March/April 2010 - Riverside Studios

Saturday 20 March
DocHouse Single Bill
Afghan Star (15) 7.00pm
Havana Marking, UK/Afghanistan, 2009, 87m
“Afghan Star” was watched by a third
of the population of Afghanistan. Over
eleven million people, in voting for
their favourites, experienced a taste
of democracy. “Afghan Star” is a small
but significant unifying force for the
country’s diverse ethnic groups; as the
programme’s presenter Daod Sediqi
says: “The aim is to take the people’s hand
from weapons to music”.
The film will be followed by a Q & A
with Havana Marking.
Saturday 20 March
DocHouse Single Bill
The Yes Men: Fix the World (TBC)
9.00pm
Andy Bichlbaum/Mike Bonanno, France/USA/UK,
2009, 87m
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are
two guys who just can’t take “no” for an
answer. They have an unusual hobby,
posing as top executives of Corporations
they hate. Armed with nothing but
thrift-store suits, they lie their way into
business conferences and parody their
corporate nemeses in ever more extreme
ways – basically doing everything they
can to wake up their audiences to the
danger of letting greed run our world.
The Yes Men:
Fix the World
Sunday 21 March
Kinoteka 8th Polish Film Festiwal
Polish Documentaries:
Part 2 (15) 2.00pm
Before Leaves Fall
Wladyslaw Slesicki, Poland, 1964, 27m subtitles
A result of long-term observation, this
documentary depicting Polish Gypsies
is also an ethnographic record. Exotic
life in the caravan and specific genre
scenes are combined with the picture
of everyday life.
The Warsaw Old Town Walk
Andrzej Munk, 1958, 18m subtitles
A docu-drama presenting Warsaw
Old Town from the perspective of a
ten-year old student of a music school
located in this part of town.
This month
DocHouse & The Grierson
Trust present
A day of
Award-winning
documentaries
20 March from 12.30pm
The most prestigious documentary awards
in the UK are the Grierson Awards and this
year was an exceptional and exciting crop.
We have pleasure in presenting a day of
the best. In between screenings and Q &
A’s with filmmakers, you can lunch or chat
over a coffee in the Café/Bar. It's a unique
opportunity to see the best award-winning
2009 documentaries on the big screen.
Tickets: £5 per film, £18 day pass
Hospital
Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland, 1976, 20m subtitles
The film deals with Warsaw orthopaedic
surgeons, portrayed working thirty-twohour
shifts. The camera follows them in
the operating theatre, admittance room
and smoky offices.
Birth of a Boat
Jan Lomnicki, Poland, 1961, 9m subtitles
The film follows the assembly of a boat
and its launch at the Gdansk Shipyard.
Competition
Janusz Majewski, Poland, 1963, 6m subtitles
Report from the shot-put competition
between David Davis and Alfred
Sosgornik.
This is An Egg
Andrzej Brzozowski, Poland, 1965, 13m subtitles
A portrayal of blind children learning
about the outside world through touch.
Approximate running time: 94m
Sunday 21 March
Taiwanese Film Festival Single Bill
Step by Step (12) 8.30pm
UK Premiere
Chen-ti Kuo, Taiwan, 2009, 93m subtitles
Joseph Chang, Janel Tsai
An off-the-wall comedy following a group
of retirees who attempt to overcome age
by taking part in a tango competition. As
a dashing male nurse (Chang) oversees
the effort alongside a beautiful dance
instructor (Tsai) their plan is threatened
by the impending closure of the
retirement home. A moving comedy that
shows dancing can bring out the best in
all of us, young and old alike.
Step by Step
Burma VJ
Afghan Star
Monday 22 March
Cormac McCarthy Double Bill
No Country for Old Men (15) 6.30pm
Ethan Coen/Joel Coen, USA, 2007, 122m
Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Kelly Macdonald
Based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy.
Violence and mayhem ensue after
a hunter stumbles upon some dead
bodies, a stash of heroin and more than
$2m near the Rio Grande. “An intense,
nihilistic thriller as well as a model of
implacable storytelling.” Los Angeles Times
The Road (15) 8.55pm
John Hillcoat, USA, 2009, 111m
Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron
An uncompromising adaptation of Cormac
McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
A post-apocalyptic tale of a family trying
to survive by any means possible. “One of
the most chillingly effective visions of the world’s
end ever put on screen.” Empire
The Road