Welcome to Close-Up!
Showing This Week
Friday 17 January: Solaris
Mindful that a space odyssey might find better favor with the Soviet film authorities following Andrei Rublev, Tarkovsky reshaped Stanisław Lem’s metaphysical science-fiction novel to his own preoccupations with memory and sacrifice. A psychologist travels to a space station orbiting Solaris to explore rumors that the planet’s ocean may be a "thinking substance," materializing the astronauts’ memories.
Saturday 18 January: In Harm's Way: The Films of Majed Neisi
Born in Southwest Iran, Majed Neisi has dedicated himself to examining the pathology of war in a succession of Middle Eastern battlegrounds in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan for two decades, documenting a rare picture of ordinary people's resilience in his often short and straight-to-the-point films. We're delighted to welcome Majed Neisi to Close-Up for the first UK retrospective of his documentaries.
Sunday 19 January: As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
A rare and beautiful work made by one of the greatest practitioners of autobiographical cinema, Jonas Mekas' As I Was Moving Ahead… is composed of diary footage shot in New York City and environs mostly between 1970 and 1974, the selections and sequencings ordered largely by chance. What we see in this nearly five-hour-long epic is a wonderfully poetic expression of the sweet little moments of everyday life.
Sunday 19 January: L’avventura
An iconic piece of challenging 1960s cinema and a gripping narrative on its own terms, L’avventura concerns the enigmatic disappearance of a young woman during a yachting trip off the coast of Sicily, and the search taken up by her disaffected lover (Gabriele Ferzetti) and best friend (Monica Vitti). Antonioni’s controversial masterwork is a gorgeously shot tale of modern ennui and spiritual isolation.
Showing Next Week
Monday 20 January: The Spirit of the Beehive
"Grounded in the political realities of 1940s Spain, and in an autumnal natural reality of plowed fields, abandoned farmhouses, and empty streets, The Spirit of the Beehive attunes itself to the phantom realms of its child protagonists, where signs and wonders are everywhere, and new worlds await just outside the family home." – Jason Sanders
Tuesday 21 January: Pere Portabella Short Films
We’re pleased to present a selection of Pere Portabella’s short films, including four collaborations with Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist Joan Miró.
Wednesday 22 January: Walden
Jonas Mekas' first completed diary film is an epic portrait of the New York avant-garde art scene of the 60s and a ground-breaking work of personal cinema.
Thursday 23 January: Nocturno 29 + No compteu amb els dits
Nocturno 29 begins where he left us in No compteu amb els dits: in front of the blank screen and the materiality of the projection. Co-scripted by the poet Joan Brossa, the film adopts a loose, fragmentary approach, depicting the lives of a bourgeois couple who engage in extramarital affairs. The title of the film refers to the 29 "dark years" of the Franco dictatorship.
Friday 24 January: Carles Santos Short Films
We're thrilled to host a very special evening with Tom Wheatley, presenting three newly restored films by Carles Santos (two of which feature friend and collaborator Pere Portabella) screening for the first time outside of Spain. Part of the Liberated Film Club's retrospective on Pere Portabella.
Saturday 25 January: Los Golfos
Produced by Pere Portabella. Following the exploits of a teenage gang who plan a burglary of a large factory in order to finance the bullfighting career of a friend, Carlos Saura creates a hard-edged look at a rapidly modernizing Spain as seen from the bottom up. Much of the camerawork is hand-held, giving the film a striking, almost visceral kind of immediacy.
Saturday 25 January: El Cochecito
Produced by Pere Portabella. Buñuelian black humour informs the social satire of this first masterpiece by Marco Ferreri. El Cochecito portrays the trials and tribulations of Anselmo Proharán, a retiree willing to do anything, even do away with his family, in order to get himself a mobility scooter like those owned by his elderly cronies at the park. Screening for the first time with its original, uncensored ending.
Sunday 26 January: Tren de sombras
Produced by Pere Portabella. In this meditative, beautiful film, Guerín pays tribute to another artist, Gérard Fleury, an amateur filmmaker who disappeared in 1930 while scouting a location for a silent film. Home movies, re-creations, and present-day visits to key locations are intertwined and scenes are repeated and restaged, blurring fiction and nonfiction and questioning our ability to judge what is authentic.
Sunday 26 January: Viridiana
Produced by Pere Portabella. Banned in Spain and denounced by the Vatican, Luis Buñuel’s irreverent vision of life as a beggar’s banquet is regarded by many as his masterpiece. In it, novice nun Viridiana does her utmost to maintain her Catholic principles, but her lecherous uncle and a motley assemblage of paupers force her to confront the limits of her idealism.
Coming Soon
27 January 2020: In The Same Boat
Produced by Pere Portabella. An artistic and sophisticated analysis of the effects of globalisation on the world, which presents an optimistic argument for the future of the planet. Guided by some of the world's leading radical figures, In The Same Boat travels the world discovering the views of its people on work, happiness, the environment, and the economy.
15 - 16 February 2020: Jonathan Rosenbaum on Portabella & Saeed-Vafa
We’re pleased to welcome American film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum for a weekend of masterclasses. Day 1 concludes the Liberated Film Club's Pere Portabella retrospective with an extensive masterclass on the Catalan director’s work. On Day 2 Jonathan will present a special preview of Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa’s first feature, A House Is Not A Home: Wright or Wrong followed by a lecture on the subjects addressed in the films.
Calendar
Sun 19 Jan 2:00pm
As I Was Moving Ahead...
As I Was Moving Ahead...
Sun 19 Jan 7:30pm
L’avventura
L’avventura
Mon 20 Jan 8:15pm
The Spirit of the Beehive
The Spirit of the Beehive
Tue 21 Jan 8:15pm
Pere Portabella Short Films
Pere Portabella Short Films
Wed 22 Jan 7:00pm
Walden
Walden
Thu 23 Jan 8:30pm
Nocturno 29 + No compteu amb els dits
Nocturno 29 + No compteu amb els dits
Fri 24 Jan 8:15pm
Carles Santos Short Films
Carles Santos Short Films
Sat 25 Jan 6:00pm
Los Golfos
Los Golfos
Sat 25 Jan 8:00pm
El Cochecito
El Cochecito
Sun 26 Jan 6:00pm
Tren de sombras
Tren de sombras
