Press room

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events: 

• London International Animation Festival 2025 – Mon 1 Dec – Sun 7 Dec
• Lucy Raven Film Programme – Fri 5 Dec + Mon 8 Dec
• All Kaiju Attack: Earth SOS! – Ebirah, Horror of the Deep – Tue 9 Dec + Gamera the Brave + introduction by Yuriko Hamaguchi – Wed 10 Dec
• Cinema Restored: So Watt Special: Derek Bailey - New Sights, Old Sounds – Sun 14 Dec  

Regular Programme strands: 

• Family Film Club – every Sat am
• Senior Community Screenings:  
      Free Event: Cane River + introduction from Cinema Curator Matthew      Barrington – Wed 8 Dec
      The Sound of Music – Mon 22 Dec
• Relaxed Screenings: 
      Bugonia – Mon 8 Dec 
      Happyend – Fri 19 Dec 
      Happyend – Fri 28 Dec  

Event Cinema:  

• MET Opera Live: Andrea Chénier – Sat 13 Dec
• Royal Ballet & Opera Live: The Nutcracker – Sun 14 Dec 

The London International Animation Festival continues at the Barbican in December, with four events including the Closing Night Gala, which showcases a round-up of the ‘best of the fest’ screenings and an awards ceremony for participating filmmakers. 

Coinciding with the exhibition in The Curve, Lucy Raven: Rounds, Barbican Cinema presents a series of contrasting films which explore industrial landscapes and their histories. This includes Lucy Raven’s own short film China Town, and a young Jean Luc Godard's Opération Béton (which Raven will introduce), plus a rare screening of the haunting 1970 thriller Figures in a Landscape.  
 
Cinema Restored in December presents So Watt Special: Derek Bailey – New Sights, Old Sounds, a screening of rare unseen footage of Derek Bailey, the pioneering jazz guitarist, from the Incus Records archive and beyond, which captures his performances and collaborations across decades and continents.

The season All Kaiju Attack: Earth SOS! also concludes in December, with one of the most fun Godzilla movies Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, in which Godzilla and Mothra put their differences aside to battle a terrifying giant crustacean; and Gamera the Brave, in which the gigantic turtle is reincarnated once again to battle a fearsome threat to humanity. 
 
As Christmas approaches, cinema goers can also get festive with a screening of the Royal Opera House Live: The Nutcracker, an enchanting ballet which remains a perennial winter favourite. 

Senior Community Screenings this month include a free screening of Cane River, the long-lost American romantic drama (from 1982) with a racially charged love story; and The Sound of Music, one of the most successful musical films of all time, that won five Academy Awards.

Relaxed screenings include Yorgos Lanthimos' latest black comedy Bugonia, and Neo Sora’s striking debut Happyend, set in a dystopian near-future Tokyo.  

Festivals, Seasons and Special Events 

London International Animation Festival 2025
Mon 1 Dec – Sun 7 Dec
Cinema 2  
 
Disrupting The Narrative: The Beauty of resilience in the face of adversity (15*)  
+ Screentalk 
Mon 1 Dec, 6.20pm 
Cinema 2 
Approx 120min 
 
This year's films portray characters who confront societal pressures, whether it's environmental destruction, discrimination, or personal identity struggles that tell stories about the urgency of sustainable living. 

Using a wide range of animation techniques (and lots of wool), the films underscore existential crises and struggles marginalised groups face, whether due to migration, race, gender, or sexual orientation, while also capturing the beauty of resilience, love, and unity in the face of adversity. Together, these deeply personal yet universal narratives create space for empathy, awareness and reflection in the search for belonging and a meaningful life. 
 
Animation at War 
Thu 4 Dec, 6.30pm 
Cinema 2 
Approx 72min 

How do filmmakers use the expressive potential of animation to address ever-relevant themes of war and conflict? Throughout 2025, Barbican Cinema’s Animation at War season has explored this rich tradition, and this spin-off selection (in collaboration with LIAF) looks at the more agile world of short animation, where smaller runtimes give rise to a wide range of stories in a range of styles. 

