CINEMA REDISCOVERED NAMES FIRST GUESTS JOINING
CELEBRATION OF 1980s BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Diary dates: Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 July 2025
The celebrated film producer Stephen Woolley will give the opening address when the 9th annual edition of the UK’s leading festival of newly restored, rarely screened or recently re-found cinematic gems – Cinema Rediscovered – takes place in and around Bristol, UK, from 23 to 27 July. For more info:www.watershed.co.uk/cinema-rediscovered
The BAFTA winning and Oscar-nominated film producer Stephen Woolley will usher in a special strand celebrating 1980s British film when he gives the launch lecture at the UK’s leading festival of newly-restored films, forgotten gems and classic revivals – Cinema Rediscovered.
The festival’s 9th annual edition is taking place in and around Bristol, UK, a UNESCO City of Film from July 23 to 27 as a presentation by Watershed and with the support of the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, and principal sponsors Park Circus and STUDIOCANAL.
Joining Stephen Woolley for the Against The Grain; 1980s British Cinema strand will be the award-winning director Sir Stephen Frears and the influential programmer, producer and author Lynda Myles.
Cinema Rediscovered founder Mark Cosgrove says: “At the 1982 Oscars ceremony, Colin Welland famously declared ‘the British are coming’. Sadly they never quite arrived as the UK industry and audiences went into near terminal decline. Amid these turbulent times, however, and against the political and social upheaval of Thatcherism, seeds of renewal could be spotted across the independent film sector – from the arrival of Channel 4 and the rise of maverick distributor/producer Palace Pictures to the emergence of new voices. I’m delighted to welcome such an inspiring line-up of guests whose influence in the 1980s and beyond helped reshape British film culture.”
Among the British films showing as part of the Against The Grain strand will be Julien Temple’s musical ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS (1986), starring Steven Berkoff, David Bowie, Ray Davies, Patsy Kensit, Eddie O’Connell and Sade, screening on 35mm; Neil Jordan’s ANGEL (1982); MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (Stephen Frears, 1985); DEFENCE OF THE REALM (David Drury, 1986); A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS (Peter Greenaway, 1985), John Akomfrah’s HANDSWORTH SONGS (1987), and THE GOLD DIGGERS (Sally Potter, 1983.)
Maintaining a spotlight on UK cinema, the festival will also mark the centenary of London’s The Film Society and its UK-wide impacts on film culture via events co-curated by Bryony Dixon (BFI National Archive) and film historian Henry K. Miller.
There’ll be plenty of international choices too, among them YEELEN (1987) showing as an homage to pioneering Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé and UK premieres of numerous new restorations including:
- The acclaimed conductor Charles Hazlewood introducing Miloš Forman’s Oscars-laden AMADEUS (1984) ahead of its re-release by Curzon Film.
- A pair of newly-restored Anglo/German silents – SONG (1928) and PAVEMENT BUTTERFLY (1929), both directed by Richard Eichberg and starring style icon Anna May Wong.
- A biting social satire from prominent Czechoslovak New Wave director Věra Chytilová KALAMITA (Calamity, 1982)
Other rediscoveries include ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO (Dir: Larry Peerce, USA 1964), a pioneering indie drama about interracial marriage set at the height of the Civil Rights movement starring Bernie Hamilton and Barbara Barrie (who won Best Actress at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival) c/o STUDIOCANAL ahead of a Home Entertainment release in October. For further information/ bookings see watershed.co.uk/cinema-rediscovered. Festival updates are also available by following Cinema Rediscovered on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd or Bluesky or by signing-up for the free e-newsletter.
