theatre Live Encore presentation of Frankenstein (1 Dec). Sheffield: Showroom Cinema presents Ghost Stories at Christmas (17 Dec) plus a Gothic Film Bites series, Hammer House of Horror 1957‐1959 – The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy over three consecutive Sunday afternoons in December with discussions and a study pack London: ‘The Haunted Childhood All Nighter presented by De Skalon PR in partnership with The Lost Picture Show, brings spine‐chilling international horror to an eerie London location.’ plus LOCO Goes Gothic, in partnership with The Lost Picture Show with Spooky School of Slapstick and Gothic comedy screenings for families (venue and dates tbc) Cambridgeshire/Nottinghamshire/Suffolk: special screenings at Childerley Hall, Cambridgeshire, Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire (the home of Byron) and the Field House Barn, Thrandeston, Suffolk offer a rare chance to see Witchfinder General (1968)on the big screen in the Witchfinder’s territory Brighton & venues across the UK: from 17 Nov the films of Jan Svankmajer will reveal the rich and frightening world of these superb animated fantasies
Jack Clayton’s haunting masterpiece The Innocents (1961) will also have a major BFI re‐release (13Dec). The BFI will also release a new restoration of Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête (1946) (3 Jan 2014). Many GOTHIC titles will be available on the BFI’s newly launched video on demand service BFI Player with its own dedicated GOTHIC channel.
GOTHIC celebrates the very British genius – rooted in literature and art – that gave rise to some of the most filmed characters in our on‐screen history: Dracula, Frankenstein and Jekyll & Hyde. GOTHIC introduced the nation to sex, unleashing dark passions and breaking taboos along the way, circumventing what was acceptable to view on screen and then selling it to America – who imported the genre with true bloodlust.
GOTHIC’s phenomenal geographical reach across the UK via the following BFI FAN Film Hubs:
CENTRAL EAST Led by Broadway Nottingham & Cambridge Film Trust. January 2014 screenings of Witchfinder General (1968) in great locations in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Nottinghamshire
LONDON Led by Film London January 2014 the Schools’ Gothic programme developed by Picturehouse Education will centre on Gothic titles La Belle et La Bête (1946), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), The Woman in Black (2012) and Wuthering Heights (2011) producing interactive introductions and comprehensive resource packs for each. Over Valentine’s weekend The New Black’s Bloody Weekender will bring Flash Mobs, haunting Double‐bills and midnight screenings to the Stratford Cultural Quarter.
De Skalon Public Relations partner with The Lost Picture Show to present a spine‐chilling event on Haunted Childhood. A series of truly terrifying films will be shown in a suitably eerie location, daring horror enthusiasts to test their fear factor and watch them all in one night.February sees spooky family events from comedy film experts, LOCO. LOCO Goes Gothic will include School of Spooky Slapstick workshops for kids aged 6‐12 and 'horr‐edy' films for all the family, in partnership with The Lost Picture Show.
NORTH Led by Sheffield’s Showroom Workstation and National Media Museum Bradford Cult Tuesdays at Showroom feature classics of the dark side, such as The Devil Rides Out (26 Nov). National Media Museum Bradford has a Frankenstein study day (4 Dec) including a screening of Frankenstein (1994) dir. Kenneth Branagh. Wentworth Castle, Barnsley features a Gothic fiction study day (23 Nov), whilst Cine Yorkshire will be presenting a series of live accompanied screenings of silent cult classic Nosferatu (1929), at venues including Masham Town Hall (22 Jan), Bradford Cathedral (24 Jan) and Grassington Town Hall (7 Feb).
NORTHERN IRELAND Led by Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast Cinema City is taking audiences to the dark side as part of Derry‐Londonderry UK City of Culture, with a special performance of Psycho (1960) with live music from the Ulster Orchestra at Ebrington (22 Nov). The QFT in Belfast explores the Dark Arts with a rich programme (Dec & Jan) including a Gothic all‐nighter (29 Nov) while the Belfast Film Festival and Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena will present site‐specific screenings in spooky locations across the region.
NORTH WEST CENTRAL Led by Cornerhouse Manchester Special events have been organised by Cornerhouse, Grimm Up North, The Duke’s in Lancaster, Scratch n Sniff Cinema, QUAD in Derby and these programmes feature a stirring selection of great Gothic horror classics including The Wicker Man (1973), an immersive screening of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962), Dracula (1958), Dead of Night (1945), and Night of the Demon (1957), Nosferatu (1922) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), The Innocents (1961) and The Others (2001), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and La Belle et La Bête (1946). Venues include Wem Town Hall; QUAD, Derby; The Plaza Super Cinema Salford; Ordsall Hall, Salford; The Dancehouse art deco Theatre, Manchester; John Rylands Library (early 20th century Gothic masterpiece) and Cornerhouse, Manchester.
SCOTLAND Led by Scottish Film and delivered by Regional Screen Scotland Programme highlights include the Love is the Devil season at GFT, each film screening telling an obsessive love story with a Gothic or supernatural twist. Dark Visions at Edinburgh Filmhouse is a season exploring cinema’s contribution to the visual culture of the witch in the twentieth century.
SOUTH EAST Led by Cinecity Brighton Film Festival A fascinating and complete survey of the films of Jan Svankmajer will reveal the rich and frightening world of these superb animated fantasies, anchored in the Gothic (17 Nov – 01 Dec 2013) followed by a UK‐wide tour.
