Presented in collaboration with Cine Brazil. These screenings mark the UK premiere of Brazil's submission to next year's Academy Awards, following in the footsteps of The Secret Agent and I'm Still Here!
Gugu is an almost-twelve-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a soccer player and lives under the loving, open-minded care of his grandmother Dilma, whose warmth gives him space to simply be himself. In their small community by the Araújo Lima Reservoir - now slowly drying up and exposing the ghostly remains of a submerged town – the pair share a quiet but powerful bond that shields them from the disapproval of Gugu’s father and the community around them. As old memories resurface, subtle changes begin to unsettle their routine: Dilma becomes increasingly fragile, and Gugu, determined to keep their world intact, begins to worry about losing the only safe space he’s ever known.
Original language: Portuguese
Presented with English subtitles
Cine Brazil
Cine Brazil is a London-based organisation dedicated to bringing the diversity and creativity of Brazilian cinema to audiences in the UK and Europe.
For 2026, we present our year-long season 'Spotlight' celebrating four international female filmmakers through four dedicated programmes, each featuring three films.
Partnering with Brent and Harrow PSC, we opened the season with the acclaimed Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, following the incredible success of her recent feature Palestine 36.
We followed up with Italian visionary director Lina Wertmüller, who was the first female director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for her film Seven Beauties (1975).
We then partnered with Cinema Mentiré to to bring a partial retrospective of Chilean director Maite Alberdi, one of the most distinctive filmmakers working today.
For our final season of the year, running from October to December, we're delighted to be presenting three films from Scottish filmmaker, Lynne Ramsay. The Sunday screening in November of We Need to Talk About Kevin will have a live Q&A with the film's cinematographer Seamus McGarvey.
All Sunday screenings will include an introduction, with tickets priced at £10.
HOW DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR TEACHERS?
Take your seats and face the front: how different are the spaces of the classroom and the cinema?
School is a near-universal experience with deep emotional connections and investments. From Internet role models to constant, polarising debates about teachers and child welfare, we live in an age of great uncertainty around education.
Many famous films about schools and teaching are inspirational dramas — think Good Will Hunting or Dead Poets Society. What about grounded, sensitive films that more deeply explore the challenges and complexities of teaching and school life?
Taking place shortly after the Lexi’s run of Bad Apples, this season invites audiences to experience a range of lesser-seen films about schools from four European countries: France, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany. Two of the four titles have never screened theatrically in the UK outside festivals.
Each screening will include an introduction, with a panel discussion after the final screening.
CLASSROOM CINEMA is a film season curated by Tom Saer, in collaboration with the Film Studies, Programming and Curation Master’s at the National Film and Television School (NFTS).
Bora reunite for more unmissable Brazilian cinema at The Lexi Cinema in partnership with Cine Brazil!
Throughout August we're screening 4 Brazilian classics from the 2000s, and in September a bonus film to close things out.
Rewatch the saudosos classics or catch them for the first time on the big screen.
📽️ A Dog's Will (Auto da Compadecida) - Aug 2, 4 & 6
📽️ City of God (Cidade de Deus) - Aug 9, 10, 12 & 13
📽️ Ó Paí, Ó - Aug 16, 18 & 20
📽️ Basic Sanitation the Movie (Saneamento Básico) - Aug 23, 25 & 27
📽️ Bacurau - Sep 6 & 10
All Sunday screenings will have an introduction before the film.
All films with English subtitles.
