Sort
View

Previous events in this programme

Reframing Film Sessions

part of Reframing Film

Reframing Film

Cinema 3, Watershed

For those of you working in film exhibition and archives, join some of the most distinctive voices in film curation and archiving to explore the potential of reframing film heritage.

Wed 20 July

Philip French Memorial Lecture: Samira Ahmed

part of Reframing Film

Phillip French  Memorial Lecture: Samira Ahmed

Live Stream on

Award-winning journalist, writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed delivers this year’s Philip French Memorial Lecture reflecting on her journalistic journey through cinema.

Wed 20 July

This event will have BSL (British Sign Language) interpretation.

UK Premiere: Lost Highway 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Lost Highway

Cinema 1, Watershed and Cinema 3, Watershed

A brooding jazz saxophonist lives in a simmering state of jealousy with his listless and possibly unfaithful wife in this 4K restoration of David Lynch's classic thriller.

Wed 20 July

Join us after the screening for a special Lynch inspired DJ/VJ set courtesy of DJ Cheeba in the Café & Bar, open to all ticket holders.

DJ Cheeba Inspired by Lynch

part of Reframing Film

DJ Cheeba Inspired by Lynch

Café & Bar, Watershed

Join DJ Cheeba in the Café & Bar for a live DJ/VJ set inspired by the deliriously enigmatic work of David Lynch.

Wed 20 July

Online booking no longer available for DJ Cheeba Inspired by Lynch at 22:40, Wed 20 July (ends 23:40)

Rewriting Film History (With The Women in It)

part of Reframing Film

Rewriting Film History (With The Women in It)

Cinema 1, Watershed

Archive activists Invisible Women speak to guest contributors including So Mayer about reimagining film history through a female-centric lens.

Thu 21 July

A Door To The Sky  (Subtitled)

part of Women’s Stories from the Global South

A Door To The Sky

Cinema 3, Watershed

Farida Benlyazid's poignant tribute to womanhood and spirituality is brought to life once again through the restoration efforts of the Transnational Moroccan Cinema Project from the University of Exeter.

Thu 21 July

Join us before the film for an introduction by Dr Stefanie Van De Peer, the force behind Global Women’s Film Heritage, a programme focused on building a collective of researchers and practitioners that make women and their films more visible in global film archives.

UK Premiere: Blonde Crazy 

part of Pre-code Hollywood

UK Premiere: Blonde Crazy

Cinema 1, Watershed

James Cagney and Joan Blondell sizzle as a con-artist duo robbing hotel guests in this brilliant crime comedy.

Thu 21 July

With an introduction by Christina Newland.

Lunchtime Talk: Global Women’s Film Heritage Networking

part of Women’s Stories from the Global South

Global Women’s Film Heritage Networking Lunch

Waterside 1, Watershed

Join the team behind Global Women’s Film Heritage, a collective of researchers, archive practitioners and film exhibitors dedicated to making women and their films more visible for a networking lunch reflecting on the absences and presences of women's work in film archives.

Thu 21 July

Maangamizi: The Ancient One  (Subtitled)

part of Women’s Stories from the Global South

Maangazimi: The Ancient One

Cinema 2, Watershed

Two women forge a connection that breaches the confines of time, history, and faith. An essential work of Tanzanian cinema being returned to audiences openly and inclusively in honour of its 20th Anniversary by collective, Ajabu Ajabu.

Thu 21 July

Join us before the film for an introduction from the Ajabu Ajabu film collective.

UK Premiere: A Free Soul 

part of Pre-code Hollywood

UK Premiere: A Free Soul

Cinema 1, Watershed

Socialite Norma Shearer risks total ruination after a sordid love affair with murderous gangster Clark Gable.

Thu 21 July

With an introduction by Christina Newland.

Sambizanga + Q&A with Annouchka De Andrade  (Subtitled)

part of Women’s Stories from the Global South

Sambizanga

Cinema 3, Watershed

Join Annouchka De Andrade, Sarah Maldoror’s daughter, for a special screening of this unforgettable revolutionary film about a pivotal moment in Angola’s fight for freedom.

