Top: L-R: Taxi Driver, La Haine, Les Misérables. Bottom: L-R: Persepolis, Girlhood, Dheepan.  The season will explore the influence of La Haine (1995), which is re-released in a 4K restoration, in selected cinemas, by the BFI from 11 Sept  Season to feature online events with La Haine director Matthieu Kassovitz and Riz Ahmed, who has chosen it as his BFI Screen Epiphany (dates to be announced soon)  Programmed by film journalist and critic Kaleem Aftab and featuring a selection of 14 films, with La Haine as the lynchpin  Season is part of the first month of programming for the newly re-opened BFI Southbank, which opens on 1 September with new exhaustive health and safety measures

Wednesday 12 August 2020, London. Taking place at BFI Southbank from 1 September – 6 October, REDEFINING REBELLION is a month-long season programmed by film journalist and critic Kaleem Aftab, which draws its inspiration from Mathieu Kassovitz’s trailblazing La Haine (1995). Re-released in a 4K restoration in selected cinemas by the BFI on 11 September, La Haine, may be 25 years old, but its themes of social and economic divide and discontent, make it just as distinctive now as it was then. Reflecting on filmic rebellion and celebrating onscreen agitators, with this pivotal film as the lynchpin, REDEFINING REBELLION will feature special events on BFI YouTube including an in conversation event with director Matthieu Kassovitz and a BFI Screen Epiphany with Riz Ahmed, who cites La Haine as one of his favourite films, which continues to influence him. The dates for these events will be announced soon.

Kaleem Aftab, REDEFINING REBELLION programmer, said: “It’s a great honour to be asked to programme the lead season for the reopening of the BFI Southbank centred around the 25th anniversary 4K re-release of La Haine, one of the all-time great films. Redefining Rebellion is a look at how filmmakers have challenged orthodox thinking and the idea of the hero. I see the season as a challenge to the British Film Industry to make long overdue structural changes that will result in presenting more interesting protagonists. But most of all, I want audiences to have the best time, in the cinema, the Mecca for great movies.”

Stuart Brown, BFI Head of Programme and Acquisition, said: “Great art, such as Matthieu Kassovitz’s La Haine, can challenge our understanding of the world. La Haine was an incendiary, game-changing film when it was released in 1995, and in both style and substance it feels more relevant than ever 25 years on. We’re excited by Kaleem’s approach to programming this season, combining some surprising film choices with titles that undoubtedly share their DNA with La Haine. The result is a bold and varied programme, which will provoke debate about our society, and we cannot wait to present these films for audiences who have sorely missed the unrivalled thrill of the big screen experience.”

Cross-cultural friendships, social domination, and protest against the authoritarian state are writ large in La Haine (Matthieu Kassovitz, 1995), a dazzling, controversial classic that redefined French cinema and changed the look of rebels onscreen. Turning the camera away from iconic Paris to the concrete banlieue, La Haine changed the cultural landscape of French cinema when it landed at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995, where it won the Best Director prize. Taking place over the 24 hours following the police shooting of a young man, Kassovitz shows the world through the eyes of three friends, Arab, Jew and Black, frustrated at politicians and the media excusing police brutality. The black-and-white visuals, thumping hip-hop soundtrack and graffiti-lined streets underscore the urgency and rebellion at the heart of this game-changing classic. Screening on extended run from 11 September at BFI Southbank, La Haine is also released in selected cinemas UK wide.

Alongside the extended run of La Haine, REDEFINING REBELLION will feature work that inspired director Matthieu Kassovitz, such as the original cinematic portrayal of rebellion in Europe, Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925), the work of Paul Schrader, including Blue Collar (Paul Schrader, 1978) and Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) – the latter of which he scripted, and American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973), a film which Kassovitz urged his sound designer to watch before making La Haine.

The season will examine narratives detailing heroic women seeking their own agency and independence, such as the under-appreciated Norma Rae (Martin Ritt, 1979) starring Sally Field, adolescent voyage of self-discovery Girlhood (Celine Sciamma, 2014) and Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, 2007), adapted from Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel. There will also be screenings of 90s films that share the outsider spirit of La Haine in their stories of race and sexuality such as Young Soul Rebels (Isaac Julien, 1991) and Claire Denis’ Beau Travail (1999), which will screen in a new 4K print. The season will also look at the influence of graffiti and Hip-hop culture on La Haine with screenings of Boom For Real: The Early Years of Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Sara Driver, 2017) which captures the unique feel of late 70s New York and the seeds of a new artistic culture, which would infuse La Haine with subtext.

