A week of energetic and thought-provoking cult films curated by the BFI Young Programmers
Curated by a talented group of young people aged 16-19, the BFI Film Academy Young Programmers Festival showcases a diverse range of cult and classic cinema.
Each year, the BFI Film Academy’s Cinema Programming and Audience Development Residential brings together 30 young people from across the UK to learn about the distribution, exhibition and marketing of film, and the running of an independent cinema. This year’s programme culminates in a week-long film festival at Showroom Cinema, from 13-18 February, with daily double bills focusing on youth and revolution.
The festival kicks off on 13 February with Galentine's Day screenings of Wanda and Daisies. These two films directed by women, centre around ‘Unlikable Women’, and challenge audience perceptions around the representations of unsympathetic female characters.
Discover the ‘Look How Far We’ve Come’ programme on 14 February. Exploring the relationship between youth and immigration, the strand poses the question of how far society has actually come in its acceptance and tolerance of newcomers. This double-bill, programmed by young cinephiles, features Sarah Gavron’s Rocks and Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine. Both films portray the different experiences of first and second-generation immigrants through the lens of youth.
Communist History, (15 February) counter programmes Paweł Pawlikowski’s romantic drama Cold War against Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin to explore two distinctive perspectives on the communist movement.
A Night to Remember (16 February) captures the nocturnal energy of nightlife through two films spanning the ‘In One Night’ trope. Joe Cornish’s irreverent sci-fi comedy Attack The Block starring John Boyega is programmed alongside Walter Hill’s cult classic The Warriors in this late night double-feature that is sure to pack a punch.
Closing the festival on 17 February, is a double-bill centring around Fake Realities, inviting audiences to contemplate the role of dreams within our own reality. Our young programmers’ have selected Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending earlier work Inception, followed by Satoshi Kon’s surrealist anime Paprika, an inspiration for Nolan’s feature.
On Sunday, Showroom will host a showcase of regional filmmaking talent in 2024’s Sci-Fi themed DIY Filmmaking Challenge. Sci-Fi lovers and aspiring film makers will not want to miss this event, which will include a panel discussion from industry professionals.
Tickets to BFI Young Programmers Festival 2024 can be purchased at /young-progammers-festival-2024. Tickets start from £5 for under 26s when they sign up with a free Cine 26 card. Adult tickets start from £10.30 (£7.80).
