OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 2 JUNE – 2 JULY 2017
Festival Director Alison Poltock Head of Programming Andrew Simpson Head of Press Stuart Haggas. Programme Producer Dimitris Boutourelis - Grammatikopoulos
Welcome
Associate Art Director James Pretty Head of Digital Marketing Anders Knight Industry Coordinator (Discovery) Marta Brodzinska Volunteers Manager Jack Casey Head of Shorts Jonathan Ali Shorts Committee Coordinator Giulia Saccogna Shorts Committee Giulia Saccogna, Jacopo Chiodi, Steadman Gbajumo, Angelica Riccardi Festival Assistants Susanna Fasciolo, Ada Kotowska, Costanza Rendini Manzoni Marketing Assistant Mitch North
The 2017 edition of the East End Film Festival (EEFF) is a very special animal. With a planned return to its spring beginnings for 2018, this year’s festival bids farewell to the dog day afternoons with one final, sweeping flourish across five, long, summer weekends. In a celebration of all the things the festival does best, each weekend is tailored to represent a specific core festival value: taking cinema out into the community (Outdoors), celebrating East London’s rich cultural make-up (Roots), showcasing and supporting vital new directors (Discovery), introducing boundary pushing cross-arts events (Submerge) and hosting the biggest, most exciting new films ahead of their theatrical release (Headline).
Development Consultant Kate Wilson, Fury Films Website Manager Ruben Santos Submerge Producer Fiona Fletcher Cutting East Guest Programmers Diego Fernando CaicedoGalindo, Jonathan Caicedo-Galindo, Shanice Lawson Masonic Temple Guest Programmer Josh Saco New Queer Visions Guest Programmer Simon Savory Masonic Masquarade Producer Suzette Field Cross-platform Programmer Samir Eskanda
More details of the above are included overleaf and we look forward to welcoming you to the festival for another dizzying celebration of community, debate, and incredible filmmaking. With a line-up that takes in everything from Tupac to Brexit, Post-truth to Poetry, and with screenings taking place across East London’s great cinemas, as well as amazing spaces like Old Spitalfields Market, St Johns, Andaz’s Masonic Temple and the East End’s infamous York Hall, this year looks set to be a mould-breaking year all over again. We hope you’ll immerse yourself in all that EEFF has to offer, both this summer and beyond.
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East End Film Festival 2017
East End Film Festival 2017
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The East End Film Festival returns to its original home in the spring next year. In a final, celebratory, defiant farewell to the summer, EEFF is throwing out the rulebook and taking over the whole month of June with five epic, exhilarating long weekends, each centred around the festival’s core values….
Weekend #1: Outdoors
Weekend #4: Submerge
Old Spitalfields Market plays home to an opening weekend of sunshine and song, with a full line-up of short and feature films and free musical majesty.
This weekend breaks the mould as it plays host to a line-up of experimental cross-arts music and mayhem, and of course, plenty of parties.
Weekend #2: Roots
Weekend #5: Headline
Pages 6 – 9
Pages 10 – 13
Reflecting the energy, artistry, attitude and cultural mix of London’s East End, our second weekend celebrates London’s most dynamic quarter.
Pages 22 – 27
Page 28 – 33
Introducing a special, handpicked, headline-grabbing selection of the most exciting films ahead of their release in UK cinemas, EEFF Headline is the place to see the most vital new films before anyone else.
Weekend #3: Discovery
The
Pages 14 – 21
Championing breakthrough filmmakers and homegrown talent, this weekend is a shop window showcasing features and documentaries currently without UK distribution.
Weekends
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East End Film Festival 2017
Weekend 1
Outdoors A festival that thrives on taking cinema out into the community, EEFF 2017 opens with East End Outdoors, a weekend of song, dance and community, in the open air and under the stars in Old Spitalfields Market. Join the turf wars as East End Film Festival kick off its 2017 edition with a free outdoor screening of West Side Story in partnership with Films for Food. A classic story of love, song, Jets, and Sharks, come along to this FREE screening whilst helping the local community - bring along a bag of non-perishable food items to donate to Tower Hamlets food bank, and a seat is yours! Also featuring a line up of films touchingly exploring East End communities and history; a Films for Food family screening of children’s classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; a special youth selection chosen by the Cutting East youth programming team; and a trip around the Circle Line; there’s an amazing programme to explore before we round off the weekend with a night to put a smile on everyone’s faces - an all singing, all dancing screening of new musical favourite La La Land. See you under the moonlight.
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Friday 2nd – Saturday 3rd June West Side Story
FRIDAY 2ND JUNE 18:30 / OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET / 152’ / JEROME ROBBINS, ROBERT WISE / USA / FREE The ultimate modern love story, West Side Story is the perfect musical to enjoy under the London stars. Come and sing along in exchange for a donation to Tower Hamlets Foodbank!