Completing the season will be contemporary films that draw parallels with La Haine, such as Jacques Audiard’s Palme d'Or winning Dheepan (2015) which tells of a makeshift family of Tamil refugees escaping Civil War only to end up in a virulently xenophobic France; and Swedish family film Amateurs (Gabriela Pichler, 2018), in which two immigrant girls make a homemade movie, uncovering the other side of their Swedish homeland. Also released in cinemas in September is 2019 is Cannes Jury Prize-winner, Les Misérables, directed by Ladj Ly, and made with the same panache, verve and transfixing perspective as La Haine; a similarly exciting film, about police trying to maintain order among local gangs in the impoverished suburbs of Paris, it will also screen at BFI Southbank in September.

Tickets for screenings in Redefining Rebellion will go on sale to BFI Patrons and BFI Champions on 19 August, BFI Members on 20 August and to the general public on 24 August.

HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES We have undertaken a highly detailed project that has focused on ensuring the health and safety of our staff and visitors in order to open in the most responsible way possible. This project, which will continue to respond to ongoing government guidance, has been informed by industry intelligence and audience feedback, extensive risk assessments and staff training and liaising with our unions. Exhaustive detail of BFI Southbank’s new and enhanced health and safety measures can be found online.

– ENDS – NOTES TO EDITORS:

Press Contacts: Liz Parkinson – PR Manager, BFI Cultural Programme [email protected] / 020 7957 8918

FULL DETAILS OF BFI SOUTHBANK HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES CAN BE FOUND ON THE BFI WEBSITE: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/bfi-southbank-update-faq

Season Listings: La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995) EXTENDED RUN FROM FRI 11 SEP (see website for full daily listings)

Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2020) EXTENDED RUN FROM FRI 4 SEP (see website for full daily listings)

Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) TUE 1 SEP 14:20 NFT2 / SAT 12 SEP 14:45 NFT3

American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973) TUE 1 SEP 17:45 NFT1 / FRI 25 SEP 17:45 NFT1 / SUN 4 OCT 18:30 NFT2

Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) THU 3 SEP 20:45 NFT1 / WED 23 SEP 20:45 NFT1 / MON 28 SEP 14:30 NFT1 / THU 1 OCT 18:00 NFT1 / SUN 4 OCT 15:10 NFT1

Norma Rae (Martin Ritt, 1979) MON 7 SEP 17:30 NFT1 / SAT 26 SEP 14:20 NFT1 / FRI 2 OCT 20:30 NFT2 / MON 5 OCT 14:20 NFT1

Blue Collar (Paul Schrader, 1978) SUN 6 SEP 15:10 NFT2 / THU 17 SEP 20:40 NFT3 / TUE 22 SEP 14:20 NFT1 / TUE 29 SEP 17:50 NFT1

Young Soul Rebels (Isaac Julien, 1991) SAT 5 SEP 18:00 NFT3 / TUE 8 SEP 20:50 NFT3 / SUN 27 SEP 14:30 NFT2

Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999) WED 2 SEP 20:50 NFT1 / THU 10 SEP 18:10 NFT2 / WED 16 SEP 18:10 NFT1 / SUN 20 SEP 12:00 NFT2 / SUN 27 SEP 18:50 NFT1

Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud, 2007) SUN 13 SEP 15:00 NFT3 / FRI 25 SEP 14:45 NFT3 / TUE 6 OCT 20:50 NFT2

Dheepan (Jacques Audiard, 2015) TUE 15 SEP 20:45 NFT3 / THU 24 SEP 17:50 NFT2 / FRI 2 OCT 18:00 NFT1

Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Sara Driver, 2017) SAT 26 SEP 18:20 NFT3 / WED 30 SEP 20:50 NFT3

Girlhood (Céline Sciamma, 2014) TUE 22 SEP 17:50 NFT2 / SAT 3 OCT 20:30 NFT2

Amateurs (Gabriela Pichler, 2018) WED 23 SEP 18:10 NFT3 / SAT 3 OCT 14:30 NFT2

About the BFI The BFI is the UK’s lead organisation for film, television and the moving image. It is a cultural charity that:  Curates and presents the greatest international public programme of World Cinema for audiences; in cinemas, at festivals and online  Cares for the BFI National Archive – the most significant film and television archive in the world  Actively seeks out and supports the next generation of filmmakers  Works with Government and industry to make the UK the most creatively exciting and prosperous place to make film internationally Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger CBE. *** PICTURE DESK *** A selection of images for journalistic use in promoting BFI Southbank can be found via the links below: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aovyosidw0marj3/AACBMpUu-EewKVYOv5URz2Nqa?dl=0 To unsubscribe from the BFI’s press list please click here