Nida Manzoor, creator of the BAFTA, Peabody, and Rose d’Or award winning sitcom We Are Lady Parts, made her feature directorial debut with Polite Society. This exuberant feminist action comedy, turns genre etiquette on its head whilst examining the complexities of navigating life as a British-Pakistani teenager. 

Actress Priya Kansara who plays the lead part of Ria joins film theorist and lecturer Kulraj Phullar to discuss her role, martial arts training and her foray into acting, genre-bending cinema, community, and South Asian Heritage Month.

Polite Society is part of both the South Asian Heritage Month and the Women Aren't Funny seasons.

Young people took to the streets with political muralism all over Chile in the late 60s, at the same time that young people in New York were starting modern graffiti, and May 68 took place in Paris. Chile Estyle is a documentary film which explores the past and present of Chile's unique street art tradition, which comes from a remix of political muralism and graffiti, and has been part of Chilean cultural and political life since the 60s. The result is a visually arresting, informative, and entertaining film.

Director Pablo Aravena discusses his work and interest in street art, DJing, Hip Hop, and graffiti, and how the scene ties in with regional politics.

Ernesto (Armando Espitia) is a young Guatemalan anthropologist tasked with identifying the bones of the people killed by the military government in the 1980s. One day, while hearing the account of an old woman, he thinks he has found a lead that might guide him to his father, a 'guerrillero' who went missing during the war. Meanwhile, his mother Cristina (Emma Dib), is about to testify at the trial of former soldiers who took part in the genocide.

Our Mothers is one of the rare films looking at the massacre carried out by the US backed military against the indigenous population.

Our Mothers won the Camera d'Or and the SACD Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It received six nominations at the 10th Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Díaz, winning Best First Feature Film.

César Díaz talks to Pablo Navarrete from Alborada and our audience about the film. The screening is part of our New Central American Cinema season.

AWAN partnered with The Arab Film Club to present Another Reality: Genre Shorts by Arab Women Filmmakers, here at the Garden Cinema, a programme curated by Sarah Agha.

AWAN is the UK’s only contemporary multi-arts festival dedicated to showcasing inspiring works from Arab female artists.

Sarah discusses the shorts with their respective directors, and the growth of genre cinema in the Arab world more generally, with input from our audience.

Ladies Coffee (2024) by Amal Al-Agroobi - 10’

On the prowl for lady suitors, Roula invites Zeina and her daughter over for Arabic coffee. But when young Reem participates in a cup reading ritual, she gets more than she bargained for.

The Call (2023) by Riffy Ahmed - 14’

During a difficult visit to her single immigrant mother, Athena discovers that what she thought was age-related mental decline is in fact an inherited magical gift.

In Vitro (2019) by Larissa Sansour - 28’

In an underground orchard in Bethlehem, decades after an other worldly eco disaster, two scientists ruminate on exile, loss, identity and nostalgia.

Journalist and critic Sophie Monks Kaufman discussed the The Zone Of Interest with the Garden Cinema's Joe Miller. Sophie and Joe talk in-depth about all the inception of the film, the cinematography, the many layers and themes the film evokes, history, resonance, resistance and the dehumanisation of others.

...OR, THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE RISE AND FALL OF THE WORLD'S WILDEST CINEMA AND HOW IT INFLUENCED A MIXED-UP GENERATION OF WEIRDOS AND MISFITS

A feature-length big screen documentary telling the riotous inside story of the infamous sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll repertory cinema which inspired a generation during Britain's turbulent Thatcher years.

Journalist Saskia Baron discusses the history of the iconic venue and the filmmaking process with its two directors here at the Garden Cinema, with input and comments from our audience!

We discuss new forms of storytelling, genre, Afrofuturism and conversations around storytelling amongst the Black diaspora with writer Irenosen Okojie who curated the Black To The Future festival. We are very pleased to be showing two of the programme's films here at the Garden Cinema. We strive to expand the reach of the films we show and look forward to introducing new and original work to our members and visitors. You can find the listings, and book here.

Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, tells the story of Syrian refugees relocated in a old mining village in the Northeast of England, amidst poverty, resentfulness and anger. As ever, Loach’s message is one of compassion and hope. Dave Turner who plays the lead character of TJ Ballantyne, the pub landlord, joined us at the Garden Cinema for a chat with journalist Steve Topple (whose voice you might recognise from the Bella Ciao discussion, which can also be found in this podcast series).

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