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Shorts: All Eyes East SATURDAY 3RD JUNE / 11:30 / OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET / 120’ / FREE SATURDAY 3RD JUNE / 13:30 / OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET / 144’ / KEN HUGHES / USA / FREE Join EEFF for a special family screening of one of the greatest children’s films of all time. Just watch out for the Child Catcher! Free screening, in exchange for a donation of non-perishable food, donated to Tower Hamlets Foodbank.
A special selection of films focusing on East End lives, history, and cultural change. From the Gascoyne Estate to the community work being done at St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch, and from performing at Hackney Carnival to skating through the Stratford Centre, these films powerfully evoke hows lives are lived and are changing in East London. Still from: Gascoyne Lives, dir. Derek Smith.
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East End Film Festival 2017
Saturday 3rd June Circle/Line
SATURDAY 3RD JUNE / 17:00 / OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET / 85’ / WILLIAM BROWN / UK / WORLD PREMIERE / FREE Are you happy? William Brown takes it upon himself to find out in this series of vox pop interviews conducted along the Circle Line in the buildup to the last General Election. A vibrant portrait of modern London.
La La Land
Shorts: Cutting East Presents SATURDAY 3RD JUNE / 16:00 / OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET / 59’ / FREE An incredible selection of films touching upon vital, fundamental issues affecting the daily experience of young people in the UK. Presented by Cutting East, this programme explores and celebrates the vibrancy of UK youth, from passing the time to the sparking of young love, and from emotional struggle to the dangers of knife crime. Still from: Carnival: A Tropical Isles’ Tale, dir. Nick David, Jack Flynn”
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SATURDAY 3RD JUNE / 18:30 / OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET / 128’ / DAMIEN CHAZELLE / USA Join us under the moonlight to welcome the summer with Damien Chazelle’s ferocious, ravishing, already iconic love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood musicals.
La La Land’s first outdoor screening. Please go to www.eastendfilmfestival.com for more information on how to book your sofa under the stars.
Weekend 2
Roots Celebrating local culture, shared heritage, and demonstrating the power of cinema as a vital, enjoyable shared experience: this is Roots. EEFF takes place in arguably the most diverse corner of the UK - London’s East End: an area of vast change and rich cultural history. This cultural dynamism has remained both an inspiration for the festival as it has grown – EEFF could take place nowhere else – and a cornerstone of the EEFF programme. With a programme for the local, multicultural, intergenerational, inter-class communities of East London, Roots hosts everything from the hotly anticipated red carpet World Premiere of the film about infamous east-ender Lenny McLean, to films that trace the links between British, Caribbean and African experience; and from a special Silver Screening of Ken Loach’s Spirit of ’45 and debates on social housing to mark election day, to a programme exploring deaf queer stories, Roots is a weekend celebrating the spirit of East London, in all its many forms. There are a limited number of free tickets available to all Roots screenings. For further details go to: www.eastendfilmfestival.com
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Thursday 8th – Friday 9th June Spirit of ‘45 (Silver Screening)
Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle + Panel Discussion
THURSDAY 8TH JUNE / 12:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 94’ / KEN LOACH / UK
THURSDAY 8TH JUNE / 18:30 / RIO / 82’ / PAUL SNG / UK / WORLD PREMIERE
On election day, the East End Film Festival revisits the time when Britain created the NHS with a special screening of Ken Loach’s Spirit of ‘45.
Britain’s social housing scandal is ruthlessly exposed in this riveting new documentary narrated by Maxine Peake. Join EEFF on election night for a discussion with the filmmakers and social housing representatives on the scandal of social housing in the UK.
Bred and Born
A Caribbean Dream + Q&A
Homelands + Q&A
THURSDAY 8TH JUNE / 18:30 / CURZON ALDGATE / 73’ / JAHA BROWNE, TARA MANANDHAR / SENEGAL, JAMAICA, DOMINICA, UK Four British musicians travel to the land of their forefathers, and feed their creative energies, as we look outwards on election night. The screening will be followed by a live performance from Saskilla.
My Name is Lenny + Q&A
THURSDAY 8TH JUNE / 19:30 / CLOSE-UP / 75’ / JOANNA DAVIS, MARY PAT LEECE / UK
FRIDAY 9TH JUNE / 13:30 / RIO / 80’ / SHAKIRAH BOURNE / BARBADOS / UK PREMIERE
FRIDAY 9TH JUNE / 20:00 / YORK HALL / 92’ / RON SCALPELLO / UK / WORLD PREMIERE
A double-bill of two films from Joanna Davis, shown on the original 16mm, that place women at the centre, affording the opportunity to rediscover one of East London’s great artist filmmakers. Presented in partnership with Four Corners.
Shakespeare comes to Barbados in Shakirah Bourne’s loving, modern take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The remarkable true story of Lenny McLean, a bareknuckle boxing champion, and his fight to overcome an abusive upbringing in order to become an East End working class hero.
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East End Film Festival 2017
Saturday 10th – Sunday 11th June Animated Activism
Paa Joe and the Lion + Q&A
SATURDAY 10TH JUNE / 11.30 / RIO A presentation by the Rainbow Collective showcasing short animations from their youth projects in Bangladesh, Turkey and London. This is a chance to see the films whilst learning how the children use film and animation to highlight social issues in their own communities.
