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Watershed’s reopening programme of ‘Films that Love the Cinema’ starts today

The Watershed building in Bristol opened this week. Ahh how we've missed them!

Their cinemas will reopen today with a brilliant and characteristically eclectic programme they've called 'Films That Love the Cinema’ ...and love to be seen in the cinema. A host of films that are at their best seen in the unique shared experience of a darkened cinema which we’ve all missed over the past months. So if you're in Bristol today choose between Suhaib Gasmelbari’s documentary Talking About Trees, a wonderful portrait of cinephiliac passion which follows four elderly Sudanese filmmakers whose careers were stopped by a military coup in Sudan 30 years ago as they try to re-open a cinema. Mark Jenkin’s Bait which playfully speaks to the history of film or Pedro Costa’s revalatory and exquisite Vitalina Varela.

Other films showing this month include, Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, which won the 2018 Oscar® winner for Best Film, Atlantics, winner of the Cannes Grand Prix and debut feature from director/actor Mati Diopf, Diao Yinan’s The Wild Goose Lake, a hyper-stylised noir set in modern China’s underbelly, Céline Sciamma’s glorious Portrait of a Lady on Fire, as well as two archive Hollywood from the 1950s, Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. Check out their website for the full programme and more info - www.watershed.co.uk/reopen

Of course things are going to be a little bit different and Watershed have put a host of new safety measures in place to ensure that both audiences and staff have a safe and enjoyable experience. Full details here

Mark Cosgrove Watershed's Cinema Curator says of the reopening programme:

“Thinking about what our reopening programme would be, I wanted to present films which have at their very core the essence of the cinematic - that unique intense experience shared in the darkened auditorium.”

You can read his full introduction here – tickets are available to book now

Clare Reddington, Watershed CEO says:

“We are all so pleased to be able to reopen our wonderful building and begin to present cultural cinema and open our lovely Café & Bar once again. Our priority over this period has been to ensure that our building is safe for everyone, and that we can deliver an enjoyable experience for customers, audience and our staff.”

“However we know that not everyone will be able to visit straight away - or even for some time. Lockdown has enabled us to develop new ways of engaging with remote audiences in Bristol and across the world and we don't want that to stop. We will  continue to work with distributors to present films online where available, and our Studio  Lunchtime Talks will also continue  online for now. We are also beginning  research  into how we produce accessible  hybrid events - designed for audiences both in venue and online. There aren't many examples of how this might work - so bear with us as we explore the potential and we will be sure to let you know what we discover.

To support Watershed in reopening, donations can be made at watershed.co.uk/support-us