The 4th edition of Cinema Rediscovered (25 – 28 July 2019) explores the invention, innovation and mystery of cinema; diving deep into the legacy of revered filmmakers such as Nic Roeg, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Bresson and Bristol born Mike Hodges as well as shining a spotlight on lesser known cinematic voices including Maureen Blackwood, Márta Mészáros and V?ra Chytilová.

Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) will headline a festival focus Gluttony, Decadence and Resistance and Jane Giles, former Scala Programmer will be in-conversation about the influence of London’s most infamous repertory cinema.

Director Terence Davies will talk about his favourite film, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), newly restored for its 70th anniversary (c/o STUDIOCANAL), which he sees as “the greatest of all screen comedies. Not even Some Like it Hot can touch it!”

“Rewatching films from a historical distance, you see more clearly how social and political forces have shaped the cultural form of film. Our strand Gluttony, Decadence and Resistance for example brings together films which all comment on the tensions in their respective countries from the Czech New Wave to Thatcherism. From that historical distance you also begin to see the influence – sometimes subtle, sometimes immense – a filmmaker or film can have.“

Mark Cosgrove, Festival Founder and Co-curator

• Opening: UK Premiere of a new 4K restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946) starring Ingrid Bergman alongside Bristol boy Archie Leach (aka Cary Grant) introduced by critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson (Sight & Sound, Guardian) ahead of its release by the BFI across the UK on 9 August and BFI Southbank’s Cary Grant retrospective running throughout August and September.
• Closing & Touring: UK Premiere of Une Femme Douce (1969), influential French director Robert Bresson’s first film in colour, a stunning adaptation of a Dostoevsky short story which introduced audiences to budding young actress Dominique Sanda. The film has rarely been screened in the UK and although lesser known than films such as Pickpocket (1959) and Au Hasard Balthazar (1966,) it is essential Bresson. Now restored in 2K (c/o Paramount Pictures) and re-released by Park Circus for its 50th anniversary, it heads up the Cinema Rediscovered 2019 UK wide Tour of selected highlights opening at ICA (London / 2 – 8 Aug) and touring in cinemas including Glasgow Film Theatre (4 Aug), Home (Manchester / 15 Aug), DCA (Dundee / date TBC), Exeter Phoenix (date TBC), Broadway (Nottingham / date TBC), Showroom (Sheffield / date TBC), Tyneside Cinema(date TBC), QFT (Belfast / date TBC), Filmhouse (Edinburgh / date TBC) and Eden Court (Inverness / 22-23 Sept.)

Filmmakers focuses:

• The Balance of Things: the Cinematic Imagination of Nic Roeg

Nic Roeg (1947 – 2018), perhaps more than most, stretched and folded the art of visual storytelling into exhilarating new shapes in that cinematically explosive body of work from Performance (1970) to Eureka (1983) demonstrating that the art of filmmaking was not just about character and plot but about space, time and everything in between. Roeg has had a profound influence on a new generation of filmmakers which will be explored during the festival with guests including Creative Director at HOME and Professor of Film at Manchester Metropolitan University Jason Wood and Writer / Curator Karen Alexander.

• A Passion for Remembering: The films of Maureen Blackwood

Informed by the US radical black politics of the 1960s, UK black feminism of the 1980s and the Third Cinema movement, Blackwood’s work focuses on the rich yet largely untold stories of black British Women within a shared heritage of struggle. With the exception of The Passion of Remembrance (1986), Sankofa Film and Video’s debut feature that she wrote and co-directed with artist Isaac Julien, her films have rarely been seen. Her debut will screen on 16mm followed by a Skype Q&A with Blackwood alongside a selection of her shorts including Lift Stories (2005) made in a workshop run by Abbas Kiarostami.

Curator Karen Alexander says: “It’s about celebrating Maureen Blackwood’s range as a writer-director and versatility as a filmmaker, someone able and willing to explore the dynamics of fractured black British identities.”

The Scala and Beyond

• Scala Rediscovered:

Jane Giles, former Scala Programmer and author of the award-winning Scala Cinema 1978-1993 book will be in-conversation about the influence of London’s most infamous repertory cinema. The festival will also screen some Scala favourites, including a 30th anniversary screening of Alejandro Jodorowsky Santa Sangre (1989) and a late night 35mm showing 1974 American horror It’s Alive by the late Larry Cohen (1936 – 2019)

• Gluttony, Decadence and Resistance:

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), a foul feast on Britain’s social, moral and political carcass headlines a strand on Gluttony, Decadence and Resistance. Greenaway’s film finds fine company among the heady days of the Czechoslovak New Wave and other dystopic realities including filmmaking from Vera Chytilová, Ester Krumbachová, Marco Ferreri, Richard Fleischer, Brian Yuzna and Rachel Maclean.

• Celebrating Innovators, Analogue and Archives:

From the first known woman filmmaker, Alice Guy-Blaché and Bristol’s very own Victorian inventor William Friese-Greene to Bristol-based VR creatives, the festival celebratescinema innovators, as well as offering projection tours and hands-on opportunities to identify, make up and project 35mm film, culminating in ‘45s & 35s’, an analogue extravaganza and continues its industry focus on Reframing The Archives.

MORE PROGRAMME INFO:

TICKETS:

Tickets and Festival passes are now on sale – Festival pass full £95 / £65.00 concessions and under 24s.

All Festival Pass Holders will also receive a free 3 month trial from curated online film streaming platform

VENUES:

Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Bristol, BS1 5TX:

20th Century Flicks, 19 Christmas Steps, Bristol, BS1 5BS:

Curzon Cinema & Arts, 46 Old Church Rd, Clevedon, BS21 6NN:

Arnolfini Arts, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA:

BV Studios, 37 Philip St, Bristol, BS3 4EA:

About Cinema Rediscovered

The festival showcases the best in digital restorations, contemporary classics and film print rarities in and around Bristol UNESCO City of Film at cinemas including Watershed and Clevedon’s Curzon Cinema & Arts with partners South West Silents and 20th Century Flicks and support from BFI awarding funds from National Lottery and MUBI. Our partnership with MUBI also complement this year’s festival and continues the Cinema Rediscovered experience for both cinema and online audiences across the UK.