Press room

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events: 
 

• Silent Film & Live Music: A Colour Box – Sun 8 June
• Queer 70s: LGBTQ+ Cinema in the Decade after Stonewall – Wed 11 June – 
  Wed 16 July
• SAFAR Film Festival 2025 – Fri 13 June - Fri 27 June
• Rebel Radio: Breaking the Silence: Pirate Radio, Black Media, and Voices of Resistance – Mon 16 Jun
• Refugee Week: Haiyu + ScreenTalk – Wed 18 June
• Rebel Radio: Young Soul Rebels + ScreenTalk – Thu 26 June
• Rebel Radio: Airwaves of Rebellion: Youth, Identity, and the Fight for Community Radio – Mon 30 June 
   

Regular Programme strands:
 

• Senior Community Screenings: All We Imagine as Light – Mon 9 June + Nickel Boys – Mon 23 June
• Family Film Week: Ocean With David Attenborough – Sat 7 June, The Wild Robot – Sat 14 June, Moonins and the Midsummer Madness – Sat 21 June + Flow – Sat 28 June
• Pay What You Can Screenings – Every Fri 
   

Event Cinema:
 

• National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire – Thu 5 June 
   

During Pride month in June, the Barbican travels back in time with Queer 70s: LGBTQ+ Cinema in the Decade after Stonewall, a season with eleven screenings featuring films from around the world that revolutionised how queer people were represented on screen. 

The Barbican also welcomes back the SAFAR Film Festival, the UK’s leading platform for independent Arab cinema, now in its tenth year. The programme spans geographies and genres and is a reminder that Arab cinema is not confined to one narrative but is a multitude of voices, visions, and lived realities. 

Also in June, Cinema presents three programmes as part of the Barbican‘s Rebel Radio cross-arts season – a month-long celebration of pirate radio and its lasting impact on culture – which begins with Rebel Radio: Breaking the Silence: Pirate Radio, Black Media, and Voices of Resistance; with two documentaries, an episode from The Bandung File, a bold Channel 4 series, and an episode of Bacchanal, that capture the spirit of resistance and creativity that defined 1980s underground broadcasting.

The second Rebel Radio programme is a screening of Young Soul Rebels, Isaac Julien’s bold and stylish debut feature, which follows two young best friends running an underground soul radio station in the heart of turbulent East London in the 1970s.

Following the film there will be a ScreenTalk with the lead actor Mo Sesay and host Toni Kyeremateng.

June’s final instalment of Rebel Radio is Airwaves of Rebellion: Youth, Identity, and the Fight for Community Radio, a programme of films diving into the energy and impact of youth-led pirate radio in 1980s and 1990s Britain, showing how young broadcasters defied mainstream media to amplify under-represented voices. 

As part of Refugee Week in June, Barbican Cinema screens the winner of the Sheffield Doc Fest Youth Jury prize Haiyu, a documentary about the life of Mariem Hassan and her relentless quest for Western Sahara's liberation. This includes a ScreenTalk with the filmmakers and Danielle Smith, founder of Sandblast, an organisation dedicated to building awareness for the Indigenous Saharawis of Western Sahara.

Further June highlights include the ever-popular Silent Film & Live Music strand which presents A Colour Box, a vibrant programme of early and pre-Technicolor short films featuring butterflies, fairies, fireworks, crystals and more; and Family Film Club, with the best in contemporary and classic cinema for families, children and their carers. 

Queer 70s: LGBTQ+ Cinema in the Decade after Stonewall screens as part of the Barbican’s Summer 2025 Highlights Programme, which also includes Classical Pride 2025: Voices of Pride, a series of concerts that celebrate queer stories of joy, hope and resilience, across multiple venues this summer. 

Rebel Radio and the screening of Haiyu (both part of the Barbican’s Summer 2025 Highlights) are also part of the Frequencies: the sounds that shape us​ programme, which offers audiences the chance to go beyond music, exploring the power of sound and the sonic experience to shape how we move, think, feel and to inspire change. 

