Flytower Films
Throughout August, look up to the National Theatre Flytower for a series of Friday and Saturday evening cinematic events. We’re working with our neighbours to present a series of BFI Friday Films, offering some rarely seen gems from the BFI National Archive. These will be preceded by an episode of Matthew Robins’ story of Flyboy. On Saturdays, you can see Flyboy again plus a quirky new piece in the double feature.
Matthew Robins’ The Death Of Flyboy & Science Fiction/Double Feature
Matthew Robins and his band present his ongoing series of romantic ‘Shadow Operas’ performed in front of and projected onto the Flytower. These utterly original, brilliantly inventive and beautifully animated stories introduce us to the sad story of half-human, half-insect Flyboy: unpopular at school, mocked by his peers and dealing with the unrequited affection of a giant robot, while his friend Mothboy is busy knitting a lovely new spaceship for them.
Follow the story of these strange and wonderful characters with a new episode each Friday and a Matthew Robins’ double bill on Saturdays. Matthew has recently performed at the Shunt Vaults, Duckie, the De La Warr Pavilion and the Barbican’s Twisted Christmas and has been working at the National Theatre Studio to develop new work for the Flytower.
Dates: 31 Jul, 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22 Aug at 10pm.
Matthew Robin's invites you to knit a dinosaur for 15 August, bring it along and enter it into a show - prizes will be given for the best! Read Matthew's invitation for more info.
BFI Friday Films
BFI Friday Films offer a series of captivating glimpses into rarities from the BFI National Archive projected onto the huge National Theatre Flytower. The films offer fascinating and seldom-seen viewpoints on London life, past and present, as well as reflecting some of the communities seen in the National Theatre's production, England People Very Nice.
31 July at 10.15pm: Before Midnight: a Portrait of India on Film, 1899–1947
This programme of highlights from the BFI’s unparalleled collection of early films of India offers an extraordinary portrait of how lives – both Indian and British – were led across the Subcontinent before Independence. Taking us on a journey from Lahore to Darjeeling and beyond, the films include the epic pageantry of the 1911 Delhi Durbar, the home movies of the Maharajah of Jodhpur, the Raj at play during the Calcutta ‘season’ and footage of Gandhi, filmed by his great nephew, Kanu.
(Various directors | 1899-1947 | 86 mins)
7 August at 10.15pm: Vanished London
This programme of three films captures some of the changes to London lives and landscapes over the last 50 years. In Momma Don’t Allow (Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson | 1956 | 22 mins) young revellers enjoy a sweaty night out at the Wood Green Jazz Club with Chris Barber’s Jazz Band. Piccadilly Circus has never looked quite so down-at-heel as in Nice Time (Claude Goretta, Alain Tanner | 1957 | 17 mins), a portrait of Londoners searching for a good Saturday night out among the hot dogs, porno mags, sailors and prostitutes. And The Vanishing Street (Robert Vas | 1961 | 20 mins) captures the end of a way of life for the East End Jewish community on Hessel Street as its back-to-back houses and shops are about to be replaced by high-rise flats.
14 August at 10.15pm: The Beautiful South: The South Bank & Lambeth on film
Highlights from the BFI National Archive’s extensive collection of films from our own back yard. Brief City (Jacques Brunius, Maurice Harvey | 1952 | 19 mins) is a joyous tribute to the creative vision of the 1951 Festival of Britain, an event that easily combined pioneering design with seaside postcard vulgarity. In We Are the Lambeth Boys (Karel Reisz | 1959 | 52 mins) members of Alford House, a youth club in Oval, share their hopes and frustrations. The journey comes full circle in Project 1 (Yohan Forbes | 2009 | 7 mins), a skateboarder’s odyssey from the Thames Barrier to the South Bank.
21 August at 10.15pm: A Throw of Dice
With its cast of thousands (including elephants and tigers), this classic of Indian silent cinema is an epic to rival those of Cecil B. DeMille. Shot on location in the palaces and countryside of Rajasthan and inspired by an episode from the Mahabharata, A Throw of Dice is both a passionate love story and a warning tale about the addictive power of gambling... Nitin Sawhney’s new score brilliantly transforms this silent classic into a fresh and engaging experience, 80 years after its first release. (Franz Osten | 1929 | 74 mins)
The BFI National Archive is one of the world’s greatest collections of film and television. Find out more about the BFI at bfi.org.uk
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- Friday 31 July
- 10pm
- Death of Flyboy Episode 1
- 10.15pm
- BFI Friday Film: Before Midnight
- Saturday 1 August
- 10pm
- Matthew Robins' Science Fiction/Double Feature
- Friday 7 August
- 10pm
- Death of Flyboy Episode 2
- 10.15pm
- BFI Friday Film: Vanished London
- Saturday 8 August
- 10pm
- Matthew Robin's Science Fiction/Double Feature
- Friday 14 August
- 10pm
- Death of Flyboy Episode 3
- 10.15pm
- BFI Friday Film: The Beautiful South
- Saturday 15 August
- 10pm
- Matthew Robin's Science Fiction/Double Feature
- Friday 21 August
- 10pm
- Death of Flyboy Episode 4
- 10.15pm
- BFI Friday Film: A Throw of Dice
- Saturday 22 August
- 10pm
- Matthew Robins' Science Fiction/Double Feature
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