Full programme unveiled for Cinema Rediscovered 2024

It’s proving to be something of a golden age for classic cinema enthusiasts, which is good news for Cinema Rediscovered – Bristol’s nationally renowned celebration of restored archive cinematic gems – which reaches its eighth annual edition in July. For collectors, multiple labels (Eureka, Indicator, StudioCanal, The Criterion Collection, etc) now offer these restorations on blu-ray format, while the streamers have also succeeded in boosting interest.

Those who prefer to watch these films as originally intended – on the big screen with an audience – will be beating a path to the city, where Cinema Rediscovered runs at various venues from Wednesday 24 – Sunday 28 July. After months of anticipation, the full programme has just been announced.

Alain Delon in Le Samourai. Image: Janus Films

The opening night film is the UK premiere of the brand new 4K restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville’s stylish, hugely influential 1967 crime thriller Le Samourai, starring Alain Delon as a hitman who’s hunted by cops and gangsters alike after completing a job in Paris. Also showing on the opening day, hot from its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, is the new 4K restoration of Charles Vidor’s sultry 1946 noir Gilda, featuring a career-making performance by Rita Hayworth in the title role.

Matthew McConaughey and Kris Kristofferson in ‘Lone Star’. Image: Warner Bros.

Other 4K restorations include John Sayles’ Oscar nominated 1996 noir-western Lone Star – starring a young Matthew McConaughey alongside Kris Kristofferson and Chris Cooper – screened with a ‘remote introduction’ by Sayles himself. The 4K restorations also include two films by Bristol-born director J. Lee Thompson. The Weak and the Wicked is a 1954 entry in the popular ‘women behind bars’ cycle with the usual disparate bunch of ladies doing time. Mary Poppins star Glynis Johns plays the stock figure of the traumatised posh lady who was framed by a pal, while Swindon’s very own Diana Dors is cast as a brassier felon. Filming took place just weeks after the latter made tabloid headlines on being convicted of stealing alcohol “worth more than £4”. This one was adapted from the autobiographical novel Who Lie in Gaol, which impressed Thompson so much that he left his wife and subsequently married its author, Joan Henry.

Diana Dors and Glynis Johns in ‘The Weak and the Wicked’. Image: StudioCanal

Released five years later in 1959, at the start of ‘kitchen sink drama’ fad, No Trees in the Street saw Thompson pivot towards social realism. Adapted by TV and theatre veteran Ted Willis from his own 1948 stage play, this casts the late Sylvia Sims as a sweet young woman who becomes the girlfriend of nasty racketeer Herbert Lom in the slums of pre-war London. Actor Melvyn Hayes will be present for this screening, which is introduced by writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet.

Lynn Redgrave and James Earl Jones in ‘The Annihilation of Fish. Image: Milestone Films/Kino Lorber

Another CR highlight is an 80th birthday tribute to pioneering African-American filmmaker Charles Burnett, including a restoration of his long-lost 1999 romantic comedy, The Annihilation of Fish, with an online introduction by the director.

Cineastes will also be delighted by a strand entitled Out of Their Depth: Corruption, Scandal and Lies in the New Hollywood. This focuses on the great American cinema that emerged against a backdrop of 1970s social and political turmoil, and includes three 50th anniversary screenings: Sydney Pollack’s The Parallax View, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation and the UK premiere of the new 35mm print of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown. The inclusion of Chinatown is also the inspiration for a panel discussion entitled The Chinatown Dilemma, which revives the old ‘can you separate the art from the artist?’ debate with reference to Polanski’s 1977 arrest for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. Will any distinction be drawn in these wokey times, one wonders, between those who’ve been convicted of an offence, those who’ve been charged but acquitted (Kevin Spacey) and those who’ve been accused but never arrested or charged with anything at all (Woody Allen)?

Mexican cinema icon Ninón Sevilla. Image: Cinema Rediscovered

Other niche strands include Queer Cinema from the Eastern Bloc; a focus on the work of Montreal-based, multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker Jeff Barnaby – an indigenous storyteller of First Nations Mi’gMaq descent; and a trio of restorations of 1950s ‘rumbera’ films starring Cuban-born actor and dancer Ninón Sevilla – an icon of Mexican cinema and populariser of African, Caribbean and Cuban dance/music.

The 100th birthday of Bristol Archives is celebrated with a screening of David Parker’s archive documentary Bristol 650 in 65 Minutes, which draws on amateur footage to tell the story of the city. David Parker will be present to introduce his film and lead a discussion after the screening.

There’s also an Other Ways of Seeing discussion, which highlights the work of Cinema Rediscovered’s co-curators in pulling together this year’s truly diverse programme.

But we’re just scratching the surface here. Scroll through the full programme to discover all the gems on offer. Booking is already open for early bird ticket holders. If you buy a festival pass, you can book from Wednesday 12 June. General booking opens on Friday 14 June.

Main image: Chris Cooper in John Sayles’ ‘Lone Star’. Credit: Warner Bros.