New Queer Visions: Sign of the Times
SATURDAY 10TH JUNE / 13:30 / RIO / 72’ / BENJAMIN WIGLEY / UK / LONDON PREMIERE Paa Joe, creator of ornate, enormous and spectacular coffins in his native Ghana, travels to England with his son for a remarkable new project.
Shorts: Passing On
SATURDAY 10TH JUNE / 15:45 / RIO / 81’
SATURDAY 10TH JUNE / 18:00 / CURZON ALDGATE / 104’
A series of short films celebrating d/Deaf queer stories, experiences, lives and loves. All films will be screened with HOH subtitles. Still from: Sign, dir. Andrew Keenan-Bolger.
From one old woman’s determination to set things right before she goes, to a pair of brothers grappling with their father’s death to an entire city’s experience of a terrible tragedy, these films explore questions of mortality and loss—often poignantly, sometimes humorously, always memorably. Still from: Saturday, dir. Mike Forshaw
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Shorts: Love, Etc
SATURDAY 10TH JUNE / 15:45 / CURZON ALDGATE / 100’ The course of true love—of all kinds—runs bumpily in this entertaining selection of films. Buckle up. Still from: Big Joe’s Big Slice, dir. Jeff Huston
Dana Dana (Pearl Pearl) + Q&A
SUNDAY 11TH JUNE / 15:45 / RIO / 52’ / MUTANA AL-RUBAYE / IRAQ / EUROPEAN PREMIERE An Iraqi refugee must decide between his life and his love of music in this hopeful, moving debut feature. A story of exile, loss and the power of music, with a wonderful feel for both the allure and loneliness of London.
Still from Loose Ends, dir. Natalie Burt. Screening as part of Shorts: Passing On.
Weekend 3 The East End Film Festival is a home of discovery. Dedicated to showcasing and supporting the work of first and second time filmmakers, and giving a platform to the boldest new voices in film, the festival is delighted to introduce EEFF Discovery. A weekend of screenings and special events acting as a shop window, and a first glimpse at the major filmmakers and films of tomorrow, Discovery is also an opportunity for filmmakers to explore their craft and network with their peers. From ‘unpacking’ the nuts and bolts of a large-scale production with the team behind The Hippopotamus to the debuts of exciting new writer/director teams and panel discussions exploring the ins-and-outs of selling your first feature, Discovery revels in the excitement of unearthing great new work from the best new voices in cinema. And with the launch of EEFF’s new £10,000 Transit Award for supporting a filmmaker’s second feature, Discovery is also about taking that next step… East End Film Festival 2017
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Thursday 15th – Friday 16th June The Hippopotamus + Unpacking British Cinema
Whose Streets? + Q&A
THURSDAY 15TH JUNE / 18:30 / RIO / 103’ / SABAAH FOLAYAN, DAMON DAVIS / USA / LONDON PREMIERE
THURSDAY 15TH JUNE / 21:00 / RICH MIX / 91’ / SADIA SAEED / UK / EUROPEAN PREMIERE
The reality of the protests in Ferguson is captured with startling immediacy in Whose Streets? An extraordinary portrait of civic anger and organised activism.
A young British-Pakistani woman negotiates the challenges (and men) in her life, in a refreshing, contemporary British drama. A debut with a blackly comic touch, Arifa announces a deft directorial talent in Sadia Saeed.
FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 21:00 / CURZON ALDGATE
Austerity Fight + Q&A
THURSDAY 15TH JUNE / 18:30 / RICH MIX / 89’ / JOHN JENCKS / UK A cantankerous theatre critic travels to a stately home to solve a series of unexplained miracles, in John Jencks’ riotously funny adaptation of Stephen Fry’s novel. Followed by a special expanded panel discussion ‘unpacking’ the production of The Hippopotamus.
Arifa + Q&A
FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 18:30 / RICH MIX / 90’ / PHIL MAXWELL, HAZUAN HASHIM / UK / WORLD PREMIERE An underfunded NHS. Student debt. Poverty. Zero-hours contracts. With social provision going out the window, Austerity Fight, meets those arguing for a different kind of Britain.
Chubby Funny + Q&A
FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 18:30 / CURZON ALDGATE / 89’ / HARRY MICHELL / UK Oscar is funny. But, you know, ‘chubby funny’. So begins one long, dark night of the soul for one seriously self absorbed actor...a searingly funny new British comedy.
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East End Film Festival 2017
Friday 16th – 17th June The Show + Q&A
Gholam + Q&A FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 18:30 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 84’ / MITRA TABRIZIAN / UK, IRAN / EUROPEAN PREMIERE A rare cinematic delve into Britain’s Iranian diaspora, Gholam is the nail-biting story of an enigmatic taxi driver whose reticence is shattered by a late night fare. A prescient thriller for modern London.
FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 18:30 / RICH MIX / 86’ / JAMES ALEXANDROU / UK / WORLD PREMIERE A famous soap actress decides to tread the boards in search of artistic fulfilment, only to suffer an awful personal tragedy. But the show must go on.
The Workers Cup + Panel Discussion
SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 15:30 / CURZON ALDGATE
Forgotten Man + Q&A
Sink + Q&A
FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 20:45 / RICH MIX / 89’ / ADAM SOBEL / UK / LONDON PREMIERE
FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 21:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 84’ / ARRAN SHEARING / UK / EUROPEAN PREMIERE
FRIDAY 16TH JUNE / 21:00 / RICH MIX / 87’ / MARK GILLIS / UK / WORLD PREMIERE
Adam Sobel’s powerful debut takes a candid look inside Qatar’s labour camps, where the World Cup is being built on the backs of over a million migrant workers.
A homeless actor falls in love with an American heiress in this humane, naturalistic London drama, shot in and around Hackney in striking black and white, with more than an air of Cassavetes.
A deeply prescient film in these politically charged times, Sink surfs its kitchen sink realism with style and marks an important debut by writer/director Mark Gillis.
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Still from: Gholam, dir. Mitra Tabrizian
Saturday 17th June New Queer Visions: Two’s Company
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 13:15 / RIO / 120’ Bystander, witness, enabler – or just in the right place at the wrong time? Queer eyes venture beyond the sidelines to set things straight in these eclectic stories from around the world. Still from: Bobbyanna, dir. Jackson Kroopf
The Ghoul + Panel Discussion
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 14:45 / RICH MIX / 85’ / GARETH TUNLEY / UK A detective goes undercover as a psychiatrist’s patient in a bid to solve a murder mystery. Rapidly unravelling, he may be getting closer to the truth. That’s when things begin to get decidedly weird. Industry event: this screening will be preceded by a free panel discussion exploring the challenges in making and selling a British first feature.
Ghost Hunting
Papagajka + Q&A
S|T|R|A|Y|S + Q&A SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 15:45 / RIO / 82’ / EMMA ROZANSKI / UK, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA / UK PREMIERE A man working a dead end job in a housing estate parking lot comes under the influence of a mysterious visitor in Papagajka (The Parrot), the debut feature from Bela Tarr protégé Emma Rozanski.
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SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 93’ / RAED ANDONI / PALESTINE, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, QATAR / LONDON PREMIERE The deserving winner of the Berlin Film Festival’s documentary prize, Ghost Hunting sees ex-detainees of Israel’s infamous Al-Moskobiya interrogation centre recreate their experiences, and take on the roles of both captive and captor. The result is a shocking, visceral and deeply moving portrait of apartheid.
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 15:30 / RICH MIX / 87’ / BARNABY MILLER / UK / WORLD PREMIERE “A living graphic novel about life”, S|T|R|A|Y|S is a visually revolutionary drama following the lives of a group of friends weathering the economic downturn at the local pub.
Saturday 17th June Dennis Skinner: Nature of the Beast + Panel
Follow The Money + Q&A
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 16:00 / THE CASTLE CINEMA / 102’ / DANIEL DRAPER / UK / LONDON PREMIERE
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 16:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 85’ / JOHN HARDWICK, BEN UNWIN, STEVE BOGGAN / UK, USA / EUROPEAN PREMIERE
A fabulous portrait of the political life of The Beast of Bolsover, also known as Dennis Skinner MP. In partnership with the London Labour Film Festival
Three Hackney-based filmmakers follow a $10 bill across the USA, with unexpected, wonderful and often moving results.
Shorts: Decisions, Decisions
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 18:15 / RICH MIX / 99’ Choose or lose. From a young woman’s decision between romantic love and familial duty, to one man choosing whether or not to make the ultimate sacrifice, these films reflect the decisions in life that we all must make. Still from: For Ray, dir. Heidi Stokes.
Sodom + Q&A
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 18:20 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 94’ / MARK WILSHIN / UK / WORLD PREMIERE A man handcuffed to a lamppost during his stag-do has an impromptu encounter with another man, in this story of intimate self-discovery.
Provenance + Q&A
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 18:10 / RICH MIX / 93’ / BEN HECKING / UK / WORLD PREMIERE A classical musician, played by Christian McKay, flees to Provence to start a new life with his young lover, only for a mysterious stranger to threaten his new found happiness.
Random Acts Reloaded + Party
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 18:30 / CURZON ALDGATE / 75’ Discover the best of vintage and retro Random Acts from Channel 4, dating back to when the pioneering short film strand was launched. Still from: Wednesday with Godard, dir. Nicolas Menard. Followed by a EEFF x Random Acts Filmmakers Party in the Curzon Aldgate Bar.
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East End Film Festival 2017
Saturday 17th – Sunday 18th June Shorts: Future Shots 2
DRIB
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 20:30 / CURZON ALDGATE A celebration of some of the most talented young filmmakers to emerge from the University of East London’s BA Film, BA Animation and Illustration and MA Filmmaking programmes.
