Film4 Summer Screen at Somerset House

Thu 8 Aug    OPENING NIGHT UK PREMIERE: PAIN AND GLORY, INTRODUCED BY   PEDRO ALMODÓVAR

Fri 9 Aug      BLACK PANTHER, AUDIO DESCRIPTION AVAILABLE  

Sat 10 Aug   NICOLAS CAGE SPECIAL DOUBLE BILL: WILD AT HEART + MANDY

Sun 11 Aug  THE PRINCESS BRIDE 

Mon 12 Aug THE MATRIX, FEAT. LIVE DJ SET FROM WILL WHITE OF PROPELLERHEADS

Tue 13 Aug  GOD’S OWN COUNTRY 

Wed 14 Aug THIS IS ENGLAND 

Thu 15 Aug  STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, AUDIO DESCRIPTION AVAILABLE 

Fri 16 Aug    DOUBLE BILL: BEFORE SUNRISE + BEFORE SUNSET

Sat 17 Aug   DOUBLE BILL: GET OUT + THEY LIVE

Sun 18 Aug  CLUELESS, FEAT. LIVE DJ SET FROM JONBENET BLONDE OF SINK THE PINK

Mon 19 Aug RESERVOIR DOGS

Tues 20 Aug THE PIANO

Wed 21 Aug CLOSING NIGHT UK PREMIERE: INNA DE YARD

Tickets from £20.75 (£18 + booking fee) available from Wednesday 22 May 2019 at somersethouse.org.uk. 

For a strictly limited season in August, the ultimate open-air cinema experience Film4 Summer Screen at Somerset House returns.  Uniting film fans and film-making talent inside the real-life movie set of Somerset House, the festival offers the most memorable of cinematic moments, both on and off screen. 

Over the course of a fortnight, Film4 Summer Screen brings the best of cinema to London’s largest outdoor screen.  The 2019 line-up features some of the most entertaining and innovative films of our times, made to be watched communally.   Settled under the starry night sky on balmy summer evenings, film lovers can come together in the beautiful London landmark to share in the laughs, suspense and emotion of these much-loved movies, and have the rare chance to hear first-hand from some of the talent behind them.  

PREMIERES

Film4 Summer Screen is the only open-air cinema in the UK to present film premieres.  For 2019, it welcomes back legendary Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who will come to introduce his latest film PAIN AND GLORY on the festival’s opening night, alongside its star Antonio Banderas. A semi-autographical take on Almodóvar’s life and work, Antonio Banderas plays filmmaker Salvador Mallo, who, via a series of flashbacks and present-day encounters, revisits some of his most important relationships, including those between himself and his mother (played by Penélope Cruz), his former leading man and his early loves. 

The 2019 festival closes with Peter Webber's feel-good reggae film INNA DE YARD, introduced by the director himself. Looking out over the lush green mountains of Jamaica, a superstar group of reggae legends gather to record a new album of infectious hits, with the likeable cast of characters sharing stories of success, happiness and heartaches during a lifetime immersed in the music scene. The film is studded with intimate acoustic versions of popular anthems and powerful live performances from their comeback concert in Paris, resulting in a film that stands as the Buena Vista Social Club of the reggae world. 

DOUBLE-BILLS

A popular fixture of Film4 Summer Screen are the fun back-to-back screenings.  The first Saturday double-bill on 10 August delivers non-stop Nicolas Cage with WILD AT HEART and MANDY, pairing two of the incomparable actor’s most committed and fearless performances. WILD AT HEART starts this formidable double bill, as Cage teams up with Laura Dern for David Lynch’s young-lovers-on-the-run road movie, followed by the hallucinogenic supernatural revenge epic MANDY, which topped many film fans must-watch lists of last year.

The second Saturday double-bill on 17 August brings together two films that pull back the curtain on the hidden power structures shaping our world, with GET OUT and THEY LIVE.  Jordan Peele’s award-winning social chiller GET OUT is so full of secrets and surprises that another viewing should still spark something new.

A young black photographer, played by Daniel Kaluuya, has misgivings about meeting his white girlfriend’s parents and once they arrive, things quickly take a turn for the sinister.  Directed by John Carpenter, the filmmaker behind horror classics such as Halloween and The Fog, THEY LIVE is a sci-fi satire that remains as relevant today as when it was first released in the late 80s with its sharp skewering of capitalism and consumerism.

A special screening on Friday 16 August ties two films through one heart-tugging experience, with director Richard Linklater’s twin hymns to romantic spontaneity BEFORE SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET, playing out in majestic urban surroundings that feel similar to those shown on screen.  The films follow lovers Jesse and Céline (played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) at different stages of their lives.  In BEFORE SUNRISE, the couple meet as students on a train travelling from Budapest to Vienna, and in BEFORE SUNSET, they have a chance encounter in Paris nine years later. 

ALSO SHOWING

All films in the festival are meticulously selected to create the most impactful cinematic experience in Somerset House’s courtyard and celebrate a broad range of cinematic genres and styles.