Thu 21 July

Join us before the film for an introduction by Mosa Mpetha (Co-founder of The Black Cinema Project) with special guest Annouchka De Andrade, Sarah Maldoror’s daughter.

Pre-Code Hollywood: Rules are Made to be Broken

part of Pre-code Hollywood

Pre-Code Holywood: Rules are Made to be Broken

Cinema 1, Watershed

Join the dream team (author, critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson and film critic and journalist Christina Newland) for a conversation about the rights and wrongs of Pre-code Hollywood.

Thu 21 July

Sunrise: A Song of two Humans 

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

Sunrise: A Song of two Humans

Cinema 1, Watershed

Made in the twilight of the silent era Sunrise is a milestone of Film Expressionism and one of the few films to instantly achieve legendary status.

Thu 21 July

Join us before the film for an introduction from Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove.

A Dessert for Constance  (Subtitled)

part of Black Paris

A Dessert for Constance

Cinema 3, Watershed

Two Senegalese émigré street cleaners enter a “haute cuisine” competition to help their friend after stumbling upon a 19th-century cookbook.

Thu 21 July

With an introduction by Annouchka de Andrade, daughter of Sarah Maldoror.

Shanghai Express  (Partially Subtitled)

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

Shanghai Express

Cinema 1, Watershed

Marlene Dietrich is at her wicked best as Shanghai Lily, a courtesan whose reputation brings a hint of scandal to a train ride through war-torn China.

Thu 21 July

Join us before the film for an introduction from film historian, programmer and video editor Jonathan Bygraves.

De Cierta Manera  (Subtitled)

part of Women’s Stories from the Global South

De Cierta Manera

Cinema 3, Watershed

Director Sara Gómez assesses the complexities of intersectional, marginalised lives in 1970's Cuba through a factual narrative that contextualises the relationship, the community, and the tensions of life in a new socialist society.

Thu 21 July

With an introduction from Lisa Harewood (Twelve 30 Collective).

Reel To Real Shorts 

part of bell hooks

Reel To Real Shorts

Cinema 3, Watershed

Curator Karen Alexander presents a trio of shorts that resonate with bell hooks's seminal classic collection of essays on film, Reel To Real: Race, Class and Sex at the Movies.

Fri 22 July

The Joker  (Subtitled)

part of Bristol UNESCO City of Film

The Joker

Cinema 1, Watershed

Set on the stunning French Riviera during the height of Nice’s world famous carnival, Georg Jacoby’s The Joker is a highly entertaining thrill-ride starring Weston-super-Mare's Henry Edwards as the charismatic ‘joker’. 

Fri 22 July

With an introduction by writer and broadcaster Dr Matthew Sweet and a recorded score by Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius.

Lunchtime Talk: Designing a Character, Creating a Star

part of Reframing Film

Lunchtime Talk: Designing a Character, Creating a Star

Waterside 1, Watershed

Former V&A Curator Keith Lodwick will explore how costume designers Adrian and Banton were central to the creation of both the character and the public image of two Golden Age stars, Dietrich and Garbo.

Fri 22 July

UK Premiere: Laws of Love (Gesetze der Liebe) + Panel Discussion  (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Laws of Love (Gesetze der Liebe)

Cinema 1, Watershed

Join author and activist So Mayer and guests for the UK Premiere of one of the first pro-gay documentaries in the history of cinema, painstakingly restored by the Munich Film Museum nearly a century after it was made.

Fri 22 July

Join us before the film for an introduction by author and activist So Mayer (A Nazi Word for a Nazi Thing, 2020), and a post-screening discussion with guests including writer Adam Zmith.

Killer of Sheep + Short: The Horse 

part of bell hooks

Killer of Sheep + Short: The Horse

Cinema 3, Watershed

Charles Burnett's tender, witty and affectionate tale of a disillusioned slaughterhouse worker, and the solace to be found in the simplest moments of life.

Fri 22 July

With an introduction by curator Karen Alexander.