In Extremis
A Norwegian performance artist accidentally tricks an energy drinks brand into hiring him to take part in a gonzo marketing campaign stunt. A true story retold in lurid, nihilistic detail, DRIB is the capitalist takedown of the decade.
Waking David + Q&A
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 21:00 / RICH MIX / 89’ / STEVE STONE / UK / WORLD PREMIERE A city banker returns to his countryside home, only to be greeted by a dark storm on the horizon, and a malevolent force that seems to threaten his wife and daughter.
East End Film Festival 2017
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 20:40 / 93’ / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / KRISTOFFER BORGLI / NORWAY, USA / LONDON PREMIERE
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SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 15:00 / RICH MIX / 89’ / KEVIN NASH / UK / EUROPEAN PREMIERE A young American woman arrives in London to reconnect with her father’s family, only to be met with secrets, resistance and lies in this powerful drama owing a debt to Mike Leigh.
Shorts Programme: Memento
SATURDAY 17TH JUNE / 20:45 / RICH MIX / 94’ The remembrance of things past - or sometimes, the forgetting of them - is at the core of this touching selection of films. Still from: Oysters, dir. Pratyusha Gupta
Creature of the Estuary & Journey to the South
SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 15:30 / RICH MIX / 22’ // 72’ / DIR. EELYN LEE // DIR. JILL DANIELS / UK / WORLD PREMIERE From the city rat race to an unsolved murder, Journey to the South takes us on a voyage to the French Riviera. Exploring themes of displacement, migration and change, Creature of the Estuary takes us on an entirely different journey, through the muddy netherworld of the Thames Estuary.
Sunday 18th June Beside These Walls + Q&A
Across The River + Q&A SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 17:30 / RICH MIX / 75’ / WARREN B. MALONE / UK / LONDON PREMIERE
SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 17:30 / RICH MIX / 60’ / JULES BISHOP / UK / WORLD PREMIERE
Emma and Ryan used to be in love. Finding themselves walking across London together several years after their terrible breakup, they find themselves revisiting the past, going on new adventures, and looking towards the future…together?
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 18:00 / CURZON ALDGATE / 107’ / DAVID FRANCE / USA / LONDON PREMIERE Oscar-nominated director David France returns with a riveting new documentary about legendary BAME trans icon and gay liberation activist, Marsha P. Johnson. In partnership with Stonewall. Part of the profits will be donated to the charity. Followed by The Songs of Stonewall in the Curzon Aldgate Bar.
A lonely, regretful alcoholic experiences a long, dark night of the soul in Jules Bishop’s engrossing and risk taking film.
08:30 + Q&A
SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 19:30 / RICH MIX / 70’ / LAURA NASMYTH / AUSTRIA / EUROPEAN PREMIERE A group of door to door salesmen find themselves stuck in an infinite loop in this brilliantly Lynchian, witty tale of suburbia, reality and Google Street View.
The Last Day + Q&A
SUNDAY 18TH JUNE / 19:40 / RICH MIX / 105’ / GABRIEL ACHIM / ROMANIA / INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE A mayor, a policeman and a Christian Youth leader get into a car. Whilst this might sound like the opening of a classic joke, the truth of Gabriel Achim’s second feature is something much richer. Supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute. 21
East End Film Festival 2017
Weekend 4
Submerge Throughout its history, the East End Film Festival has embraced the crossplatform, the boundary pushing, and the experimental. Celebrating the artistic dynamism of film combining with other mediums, this year EEFF is delighted to present Submerge, its brand new programme strand celebrating work that goes beyond the traditional realms of cinema. Excavating the boundaries between sound and image, EEFF Submerge offers a dynamic, pulsating line-up of new work, from radical cinematic experiments to live soundtracks, from a Masked Masquerade for 1,000 pleasure seekers to punk rock fundraisers. Take the plunge with us.
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Friday 23rd – Saturday 24th June New Queer Visions: To Russia With Love (Fundraiser)
Brexitannia + Extended Panel Discussion
FRIDAY 23RD JUNE / 18:30 / RIO / 80’ / TIMOTHY GEORGE KELLY / UK, RUSSIA / LONDON PREMIERE Director Timothy George Kelly travels the length and breadth of Britain following the referendum, in a timely and potent portrait of Brexit Britain. Join us on the one year Brexit anniversary for an extended discussion with experts from both sides of the debate.
Punk Fundraiser for Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché
FRIDAY 23RD JUNE / 19:00 / VICTORIA / UNTIL LATE The legendary front-woman of X-Ray Spex, anti-consumerist raconteur, and up yours’er of bondage, is getting her own documentary! To celebrate, EEFF will be welcoming the best bands in London to the Victoria, Dalston, to celebrate Poly Styrene’s legacy and to raise vital funds to help finish the film. Don’t be a cliché. Join us!