Bold and bracing home-grown hits are celebrated with director Francis Lee’s love story GOD’S OWN COUNTRY, a grittily tender drama of newfound intimacy between a Romanian migrant worker and a young Yorkshire farmer, played by Josh O’Connor (The Durrells and soon to be seen in The Crown) who will introduce the film live on stage at Somerset House alongside the director.  Another festival pick is  THIS IS ENGLAND, Shane Meadows’ unflinching 2006 film about a young boy becoming involved with a group of skinheads in 1980s Midlands, which has spawned the successful TV saga of the same name.  Cast members will present the festival screening, with Jo Hartley, who played Shaun’s no-nonsense mother, already confirmed to attend, and more expected to join on the night.

Masterpieces from two of cinema’s most celebrated and original contemporary filmmakers feature in this year’s festival.  Jane Campion was the first, and so far the only, female director to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival with THE PIANO, for which she also earnt the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. THE PIANO follows Scottish mute Ada and her daughter Flora (Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin, who both also won Oscars for their performances in the film) to 1850s New Zealand along with their prized piano.  Boasting an equally memorable cast and enthralling music soundtrack, heist thriller RESERVOIR DOGS marked the arrival of daring director Quentin Tarantino.  His first film following a group of six strangers, thwarted in pulling off the perfect crime and trying to work out the traitor in their circle, comes hot on the heels of the release of the director’s new film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Another film with a powerhouse soundtrack is NWA biopic STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON.  The story of the collective’s (Dr Dre, Eazy-E and Ice Cube) rise to rap stardom promises an electrifying evening inside Somerset House.

Film4 Summer Screen celebrates the seminal sci-fi action film THE MATRIX with a special anniversary screening.  Written and directed by visionary filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the film looks and sounds as radical and ground-breaking as ever on its 20th anniversary.

Screen superheroes make an appearance at Film4 Summer Screen for the very first time this year, with another chance to lose yourself in the big-screen splendour of the cultural phenomenon BLACK PANTHER.  The mighty Marvel epic stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and 2018 BAFTA Rising Star winner Letitia Wright.

Comedy romance comes in the form of 90s coming-of-age teen flick CLUELESS, in which the rural England of Jane Austen’s Emma is transported to a Beverly Hills high school with Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd, and Rob Reiner’s fantasy THE PRINCESS BRIDE starring Robin Wright.  This 80s cult classic has a lot of fun with fairytale tropes in a pioneering pre-cursor to the likes of Shrek and Frozen.

Bold and bracing home-grown hits are celebrated with director Francis Lee’s love story GOD’S OWN COUNTRY, a grittily tender drama of newfound intimacy between a young Yorkshire farmer and a Romanian migrant worker; and THIS IS ENGLAND, Shane Meadows’ unflinching 2006 film about a young boy becoming involved with a group of skinheads in 1980s Midlands, which has spawned the successful TV saga of the same name.

LIVE DJ SETS

Like any great film, Film4 Summer Screen entices from the very start, setting the scene with live performances and DJ mixes from some of today’s hottest talent.  As the sun sets over the London skyline, a soundtrack inspired by the upcoming screening creates the heady courtyard atmosphere. 

Ahead of THE PIANO, the festival is thrilled to present a live piano performance from Swedish-Iranian contemporary pianist, Shida Shahabi, who has composed numerous film scores in her native Sweden and whose debut album Homes was released last year.

For the 200th screening at Film4 Summer Screen, co-founder of music movement Jazz re:freshed Top Rock will open BLACK PANTHER with his essential selection before London-based drummer Kwesi Yvorra and his band Nuvorrian perform a rousing live set.  The live band will get the Friday night screening started, with a mad mix of afro futuristic sounds and propulsive grooves ahead of the mighty Marvel masterpiece.

This year’s DJ line-up also includes Will White of electronic music duo Propellerheads, who contributed to the original soundtrack of THE MATRIX with their music featuring in a standout scene from the film, and DJ Jonbenet Blonde, founder of the legendary London LGBTQ+ collective Sink The Pink, who brings the ultimate 90s cool kid party to Somerset House’s courtyard ahead of CLUELESS.  Emerging stars of radio will grace the decks at the festival too, with special guest appearances from NTS’ Zakia Sewell for THIS IS ENGLAND and Balamii's Aisha Zoe for INNA DE YARD.

BEHIND THE SCREEN, INCLUDING FILM LOCATION TOURS

Completing the ultimate cinema experience, Film4 Summer Screen’s popular parallel event Behind the Screen returns in 2019, with illustrious film making talent revealing stories and insights from their lives inside the industry, and film location tours around Somerset House.

This year’s Behind the Screen programme includes a special interview event with the creator of THE CROWN, Peter Morgan; a fascinating conversation with casting director Shaheen Baig on this uncelebrated art of cinema; a throwback to the films of 1999, debating whether it was the greatest year in modern movie history; an exclusive showcase of short films from Random Acts, and an intimate talk with director Peter Webber, ahead of the premiere of his new film INNA DE YARD.

