Press room

From Wednesday 15 September to Sunday 19 September 2021, Leytonstone Loves Film will return for a third year to celebrate film culture and Leytonstone’s vibrant cinema community through an exciting programme of outdoor, indoor and online film screenings, talks, workshops and events.

Made by local creatives and residents in partnership with the Barbican and supported by London Borough of Waltham Forest and Arts Council England, the free community-powered programme is built by a growing collective of local filmmakers, film exhibitors and film enthusiasts with more than 20 local programming partners contributing to this year’s Leytonstone Loves Film. Tickets are free and available to book from Tuesday 24 August. More information about the official programme, partners and how to register for free tickets can be found at leytonstonelovesfilm.com

The festival will span various local venues around Leytonstone including Langthorne Park, Leytonstone High Road, St John’s Church, Leytonstone Library, Filly Brook, Heathcote & Star, Nexus Centre, St Andrew’s Church and Shri Nathji Sanatan Hindu Temple.

Highlights of this year’s festival include screenings of the 2018’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize Butterflies by Tolga Karacelik; Irina Drytchak from Sign for All will be hosting a family film club for D/deaf and hearing families; We Are Parable will be curating Raised Voices, a programme of short films highlighting the work of Black filmmakers from across the UK; as well as RADIANT CIRCUS and Last Frame Club presenting a queer horror double bill including The Hunger by Tony Scott and A Girl walks Home Alone at Night by Ana Lily Amirpour. Among the in-person events is a screening of Nattawut Poonpiriya’s 2017 hit Bad Genius, organised by Not Another Film Club, a group of four alumni from the Barbican’s Young Film Programmers programme; a night programmed by The New Black Film Collective that takes Black Lives Matter and Black History as its starting point; and Apne Film Club’s screenings of classic Bollywood films Charulata and Mughal-E-Azam.

In addition to a series of feature and short film screenings, Leytonstone Loves Film will host a range of cross-arts activities in the form of talks, activities and workshops across the week. These include The Social Cinema’s scavenger hunt for families to discover the magic of moving image through installations in buildings and shops along the High Road in Leytonstone; Forest Film Club collaborating with the Woodhouse Players to host an interactive film pub quiz at the Heathcote & Star; Call To Holy Ground, a film screening, performance and installation presented by Fourthland and made in collaboration with a group of 40 elders from St Andrew’s Church and Shri Nathji Sanatan Hindu Temple; as well as Waltham Forest based filmmaker Ashton John offering HomeMade, an online documentary filmmaking workshop aimed at Waltham Forest documentary filmmakers, photographers and journalists to help them create a short documentary around the theme of Home. 

Moreover, local podcaster, filmmaker and screenwriter Stuart Wright will create a series of nine podcasts interviewing the partners from this year’s Leytonstone Loves Film. These will be released in the lead-up to the festival promoting the work of the partners, but also the 2021 festival programme itself.

More detailed programme info can be found below.

Not Another Film Club, Leytonstone Loves Film Partner 2021, said: ‘Taking part in our second Leytonstone Loves Film has been so much fun and we are so excited to share our programme with everyone. Leytonstone Loves Film has been a great opportunity for us to get into the world of film programming, coming into the scene with little experience we couldn’t have imagined a better platform!’

Rachel Smith, Senior Producer at the Barbican, said: ‘Leytonstone Loves Film is made by an incredible collective of talented artists and film enthusiasts who come together in partnership with Barbican to connect local audiences with fantastic film-led experiences on their doorstep. We’re incredibly proud of the programme and super excited to let the magic of the movies loose across Leytonstone, celebrating stories and experiences that can help us feel more connected to each other and to the places we call home, at such a challenging time.’

Cllr Paul Douglas, Waltham Forest Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture said: ‘Leytonstone Lives Film is always one of my favourite regular cultural highlights in Waltham Forest. It’s only fitting that the birthplace of the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock plays host to this celebration of the silver screen.

‘Building on the legacy of our year as the Mayor’s first-ever London Borough of Culture in 2019, this year’s festival will see an exciting range of screenings alongside talks, activities and workshops – there’s even a quiz where film fans can test their knowledge against likeminded people.

‘I’m delighted to announce that it’s Lights, Camera, Action for Leytonstone Loves Film 2021!’

Programme 2021  

Cross-arts activities happening on multiple days

• Short Circuit is a new trail of experimental and local short films found in unexpected and legendary locations along Leytonstone High Street across all five days of the festival.
• The Social Cinema are organising a scavenger hunt for families to discover the magic of moving image by embedding installations in buildings and shops along the High Road in Leytonstone on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 
• Fourthland present Call To Holy Ground, a series of evening events offering an experience to connect with sacred ecosystems, particularly resonant in a time of climate uncertainty. The work was made through a special collaboration with elders in Waltham Forest from a range of countries, faiths and cultures.
• Community Arts Organisation WIILMA will be offering a series of workshops for young adults and families including an architectural drawing workshop of old cinema buildings on Leytonstone High Road, and a mixed media film poster making workshop.
• Artist Dawinder Bansal will present Asian Women & Cars: Road to Independence, an online watch party and Zoom event celebrating the lives and experiences of first generation South Asian migrant women who learned to drive in the UK.

Wednesday 15 September

Feature and Short Film Screenings

• Turkish filmmaker curator and Leytonstone resident Gokce Pehlivanoglu brings us 2018’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize Butterflies by Tolga Karacelik.
• Poonpiriya’s 2017 hit Bad Genius programmed by Not Another Film Club.
• Women Over 50 Film Festival (WOFFF) has collected some of their favourite shorts from their 2020 festival for us this year. Films that put older women front and centre on the screen and behind the camera.