Scorched Earth: An Acid Western Nuclear War Weekender SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 14.00 / SUNDAY 25TH JUNE / 13.00 / MASONIC TEMPLE
FRIDAY 23RD JUNE / 18:30 / MASONIC TEMPLE / 71’ A selection of current and archive LGBT films, documentaries and videos from Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, culminating in a rare screening of Heather MacDonald’s Kiev Blue, its first in 25 years. All profits will be donated to Gay Alliance Ukraine and the Russian LGBT Network, who provide assistance to those persecuted by the authorities in Chechnya. Minimum £10 donations accepted on the door.
Trippy, violent frontiers and full-on nuclear obliteration, all on hallowed ground. Saturday’s programme includes an Alex Cox Acid Western double bill of Straight to Hell and Walker; whilst Sunday sees us present a Nuke ‘em All! Thermo-Apocalyptic Triple, comprised of a double bill of Dr. Strangelove and chilling BBC classic Threads, followed by a panel discussion on nuclear war; topped off by the nutty film noir-goes-Mad Max adventure that is Radioactive Dreams. Cinema for apocalyptic times… In partnership with Cigarette Burns Cinema.
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East End Film Festival 2017
Saturday 24th June Shorts: Keep It In The Family
Shorts: In Place
SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 14:00 / CURZON ALDGATE / 111’ Seven films that all share a close bond; one of family, loved and lost and fighting to remain. Still from: Bruce, dir. Adam Etheridge.
Shorts: Secrets & Lies
Ranging in setting from an underground bunker in Stockholm to the Lea River in the East End to a waterfall in north Wales, these three experimental films—formally daring meditations on psychogeography—evoke a keen sense of place and space. Still from: White Mountain, dir. Emma Charles.
Shorts: Performance Anxiety
SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 16:30 / CURZON ALDGATE / 92’ In these films everyone’s got something to hide. We won’t tell if you won’t. Still from: Wig Shop, dir. Kat Coiro
East End Film Festival 2017
SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 14:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 75’
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SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 17:45 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 88’ From comedians to cabaret artists to rock ‘n’ rollers, the characters in these films are looking to put in a good performance, both on stage and off it. Still from: Rhonna & Donna, dir. Daina O.Pusi.
Shorts: In The Mind’s Eye
SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 15:45 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 73’ From killing hope and killing life, to killing boredom and killing convention - sometimes we just need to do some killing. Still from: Killing Ruby, dir. Sam O’Mahon.
Shorts: Generation Gap
SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 18:45 / CURZON ALDGATE / 95’ Fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, and more—the oftenchallenging relationships between the generations come under scrutiny in these eye-opening films. Still from: Crumble dir. Pauline Lam.
Still from: Drag Kings, dir. Elizabeth Valentina Sutton. Part of Shorts: Performance Anxiety.
Saturday 24th June Your Wilderness Revisited: Exhibition + Live Performance
A Masonic Masquerade: The Black Lodge Ball SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 19:30 / ANDAZ LIVERPOOL STREET / UNTIL LATE On the site of the old Bedlam rose a Masonic tabernacle, home to clandestine gatherings and arcane rituals. Fallen into disuse, walled up and derelict, the Grecian Masonic Temple lay bereft and forgotten for decades…this summer A Curious Invitation and EEFF return to its marbled splendour for a macabre night of cabaret, circus and cinema. Beginning appropriately with a special screening of David Lynch’s wild, haunting classic Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, join us and 1,000 other pleasure seekers, and enter The Black Lodge…
Psyché Tropes: A Creak In Time SATURDAY 24TH JUNE / 20:00 / ST. JOHN ON BETHNAL GREEN / 180’
SEE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS A multimedia art project exploring the British suburban environment, and the labyrinthine, identikit cul-de-sacs made famous by the likes of Barratt homes, Your Wilderness Revisted features photographer Matt Colquhoun, musician William Doyle (East India Youth), and video artist Sapphire Goss. Encompassing photography, audio-visual work and live soundtrack performance, experience an unfamiliar journey into a familiar world. East End Film Festival 2017
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An evening of mind bending visuals, analogue projection and sound, join EEFF at St Johns for a trip to the frontiers of sonic and visual experience. Championing cross-disciplinary artists, A Creak In Time is an evening of expanded cinema, analogue visuals and synth, with Howlround, Sally Golding, Ian Helliwell, Merkaba Macabre and Psyché Tropes DJs taking us on a journey into the unknown.
Sunday 25th June Climate Symphony
kuntinuum – Erotic Awakenings: Illustrated Talk + Shorts
SUNDAY 25TH JUNE / 14:00 / THE CASTLE CINEMA / 90’
SUNDAY 25TH JUNE / 16:00 / THE CASTLE CINEMA / 100’
What is the sound of a dying planet? Katharine Round and Jamie Perera’s Climate Symphony turns datasets on climate change into musical notes, timings and phrases. This raw material is transformed into musical scores performed by the people, places and things reflected in that data. Still by Kate Carr.
kuntinuum, a London-based artist-run salon centring self ID’d lesbians, queer women, trans and non-binary folx, presents a whistle-stop tour honouring and celebrating lesbian onscreen pleasure, navigating the queer gaze, dyke smut and influential, herstorical contexts. In partnership with New Queer Visions.