Girl 6 

part of bell hooks

Girl 6

20th Century Flicks (about 9 min walk from Watershed)

An unnamed, aspiring actress's quest for new work lands her in the warm, supportive embrace of a women-run phone sex agency in Spike Lee's overlooked comedy.

Fri 22 July

With an introduction by curator Karen Alexander.

Queen of Diamonds + Q&A with Nina Menkes 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Queen of Diamonds + Q&A with Nina Menkes

Cinema 3, Watershed

One of the most jarringly original independent films of the 1990s, Nina Menkes’ lost underground classic re-emerges in this gorgeous new restoration.

Fri 22 July

Join us after the film for a Q&A with director Nina Menkes.

UK Premiere: Jewel Robbery 

part of Pre-code Hollywood

UK Premiere: Jewel Robbery

Cinema 1, Watershed

An ode to drugs, sex, and diamonds starring veteran screen pair William Powell and Kay Francis as a gentleman thief and the posh lady who falls for him.

Fri 22 July

With an introduction by Christina Newland.

Queen Christina 

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

Queen Christina

Cinema 1, Watershed

One of the era’s most sophisticated examinations of gender and identity with Garbo perfect as the bisexual Swedish monarch who was raised from birth as a boy.

Fri 22 July

Finding Christa 

part of bell hooks

Finding Christa

Cinema 3, Watershed

A moving, yet unsentimental, view of motherhood that challenges social biases about adoption and offers new insight into mother-daughter relationships.

Fri 22 July

With an introduction by curator Karen Alexander.

The Afterlight with Charlie Shackleton 

part of Reframing Film

The Afterlight with Charlie Shakleton

Cinema 3, Watershed

The Afterlight documents the physical presence of over three hundred actors who are no longer alive and must reconcile themselves to a life lived solely through the performances they committed to celluloid.

Fri 22 July

Introduced and followed by a Q&A with director Charlie Shackleton.

UK Premiere: Harold & Maude 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Harold & Maude

Cinema 1, Watershed

In this much-loved cult classic, an emotional and romantic bond develops between one of cinema’s most unlikely pairs.

Fri 22 July

With an introduction by Daisy Steinhardt, freelance writer and UWE film studies student (20th Century Flicks).

Bristol Black Horror Club Presents: Nightbreed at 30 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Black Horror Bristol Club Presents: Nightbreed at 30

20th Century Flicks (about 9 min walk from Watershed)

A hybrid fantasy/horror vision combining elements of 90s pop-culture, folk horror, and the uncanny that explores themes around redemption, identity and belonging.

Fri 22 July

Join us before the film for an introduction from Film Programmer and Writer Adam Murray (Bristol Black Horror Club, Come The Revolution).

Cinema Walk 1

part of Bristol UNESCO City of Film

Cinema Walk 1

Across Bristol

Join local film enthusiast and historian Mark Fuller for the first of two different, gentle, walks that between them take in the landmarks and personalities of Cinema in Central Bristol from the 1880s to the present day.

Sat 23 July

UK Premiere: The Village Detective: a song cycle + Q&A with Bill Morrison 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: The Village Detective: a song cycle

Cinema 3, Watershed

During the summer of 2016, a fishing boat off the shores of Iceland made a most curious catch: four reels of 35mm film, seemingly of Soviet provenance...

Sat 23 July

With a pre-recorded Q&A with Bill Morrison hosted by Dr Pete Walsh.

Fury 

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

Fury

Cinema 1, Watershed

Fritz Lang's first American film is a searing indictment of mob justice and lynching - and still a striking cautionary tale.

Sat 23 July

With an introduction by James Harrison (Film Noir UK and South West Silents Co-director).

Paris Noir – African Americans in the City of Light + Q&A 

part of Black Paris

Paris Noir - African Americans in the City of Light

Cinema 2, Watershed

A compelling documentary on the migration of pioneering African Americans to Paris and the ensuing cultural exchange, from Josephine Baker and beyond.

Sat 23 July

With an introduction by Black Paris curator Karen Alexander and followed by a Q&A with entrepreneur Eric Collins (Channel 4’s The Money Maker).

