Director Oliver Schmitz tells some of the extraordinary tales of the making of Mapantsula, in conversation with Maona Art’s Tatenda Jamera.

Presented in partnership with Mosa Mpetha of Cinema Africa! and Tatenda Jamera of Maona Art
Supported by Independent Cinema Office and What The Hero Wants
Funded by BFI Audience Projects Fund

A true classic of guerrilla filmmaking, Mapantsula has been newly restored after years of suppression, marking the 30th anniversary of South African Freedom Day in April 2024. Mapantsula is one of the most important and influential films to ever be peroduced and exported out of Africa. Director Oliver Schmitz worked closely with co-writer and lead actor Thomas Mogotlane, to produce a film under extreme censorship, and by evasion of the authorities, they bravely created a radical and rare anti-apartheid feature film. Mapantsula tells the story of Panic, a small-time hood who believes he sees all the angles. But he is soon in the web of the authorities, pushed to betray the revolutionaries fighting for change.

Filmed at the Garden Cinema on 25th April 2024

Our very own Claudia Jolly hosts a Q&A with The Teachers’ Lounge lead actress Leonie Benesch. Her character Carla Nowak is a dedicated and idealistic new high-school teacher, seeming to have connected with her Year 8 students, who are engaged and eager to learn in her maths class. But something is bubbling underneath the surface, and she’s quickly thrust into a delicate situation when a Turkish boy is suspected of theft. Not convinced of his guilt, Carla takes matters into her own hands and inadvertently starts down a path that soon begins to spiral out of control. As she tries to mediate between students, parents and opinionated colleagues, she is relentlessly confronted with the structures of the school system. Carla is pushed to her limits, and the school becomes a proxy for the cultural and ethical clashes of modern day society.

Filmed at the Garden Cinema on 23rd April 2024

Director Milad Alami joins playwright Fatima Serghini for a discussion about his new film, Opponent. The film follows Iman and his family who have been forced to flee Iran. As refugees, they end up in a run-down hotel in northern Sweden. Despite feeling powerless, Iman tries to maintain his role as the family patriarch. To increase their chances of asylum, he breaks a promise to his wife and joins the local wrestling club. As the rumors start to resurface, Iman’s fear and desperation begin to take a hold.

Opponent is a complex and suspenseful drama about ethnic and personal identities. This subject is tackled with remarkable authenticity and poise by Milad Alami, who himself is a second-generation Iranian immigrant.

Filmed at the Garden Cinema on 13th April 2024

A post-film conversation hosted by Alice Aedy (Earthrise) with journalist Frey Lindsay and Naomi Frerotte (SOS Mediterranee).

Find out more about SOS Meditarranee’s work at https://www.sosmediterranee.org/
The Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden is available from 4th Estate books.

Filmed at the Garden Cinema on 13th April 2024

Joanna Johnston is a Costume Designer, who assisted Anthony Powell (Tess) and Tom Rand (The French Lieutenant’s Woman) before getting her first costume designer credit on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. She is especially known for her collaborations with Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, and has worked on a large variety of films, including Saving Private Ryan, The Sixth Sense, Death Becomes Her, War Horse, and many more.

Charlotte Finlay is a Costume Supervisor, who has worked on films such as Barbie, Last Christmas, Atonement, Munich, and many of the Harry Potter films.

Most recently, the pair collaborated on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Witches, and on Robert Zemeckis’ Here, which is expected to be released later this year.

Industry panels followed by networking in our bar is one of the benefits of Garden Cinema membership. Find out more: https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/membership/

Dancing with water: women’s cinema from contemporary China is a film season (Feb-April 2024) curated and programmed by Kiki Tianqi Yu (Senior Lecturer in Film, QMUL) and Shan Tong, in partnership with Queen Mary University of London. The season captures a burgeoning energy of fluidity, flexibility and resilience of Chinese women filmmakers and their cinemas, resonating with the Daoist concept of yin and water as not only soft and formless but also pervasive and tenacious.

The screenings at the Garden Cinema are part of The Chinese Cinema Project.

Recorded on 10th March 2024 at The Garden Cinema

William Fowler, co-editor of The Edge Is Where the Centre Is: David Rudkin and Penda’s Fen, and James Machin, co-editor of Of Mud and Flame: The Penda’s Fen Sourcebook join host Gareth Evans and a Garden Cinema audience for a special screening to mark the 50th anniversary – to the very hour of the Play For Today transmission – of Penda’s Fen. Recorded 21st March 2024 at The Garden Cinema.

Playwright David Rudkin recorded an introduction to Penda’s Fen, directed by Alan Clarke in 1974:

In the Works is our regular series of screenings and informal conversations with guests from all areas of the industry, hosted by Oscar nominated composer Gary Yershon. Gary’s guest is Tristan Oliver (BSC), an internationally renowned cinematographer known for his work on animated films, including Chicken Run, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Isle of Dogs, Loving Vincent, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

00:00 // Intro
00:15 // What’s the difference between Director of Photography and Cinematographer?
01:08 // Working with Wes Anderson on his first animated film “You do not bring yourself to the table”
17:06 // Why handmade animation is exciting for audiences
18:46 // Lenses. and depth of field when animating small scale sets and characters
25:58 // Flicker – why do animators wear black?
27:54 // Aardman’s key role in the animation industry – and why I had to leave
33:50 // Do you have to justify your light sources even when animating a scene underground?
38:02 // Is there something British about stop-motion animation?
41:22 // The use of zoom lenses
44:00 // Big lights, small sets
48:57 // Special effects – the fight ball in Isle of Dogs
52:03 // Puppets, skeletons and movements
55:54 // What comes first, movement or dialogue?
58:15 // Winning awards for animated films

Recorded on 24th February 2024 at The Garden Cinema