My Name is Swan
SUNDAY 25TH JUNE / 17:00 / CURZON ALDGATE / 45’ / ADAM CARR / WORLD PREMIERE Jan Noble, Adam Carr, Samuel Kilcoyne and Takatsuna Mukai spin a story of a changing city, belonging, shopping trolleys, love, lies, loyalty, neglect, Brexit, heartbreak, drugs, boredom, football violence, vandalism, isolation, addiction, hope, and the metropolitan malaise, all within a journey down river through a changing London…
EDITH: A Performance
Lords of Sounds and Lesser Things
SUNDAY 25TH JUNE / 18.15 / THE CASTLE CINEMA
SUNDAY 25TH JUNE / 20:00 / ST. JOHN ON BETHNAL GREEN / 80’ / LONDON PREMIERE
Emerging artist filmmakers Juliet Jacques & Ker Wallwork present their film Approach/ Withdraw, which explores the intersection between queer love, sex and gender with biomedical science, alongside a selection of other works that were an influence on it, or form a dialogue with it. Inspired by the Queering Love, Queering Hormones project. Presented in partnership with no.w.here
Andrew Kötting reunites with Iain Sinclair for a 108-mile walk from Waltham Abbey to St-Leonards. Reuniting King Harold with his lover Edith Swan after nearly 1,000 years, the resulting film (Edith Walks) is the basis for a live performance featuring spoken word, sound, music and manipulation, set to the spectral imagery of Kötting’s film, with EDITH their hallucination. 27
East End Film Festival 2017
Weekend 5
Headline Closing the festival’s 2017 edition, EEFF is delighted to present Headline, a selection of vital films already making huge waves on the festival circuit, and due for wider release later this year. All eyes will be on us as we open our Headline section with the UK Premiere of ground breaking British drama Butterfly Kisses, and the European Premiere of hotly anticipated Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me. The life of another game-changing cultural figure comes to thrilling cinematic life in Tom of Finland, whilst hard hitting, issue-led films take us to the heart of the war in Syria; lives destroyed by capital punishment; and our new, Post-Truth universe. See the most exciting, lauded films of the year before anyone else, and join the debate, as we close EEFF 2017 by thinking big.
East End Film Festival 2017
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Thursday 29th – Friday 30th June New Queer Visions: They Came From The Shadows
Opening Film EEFF Headline: Butterfly Kisses THURSDAY 29TH JUNE / 18:30 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 89’ / RAFAEL KAPELINSKI / UK PREMIERE Three South London friends go about their lives, unaware that one of them is hiding a terrible secret, in Rafael Kapelisnki’s fiercely powerful debut feature, which opens the EEFF Headline section.
THURSDAY 29TH JUNE / 16:00 / CURZON ALDGATE
THURSDAY 29TH JUNE / 18:30 / RIO / 110’ Check your faculties at the door, buckle in and get set for a welter of micro-transgressions, no-frills chills and twisted voices from the other(ing) side. Les Îles, dir. Yann Gonzalez.
Tom of Finland + Q&A
The Penalty + Panel Discussion FRIDAY 30TH JUNE / 18:30 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 90’ / MARK PIZZEY, WILL FRANCOME / UK / WORLD PREMIERE The human cost of the death penalty in America comes in for timely, gripping examination in The Penalty, the vital new documentary from British filmmakers Will Francome and Mark Pizzey. In partnership with Amnesty International UK and Dartmouth Films.
SATURDAY 1ST JULY / 16:15 / RIO
FRIDAY 30TH JUNE / 21:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 115’ / DOME KARUKOSKI / FINLAND / LONDON PREMIERE The extraordinary life of gay erotic artist Tom of Finland comes to life in Dome Karukoski’s thrilling, involving biopic. Finding fame and an eternal legacy after a life lived in the shadows, Tom’s story is one of coming out and coming to America; of biceps and heavy, heavy leather. 29
East End Film Festival 2017
Still from: All Eyez On Me, dir. Benny Boom. Photo credit: Quantrell Colbert
Saturday 1st July All Eyez On Me + Extended Intro
City of Ghosts
THURSDAY 29TH JUNE / 21:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 135’ / BENNY BOOM / USA / EUROPEAN PREMIERE
SATURDAY 1ST JULY / 16:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 90’ / MATTHEW HEINEMAN / SYRIA, USA / LONDON PREMIERE
The definitive biopic of the one-off hip hop superstar that was Tupac Shakur, taking in his rise to fame and tragic death at the age of 25. Photo credit: Quantrell Colbert.
The director of Cartel Land returns with a riveting, shocking account of the Syrian resistance, in one of the year’s best documentaries.
