Aardman’s co-founder chats with Andrew Smith , director of Cartoon Carnival a lovingly-researched documentary telling the story of the pioneering early days of animated film and of one film preservationist’s quest to rescue pre-sound cartoons from obscurity and share them with new audiences.
A comedy about four single girls with busy office jobs and love lives sharing a flat in a big city – a gentle and graceful comedy about women trying to navigate a male dominated world.
W.C.Fields in this early silent comedy he shines as the henpecked Elmer. Regularly criticised by work colleagues and disrespected by clients until ,that is, he’s hypnotised into believing he is a lion. Host Robin Ince will be talking live via Zoom to Dr Harriet Fields, about her grandfather’s screen and stage work
Laugh-out-loud sight gags, sharp satirical digs at the business side of Hollywood and some of cinema’s best known stars feature throughout this fine satire – charting the attempts by Mel Brooks and the lost-too-young Marty Feldman to make a silent film.
Laugh-out-loud sight gags, sharp satirical digs at the business side of Hollywood and some of cinema’s best known stars feature throughout this fine satire – charting the attempts by Mel Brooks and the lost-too-young Marty Feldman to make a silent film. This will be a relaxed screening
Lucy Porter introduces two films linked by their takes on marriage. The short, LE TORCHON BRULE (1911) is by far the oldest and shortest in this year’s programme, starring Sarah Duhamel as one half of a couple engaged in all-out war.
The main feature is OH! WHAT A NURSE! (1926).
Buster Keaton makes his feature film debut in THE SAPHEAD, directed by the husband of groundbreaking filmmaker Alice Guy. Keaton plays Bertie, the pampered son of a silver mine owner and brother-in-law to a shady investor who ruins Bertie’s wedding plans with lies and puts the family’s wealth in jeopardy.
Keaton scholar Polly Rose introduces Old Stone Face’s final silent, the Berlin Festival award-winning THE RAILRODDER, released just four months before Buster’s death.
Satirical films from the old Soviet Union, starring the Ukrainian/Swedish beauty, Anna Sten – later whisked to Hollywood by Sam Goldwyn who dubbed her ‘the new Greta Garbo’.
Writer film historian and Silent London blogger Pamela Hutchinson offers a context for our Soviet comedies day with a brief presentation highlighting the influence of 1920s Soviet silent comedies. + Chess Fever (1925)
A rare find, only recently rediscovered and restored, and from a co-director of CHESS FEVER, this is a satire about a small-time racketeer trying to turn Bolshevism to his advantage.
All profits from this event will be donated to a Ukranian Charity
Recognised widely as a masterpiece of Soviet silent cinema, this is also a delightful comedy of manners satirising contemporary life in Moscow during a time of ever-shifting, often contradictory, policies, It stars Vera Maretskaya, a five times winner of the Stalin Prize for acting.
When it comes to the art of punching melons until they explode, no one on the UK mainland can rival Robin Ince’s expertise. From his ill-fated 2004 Edinburgh Show to his critically acclaimed 2023 performance, melons were punched.
It is rare for a film to score 100% on Rotten Tomatoes but this silent comedy-drama – by a Japanese director so in love with Hollywood and Harold Lloyd, he played truant to visit cinemas – does so.
With more details to be confirmed, CBeebies star Andy Day hosts a family friendly adventure into the multi-award-winning world of Aardman and the studio’s favourite film and TV characters – Wallace and Gromit .
There’s another side to globally famous musician Rick Wakeman CBE- his love of classic screen comedy. Here, with the help of clips and home movie footage, he delves into why he considers Dad’s Army one of the finest comedies ever made and reflects on his cherished friendship with Ian Lavender.
Join writers, creators and cast members of the ground-breaking radio and TV comedy series, for a discussion about how they set about using satire to challenge prevailing stereotypes and explore the experiences of British-Asians faced with balancing UK life here with the traditions of their heritage.
Dustin Hoffman gives an Oscar nominated performance as an unsuccessful actor who poses as a woman to try for a part in a hit TV series. Introduced by Harriet Taylor in partnership with Queer Vision and Switch
Comedian, actor and gay rights champion Stephen K. Amos, has a 20+ year record of making worldwide audiences laugh with his sharp wit, charm and energy. In this exclusive, one-off event, hosted by Robin Ince and featuring clips, Stephen will share why he includes Dave Allen, Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor among his comedy heroes and inspirations
Stephen K. Amos dives deeper into his admiration for Mel Brooks as he introduces the film he considers his all-time favourite comedy: Blazing Saddles (1974). This Mel Brooks classic stars Cleavon Little as a Black sheriff, appointed by a scheming villain intent on destroying a town, only to prove himself a worthy adversary.
It’s more than 40 years since the end of the first BBC run of John Sullivan’s sitcom about the hapless efforts of the Tooting Popular Front to spark a revolution, yet its star, Robert Lindsay, still gets hailed regularly as Wolfie and with the catchphrase: “Power To The People”.
Keaton is both touching and very, very funny in this spoof cowboy film as Friendless, a hapless soul who decides to try his hand at cattle ranching after failing to find a big city job. With live accompaniment from members of the European Silent Screen Virtuosi led by Günter A. Buchwald.
Eddie Murphy plays the lead in this comedy send-up of every horror film ever built on the premise of a family thinking they’ve found their dream home only for ghosts and ghouls to get in the way. With an introduction from Adam Murray, founder of the Bristol Black Horror Club.
Eddie Murphy plays the lead in this comedy send-up of every horror film ever built on the premise of a family thinking they’ve found their dream home only for ghosts and ghouls to get in the way.
At the centre of Slapstick’s satirical comedy strand is Stanley Kubrick’s award – winning visionary cinematic satire of the cold war. Stanley Kubrick’s dark satire follows the chaos after an unhinged US general orders a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union.
Rik Mayall (1958 to 2014) was a pioneer of alternative comedy, writing and performing in a style which revolutionised TV sitcoms and led to such memorable series as Filthy Rich & Catflap, The Comic Strips Presents, Bottom, The New Statesman, and The Young Ones. Nigel Planer, discusses Rik’s legacy with superfan Robin Ince.
Against a perennial backdrop of party rivalries worldwide, cast leaders Sir Michael Palin and Robert Lindsay take a timely look back at Alan Bleasdale’s highly controversial, dark comedy about political divisions and abuses of power.
This year’s winner of the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award is comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director Ben Elton.
Nigel Planer is a man of very many parts– actor, poet, comedian, author, playwright, voiceover artist, musician– and possesses a showbiz CV which takes in everything from starring roles in award-winning musicals, TV whodunits, fondly-remembered comedies and stage dramas.
Whether it’s the flamboyant pratfalls of The Pink Panther films or the aural anarchic of The Goon Show, the essence of Slapstick comedy was vital to the comedy career of Peter Sellers. Robert Ross, author of the new book, Best Sellers: Peter Sellers A Life in Comedy, presents an affectionate and hilarious celebration of the comic genius in this, his centenary year.
As his brother’s band The Beatles were enjoying their first chart success, the younger of the McCartney brothers was adopting the name Mike McGear and forming satirical comic trio The Scaffold, with poet Roger McGough and comedian John Gorman.
From Punky Business with Jane Asher to Joan Sims and June Whitfield as gangsters running the world of ballroom dancing, Samira Ahmed and Graeme Garden provide a follow-up to their hugely popular Slapstick 2024 show, this time drawing on a rich archive of clips to discuss the importance of the many comic actresses who featured in The Goodies TV series, and the roles they played.