We're thrilled to invite you to celebrate Close-Up cinema's first year anniversary with a programme that leaves everything to the imagination - a month of secret films running throughout July!

The programme consists of more than 23 lost, banned and forgotten films you cannot see anywhere else and you will not see again, screened each Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the month. No titles will be announced in advance, but each screening will be introduced by a special guest speaker, presenting a Liberated Film Class. We are delighted to host filmmakers Shezad Dawood and Chris Petit to launch us into the thrill of the unknown, with further guests announced on a weekly basis.

Curated by Schtinter, all of the films in the season are part of his Liberated Film archive, an astonishing collection uncovering the hidden gems of international cinema.

On Saturday 2 July, join us for an all-night party with a wild combination of short films, drinks, DJs and our eccentric staff music playlists to keep you dancing til late!

Book your season ticket now to avoid disappointment! And fall in love with getting lost this July at Close-Up Cinema, as unexpected pleasures are the best kind...

Weekend 1: Close-Up Cinema First Anniversary and Liberated Film Club Programme Launch

Friday: A suitably misleading preview of the month to come, introduced by series curator, Schtinter, and special guest, artist and filmmaker Shezad Dawood, with an experiment in disappearance and smear: Mordant Music’s birthday present to Iain Sinclair. Saturday: All-night launch party and short film programme. Sunday: Director, writer and critic Chris Petit presents an evening of his re-forgotten film work, including a live performance. read more

Weekend 2: Epics of Ergot: Mole Down the Rabbit Hole

Friday: Think Murnau’s Faust on holiday in Buñuel’s Spain with an Argentinean concubine, a giant bouncy ball, and a passion for breaking reality. Introduced by artist, filmmaker and cultural critic Andrea Luka Zimmerman. Saturday: Cinematography by the pre-eminent Polish Oscar-winning filmmaker, who accepted his trophy in Reebok sneakers, and was beaten to a pulp by Academy security. Introduced by the BFI's curator of artists' moving-image, William Fowler. Sunday: An undisputed masterpiece, and one of so few films exploring the full scope of Kazakhstan’s unmapped territories. Introduced by filmmaker John Rogers. read more

Weekend 3:  Vincent Gallo Stopped at Calais

Friday: Murnau’s Faust didn’t take to Buñuel’s Spain; he is alive and well for the fall of the Berlin Wall, watching from a television set in the South of France. Introduced by artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers. Saturday: A double-bill for those who thought Elem Klimov’s Come and See, and more recently, Laszlo Nemes' Son of Saul, conveyed the full horror and the full madness of war. Introduced by writer and filmmaker Gideon Koppel. Sunday: Documentary shorts by the uncredited inventor of stereo sound: a stroboscopic tour of corrupt Catholic architecture, and a documentary feature on the terms and conditions of General Franco; in commemoration of the Spanish Civil War. Introduced by Gareth Evans, film curator at Whitechapel Gallery. read more

Weekend 4:  30th Anniversary of the Death of Jean Genet

Friday: Kicking off our celebration of Jean Genet with a film entirely unrelated to Jean Genet. A stranger believes he can predict crimes, and when one doesn’t happen everyone must pay; a deep, dark and immensely absorbing film. Introduced by filmmaker and curator Adam Roberts. Saturday: An independent film made in the mid-1960s about a hardware store in South America couldn’t possibly say so much of today, could it? Introduced by radical artist, filmmaker, and theorist John Akomfrah. Sunday: By Genet's close friend, from whom Andy Warhol stole the name for that blonde, drug-addled German who crystallised the majesty of The Velvet Underground. Introduced by curator and writer Shama Khanna. read more

Weekend 5:  Beyond Lost & Beyond Love

Friday: A deep reading of the ancient "heroes" uncovers a fact lost to the history of cinema, except perhaps in this film: the adventures and achievements of our heroes – Theseus for example – happened long before the age of consent. Introduced by writer and director Tony Grisoni. Saturday: Your husband and your son leave you? Escape into the infinite potential of your dreams, fantasies, and necessarily distorted memories. Sunday: First love as a first look at the true potential of liberation. Forbidden, lost, the essence of life itself. An astounding debut from the recent millennium. Introduced by Liberated Film Club curator, Schtinter, who screens fragments from his film-work in progress, MICE. read more