Surrealist Film Season at QUAD in July

QUAD in Derby will be holding a season ‘Inside the World of Surrealist Cinema’ in July. Beginning in the early stages of cinema, the influences of the Surrealist movement can still be seen in cinema today and their revolutionary artistic techniques had a political dimension aimed at shaking up the establishment with experimentation and exploring themes of violence and desire. Part of a national selection BFI Film Feels Curious, QUAD’s selection includes some of the pioneers and cult classic filmmakers such as David Lynch, Vera Chytilova, and Jan Svankmajer.
 
The season opens with a David Lynch classic Blue Velvet. College student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns home after his father has a stroke, when he discovers a severed ear in an abandoned field, Beaumont teams up with detective’s daughter Sandy Williams (Laura Dern) to solve the mystery. They believe beautiful lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) may be connected with the case, and Beaumont finds himself becoming drawn into her dark, twisted world, where he encounters depraved psychopath Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper). Blue Velvet (18) screens in QUAD Friday 1st July, Saturday 2nd July (Introduction), Sunday 3rd July, Monday 4th July. The screening on Saturday 2nd July features an illustrated introduction with cult historian Darrell Buxton.
 
Featuring Deborah Harry in one of her first film roles, Videodrome is one of writer/director David Cronenberg’s most original and provocative works. As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers, he happens upon Videodrome, a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, and sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind the show and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought. Videodrome (18) screens in QUAD on Saturday 9th July, Sunday 10th July and Monday 11th July. The screening on 9th July for Fright Club includes an illustrated introduction with cult film historian Darrell Buxton.
 
David Lynch’s seductive and scary vision of Los Angeles’s dream factory Mulholland Drive, is one of the true masterpieces of the new millennium, a tale of love, jealousy, and revenge. Blonde Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia (Laura Harring) due to a car crash. Together they set off to solve her identity. Mulholland Drive (15) screens in QUAD on Friday 22nd July, Saturday 23rd July, Sunday 24th July and Monday 25th July. The screening on Friday 22nd July includes an illustrated introduction with cult historian Darrell Buxton.
 
The Quay Brothers In 35mm looks at the work of two of the world’s most original filmmakers, the Quay Brother twins, have been making their unique puppetry and stop-motion animation for over 30 years, spawning an enormous cult following and many high-profile admirers, from Terry Gilliam to Christopher Nolan. A passion for detail, an uncanny use of focus and camera movement make their films unique and instantly recognisable, masters of miniaturisation their tiny sets create a landscape of long-repressed childhood dreams. This includes three classic Quay Brothers shorts – In Absentia, The Comb and Street of Crocodiles alongside Christopher Nolan short Quay about the brothers and their studio. The Quay Brothers In 35mm (Advised 15) screens in QUAD on Saturday 23rd July 6:20pm and Sunday 24th July 4:50pm. The screening on Saturday 23 July will feature an illustrated Introduction about stop-motion animation.

Vera Chytilova’s Daisies follows the misadventures of two young women both called Marie (played by Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová), who rebelliously scam rich dates, cut off their own heads and wreck an official feast. The film’s anarchic attitude saw it banned by the Czech authorities and it stayed under wraps for years. An innovative and brilliantly absurd masterpiece of the ’60s Czech New Wave, Daisies is an aesthetically and politically adventurous film that’s widely considered one of the great works of feminist cinema. Daisies (15) (in Czech with English subtitles), screens in QUAD on Saturday 23rd July, Monday 25th July and Tuesday 26th July. The screening on Saturday 23rd July includes an illustrated introduction with Dr Teresa Forde Senior Lecturer in Film and Media studies University Of Derby.

Alice is Lewis Carroll classic with a surrealist twist as Czech animator Jan Svankmajer’s distinctive style of animation and live action combines childhood experiences and fantasies with the absurdity of Carroll’s original. When Alice follows the White Rabbit into Wonderland, so begins this dream expedition into the astonishing landscape of childhood, through many dangerous adventures, and ultimately to Alice’s trial before the King and Queen of Hearts. Alice (PG) (in Czech with English subtitles), screens in QUAD on Friday 29th July, Saturday 30th July and Sunday 31st July.
 
Tickets are £10, £7.50 Concessions and £4 for those aged 25 years old and under. ‘Inside the World of Surrealist Cinema’ is part of Film Feels Curious, a UK-wide cinema season, supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. Explore all films and events at filmfeels.co.uk. For tickets or information please go to: https://www.derbyquad.co.uk/Surreal

ENDS
Notes to Editors:

QUAD is Derby’s centre for art and film, a mixed arts venue based on the Market Place. QUAD is the city’s cultural hub with a three-screen cinema, an art gallery showing the best in contemporary visual arts, digital workshop spaces plus an award-winning Café bar which has been at the heart of Derby’s cultural scene since it opened in September in 2008. QUAD delivers an exciting, innovative and diverse programme with a reputation in Photography, digital innovation & family friendly events, organising Derby Film Festival and FORMAT International Photography Festival. QUAD is a partnership between Derby City Council and Arts Council England.  QUAD is open daily from 10am, for more information please visit:  www.derbyquad.co.uk . http://twitter.com/derbyquad   For further information please contact Marketing & Audience Development Manager, Kathy Wilson on 01332 285422 / kathyw@derbyquad.co.uk