SOUTH WEST AND WEST MIDLANDS Led by Bristol’s Watershed Svankmajer films will include a screening of Faust (1994) (Jan 2014) at The Courtyard Hereford
WALES Led by Chapter (Cardiff) The season of the witch continues with Silent Horror Shorts with live piano accompaniment (24 & 26 Nov), Blood on Satan’s Claw with music performance (28 Nov) as well as the Little Bleeders Junior Moviemaker sessions; December’s Haunted Christmas opens the vaults for some early comedy classics from Will Hay (Ask A Policeman) and Arthur Askey (The Ghost Train) as well as the BFI reissue of The Innocents. January starts with Llancarfan Community Cinema’s double bill of Rebecca and The Shining, as well as an Introduction To Horror film course which takes in screenings at Chapter including The Haunting, Gaslight, Rebecca and a double bill of Cat People/Curse of The Cat People ‐ the month closes with some site specific screenings of The Shining and The Haunting.
Notes to editors:
For more information on the BFI Film Audience Network visit: http://www.bfi.org.uk/film‐audience‐network
Press contacts: Judy Wells, Head of Press & PR, [email protected] / (020) 7957 8919 Brian Robinson, Communications Manager, BFI [email protected] / (020) 7957 8940 Ilona Cheshire, Press Officer, BFI Southbank, [email protected] / (020) 7957 8986 Liz Parkinson, Assistant Press Officer, BFI [email protected] / (020) 7957 8918
The nine Film Hubs within BFI FAN are:
Film Hub for Central East Led jointly by Cambridge Film Trust & Broadway Nottingham Cambridge Film Trust champions independent cinema and fosters film culture and education through its year‐round programme culminating in the annual Cambridge Film Festival. Broadway Nottingham is one of the leading independent cinemas for cultural film in the UK. Partners include: Aldeburgh Cinema Big Country Broadway Cinema, Letchworth Cambridge Film Consortium Cinema Plus@Cinema City Creative Arts East: Village Screen Network EAFA Hollywood Cinemas Independent Cinema Milton Keynes MACE North Norfolk Village Screen Phoenix Arts: Big Country South Suffolk Hub Suffolk Digital Screen Network UHArts
Film Hub London Led by Film London: As the capital’s film and media agency, Film London aims to ensure London has a thriving film sector that enriches the city’s businesses and its people. The agency has a strong track record of supporting innovative exhibition and education initiatives, maximising access to the capital’s film culture and helping audiences to discover film in all its diversity.
Film Hub NI Led by QFT [Queen’s Film Theatre], Belfast: For over 40 years QFT has been the only full‐time cinema dedicated to showing specialised and non‐mainstream film in Northern Ireland. The QFT shows almost 400 individual films from around the world each year and promotes film culture in all its diverse forms. Partners include: Belfast Film Festival Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena Cinemagic, Belfast Cinema‐City, Derry Nerve Centre, Derry
Film Hub North Led by Sheffield’s Showroom Workstation and National Media Museum Bradford
Film Hub North West Central Led by Cornerhouse Manchester: Since opening in 1985 Cornerhouse has been bringing the best in UK and international cinema to Manchester and the North West through a programme of over 3,500 screenings per year, an extensive programme of engagement events and attracting large and committed audiences making it one of the UK's most successful independent cinemas. Venues include: The Dukes, Lancaster FACT, Liverpool Grimmfest Quad, Derby Scratch 'n Sniff Cinema Wem Town Hall
Film Hub Scotland Led by Scottish Film and delivered by Regional Screen Scotland, Film Hub Scotland is a consortium consisting of Scotland’s leading cultural cinemas and film festivals, and its cinema development agency Regional Screen Scotland. Collectively these organisations are the principal providers of specialist and independent cinema exhibition and programming in Scotland. Venues include: Edinburgh Filmhouse Glasgow Film Theatre DCA
Film Hub South East Led by the University of Brighton, Film Hub SE is managed by a consortium of Brighton‐based partners: Brighton & Hove City Council, Cinecity (curates and presents Brighton’s annual film festival), Lighthouse (creative agency working at the intersection of the art, film education), Picturehouse Cinemas (UK’s leading arthouse cinema) and Screen Archive South East (collecting, preserving, promoting and providing public access to screen heritage). Partners include: Duke of York’s cinema, Brighton Dukes at Komedia, Brighton
Film Hub South West & West Midlands Led by Watershed, Bristol: Watershed’s ambition is to develop audiences’ choice, engagement, understanding and enjoyment of the past, present and future of cinema. Watershed is a leading cross‐artform venue and producer, sharing, developing and showcasing exemplary cultural ideas and talent. Partners include The Courtyard Hereford hosting in‐house as well as at The Black Lion Hereford and Hellens, Much Marcle.
Film Hub Wales Led by Chapter (Cardiff): Chapter is an ambitious, multi‐art form cultural space that presents and produces international art, performance and film alongside a dynamic social space. Wales Goes Dark partners include: Abertoir Horror Film Festival, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth Theatr Clywd, Mold Gwyn Hall, Neath The Torch, Milford Haven Cardiff Castle The National Trust’s Tredegar House, Newport Darkened Rooms Llancarfan Community Cinema
GOTHIC: The Dark Heart of Film is a nationwide BFI project (October 2013 – February 2014) The BFI has taken Britain back to darker times and thrilled the nation by uncovering as never before the dark heart of film. With over 150 titles and around 1000 screenings GOTHIC features spectacularly terrifying special events to thrill every corner of the UK. The project also incorporates the longest BFI Southbank season in London yet (4 months), UK wide theatrical and DVD releases, an education programme and a range of exciting partnerships, special guests and commentators, including project ambassador Sir Christopher Frayling. GOTHIC explores film’s most popular theme, spawning some of the medium’s most iconic, powerful and terrifying scenes and characters whose lasting popularity just refuses to die. A GOTHIC compendium featuring essays by leading figures such as Mark Kermode, Guillermo Del Toro and Marina Warner accompanies the project. The BFI Player, newly launched VOD platform features a dedicated GOTHIC channel. www.bfi.org.uk/gothic
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