Hey London! Cigarette Burns Cinema Presents A Secret Screening At The East End Film Fest + AGNOSIA, SUSPIRIA & More!
THE EAST END FILM FESTIVAL TAKES YOU INTO THE SHADOWS FROM 27 APRIL - 2 MAY
East End Film Festival invites you to glimpse some Dark Visions this April, offering a rare opportunity to see Ken Russell's highly controversial 1971 film THE DEVILS, a tale of religious persecution and public hysteria starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave that has been denied an official release for 40 years due to its disturbingly violent, sexual, political and religious content. Banned in many countries, the EEFF will be screening the director's cut of the film for only the second time in the UK, with Russell in attendance. Accompanying the festival's screening of The Devils, Jerzy Kawalerowicz's MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS is a dark tale of a priest exorcising crazed, possessed nuns ina convent, and is based on the same historical case as The Devils. It will screen on the hallowed ground of a beautiful eighteenth century John Soan church.
Other premieres include the first chance to see Spanish horror-chiller JULIA'S EYES (LOS OJOS DE JULIA), produced by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) which has been a huge hit in its native Spain. The equally mysterious AGNOSIA, about a young woman suffering from a rare neuropsychological disorder, will also be screened at the festival, which will also feature a series of free secret society themed horror screenings, taking in witches covens, underground communities and the occult in venues such as a secret Masonic lodge, and appearance by the UK's leading horror expert Kim Newman.
Julia's Eyes (Los Ojos de Julia)
Dir. Guillem Morales
Spain, 2010, 114min
RIO Cinema
Monday 2 May 23.30
From producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), this Orphanage-esque chiller sees Julia travel with her husband to visit her sister, who is near blind because of a degenerative illness. Discovering that her sibling has taken her own life, she begins to investigate while going blind herself, only for things to become even more dark and mysterious, as nothing is what it seems. Starring Lluís Homar (Broken Embraces) and Belén Rueda (The Orphanage), this is a superior mystery that was a huge hit in its native Spain, seen by more than a million people.
Agnosia
Dir. Eugenio Miro
Spain, 2010, 97min
RIO Cinema
Friday 29 April 23:30
A young woman suffering from a rare neuropsychological disorder that impairs her senses is manipulated by two dangerous men in pursuit of a strange secret. A ravishing mystery with a dark, atmospheric early twentieth century setting.
The Devils
Dir. Ken Russell
UK, 1971, 109min
Screening Location: Barbican Cinema
Saturday 1 May 20:30
Outspoken, promiscuous priest Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed Mother Superior (Vanessa Redgrave). As rumours of demonic possession spreads to the local nuns, Grandier's resistance to the encroaching power of the state results in him being made the victim of a show trial in a climate of public hysteria.
Mother Joan of Angels (Matka Joanna od Aniolow)
dir. Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Poland, 1961, 102min
St. John on Bethnal Green
Friday 29 April 20:30
A landmark of Polish cinema that depicts a struggle between earthly and divine pleasures. This portrait of a priest assigned to exorcise a convent of crazed, possessed nuns is based on the same historical case as The Devils (see above), and is equally as dark and disturbing. Exploring repression, fanaticism and desire, it will be screened on the hallowed ground of a beautiful eighteenth century church, the perfect venue for being plunged into a tale of man wrestling with his demons.
Secret Societies screenings
Screening locations: Masonic Temple, Andaz Hotel, The Old Blue Last, Great Eastern Street
Monday 2 May 12.00-20.00 FREE
As part of its day of completely free screenings and events on the May Bank Holiday, the East End Film Festival presents a series of secret societies screenings in a mysterious Masonic Lodge, taking in the Masons, Jack the Ripper and underground communities and followed by a panel discussing secret societies on film, from witches' covens to suicide clubs.
Elsewhere the EEFF will host a day of secret society cult film screenings, with a double bill of Jodorowsky's absurd mystical quest The Holy Mountain and Dario Argento's surreally terrifying Suspiria from Electric Sheep and cult film expert Xavier Mendick, followed by a special secret screening from infamous grindhouse night Cigarette Burns Cinema. Kim Newman, the UK's foremost horror expert, will be appearing as part of the day.
For more information:
Visit www.eastendfilmfestival.com
Email Andrew@eastendfilmfestival.com
