Monday 30 December 2013

BADLANDS AND LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES

BADLANDS AND LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES


This sunday sees the return of CULTIVATE after a mini christmas break. Back with a bang with two cult classics that redefined indie cinema Terrance Malick's BADLANDS and Jean-Pierre Melville's LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES two must see killer couples classics. 

FROM 7PM SUNDAY WITH THE USUAL FREE POPCORN AND RUM.


 

Monday 25 November 2013

DETECTIVE DOUBLE BILL





MAD DETECTIVE AND DETECTIVE



This Sunday we have another leave your brain at the door with Hong Kong supremo Johnnie To (Exiles) and Wai Ka-Fai's surreal police drama MAD DETECTIVE this imaginative ground breaking twist on the detective story is maddeningly entertaining, radically raising the bar of modern story telling and the playful take on the detective blue print with his homage to the noir thriller, DETECTIVE by iconoclast Jean-Luc Godard and an INTERMISSION special with the screening of HUMBOLDT by CULTIVATE members Rene Castillo ibaceta and Nicolas Cortes two very talented filmmakers from Manchester University. So come down and support these two up and coming filmmakers. With the usual free popcorn and rum. — at Joshua Brooks.



Sunday 24 November 2013

THE EXILES AND LE HAVRE





THIS WEEKS DOUBLE BILL THE EXILES AND LE HAVRE




This week we focus on migration with Kent Mackenzie’s EXILES and Aki Kaurismaki’s LE HAVRE first up is EXILES a passion project assembled on a shoe string budget the finished product is a thing of beauty. The brilliance of contemporary film is it can sit between two stools on the one hand you have realism, which attempts to stick as close to documented facts as possible for example environments, language, visual props and a raw believable visual style. As opposed to the surrealist approach to filmmaking designed to abstract reality, re-interpret the facts to fit in with the story they which to tell. Mackenzie beautifully weaves fact and fiction with this mesmerising story of a group of young American Indians torn between life on the reservations and a life in the city. Mackenzie’s film charts their growth as they are transplanted from their Southwest Reservations to Los Angeles. Based entirely on interviews with the participants and their friends, it charts their lives over a short period of as they drink, flirt, party, fight, dance and bond. With its gritty unrefined depiction of this marginalised Los Angeles community, shot in vivid high-contrast black and white it draws stark comparisons to the early work of John Cassavetes, with its deliberate anthropological approach which captures the rhythms, the sounds and the smells of the late-fifties this film draws you right into the period an undiscovered masterpiece in every sense of the word. Next up is LE HAVRE a cleverly constructed comedy emotionally rich warm-hearted look at the French’s attitude to immigration and immigrants, with its surreal approach makes a refreshing change with two very likeable central characters, this colourful and humanist film makes a refreshing change. With the usual free popcorn and rum.













Wednesday 6 November 2013

OEDIPUS REX AND PIGSTY

PIER PAOLO PASOLINI DOUBLE BILL


This Sunday's double bill is a PASOLINI double header going from the surreal to the sublime with his adaptation of Sophocles's OEDIPUS REX followed by PORCILE (PIGSTY). Written and directed by PASOLINI it tell a story in two parts, the first story looks at the humans capacity for self destruction and ones need to rebel against social constructs. The second set in Germany, looks at a militarised fascist state colluding with corporations to maintain the status quo. These two stylish works of filmic art take, history, politics and social commentary and set it up for dissection in such a visually stunning way. A must see for PASOLINI fans.


Double bill di questa Domenica è un doppio colpo di testa PASOLINI va dal surreale al sublime con il suo adattamento di Sofocle Edipo re seguito da Porcile. Scritto e diretto da Pasolini è raccontare una storia in due parti, la prima storia esamina la capacità di esseri umani a fini di distruzione di sé e quelli che hanno bisogno di ribellarsi a costruzioni sociali. La seconda settembre in Germania, guarda uno stato fascista militarizzato collusione con multinazionali di mantenere lo status quo. Questi due eleganti portare opere d'arte filmica, la storia, la politica e il commento sociale e configurarlo per la dissezione in modo visivamente sbalorditivo. Una tappa obbligata per gli appassionati di Pasolini.


Monday 7 October 2013

HUNGER AND WHAT RICHARD DID









HUNGER AND WHAT RICHARD DID


This week we go to Ireland; first up is a trip to the Maze prison with HUNGER, based on the true story of 1981 hunger strike leader Bobby Sands who died after a 66 day protest against the removal of Special Category Status. The reason why I love this film is the approach Steve McQueen takes to the subject mater creatively and visually it is stunning, even if you were to cover your ears for the entire length of the film you would still come away emotionally affected by what you had just viewed. Taking such a contentious subject and turning it into such a compelling watch takes not just skill but genius and an innate understanding of visual language. Next up is WHAT RICHARD DID set in the south side of Dublin amongst a privileged set of teenagers preparing for university, when their lives are turned up side down when golden boy Richard commits an act that will shatter the lives of those closest to him. Lenny Abrahamson’s claustrophobic, searching examination of social class and verging adulthood is a gripping account of growing up in modern Ireland.   










Wednesday 2 October 2013

THE HUNTER and VIRIDIANA at CULTIVATE FILM CLUB



VIRIDIANA and THE HUNTER



This week’s double bill screenings look at creative questioning of the state with one of Spain's most famous exiles, surrealist filmmaker Luis Bunuel’s VIRIDIANA. Denounced by the Vatican and Franco’s government and banned from release in Spain; Franco’s attempts to get VIRIDIANA withdrawn from competition at Cannes failed, and it went on to win the PALM D’OR in 1961. Bunuel’s stinging attack on religious obsession and the Catholic Church and its principles is seen as a social as well as a political indictment on Franco's Spain, Bunuel uses the fate of an idealistic novice nun Viridiana determined to keep her faith while those closes to her attempt to strip her of it as a peg to hang his many visual and intellectual arguments. The use of religious iconography underlined with political subtext drew the critics in hailing it as visual masterpiece, noted as being one of his greatest works and listed in the top 50 best films ever made this is a must see for any film lover. Next up is THE HUNTER from Iranian filmmaker Rafi Pitts, set amongst the political backdrop of Tehran Pitts cleverly weaves together an engrossing thriller in the style of the Jean-Pierre Melville using the iconic political imagery of the 70’s American political thrillers such as the PARALLAX VIEW and the CONVERSATION with a great punk soundtrack it totally subverts the genera.



Thursday 26 September 2013

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975





BLACK POWER MIXTAPES 1967-1975 AND THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS

T-0-N-I-G-H-T CULTIVATE looks at the most iconic period in modern history; in a period that shaped the one of the worlds largest democracies, giving a voice to the invisible classes, it was period of revolution not just in the developed world but also in the developing north African states one of the most prominent was that of Algeria which had ten years earlier attempted to oust their French colonial power. Tonight as a precursor to black history month CULTIVATE brings you BLACK POWER MIXTAPES 1967-1975 and THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS