Lexi Cinema London

A Tipping Point film club event.  Screening followed by panel discussion with Alex Cobham, an expert on illicit tax flows, and Tom Pursey, one of UK Uncut’s founders.

‘A well researched, brightly presented and provocative argument.’ John Anderson, Variety

Corporate greed is alive and well … and we’re paying for it! America is in the grip of a societal economic panic. Lawmakers cry “We’re broke!” as they slash budgets, lay off schoolteachers, police, and fire-fighters, shredding the US’s social fabric and leaving many Americans scrambling to survive.  Meanwhile, multi-billion dollar American corporations like Exxon, Google and Bank of America are making record profits.  And while the deficit climbs and the cuts go deeper, these corporations—with intimate ties to our political leaders—are concealing colossal profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. income tax.

And there is no grounds to think that the situation is any different here…

We’re Not Broke is the story of how U.S. corporations have been able to hide over a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam, and how seven fed-up Americans from across the country, take their frustration to the streets . . . and vow to make the corporations pay their fair share.   Directed and produced by award-winning team Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce, We’re Not Broke has been a USA festival hit.

Live Q&A with one of the film’s subjects, after.

“The most important British film of the year.” Time Out

Birmingham has three murders a day, mostly resulting from black-on-black conflict, and this documentary is an inspirational account of how a few determined, articulate young black men tried, and regrettably are still trying, to stop the human waste. With much telling archive footage and some heartfelt rap performances, the result is an edgy, ground-breaking work.

Director Penny Woolcock’s 2009 feature1 Day was set amid Birmingham’s black gang culture, and one of its cast, Dylan Duffus, was the leader of a real-life gang.  Shabba, a member of a rival crew whose turf is just a mile distant, later contacted Woolcock to ask her to arrange a meeting with Dylan to help broker a truce. This documentary is the result of that process, an inspirational account of the efforts of a few to go against the tide and stop the city’s gang violence.

A DocHouse presentation, £7/5 with a live Q&A with the producer.

Off the coast of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal is a tiny ‘brothel island’ populated by women forced to sell their bodies to men who arrive by the boatload.  Each of the women came to inhabit the 100m long and 10m wide piece of land for different reasons, whether through a sister, the need for money, or in search of love and affection, but for all of them it is a life tougher than they could have imagined.

Deepening their troubles is the island’s existence at the frontline of climate change, and with the increase of cyclones, floods and soil erosion the prospect of losing their homes, and the island itself, is closer than ever.

Beautifully shot and against expectation, Bad Weather is a documentary that carves out a message of hope in extreme adversity.   Join us afterwards for a Q&A with the film’s producer, Carlotta Mastrojanni.

London’s only year-round festival of documentaries, DocHouse showcases international films in UK cinemas. Established for over ten years with events, masterclasses, screenings and education outreach, DocHouse works in close collaboration with leading international filmmakers, distributors, festivals and independent cinema partners, encouraging audience interest in the best international documentary.

A new Almodovar?  With guest appearances by Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas?  Be there for this preview of I’m So Excited, followed by a live satellite Q&A with Almodovar.

A disparate band of passengers cope in different ways with the threat of extreme unction when a routine flight to Mexico City- line-dancing flight attendants and all – goes wrong.

“Shell, the captivating debut from the young Scottish filmmaker Scott Graham, finds claustrophobia in the widest-open landscape, and isolation in the closest-knit relationship.” Robbie Collin, The Telegraph

Shell is a 17-year-old girl who lives and works at a petrol station in the desolate Scottish Highlands. Apart from the occasional customers who call by for fuel, and a few regulars who acknowledge and catch up with her, Shell’s only company is her reserved and softly spoken father Pete (Joseph Mawle), to whom she is devoted.  A young girl trying to find her place in the world, she is on the cusp of womanhood. Pete, meanwhile, is damaged goods. He still keenly feels the absence of his wife, who ran away when Shell was four, while his connection with his daughter is both difficult and disturbing.

Beautifully photographed, Shell is an involving story with quiet, emotionally charged performances from leads Chloe Pirrie and Joseph Mawle – a deeply affecting film that stays with you long after viewing.    Shown at the London Film Festival , the film was nominated for three awards including Best Newcomer for Chloe Pirrie who will be joining us afterwards for a Q&A.

“The issue is that it is different.  How do you use it, and how do you use it to tell a story?  That is up to the director.” Martin Scorsese

Dog or Cat?  Sweet or savoury? Film or Digital?  For most movie fans, the rise of digital and decline of celluloid is just a consequence of progress. For Keanu Reeves, though, it’s a mixed blessing, although as The Matrix’s Neo, his extraordinary exploits depended entirely on digital fixes. Here, producer/presenter Reeves interviews various venerable directors and photographers – including Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Steven Soderbergh, David Lynch and David Fincher – on the merits or otherwise of digital. Most of the interviewees have gleefully abandoned film stock; only Christopher Nolan, whose deeply textured Dark Knight series clearly benefited from being shot on celluloid, champions the ‘old technology’ with any passion. But although Side by Side is actually very one-sided, it provides fascinating insights into the creative methodology of many of today’s top directors, and Reeves is an engaging, knowledgeable MC.

Joining our panel of film and digital practitioners afterwards is local documentary film maker and cameraman Martin Rosenbaum.  Martin’s new film – The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology with Slavoj Zizek – will be coming to the Lexi in April.