These films run the gamut from the abstract, to the allegorical, to the activist. They trace the scars of past trauma, meditate on the nature of war, and offer direct, impassioned responses to contemporary conflicts – all while addressing deeply human experiences, fears, and emotions. This is animation wielded with purpose: to communicate, to commemorate, to provoke and to protest. 

Family Film Club: Amazing Animations for 0-7 year-olds (U*) 
Sat 6 Dec, 11am 
Cinema 2 
Approx 73min

Like childhood, animation is full of wonder and simple pleasures. This carefully chosen programme for our younger audiences contains 14 of the best, most recent wonderful short, animated films, full of joy, from around the world.  
 
This programme contains several cheeky, loveable humans and animals in all sorts of lively adventures. A mischievous little penguin, baby birds attempting to fly, a cat who loves art and a hedgehog who gets into a bit of bother when one of his spines goes missing. 
 
LIAF 2025: Closing Night Gala - The Best of the Fest (15*) 
Sun 7 Dec, 5.20pm 
Cinema 1 
Approx 120min 

The votes have been counted and the LIAF will announce the films chosen for awards from this year’s programme. The categories are ‘Best Sound,’ ‘Best Children’s Film,’ ‘Best Abstract Film’ and ‘Best Late Night Bizarre Film.’ The evening concludes with the ‘Best British film’ and the ‘Best film of the Festival.’ 

All Kaiju Attack: Earth SOS! 
 
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (PG) 
Japan 1966, Dir Jun Fukuda, 87min 
Tue 9 Dec, 6.15pm  
Cinema 1  
 
In one of the liveliest and most fun Godzilla movies, the king of kaiju battles Ebirah, a terrifying mega-crustacean that kills everything it encounters. Meanwhile, a group of shipwreck survivors encounter a menacing terrorist group called the Red Bamboo, intent on manufacturing nuclear weapons and enslaving the islanders.

With three kaiju embodying nature as a powerful, untameable force and a climactic battle with the future of the ecosystem at stake, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep subtly explores themes of man’s connection with nature. The fights between Ebirah and Godzilla are among the franchise’s most memorable – all this, and a delightful cameo from Mothra, too. 
 
Gamera the Brave + introduction by Yuriko Hamaguchi (PG) 
Japan 2006, Dir Ryuta Tasaki, 96min 
Wed 10 Dec, 6.20pm  
Cinema 1   
 
Years after Gamera sacrificed himself for humanity, the benevolent kaiju lives again through a newly hatched turtle. As an adult, his calling as earth’s protector manifests once more as a new, aggressive kaiju, Zedus, begins a destructive rampage. 

Gamera the Brave introduced the franchise to a new generation, following the acclaimed Heisei Trilogy. Emphasising respect for the natural world and subtly bringing in environmental themes, it is an engrossing and often delightful addition to the series. To date, it remains the last Gamera film. This is a rare chance to see it on the big screen. 
 
Lucy Raven: Rounds
Film programme
Fri 5 Dec + Mon 8 Dec 2025 

Lucy Raven's China Town + Jean Luc Godard's Opération Béton
China Town, USA, 2009, Dir Lucy Raven, 51min 
Opération Béton, France, 1958, Dir Jean-Luc Godard, 20min
Fri 5 Dec, 6.30pm  
Cinema 2  
 
Lucy Raven introduces a double bill of films that create a dialogue across decades – between materials and meaning, monumental structures and the people who build them. 

In China Town (2009), Raven follows the journey of copper from an open-pit mine in Nevada to China’s Three Gorges Dam, revealing how landscapes are transformed, exploited, repurposed and abandoned as global industries shift. 

Screened after is Opération Béton (1955), an early industrial film by a young Jean-Luc Godard. While working on the Grande Dixence dam, Godard documented its construction and layered the footage with his own voiceover, offering a wry, personal take on the labour behind the concrete. 

Figures in a Landscape (15) 
US/UK/Spain 1970, Dir Joseph Losey, 110min
Mon 8 Dec, 6.50pm  
Cinema 2  

Malcolm McDowell and Robert Shaw star as two escaped convicts fleeing across a desolate, unnamed landscape, relentlessly hunted by a helicopter in Joseph Losey’s haunting and enigmatic thriller. 

