Press room

The Barbican Curators bring together an international and thought-provoking programme for April ’21 on Cinema On Demand. Highlights include the return of Chronic Youth 2021 (now in its sixth year), the 2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films programme, the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Minari (USA 2020, Dir Lee Isaac Chung), and the documentary Sisters with Transistors (UK 2020, Dir Lisa Rovner), about the untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers.

Barbican Cinema is delighted to reopen its venues on Mon 17 May, when once again audiences will be able to enjoy films on the big screen; alongside this, Cinema On Demand will continue to host content, allowing more ways to engage with the Barbican programme.

For Chronic Youth 2021: Family Matter the Barbican Young Programmers are showcasing films by emerging filmmakers from around the world that celebrate roots, rebirth and rebellion. The Festival takes place 1 April to 30 June, and screens on both Barbican Cinema On Demand and in June in Barbican Cinema 1.

In a time where being together seems harder than ever, the young group of 12 programmers have chosen to focus on films that explore the bonds that unite people together, looking at the themes of self-definition, community and chosen family.
To view the full press release please go to:
www.barbican.org.uk/our-story/press-room/chronicyouth2021

In April, Chronic Youth 2021 opens on Cinema On Demand with Radu Ciorniciuc’s heartfelt debut documentary Acasa, My Home (Romania 2020), which focuses on the Enache family who have lived in the marsh of the Bucharest Delta for 25 years, the consequences of gentrification, and the obstacles some Roma travellers face.

This screening is also accompanied by a recorded ScreenTalk with the director Radu Ciorniciuc to discuss the making of the film and more widely about the treatment of Roma people today.

Also during April, the Chronic Youth programmes short programme If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution includes three films that celebrate identity and community, through movement and dance. From Rotterdam, London and Paris, these films follow a bold, Black and queer dance collective in Father Figure (2019, Bibi Fadlalla), a Hackney based cathartic exploration of race and brotherhood in The Circle (2019, Lanre Malalou), and a club scene exploring the boundaries between ourselves and others in We Are Night, They Are Daylight (2018, Barbara Balestas Kazazian).

Other highlights available on Barbican Cinema On Demand in April include: the heart-warming Oscar nominated Minari (USA 2020, Dir Lee Isaac Chung), the powerful Kosovan/ Albanian film Zana (2020, Dir Antoneta Kastrati), and New East Cinema’s month-long run of the compelling Kazakh crime caper A Dark, Dark Man (2019, Dir Adilkhan Yerzhanov).

Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

Zana is an atmospheric drama about women and war. Haunted by her past - and pressured by family to seek treatment from mystical healers for her infertility - a Kosovar woman struggles to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality. A Dark, Dark Man is a slow burn crime thriller in which a boy is murdered in a Kazakh village; the detective in charge is forced to conduct a proper investigation when a journalist questions his motives. The film reveals how a society based on fear and greed can only be interrupted by courage and insight.

Also screening in April are the 2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films, this is a unique opportunity to watch all the nominees – in the Live Action and Animated Shorts categories – from this year’s Academy Awards. We are pleased to announce that the Animated Shorts programme is only available exclusively on Cinema on Demand in the UK.

Highlights from the Live Action programme include The Letter Room (USA 2020, Dir Elvira Lind), starring Oscar Isaac as a corrections officer transferred to the prison letter room, who finds escape in the deeply personal letters written to an inmate on death row; and Two Distant Strangers (USA 2020, Dirs Travon Free & Martin Desmond Roe), featuring a deadly time loop in which a graphic designer’s attempts to get home to his dog are continually thwarted by a deadly encounter. Highlights from the Animated Shorts programme include Burrow (USA 2020, Dir Madeline Sharafian), from Disney Pixar, in which a lone rabbit attempts to build the burrow of her dreams; and the acclaimed adventure The Snail and the Whale (UK/ Germany 2019, Dirs Max Lang & Daniel Snaddon), based on the hugely popular Julia Donaldson book of the same name.

Further cinematic treats this month include the innovative documentary Sisters with Transistors (UK 2020, Dir Lisa Rovner), which follows the story of electronic music's female pioneers and their liberating technologies that changed music forever; the exhilarating coming-of-age drama This is Not Berlin (2019 Mexico, Dir Hari Sama); and Henry Glassie: Field Work (Ireland 2019), in which the travels and unique cultural finds of the American folklorist Henry Glassie are chronicled in this portrait by Pat Collins.

Barbican Cinema has been supported by the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England which is administered by the BFI, as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund supporting arts and cultural organisations in England affected by the impact of COVID-19. #HereForCulture.

Box office: The Barbican believes in creating space for people and ideas to connect through its international arts programme, community events and learning activity. To keep its programme accessible to everyone, and to keep investing in the artists it works with, the Barbican needs to raise more than 60% of its income through ticket sales, commercial activities and fundraising every year.
Donations can be made here: barbican.org.uk/donate

APRIL 2021 LISTINGS

Chronic Youth 2021:
Acasa, My Home (15*) + recorded ScreenTalk with director Radu Ciorniciuc
Romania 2020 Dir Radu Ciorniciuc 86 min
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Thu 1 - Fri 30 Apr 2021
Pay per view: Full: £5.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members £4

Chronic Youth 2021:
“If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution” shorts programme (15*)
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Thu 1 - Fri 30 Apr 2021
Free to view

A Dark Dark Man (18)
Kazakhstan 2019, Dir Adilkhan Yerzhanov, 130 min
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Thu 1 Apr - Fri 30 Apr 2021
Pay per view: Full: £5.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members £4.00

Oscar-Nominated Shorts (#)
Dirs & countries various
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Thu 2 Apr - Fri 30 Apr 2021
Pay per view: Full: £8.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members free

This is Not Berlin (18)
Mexico 2019, Dir Hari Sama, 115 min
Barbican Cinema On Demand

Available to stream: Thu 1 Apr - Fri 30 Apr 2021
Pay per view: Full: £5.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members £4.00

Minari (12)
USA 2020, Dir Lee Isaac Chung, 121 min
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Fri 2 Apr - Sun 16 May 2021
Pay per view: Full: £10.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members £8.00

Zana (15)
Kosovo/ Albania 2020, Dir Antoneta Kastrati, 97 min
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Fri 2 Apr - Fri 30 Apr 2021
Pay per view: Full: £10.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members £8.00

Henry Glassie: Field Work (#)
Ireland 2019, Dir Pat Collins, 105 min
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Fri 16 Apr – Fri 16 May 2021
Pay per view: Full: £10.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members £8.00

Sisters with Transistors (#)
UK 2020, Dir Lisa Rovner, 90 min
Barbican Cinema On Demand
Available to stream: Fri 23 Apr - Fri 21 May 2021
Pay per view: Full: £10.00 | Young Barbican: £4.00 | Barbican Members £8.00