Hunger + ScreenTalk with screenwriter Enda Walsh & Lola Boorman, hosted by Clive Nwonka
The Devil Finds Work: James Baldwin on Film
Steve McQueen's Hunger explores the themes of freedoms (both personal and national) and bodily suffering, which Baldwin investigates as a means of approaching cinema more broadly.
Steve McQueen’s debut feature film, Hunger, remains an underappreciated examination of the 1981 Hunger Strike by the IRA prisoner Bobby Sands and his experiences of political oppression within the HYM Maze Prison.
More broadly, the film is laden with universal questions of identity, belonging and morality. This screening, inspired by Baldwin’s analysis of the 1958 prison drama The Defiant Ones, asks what is experienced by the audience when confronted with images of human suffering, the political body, and what is seen in McQueen’s cinematic language that relates to Baldwin’s own concern with the relationship between cinema, identity and politics.
2008 UK/Ireland dir. Steve McQueen 96 min
Ticket prices
Students £11
Unwaged £11
Over 60s £11
Under 18s £6
Wheelchair spaces, free companion seats may now be booked online.
Please select the relevant preferences on the access registration page during your booking, so we can provide you with the correct information and discounts.
Booking a wheelchair space
Select a seat displaying the wheelchair user icon and then select 'wheelchair user' ticket type. The ticket will be priced at the lowest price for that event. If you need an essential companion, please select the E icon next to the wheelchair space you have selected.
Booking essential companion tickets
Please select at least two tickets and one of them will be automatically discounted to zero in the basket.
Booking British Sign Language or Captioned Seats
Select seats in the area appropriate to your needs.
Booking fees
£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.
No fee when tickets are booked in person.
Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.
This project is part of the ‘James Baldwin and Britain’ project (2024-2027), led by Douglas Field, Kennetta Hammond Perry and Rob Waters, with thanks for the generous support by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
The film programme is curated by Dr Clive Chijioke Nwonka.
Biographies
Enda Walsh is a playwright and screenwriter who shot to fame when he won both the George Devine Award and the Stewart Parker Award in 1997 with his play Disco Pigs.
In 2007 and 2008 Enda won Fringe First Awards at two consecutive Edinburgh Festivals for his plays The Walworth Farce and The New Electric Ballroom. The former led the Guardian to name him "one of the most dazzling wordsmiths of contemporary theatre."
Since his initial success as a playwright, Enda has gone on to write for the screen. His 2008 biopic, Hunger, won a host of awards, including the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Dr Lola Boorman is a Lecturer in American Literature and Culture at the University of York. Her work has appeared in Twentieth-Century Literature, ASAP/J, and Post45.
Give a year of art, music, film and theatre
Cinema 2
Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.
Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.
Location
Barbican Cinema 2 & 3 are located on Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican’s Silk Street entrance. From Silk Street, you’ll see a zebra crossing that will take you over the road to the venue.
Address
Beech Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Nearby public transport
We are within walking distance from a number of London Underground stations, the closest being Barbican, St Paul’s and Moorgate. The nearest train stations are Liverpool Street and Farringdon. Bus Route 153 runs directly past the Barbican along Chiswell Street
Car and bicycle parking
We have free bicycle spaces and paid car parking spaces available
We’ve plenty of places for you to relax and replenish, from coffee and cake to wood-fired pizzas and full pre-theatre menus
Access
Level access from the Pit floor foyer only to the two boxes (see Mobility below). All other seats lead off stepped aisles.
Mobility
Two boxes at the rear of the auditorium each have space for one wheelchair user and a companion. Please book early and ask for these seats.
Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs may be taken into the cinema – please tell us when booking, to ensure your seat has enough space. If you prefer, you may leave your dog with a member of the foyer staff during the performance.
Hearing facility
There is an induction loop in the auditorium. You can use this by adjusting your hearing aid to the ‘T’ setting.
For more access information, please visit our Accessibility section.
Access
Cinemas 2 & 3 are located at Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican Centre’s main Silk Street entrance. There are a couple of steep, dropped kerbs and an incline to negotiate between the two sites. Level access from Beech Street.
Mobility
Each auditorium has three permanent wheelchair spaces (two in the third row and one in the front row) and 153 fixed seats with capacity for a further three spaces in the front row. Access to each auditorium is up a ramp. There are also a number of seats with step-free access.
Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs may be taken into the cinema – please tell us when booking to ensure your seat has enough space. If you prefer, you may leave your dog with a member of the foyer staff during the performance.
Hearing facility
An infrared system for hard of hearing customers is provided in each auditorium; headsets or neck loops can be collected from foyer staff. The ticket desk counter is fitted with an induction loop.
For more access information, please visit our Accessibility section.
