C J ‘Fiery’ Obasi joins us for a Q&A with BLACK to the FUTURE founder Irenosen Okojie. This genre-bending tale brings to life a futuristic fable that fuses spiritual beliefs with inter-generational tensions. Set in the matriarchal ocean village of Iyi, where West African water deity, Mami Wata, reigns via village leader Mama Efe. When the harmony of the village is threatened, two sisters must fight to restore order, as traditions of the past crash with calls from the future.

This Q&A was part of BLACK to the FUTURE, an Afro-Futurist celebration of outstanding Black artists, a space for visionary imaginings to thrive. In partnership with the Royal Society of Literature.

Recorded at the Garden Cinema on 19th November 2023.

Jacob Stolworthy, Chief Culture Reporter at The Independent, and Jack Shepherd, freelance culture journalist, talk us through a day in the life of a film critic, including writing reviews and interviews with the stars. Industry panels followed by networking in our bar is one of the benefits of Garden Cinema membership.

Jacob Stolworthy specialises in film and TV news and feature writing and is the co-presenter of Independent’s review show Binge Watch. Jacob has also written for Esquire and Digital Spy, reviewed films on BBC Radio 1 and is the co-host of “The Lost Boys” podcast. Jack Shepherd writes about film, TV and video-games. He was previously the online editor for Total Film and SFX magazines, entertainment editor at GamesRadar, and was a culture reporter for The Independent. He has also written for publications such as Den of Geek, IGN, and Yahoo. He also co-hosts “The Lost Boys” podcast.

This discussion was recorded at The Garden Cinema on November 13th 2023.

In the final video on our Mike Leigh in Conversation series, Mike Leigh and Gary Yershon discuss Peterloo. An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reforms and protest against rising levels of poverty.

Watch the entire Mike Leigh in Conversation collection:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

Filmed on 30th October 2022 at The Garden Cinema, 39-41 Parker Street, London WC2B 5PQ

Tony Rayns discusses Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s A Time to Live, A Time to Die in a pre-recorded introduction as part of our New Taiwanese Cinema season.

Inspired by filmmaker Hsiao-hsien Hou’s own childhood, this drama centers on Ah-Ha-Gu (You Anshun), a boy who comes of age during a tumultuous time in his family’s history. When the Gu family made the move from China’s mainland to Taiwan, the elder family members struggled to adapt in their new environment while the adolescent Ah-Ha thrived. Indeed, as Ah-Ha grows to maturity, the generation gap grows fearsomely wide, threatening to alienate the young man from his family and their traditions.

Our screening of Atonement was followed a discussion with Oscar winning composer of Atonement Dario Marianelli. This was the first in an ongoing series of discussions hosted by Oscar nominated composer Gary Yershon.

Atonement’s unusual structure offered up a challenge to which Dario rose spectacularly. The result was a unique score, both sweepingly romantic and formally innovative. Gary and Dario will discuss how this remarkable achievement came into being.

Recorded on 11th October 2023 at The Garden Cinema
39-41 Parker Street London WC2B 5PQ

Recorded at The Garden Cinema on 1st October 2023.

This Autumn, The Garden Cinema is celebrating Ealing Comedies!

Every Wednesday, from October 25th and all the way to November, Dr. Grazia Ingravalle [QMUL] and Dr. Lawrence Napper [KCL] will be taking turns diving into The Ladykillers, Hue and Cry, The Man in the White Suit, Kind Hearts and Coronets, and Passport to Pimlico. They will be touching on the humour, political undertones, and lovable eccentricity of films that have made a mark on film history and are still admired by cinephiles worldwide.

Two pigs recently joined us our family screening of Babe! Bambi and Kingsley came all the way from Kew Little Pigs farm in Amersham and stayed in the screen to watch the film. After the pigs stayed in the screen to watch the film, they joined us in the Garden Bar for petting and drawing.

Our Films for the Family season is Pay What You Can and includes a free children’s activity.

Thanks to Kew Little Pigs for coming down. Visit them at kewlittlepigs.cm