Cross-arts activities

• Forest Film Club is collaborating with the Woodhouse Players to host an interactive film pub quiz I thought this was speed dating at the Heathcote & Star.
• Call To Holy Ground performance and screening in St Andrews Church.

Thursday 16 September

Feature and Short Film screenings

• The New Black Film Collective, who specialise in programming African, Caribbean and diasporic film, will be hosting a screening centring Black Lives Matter in the Library Hall.
• Forest Film Club will present Friends of Short Film Thursdays showcasing six short films by their favourite London based filmmakers. Forest Film Club co-founder Anthony Hett will also be premiering his newest short film – Leonardo.

Cross-arts activities

• An introduction to Call To Holy Ground by A+C Director, Laura Moffatt and artist curator Rosalind Parker as well as a Performance and Film screening in St Andrews Church.

Friday 17 September

Feature and Short Film screenings

• Complete with live music, Chai, samosas and a community atmosphere where everyone is welcome and encouraged to talk through the films, Apne Film Club revive the Asian cinema clubs that were found wherever migrated populations settled in UK in the 60's and 70's. They are screening the Indian drama Charulata (1964), written and directed by Satyajit Ray, in Leytonstone Library.
• The Barbican Cinema team will share some of their favourites from past and future Barbican programmes including two favourites from their Return to the City programme; Free Time by Manfred Kirchheimer; and Lima Screams by Ximena Valdivia.
• We are Parable present Raised Voices, an evening screening of short films curated by that highlight the work of Black filmmakers from across the UK in Langthorne Park.  

Cross-arts activities

• RADIANT CIRCUS is launching a new showcase and networking event for everyone who creates and cares about alternative screen culture in London. WunderKammer Live will feature four inspiring talks about standout cinema projects, open mic networking, and a surprise feature film to end. First arrivals will get a free copy of CRISIS?, a new zine about the emergency screen culture that emerged during shutdown. WunderKammer Live is at the Filly Brook.

Saturday 18 September

Feature and Short Film Screenings

• X7eaven performing arts academy will be hosting a community showcase featuring the film work of some amazing organisations and filmmakers including Stories & Supper, Liza Fletcher and the Avenue Road community; E17 Films and Esther Neslen Community animation film and many more.
• Irina Drytchak from Sign for All will be hosting a family film club for D/deaf and hearing families and will be screening the beautiful animation Ernest & Celestine.
• There will be a screening of the Black cinema classic 1983’s Bless their Little Hearts by Billy Woodberry and Dana Bonilla; as well as a family screening of Spiderman: Into The Spider-verse, both curated by Barbican Cinema.
• Film programmer Caroline Wilson from UNDR LDN is bringing the world of indie digital streamers to Leytonstone Library by creating an immersive screening experience.
• Last Frame Film Club a community film club aiming to provide an affordable, safe and welcoming environment for all film fans are presenting a programme of short films showcasing the work of LGBTQ+ filmmakers with Last Frame Queer Fest.
• We Are Parable will host a surprise screening. More details will be shared soon.

Cross-arts activities

• Artist Dominic Stinton is celebrating the legacy of Birt Acres, an early pioneer of moving image. Born in Richmond Virginia in 1854, Acres is buried in Walthamstow. Inspired by Acres’ 1895 film, Rough Sea at Dover, Dominic will teach attendees to make their own 30 second narrative film.
• Emmanuel Li and Ethan Ross from Big Tent Films will host a workshop on their passion for making films. The event will cover filmmaking, art and expression, and how to develop a filmmaking practice beyond first films.
• UNDR LNDN will present an installation on indie digital streaming platforms and the creators behind them. Since the rise of Netflix, Prime and Apple TV there are young local streamers curating specialised exceptional content independently. This event will also include a Q&A discussing setting up your own streaming site featuring the creators of some of the featured screenings.
• E17 Films and Esther Neslen are collaborating with local schools to create a community animation, to be screened at the Community Showcase at the Nexus Centre.

Sunday 19 September

Feature and Short Film screenings

• In commemoration of the late Dilip Kumar, Apne Film Club will be screening classic Bollywood film Mughal- E-Azam in St Johns Church Hall.
• Sam Francis and Stow Film Lounge programme popular matinee Annie (2014).
• Joan Littlewood’s classic Sparrows Can’t Sing programmed by Leytonstone Pop Up film Club who have been running film events in the neighbourhood for over ten years. Shot in Stratford and Newham in 1967, Sparrows Can’t Sing depicts a long-lost vision of east London.
• RADIANT CIRCUS and Last Frame Film Club host BITE ME!, a queer horror double bill including The Hunger by Tony Scott and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night by Ana Lily Amirpour. Launching a new series of queer horror events in London, queer horror fans are invited to come along to talk about their favourite scary movies in a welcoming community space. BITE ME! is at the Filly Brook.
• Evening screenings will bring Stow Film Lounge’s super blow-up screen to Langthorne Park and they will be screening their new documentary One Day In Langthorne Park.

Cross-arts activities

• Waltham Forest based filmmaker Ashton John is hosting HomeMade, an online documentary filmmaking workshop aimed at Waltham Forest documentary filmmakers, photographers and journalists to help them create a short documentary around the theme of Home, especially what it means in light of the pandemic.
• Barbican Cinema Kids Programme will do a morning screening of a selection of short films from all over the world curated with our youngest film fans in mind alongside E17’s activity Toy Library, an installation by Social Cinema and a workshop by Hooksmith Press.
• Kabecca Films, a choreography and filmmaker duo are presenting Mapped Memories’, a dance celebration of places and spaces and the people who have a connection to Leytonstone.