The Garden Cinema Film Talk

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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Alborada teamed up with the Garden Cinema to show the documentary Chicago Boys, which explores the  The film tells the story of the Chicago Boys, a group of Chilean economists who studied at the University of Chicago, under Milton Friedman returned to their country after Augusto Pinochet's coup to become the main architects of the neoliberal economic model in Chile, which also served as a template for other countries around the world. 

We discuss the film with scientist and ex-political prisoner Roberto Navarrete, journalist John McEvoy (Declassified UK) who explores the role of Britain in the coup and the policies that resulted from it, and our audience. 

We were joined by director Dionne Edwards, producer Georgia Goggin and editor Andonis Trattos, the team behind Pretty Red Dress, a BFI-distributed gem of a film currently on here at the Garden Cinema for a post-screening chat with our audience. 

Join us to delve behind the scenes of this wonderfully nuanced and upbeat film, as we chat about filming in South London, Natey Jones' gracefulness on screen, casting Alexandra Burke, the tussle between masculinity and femininity and the script development process. 

We welcome all comments, input and recommendations!

Writer-director Carolina Cavalli’s darkly comic feature debut, which received its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, is a deliciously satirical character study of a twentysomething looking for purpose… and maybe also a friend.

We had the opportunity to chat with  Carolina over zoom about the film, her previous work, her time studying in Paris, audience expectations and the particular role of childhood friends in the lives of expat children!

Amanda will be screened from 9 June at the Garden Cinema.