THURSDAY 29TH JUNE / 21:00 / ELECTRIC SHOREDITCH
Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered The World: A Conversation with James Ball + Dearborn (Guardian Docs) SATURDAY 1ST JULY / 18:15 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 120’ / KATHARINE ROUND / UK / WORLD PREMIERE Join EEFF for a special in-conversation event with James Ball (Wikileaks, The Guardian, BuzzFeed) about his new book Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered The World, followed by the World Premiere of Dearborn, a new film from Katharine Round (The Divide) and Ben Steele about a town in America that finds itself at the centre of the new political climate, in which reality seems to have been turned on its axis. Dearborn, dirs. Katharine Round & Ben Steele for the Guardian, Executive Producers Charlie Phillips & Lindsay Poulton
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East End Film Festival 2017
Still from The Pacemakers, dir. Selah Hennessy 32
Saturday 1st – Sunday 2nd July Access All Areas + Q&A
Insyriated SATURDAY 1ST JULY / 18:30 / CURZON ALDGATE / 85’ / PHILIPPE VAN LEEUW / BELGIUM / LONDON PREMIERE An ordinary Syrian family go through the most nightmarish of ordeals in veteran cinematographer Phillipe Van Leeuw’s politicised take on the home invasion thriller. Held together by towering performances from Hiam Abbas and Diamand Bou Abboud, this is a gripping account of a household under siege.
The Pacemakers + Q&A
SATURDAY 1ST JULY / 21:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 94‘ / BRYN HIGGINS / UK / LONDON PREMIERE A kaleidoscopic tale of love and self-discovery, Access All Areas is a freewheeling story of youth filmed on the fly at Bestival, starring some of the most exciting new names in British film.
Menashe
Liberation Day
SUNDAY 2ND JULY / 15:45 / RIO / 90’ / SELAH HENNESSY / UK / WORLD PREMIERE
SUNDAY 2ND JULY / 16:00 / HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE / 82’ / JOSHUA Z. WEINSTEIN / USA / LONDON PREMIERE
SUNDAY 2ND JULY / 100’ / UGIS OLTE, MORTEN TRAAVIK / NORWAY / LONDON PREMIERE
World champion athlete Charles Eugster is preparing for a long jump tournament in South Korea whilst pursuing a new romantic interest. Not bad for 97.
In Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, Menashe is under pressure to remarry, or face being labelled a bad mensch, and losing his son, in this touching, wryly-funny Sundance hit based on the true story of its leading man.
The amazing story of the first ever concert by a western band in Pyongyang. Laibach’s ironic blend of The Sound of Music and totalitarian imagery seem like a perfect fit for North Korea’s ‘independence’ celebrations. Or are they a Trojan Horse? A sensational case of Western intervention, all the more incredible for being true. 33
East End Film Festival 2017
Venues & Booking THE CASTLE CINEMA
OLD SPITALFIELDS MARKET
First Floor, 64 – 66 Brooksby’s Walk London E9 6DA https://thecastlecinema.com/ Ticket price: £10
16 Horner Square London E1 6EW www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/ Ticket prices: free // £15 - £55
CLOSE-UP
RICH MIX
97 Sclater St, London E1 6HR Box Office: 020 3784 7970 www.closeupfilmcentre.com/ Ticket prices: £10, Concessions £8
35-47 Bethnal Green Road London E1 6LA Box office: 020 7613 7498 www.richmix.org.uk Ticket prices: £10.75, Concessions £8
CURZON ALDGATE
RIO CINEMA
Goodman’s Fields, 2 Canter Way, London E1 8PS Box office: 0330 500 1331 www.curzoncinemas.com/aldgate/info Ticket prices: £10 - £15
107 Kingsland High street London E8 2PB Box office: 020 7241 9410 www.riocinema.org.uk Ticket prices: £11.50, Concessions £9.50
ELECTRIC CINEMA – SHOREDITCH
All venues are fully accessible for disabled visitors, except for: The Castle Cinema, Masonic Temple, Rio viewing balcony.
64-66 Redchurch Street Shoreditch, London E2 7DP Box office: 0845 604 8486 www.electriccinema.co.uk/shoreditch Ticket prices: £8 - £19
ST. JOHN ON BETHNAL GREEN
HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE
THE VICTORIA
Please check your journey time before travelling in London; all information is available at www.tfl.gov.uk
270 Mare Street London E8 1HE Box office: 0871 902 5734 www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Hackney_ Picturehouse Ticket prices: £12.50, Concessions £11.50
451 Queensbridge Rd London E8 3AS www.jaguarshoes.com/venue/the-victoria/ Ticket price: £8
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200 Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green London E2 9PA www.stjohnonbethnalgreen.org/ Ticket prices: £8 - £10
MASONIC TEMPLE Andaz London Liverpool Street 40 Liverpool Street London EC2M 7QN Box Office: 0207 618 7123 www.andazdining.com/privatedining-en.html Ticket prices: £6 - £20
East End Film Festival 2017
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YORK HALL 5 Old Ford Rd, Bethnal Green London E2 9PJ Ticket price: £15
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For the latest up to date information on all our events, venues and booking information, please visit www.eastendfilmfestival.com
East End Film Festival 2017
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