Documentary filmmakers Marc Isaacs and Lori Yang talk about This Blessed Plot, including navigating the blurring of fact and fiction in hybrid documentary, and how to keep faith in the vision of a documentary project, with its many unknowns and variables. Recorded on 28th January 2024 at The Garden Cinema 39-41 Parker Street London WC2B 5PQ
Michaël Dudok De Wit (The Red Turtle) and Alexandra Sasha Balan (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse) join our very own Abla to discuss their careers and approaches to animation.
The Garden Cinema membership community is not just made up of cinema enthusiasts, but also covers a large range of film creatives.
For our regular industry panels, we invite speakers to discuss their branch of industry, with plenty of time for questions. After the discussion, we all head into the Garden Bar, so you can mingle with fellow members.
About the speakers:
Alexandra Sasha Balan is a 2D animator & illustrator based in London. She has worked on features and shorts, including Oscar & BAFTA winner The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2015 and her influences range from Art Deco to Samurai Jack to Aeon Flux.
Michaël Dudok de Wit grew up in the Netherlands and has lived in London since 1980, directing independent animated films and TV commercials. He specialises in hand-drawn animation and his shorts have won numerous international awards, including an Oscar and a BAFTA award in 2001 for Father and Daughter and a César for The Monk and the Fish (1995). His most recent project The Red Turtle, won the Special Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard, at Cannes Film Festival (2016) and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2017.
Recorded on 23rd Janaury 2025 at The Garden Cinema
39-41 Parker Street London WC2B 5PQ
SCALA!!! is a historical document as unselfconscious and feral as its subject. A ragged collage of testimonials and artifacts of the legendary Scala Cinema, which operated from 1973 – 1993 as a mecca for cinephiles, misfits and outsiders – from queer Londoners to punks and new romantics.
It is also not infrequent for The Garden Cinema to be compared to the Scala of, though we are admittedly more demure, and compliant with rules and closing times. Still, we proudly embrace this comparison as a badge of honor. As their more puritanical heirs, we are thrilled to screen this amazing documentary and pay tribute to the Scala’s legacy of celebrating independent film and embracing outsider culture.
Directors Jane Giles and Ali Catterall joined us at the Garden Cinema to discuss the film and the venue with journalist Saskia Baron and our audience members who chipped in with comments and anecdotes! Tune in to this journey through time.
You can listen to the Garden Cinema Film Talk podcast on most platforms. We welcome comments and suggestions.
Writer-director Leo Leigh talks about his debut feature Sweet Sue. Hosted by Curzon’s Jake Garriock. Recorded on 8th January 2024 at The Garden Cinema
John Wilson, BAFTA and Emmy nominee, is one of the UK’s most distinguished editors. His early career was notable for his collaborations with Peter Greenaway, including superb work on The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Here he discusses his editing process, collaborating with Peter Greenaway, and his career from editing documentary films for the Central Office of Information, to TV drama Downton Abbey. Hosted by Oscar-nominated composer Gary Yershon. Filmed on 4th January 2024 at The Garden Cinema
Richard, George, Mary, Amanda and Joe tell us about their favourite films of the year which we will be showing again from 28 December as part of our Staff Picks 2023 season.
To see all the films that are showing as part of the season, and to book tickets, visit our Staff Picks 2023 season page.
The Garden Cinema was pleased to host the UK premiere of Walking with M on the 10th December 2023, followed by a Zoom Q&A with director Akash Sagar Chopra. The following week, Sri M joined us for a conversation and audience Q&A, again hosted by our very own Matthew Houlihan.
The film tells the story of the 7500km ‘walk for hope’ led by spiritual author and social reformer Sri M. Beginning in January 2015 in the south Indian city of Kanyakumari and concluding 16 months later in the northern region of Kasmir, the ‘walk for hope’ captured the imagination of a nation, with millions participating. Amidst an atmosphere of political divisions, religious tensions and growing fear between communities, Sri M (Mumtaz Ali / Madhukarnath) and his co-walkers meet and discuss with people of all faiths and identities in an effort to re-kindle India’s ancient values of compassion, acceptance and human understanding. Seven years in the making, and produced using over 1800 hours of footage, Walking With M documents the walk and the stories of those that participated.
Filmed at The Garden Cinema on 17th December 2023.
Director Sam Green joined us at the Garden Cinema for a Q&A with Saskia Baron, a documentary filmmaker and journalist who freelances for The Arts Desk, the FT and the Observer/Guardian.
Sam Green’s immersive exploration of sound had the audience experiencing binaural recordings through headphones with FM transmission in our cinema auditorium. Here he discusses with the different versions of his film and live cinema performances, and some of the unusual sounds that didn’t make the cut.
Recorded on 28th November 2023 at The Garden Cinema.