Hosted by 2 of the film’s producers, Lisa Marie Russo and Kate Ogborn, present for a Q&A afterwards.

“Passionate and deeply personal but done with Loach’s usual humane intelligence as well as a patient elegance of style.” Jason Solomons, The Observer

Barely pausing for breath after his trenchant Scottish comedy The Angel’s Share, Ken Loach here returns to documentary – impassioned, polemical film making – for the first time since 2005’s McLibel. 1945 was a pivotal year in British history. The unity that carried Britain through the war allied to the bitter memories of the inter-war years led to a vision of a better society. The spirit of the age was, be your brother’s and your sister’s keeper; an unabashed socialist, Loach believes that “Generosity, mutual support and cooperation were the watchwords of the age. It is time to remember the determination of those who were intent on building a better world.” Loach has used film from Britain’s regional and national archives, alongside sound recordings and contemporary interviews to document a rich political and social narrative. The Spirit of ’45 hopes to illuminate and celebrate a period of unprecedented community spirit in the UK, the impact of which endured for many years – and which may yet be rediscovered today.

Interesting interview with Loach here.

With a live satellite interview with Ken Loach + panel afterwards

“Passionate and deeply personal but done with Loach’s usual humane intelligence as well as a patient elegance of style.” Jason Solomons, The Observer

Barely pausing for breath after his trenchant Scottish comedy The Angel’s Share, Ken Loach here returns to documentary – impassioned, polemical film making – for the first time since 2005’s McLibel.

1945 was a pivotal year in British history. The unity that carried Britain through the war allied to the bitter memories of the inter-war years led to a vision of a better society. The spirit of the age was, be your brother’s and your sister’s keeper; an unabashed socialist, Loach believes that “Generosity, mutual support and cooperation were the watchwords of the age. It is time to remember the determination of those who were intent on building a better world.” Loach has used film from Britain’s regional and national archives, alongside sound recordings and contemporary interviews to document a rich political and social narrative. The Spirit of ’45 hopes to illuminate and celebrate a period of unprecedented community spirit in the UK, the impact of which endured for many years – and which may yet be rediscovered today.

Interesting interview with Loach here.

This follows the global campaign to overturn the international patents on anti-retroviral drugs, the actions of Big Pharma which put AIDS treatment beyond the reach of millions of Developing World victims.

Powerfully articulated in first-time director Dylan Mohan Gray’s often harrowing Sundance-nominated documentary, AIDS victims, front-line clinicians, radical health professionals, callous pharmaceutical company executives and politicians as diverse as Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are expertly knitted together to show how, as one interviewee admits, “If things get bad enough, things do change.”  As they bust through the patent barriers to reduce the cost of treatment – from $12,000-$15,000 annually to a mere £350 per patient – the victory of a few dogged activists is Fire in the Blood’s moving highpoint, albeit underscored with ominous implications for the future.

Join us afterwards for the chance to discuss the film and the issues when director Gray joins us.

As the occupants of Beauchamp House for Retired Musicians prepare for their annual concert celebrating Verdi’s birthday, the arrival of Jean (Maggie Smith), the ex-wife of one of their number (Tom Courtenay) causes havoc. Still very much the diva, Jean refuses to add her voice – or at least her singing voice – to the party, and Quartet follows the efforts of the variously well-meaning, grumpy and forgetful incumbents to persuade her to get off her high horse and muck in. Scripted by Ronald Harwood from his 1999 play, and marking Hoffman’s agreeably assured directorial debut, Quartet radiates much of the gentle drama and grown-up good humour of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, with especially nice turns from Billy Connolly as an ageing roué and Pauline Collins as Jean’s daffy, well-meaning confidante.

Director Mary Kerr and producer Paul Fischer bring a little Manhattan glamour – and insight – to the Lexi after the film.

“Kerr has given us a shrewd insight into the sentimentality and superstition of the film business, and the brittle world of movie status and prestige.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

The incredible story of an extraordinary eccentric, a formerly homeless man whose unparalleled obsession with the movies has taken him from sleeping on the streets to becoming a New York City movie legend with over 100 small parts in films to his name. Featuring interviews with many of the celebrities who know him (George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Johnny Depp just for starters!), the film is the rags to (no) riches story of a human being full of dreams and contradictions, and of a life full of missed opportunities and unexpected blessings. It gives the audience unparalleled access to the everyday behind the scenes of show business – paparazzi, autograph collectors, premieres and film shoots – all seen through the unlikely eyes of an old New York street bum. It’s an ode to the magic of the movies – and to the power of imagination.

A good-luck charm on New York film sets, Radioman is hidden in every film and TV show shot in the city, almost as a Where’s Waldo? character. But he has dreams of being a serious actor, and the documentary follows him as he tries to get bigger speak roles, and make a reputation for himself as an actor, rather than just the street character he has become trapped by. It also delves into his past, from his childhood in Brooklyn, with an abusive father and a brother who tragically died young; to his time on the Manhattan streets, sleeping by train tracks under Penn Station; to the day he got arrested for drunkenness and sectioned, in a straightjacket, into the infamous Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, where he spent six months and stopped drinking. The film also shows him putting all his money into flying to Los Angeles when all else fails to try and crash the Oscars, with heart-breaking results.