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events

Silent Film & Live Music: A Colour Box (U*)
Dir various 
Sun 8 Jun, 3pm 
Cinema 1

We tend to think of early films as being black and white, when in fact cinema has been a colourful medium and artform from its earliest decades. From the mid-1890s, filmmakers could make use of tinting, hand- and stencil-colouring, and the early experimental systems that predated Technicolor.

A surprising variety of material was brought to the screen in colour – not just the prestige productions of foundational filmmakers such as Georges Méliès, but also science films, travelogues, and early abstract animations.

This is presented with music composed by the Electronic & Produced Music Department at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Queer 70s: LGBTQ+ Cinema in the Decade after Stonewall programme: 

She’s Beautiful, Sexy, Angry and Liberated! Barbara Hammer's Lesbian Films of the 1970s (18*) + live readings
Wed 11 June, 6.45pm 
Cinema 1

An evening celebrating the legacy of Barbara Hammer, a true pioneer of LGBTQ+ cinema, with a special event featuring her groundbreaking shorts Dyketactics, Superdyke, Women I Love and Double Strength.

Bye Bye Love (Baibai rabu バイバイ・ラブ) (18*) + intro
Japan 1974, Dir Isao Fujisawa, 85min
Thu 12 June, 6.30pm
Cinema 3 

A wild and violent road trip with a genderqueer partnership at its centre, Isao Fujisawa’s breathtaking and radical movie was thought lost until a negative was unearthed in 2018.

The Set (15*) + intro by Barbican cinema curator Alex Davidson
Australia 1970, Dir Frank Brittain, 102min
Sun 15 June, 3pm
Cinema 1 

A naïve young man is chewed up and spat out by Sydney’s high society, participating in an intense fling with another man on his downward spiral. Is he doomed or can he hope for redemption? 

Ticket of No Return (Bildnis einer Trinkerin) (15*) + intro by Helen de Witt
West Germany 1979, Dir Ulrike Ottinger, 107min
Tue 17 June, 6.20pm 
Cinema 3 
A glamourous woman arrives in West Berlin, begins a drinking spree and forms a relationship with another woman in UIrike Ottinger’s droll, visually striking odyssey.

Car Wash (15*) + intro by Mzz Kimberley
US 1979, Dir Michael Schultz, 97min
Thu 19 June, 6.20pm 
Cinema 3
Car Wash is a comedic take on the daily life of the employees from the DeLuxe car wash in LA, and chronicles its oddball characters including the flamboyant Lindy, who holds up as an unapologetically queer role model, even decades later. 

Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute) (15*) + intro by Bidisha Mamata
India 1971, Dir Prem Kapoor, 108min
Sun 22 June, 5.30pm 
Cinema 1 
Considered India’s first queer film, Prem Kapoor’s captivating melodrama revolves around a bisexual love triangle set in Uttar Pradesh.

Je Tu Il Elle (18) + intro by Mekella Broomberg
Belgium, France 1974, Dir Chantal Akerman, 86min
Tue 24 June, 6.30pm 
Cinema 2 
Chantal Akerman’s feature debut, made when she was just 24, is a potent and radical portrait of the search for connection, culminating in a famous 10-minute lesbian sex scene.

My Dearest Senorita (Mi querida señorita) (15*) + intro
Spain 1972, Dir Jaime de Armiñán, 80min
Wed 25 June, 6.20pm 
Cinema 2 
Jaime de Armiñán’s Oscar-nominated drama made, extraordinarily, in Franco’s Spain, is an early and sympathetic portrait of identity and intersexuality.

SAFAR Film Festival 2025
Fri 13 June – Fri 27 June 
Cinema 1, 2 +3 

FANGS + Introduction
Egypt 1981, Dir Mohammed Shebl, 100min 
Fri 13 Jun, 6pm 
Cinema 3 
Often dismissed as a Rocky Horror Picture Show knockoff, Fangs is - in fact - exemplar, self-aware Egyptian kitsch, a testament to the enduring quality of Shaabi Disco, 
and a pointed critique of the Egyptian state's vampiric capitalism during the unchecked rapid economic expansion of the 1970s. 