Lunchtime Talk: Notebook, a magazine by MUBI

part of Reframing Film

Lunchtime Talk: MUBI Notebook Magazine

Waterside 1, Watershed

Fancy diving deeper into film culture? Whether you’re a film lover or are aspiring to work in film writing/criticism, this session will give you insights into one of the world’s most distinctive international voices in film journalism: NOTEBOOK – created, prepared and published by MUBI.

Sat 23 July

Preview: One Second  (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Preview: One Second

Cinema 3, Watershed

A nameless fugitive escapes from a Gansu Province labour camp, desperate to see a newsreel said to promise a glimpse of his estranged daughter.

Sat 23 July

With an introduction by Cinema Curator and Cinema Rediscovered Founder Mark Cosgrove.

Dr Mabuse: Part 1: The Great Gambler: A Picture of the Time 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Dr Mabuse: Part 1: The Great Gambler: A Picture of the Time

Arnolfini

The first part of an epic masterpiece of conspiracy that constructs its own dark labyrinth from the base materials of human fear and paranoia.

Sat 23 July

UK Premiere: Red-headed Woman  (Partially Subtitled)

part of Pre-code Hollywood

UK Premiere: Red-headed Woman

Cinema 1, Watershed

Jean Harlow sizzles and the dialogue crackles in this boundary-pushing comedy of sex and social-climbing.

Sat 23 July

With an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson.

Chameleon Street 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Chameleon Street

Cinema 2, Watershed

The improbable but true story of con man Douglas Street, the titular “chameleon” who successfully impersonated his way up the socioeconomic ladder.

Sat 23 July

With a pre-recorded introduction by film writer and programmer, now Curatorial Director of the Criterion Collection, Ashley Clark.

UK Premiere: Princess Tam Tam  (Subtitled)

part of Black Paris

UK Premiere: Princess Tam Tam

Cinema 1, Watershed

From the makers of French musical Zou Zou, this comedy sees a mischievous shepherd girl rising through society to become a pretend princess and the toast of Paris nightlife.

Sat 23 July

A new digital restoration courtesy of George Eastman Museum and Kino Lorber, with an introduction by Dr Terri Simone Francis.

Araya  (Subtitled)

part of Women’s Stories from the Global South

Araya

Cinema 3, Watershed

Araya is a poetic, visually arresting look at life on Venezuela’s Araya Peninsula, where generations of labourers have depended on mining the arid region’s salt pans for their livelihood.

Sat 23 July

Join us before the film for an introduction by curator Lorena Pino Montilla.

Dr Mabuse: Part 2: Inferno: A Play About People of Our Times 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Dr Mabuse: Part 2: Inferno: A Play About People of Our Times

Arnolfini

The second part of Fritz Lang's epic masterpiece of conspiracy that constructs its own dark labyrinth from the base materials of human fear and paranoia.

Sat 23 July

Presented as part of Bristol Ideas and South West Silents' #Modernism2022, with live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney.

Double Indemnity 

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

Double Indemnity

Cinema 3, Watershed

Billy Wilder's sizzling, simmering tale of seduction and murder where our wise cracking hero, insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) is seduced way out of his depth by the bracelet charms, and more, of Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck).

Sat 23 July

Join us before the film for an introduction from Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove.

UK Premiere: The Swordsman of All Swordsmen  (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

The Swordsman of All Swordsmen

Cinema 1, Watershed

A landmark work of wuxia cinema, Swordsman of all Swordsmen, newly restored by the Taiwan Film Institute tells the revenge story of Tsai Ying-chieh (Tien Peng).

Sat 23 July

With an introduction by Andy Willis is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and Senior Visiting Curator at HOME in Manchester.

Cape Fear 

part of Bristol UNESCO City of Film

Cape Fear

Cinema 1, Watershed

The gripping and tension-laden original thriller by Bristol-born J. Lee Thompson about an embittered ex-con terrorising the frightened family of the meek lawyer who put him in prison.

Sat 23 July

Paris Blues 

part of Black Paris

Paris Blues

Cinema 3, Watershed

Sidney Poitier and Paul Newman play a pair of American ex-pat jazz musicians living la vie bohème in Paris in this intoxicating, music-filled romance. 