The film plunges the viewer into a world defined by ambiguity and tension, creating a persistent atmosphere of dread and paranoia that transforms the cat-and-mouse pursuit into a haunting meditation on surveillance, power, and the fragile nature of human freedom. 

Selected by the artist Lucy Raven to accompany her exhibition Rounds, Losey’s portrayal of vast, impersonal landscapes, offers a stark counterpoint to Raven’s own explorations of land, space, and the material scars left by extractive industry. 
 
Cinema Restored
So Watt Special: Derek Bailey - New Sights, Old Sounds
Sun 14 Dec, 3pm  
Cinema 3  

Opening a short season of events around London to mark the twentieth anniversary of the death of innovative guitarist Derek Bailey, the Barbican presents an exclusive compilation of rare film and video material from the archives of Incus Records and beyond. Many of these recordings have never been seen before.  

Join us as we travel the globe, across the decades, and witness Bailey's encounters with other titans of the improvisation scene. The event is co-curated and presented by Ian Greaves. 

Regular Programme Strands 
Family Film Club
Every Sat, 11 am  
Cinema 2   

Barbican Cinema’s regular family strand takes place every Saturday morning. The programme includes new releases, archive classics, short films and international gems, as well as live events, activities and a free monthly workshop.  

Senior Community Screenings 
Welcoming 60+ cinema goers to watch the latest new releases every other Monday morning: 
 
Free Event: Cane River + Introduction from Curator Matthew Barrington
USA 1982, Dir Horace Jenkins, 104min
Mon 8 Dec, 11am  
Cinema 2  
 
Horace B. Jenkins’s long-lost charming 1982 American romantic drama exploring a racially charged love story. Set in the Natchitoches Parish, one of Louisiana’s first free communities of colour, Cane River is a Romeo and Juliet–esque love story starring Richard Romain and Tommye Myrick.  

They portray a young couple navigating the enduring divides of race and class, tensions that continue to resonate in America today, culminating in a poignant and unexpected ending. 

Following the untimely death of director Horace Jenkins in 1982, the film saw only limited screenings before disappearing from view for nearly four decades. 
 
The Sound of Music (PG)
US 2025, Dir Robert Wise, 172min
Mon 22 Dec, 11am  
Cinema 2  
 
Restored and remastered in 4K for its 60th anniversary, the re-release of The Sound of Music is a testament to the enduring power of this masterpiece. 
 
Adapted from a true-life story, Maria (Julie Andrews) is a spirited young governess who  
brings music, warmth and other favourite things to the seven children of a widowed naval officer, as war looms over the Austrian Alps. 

Relaxed Screenings 
Relaxed screenings take place in an environment that is specially tailored for a neurodiverse audience, as well as those who find a more informal setting beneficial: 
 
Bugonia [35mm] (15)
US 2025, Dir Yorgos Lanthimos, 116min 
Mon 8 Dec, 6.30pm  
Cinema 3  
 
A chance to enjoy Yorgos Lanthimos' latest black comedy, in which a high-flying capitalist (Emma Stone) and a low-stakes conspiracist (Jesse Plemons) clash morally, mentally and physically. 
 
Happyend 
US/Japan, Dir Neo Sora, 113min 
Fri 19 Dec, 12pm + Sun 28 Dec, 12pm   
Cinema 3  
 
Set in a dystopian near-future Tokyo, Neo Sora’s striking debut film presents a vivid coming-of-age story, about best friends Yuta and Kou, as they navigate a world increasingly dominated by AI surveillance and authoritarian control. 

 
Event Cinema  
 
MET Opera Live: Andrea Chénier
Sat 13 Dec, 6pm  
Cinema 3  
 
Giordano's passionate tragedy set against the backdrop of the violence and intrigue of the French Revolution.  

Royal Ballet & Opera Live: The Nutcracker
Sun 14 Dec, 2pm  
Cinema 2  
 
Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker has enchanted audiences since its 1984 premiere. Featuring Tchaikovsky’s most familiar melodies, The Nutcracker is sure to be a festive firecracker for all ages.