This summer, UP Projects presents The Floating Cinema, Another Country; a programme of canal-side and on-board screenings, talks, performances and workshops curated in collaboration with renowned author and journalist Hari Kunzru.
UP Projects’ award winning Floating Cinema, a bespoke wide-beam barge equipped with on board cinema auditorium and outdoor projection facilities, will navigate London’s water ways to present its fifth season of screenings and expanded cinema events in a range of urban waterside locations.
Another Country takes a look at London’s place in the world and questions how we live and work within, as well as outside of, a city that throws up as many opportunities as it does challenges.
Since the EU referendum, investigating what it means to live in the UK and exploring how we might work together to find alternatives seems all the more acute. Another Country addresses the forces that are shaping us today and asks, where is our future?
All tickets booked at www.floatingcinema.info
Opening Weekender: World Cities
Hackney Wick 19 – 21 August
Another Country, begins with World Cities; a series of outdoor and on-board screenings, talks and events that explore and celebrate the power of community resilience in turbulent times. From radical archives to contemporary resistance, The Floating Cinema, World Cities weekender showcases the artists and communities documenting, challenging and finding solutions to an ever-changing city.
A pertinent tale of racial tensions and the most famous of all of Spike Lee’s joints, cult classic Do The Right Thing kick-starts a weekend that looks below the surface of our urban experience.
Breakthrough British filmmaker, Daisy May Hudson’s Halfway explores the universal need for a place to call home within the midst of our very real housing crisis.
A refreshing look at community salvation can be found in Sarah Turner’s story of a much-loved South London pub in Public House; a folk opera meets documentary film, and our programme of short films and talks show the playful, political and personal ways that artists and filmmakers are finding the solutions to the challenges of contemporary life.
Take an urban exploration with The Midday Run, daytime sister to Inua Ellams’ now infamous Midnight Run, and join artists They Are Here as they give you unprecedented access to the goings-on behind the scenes of London’s financial world in Offshore Transactions. Full details of all events are described below.
The Floating Cinema will be moored underneath the A12 Flyover, a short walk from Hackney Wick station. Follow signs to Here East and continue along the towpath.
Floating Cinema is supported by the Arts Council England, BFI, awarding funds from The National Lottery, Canal and River Trust, Film London, King’s Cross Central and Peabody Community Foundation. UP Projects are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of their partners.
Highlights
Open Air screening of 80’s classic Do The Right Thing, Spike Lee, 1989 (120 mins) Certificate 15
Friday 19th August 8.00pm – 10.30pm:
It’s the hottest day of the summer and Sal, owner of the local Pizzeria is confronted by his customer Buggin’ Out for failing to include any African Americans on the restaurant Wall of Fame. So sets the stage for the city’s racial tensions, which sky-rocket throughout the day along with the sticky temperatures.
Accompanied by screening of short film Ackee & Saltfish, Cecile Emeke, 2015 (17 mins)
Price: FREE. Booking essential.
Offshore Transactions (2016)
On board event with They Are Here
6.00pm – 8.00pm Friday 19th; 12-8pm Saturday 20th; 12 – 8pm Sunday 21st August
What really happens in big business dealings? And what is a tax haven, anyway?
Artist collective They Are Here invite you to participate in Offshore Transactions (2016), a space for open and informal conversation with the financial players of the city, uncovering the hidden economic forces that affect us all.
Price: FREE.
London Underground. On board programme of short films.
90 mins rolling programme
1.00pm – 5.00pm Saturday 20th August
Throughout the history of British underground film, the social challenges and aesthetic possibilities of London have been a recurring preoccupation. With rarely-seen shorts from the London Filmmakers Co-op and artists’ meditations on the sights and sounds of the capital, join us for a rolling programme of shorts that explore what lies beneath the surface of the city.
Films provided by LUX.
Price: FREE. Booking essential.
Occupying Stories: Documenting the Economy
5.30pm – 7.00pm Saturday 20th August
On board in-conversation event with filmmaker Chloe Ruthven & UP Projects’ Floating Cinema Producer, Celia Turley.
Filmmaker Chloe Ruthven charts the highs and lows of London’s love affair with neo-liberal capitalism from a uniquely personal perspective.
Price: £8 / Conc. £6.50 Booking essential.
Open air screening of Half Way, Daisy May Hudson, 2015 (90 mins)
8.00pm – 10.30pm Saturday 20th August
Half Way chronicles the life of a ‘normal’ family living in Epping, who are forced into homelessness. Over one year, they are moved from one temporary accommodation to the next, whilst waiting for a home from the council. Documented by the family’s eldest daughter - ‘Breakthrough Brit’ Daisy May Hudson
Price: FREE. Booking essential.
The Midday Run
12.00pm – 6.00pm Sunday 21st August
An arts-filled journey from Hackney canal-side to beyond, led by writer and broadcaster Kit Caless.
Daytime sister of The Midnight Run, The Floating Cinema presents The Midday Run; a durational artist-led walk through the reaches of Hackney, from the Wick to the wilderness. Expect artists, outdoor games, friendly strangers and a new perspective on money matters.
Price: £12 / Conc. £10.50
Encounters of the urban kind
On-board programme of short films.
90 mins rolling programme
12.30pm – 4.30pm Sunday 21st August
All of human life is here and you never know just what is round the corner. This sense of infinite possibility drives the perpetual attraction of the city. Come and watch a programme of rolling short films, which celebrate the hidden surprises and unexpected encounters of London and beyond.
Price: FREE. Booking essential.
Open air screening of Public House, Sarah Turner 2015 (80 mins)
8.00pm – 10.30pm Sunday 21st August
In 2012, the Ivy House pub in Peckham was sold to property developers as part of the ongoing gentrification of South London. But the locals were not going to let their beloved pub disappear. Registered as the first Asset of Community Value in the UK, The Ivy was triumphantly saved, and this genre-blending documentary tells the story as an exhilarating participatory opera.
Price: FREE. Booking essential.
Coming Up
Following World Cities, The Floating Cinema will be moored at Granary Square Steps, King’s Cross from 1 to 4 September for Ghosts of Green and Pleasant Lands; questioning the meaning of the contemporary English countryside. Is it a conservative place, or a radical one? Explore what’s on over unique weekend of ghostly landscapes, examining our relationship to nature and the pull of the earth.
Mile End Park from 23 to 25 September, for Swarming the Castle, a weekend of female-led feature length film screenings, talks and workshops, on board and canal side, disrupting stale and polarized conversations about religion, identity and Britishness. From one feminist rebellion to another – how do we recharge the conversation?