Sat 23 July

With an introduction by Black Paris curator Karen Alexander.

Cinema Walk 2

part of Bristol UNESCO City of Film

Cinema Walk 2

Across Bristol

Join local film enthusiast and historian Mark Fuller for the second of two different, gentle walks that between them take in the landmarks and personalities of Cinema in Central Bristol from the 1880s to the present day.

Sun 24 July

Chess of The Wind  (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Chess of The Wind

Cinema 3, Watershed

Screened publicly just once before it was banned and then lost for decades, this rediscovered jewel of Iranian cinema re-emerges to take its place as one of the most astonishing works of the country’s pre-revolution New Wave.

Sun 24 July

With a pre-recorded introduction from Cinema Ritrovato co-director and filmmaker Ehsan Khoshbakht.

Casablanca 

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

Casablanca

Cinema 1, Watershed

A timeless love story wrapped inside a gripping wartime thriller that focuses on the rekindled love experienced by American expat Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and the beautiful, married Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman).

Sun 24 July

Join us before the film for an introduction from Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove.

Curzon Cinema & Arts Open Doors

part of Reframing Film

Cinema Rediscovered @ Curzon Cinema & Arts

External

Fall in love with the magic of the movies at one of the oldest running cinema venues in the country, Clevedon’s Curzon Cinema & Arts.

Sun 24 July

Lunchtime Talk: I Assure You We’re Open: 40 years of 20th Century Flicks

part of Reframing Film

Lunchtime Talk: I Assure You We’re Open: 40 years of 20th Century Flicks

Waterside 1, Watershed

Join 20th Century Flicks’ Dave Taylor and Daisy Steinhardt in conversation with one another as they try to figure out the answer to the eternal question: just how has 20th Century Flicks lasted so long?

Sun 24 July

This talk will be followed by a Q&A.

The Killers 

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

The Killers

Cinema 3, Watershed

Adapted from a Hemingway short story, The Killers is essential post-war existential cinema where our doomed hero awaits his inevitable violent death.

Sun 24 July

Join us before the film for an introduction by Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove.

UK Premiere: Baby Face 

part of Pre-code Hollywood

UK Premiere: Baby Face

Cinema 1, Watershed

Barbara Stanwyck climbs her way to the top of New York, one man at a time, in this bold Depression-era drama.

Sun 24 July

With an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson.

UK Premiere: High Noon 

part of When Europe Made Hollywood

UK Premiere: High Noon

Cinema 1, Watershed

Gary Cooper won an Oscar® for his role as Marshal Will Kane, forced to stand alone when an outlaw he put away returns from prison.

Sun 24 July

Join us before the film for an introduction from Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove.

Burning an Illusion 

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Burning an Illusion

Cinema 3, Watershed

The late Menelik Shabazz's pioneering first feature traces the emotional and political growth of a young black couple in Thatcher's London.

Sun 24 July

Join us before the film for an introduction by Film Programmer and Writer Adam Murray (Bristol Black Horror Club, Come The Revolution).

UK Premiere: Forever a Woman  (Subtitled)

part of Restored & Rediscovered

UK Premiere: Forever a Woman

Cinema 1, Watershed

Kinuyo Tanaka’s third film as a director is perhaps her finest – a deeply emotional cinematic portrait of Fumiko Nakajo, an ill-fated female tanka poet.

Sun 24 July

With an introduction by Professor Rayna Denison, University of Bristol.

MUBI Presents: 20th Century Flicks and Watershed 40th Birthday Film Quiz

part of Reframing Film

MUBI Presents: 20th Century Flicks and Watershed 40th Birthday Film Quiz

Café & Bar, Watershed

Wind down and rediscover the movie trivia hidden in the recesses of your brain with a bumper edition of our Film Quiz celebrating 20th Century Flicks’ and Watershed’s 40th Birthday co-hosted this year by 20th Century Flicks’ Daisy Steinhardt and Watershed’s Becky Sands.

Sun 24 July