SAFAR Masterclass with Mohammad Bakri
Fri 13 Jun, 8.30pm 
Cinema 1  
From his distinct, enigmatic role in Hanna K. by Costa Gavras in 1983, to his most recent feature, Cherian Dabis’ All That’s Left of You (2025), Mohammad Bakri’s expressive face has defined over fifty years of screen culture from and about Palestine. In his celebrated career, he has embodied very singular roles in Palestinian cinema. 

Jenin, Jenin + Q&A
Palestine 2002, Dir Mohammed Bakri, 54min
Sat 14 Jun, 6.30pm
Cinema 1 
The film is set in March 2002 and tells of Israeli troops marching into the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin, razing much of the camp to the ground and killing scores of civilians.
Filmmaker Mohammed Bakri visits the demolished camp and interviews survivors of all ages.

Agora (15*) + Online Q&A
Tunisia/France/Saudi Arabia 2024, Dir Ala Eddine Slim, 99min
Sun 15 Jun, 5pm 
Cinema 3 
Tunisian auteur Alaeddine Slim continues to expand his visual exploration around the theme of disappearance. The film premiered at the 2024 Locarno International Film Festival, winning the Pardo Verde Award, which is given to a film that addresses ecological issues. 

Unspoken silences: reclaiming colonial archives of Palestine Cineconcert + ScreenTalk
Sun 22 Jun, 3pm 
Cinema 1
This programme is an open invitation to revisit Palestine in two different eras, with colonial visual material reimagined in the first with music and sound by artists Rana Eid and Cynthia Zaven, and in the second with open reflections by filmmaker Theo Panagapoulos about his own Palestinian heritage. 

Shifting Tides Shorts Programme + Q&A
Fri 27 Jun, 6pm
Cinema 1 
This luminous and stirring collection of short films traces the delicate contours of youth on the cusp of change. 

Thank You for Banking with Us!
Palestine, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt 2024, Dir Laila Abbas, 93min
Fri 27 Jun, 8.30pm 
Cinema 1
Islamic inheritance laws and oppressive gender dynamics are at the core of this heartfelt, funny and tightly scripted story of two sisters scrambling to get an inheritance that is rightfully theirs.

A State of Passion + ScreenTalk
Palestine & Jordan 2024, Dirs Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi, 90min
Sat 28 Jun, 2pm 
Cinema 1 

After 43 horrific days working under bombardment in the emergency rooms of Gaza's hospitals, British-Palestinian surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, finds himself as a face of resistance.   

Rebel Radio: Breaking the Silence: Pirate Radio, Black Media, and Voices of Resistance (15*)
Dir various
Mon 16 Jun, 6.30pm 
Cinema 2 

These screenings delve into the radical impact of Black-led pirate radio in the UK, spotlighting its role in amplifying unheard voices and challenging mainstream narratives.

Highlights include coverage of the JBC raid, exposing the struggles Black communities faced in asserting control over their own narratives. Also, a look into the work of DBC, showcasing how pirate radio served not just as entertainment but as a vital form of cultural resistance.

Refugee Week: Haiyu(18) + ScreenTalk with filmmakers and Danielle Smith
Sweden/Western Sahara 2024, Dirs Alex Veitch, Brahim B. Ali, Mohamedsalem Uered & Anna Klara Åhrén, 90min 
Wed 18 Jun, 6.20pm 
Cinema 2 

In the Sahara desert, the voice of one of North Africa's greatest singers still echoes. A voice that has engaged and given hope to a forgotten struggle.

Mariem Hassan’s life and music have been deeply affected by the ongoing tragedy committed to the Sahrawis throughout the colonial era continuing up to this very day. Her songs have been given comfort and hope and have been used as a tool in the fight for independence in Africa's last colony, Western Sahara.

