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Urban Wandering
– Film and the
London Landscape
Introduction
The landscape of London has provided
inspiration to filmmakers from the earliest days
of cinema, and in this special autumn season we
explore the city on film, with a particular focus
on the Barbican’s neighbouring boroughs in the
East End.
The tradition of ‘urban wandering’ – to
experience a heightened awareness of the
city environment – stretches back to writers
such as William Blake, Daniel Defoe and
Thomas De Quincey. In recent years, this
notion and many of its themes and debates
have been encapsulated in the concept of
‘psycho-geography’ and the work of writers
such as Iain Sinclair, Rachel Lichtenstein,
Will Self and Peter Ackroyd, and filmmakers
including Patrick Keiller, Chris Petit, Emily
Richardson and William Raban.
For the first time, we bring together these ideas,
and related writers, filmmakers and artists, for
a major season. Urban Wandering explores
familiar landmarks of London life – the pub and
the cafe, the river, markets, architecture and the
secret city underneath the ground. Films, walks
and talks look at the changes in the city brought
about by bombing and the Blitz, by migration
and changes in community. A special screening,
Barbitopia, celebrates the utopian vision of the
Barbican itself and we welcome Mike Leigh,
Stephen Poliakoff and a host of other
filmmakers and writers to discuss their work.
Finally, we host a gala event in Leytonstone
with our partners Create London, exploring the
East London of the UK’s legendary film director
Alfred Hitchcock with a screening of his 1958
masterpiece, Vertigo.
Robert Rider
Head of Cinema
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