Also on selected evenings, audiences can discover filming locations and behind-the-scenes stories on a special free guided tour of Somerset House.  Somerset House’s courtyard has become a firm favourite with film location scouts for its stunning architecture at every turn; scenes have been shot here from Mary Poppins Returns, X-Men First Class and Goldeneye. 

SEATING

New for 2019, the public can now select from a range of seating options, with something suited to everyone.  They can choose to lounge in luxurious Bean Bag seats, sit in comfort in a Director’s Chair or centre their experience around their picnic on a blanket.  There is also a dedicated section, located centrally at the rear of the courtyard, for wheelchair users and their family and friends. With London’s largest outdoor screen and state-of-the-art surround sound, every position provides a prime viewing experience.

FOOD & DRINK

Film4 Summer Screen audiences are welcome to bring along drinks and snacks for screenings, though they can also sample the tasty street food from London’s pop-up star Jimmy Garcia, who brings his BBQ Club to the festival for the first time, and Japanese mochi maestros Little Moons.  As soon as ticket holders enter the site, they can discover these stands, with BBQ Club serving up fully-loaded, flame-grilled burgers, hot dogs and fries, and Little Moons offering their creamy helpings of artisan gelato, wrapped in soft and delightfully delicate mochi dough, all alongside a fully licensed bar and a pop-up shop with essentials for the evening.

To make it an extra special experience, ticket holders can reserve a Date Night or Friends Sharer package, full of film favourite food and drink, or a handcrafted picnic hamper from Bryn Williams, Somerset House’s resident acclaimed Welsh chef.  The hampers feature a feast of artisan treats, including Duck Rillettes with peach chutney, Prawn Cocktail with a Bloody Mary sauce, Shaved fennel, orange and poppy salad, strawberry trifle with Pimm’s jelly, and macarons.

San Miguel is the official beer partner throughout the summer season at Somerset House including Film4 Summer Screen.

FOR PRESS ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT: press@somersethouse.org.uk/0207 845 4624

NOTES TO EDITORS

Dates: 8 - 21 August 2019

Address: Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

Tickets: Available via somersethouse.org.uk

ADDITIONAL LISTINGS INFORMATION

Address:  Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

Transport:  Underground: Temple, Embankment / Rail:  Charing Cross, Waterloo, Blackfriars

Website:  www.somersethouse.org.uk

Somerset House Facebook: www.facebook.com/SomersetHouse

Somerset House Twitter: @SomersetHouse

Somerset House Instagram: @SomersetHouse

Hashtag: #Film4SummerScreen

ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE

Inspiring contemporary culture

One of the city’s most spectacular and well-loved spaces, Somerset House is a new kind of arts centre in the heart of London, designed for today’s audiences, artists and creatives – an inspirational community where contemporary culture is imagined, created and experienced.

From its 18th Century origins, Somerset House has played a central role in our society as a place where our culture and collective understanding of the world is shaped and defined. In 2000, it began its reinvention as a cultural powerhouse and home for arts and culture today, creating unique and stimulating experiences for the public, bringing them into direct contact with ideas from the greatest artists, makers and thinkers of our time. Our distinctive and dynamic year-round programme spans the contemporary arts in all its forms, from cutting-edge exhibitions and installations to annual festivals, seasonal events in the courtyard including Film4 Summer Screen, Summer Series and Skate, and an extensive learning and engagement programme.

As well as welcoming over 3million visitors annually, Somerset House houses the largest and most diverse creative communities in the country – from one-person start-ups to successful creative enterprises including British Fashion Council, Dance Umbrella, Improbable Theatre, Hofesh Shechter Company, and Dartmouth Films. 

In 2016 we launched Somerset House Studios – a new experimental workspace connecting artists, makers and thinkers with audiences. Currently housing over 80 artists and Makerversity (a community of over 250 emergent makers), the Studios are a platform for the development of new creative projects and collaboration, promoting work that pushes bold ideas, engages with urgent issues and pioneers new technologies. www.somersethouse.org.uk

ABOUT FILM4

Film4 is available for free to everyone with digital TV. A daily line-up of great movies guarantees a choice for every type of film fan, including the best of British film-making, US independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, mainstream drama and comedy.

Film4 is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division, which develops and co-finances films and has an established track record for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking.  Film4 has developed and/or co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years - Academy Award-winners such as Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Asif Kapadia’s Amy, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, in addition to critically-acclaimed award-winners such as Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Todd Haynes’ Carol, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Shane Meadows’ This is England and Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin. Forthcoming releases include Chris Morris’s The Day Shall Come, Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, Michael Winterbottom’s Greed, Sarah Gavron’s ‘Untitled Girls Film’ and Coky Giedroyc’s adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s How To Build a Girl.

www.film4.com | @Film4