Rebel Radio: Young Soul Rebels + ScreenTalk
UK/ France/ Germany and Spain 1991, Dir Isaac Julien, 105min 
Thu 26 Jun, 6.15pm 
Cinema 2 

Youth culture meets identity politics in this part-thriller, part-gay love story set in London in 1977. The hedonistic world of pirate DJs Chris and Caz is shattered when a close friend is killed.

The film follows two young best friends Chris (Valentine Nonyela) and Caz (Mo Sesay) running an underground soul radio station and their altercations with the law and experiences of living amongst the punks, skinheads and soul boys of the time. 

This beautifully crafted period piece paints a unique perspective of Black British masculinity.

Rebel Radio: Airwaves of Rebellion: Youth, Identity, and the Fight for Community Radio (15*) + introduction from Featuring an introduction from producer Rob Burkitt
Dir various
Mon 30 Jun, 6.30pm 
Cinema 2 

In this programme: Black and White Pirate Show (1987), features a rare exchange between veteran white pirate broadcasters and rising Black DJs. It explores their shared love for radio while exposing cultural divides and differing motives behind pirate broadcasting in London.

From a broader lens, Ebony ‘Pirates’ (1983) delves into debates over the criminalisation of non-commercial radio, with voices from the Dread Broadcasting Company and BBC’s John Peel. A decade later, Pirates (1993) reflects on pirate radio’s lasting impact and the ongoing struggle of unlicensed broadcasters.

Regular Programme Strands

Family Film Club
Every Sat, 11am 

Ocean With David Attenborough (PG)
UK 2025, Dirs Colin Butfield, Toby Nowlan & Keith Scholey, 95min
Sat 7 June, 11am 
Cinema 2 

With World Ocean Day approaching, this is a special family screening of this documentary. Spellbinding cinematography (perfect for the big screen) showcases the wonder of life under the seas and exposes the realities and challenges facing our ocean as never-before-seen.
Age suggestion: 7+

The Wild Robot (U)
US 2024, Dir Chris Sanders, 102min
Sat 14 June, 11am
Cinema 2

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. This emotional story explores nature, nurture and new technology’s challenges as well as its possibilities.
Age suggestion: +6

Moomins and the Midsummer Madness (U)
Finland 2008, Dir. Maria Lindberg 88min
Sat 21 June, 11am
Cinema 2

To celebrate Midsummer this week, Family Film Club (FFC) screens this delightful animation that follows the Moomins as they escape a volcano and take refuge from floods. This gentle stop-motion is an enchanting introduction for little ones to these classic characters.
Age suggestion: 4+

Flow (U)
Latvia/France/Belgium, Dir Gints Zilbalodis, 85min
Sat 28 June, 11am
Cinema 2

A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, Flow follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood.  
Age suggestion: +6

Senior Community Screenings:
Welcoming 60+ cinema goers to watch the latest new releases every other Monday morning: 

All We Imagine as Light (15)
France/India/Netherlands/Luxembourg/Italy/Switzerland/USA/ Belgium 2024, Dir Payal Kapadia, 123min
Mon 9 Jun, 11am
Cinema 2 

A powerful tale of friendship and sisterhood, following three nurses navigating modern day Mumbai accompanied by beautiful cinematography and a romantic jazz piano score.

Nickel Boys (AD) (12A)
USA 2024, Dir RaMell Ross, 140min
Mon 23 Jun, 11am 
Cinema 2 

RaMell Ross directs an adaption of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about two friends attempting to survive the harshness of a segregated reform school in 1960s Jim Crow-era Florida.  

Event Cinema 

National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire (15)
Thu 5 Jun, 7pm 
Cinema 2 

Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby play sisters struggling to co-habit with the shadow of a brutish husband and brother-in-law looming over them, filmed for the big screen. This acclaimed production was filmed live during a sold-out run at the Young Vic Theatre in 2014.