The Liberated Film Club

Marking the twentieth anniversary of Close-Up, we are delighted to announce the return of Stanley Schtinter’s legendary Liberated Film Club.

"Because you’re sick of knowing exactly what you’re going to get, and you’re sick when you get it…"

Operational at Close-Up in 2016 and 2019-20, each event followed the same format: Schtinter would invite a special guest (Laura Mulvey, Dennis Cooper, John Akomfrah and many more) to introduce a film, but neither they nor the audience attending would know in advance what the film was going to be. This was described by Sight & Sound as “an intensification of the original promise of going to the cinema… a void that audiences could jump into.”

The Liberated Film Club will run twice monthly for the duration of Close-Up’s anniversary year, from July 2025 to July 2026. Films will follow the original parameters of “lost, banned, or made in impossible circumstances,” but this time Schtinter has ‘liberated’ the Liberated Film Club: passing all selection and programming duties to the guests.

Guest programmers include: Toby Jones, Lucile Hadžihalilović, Erika Balsom, Esther Kinsky, Ruth Beckermann, John Smith, Daniel Blumberg, Peggy Ahwesh, and many more to be confirmed.