Bristol Film Festival announce this year’s Clifton Summer Screenings

Bristol Film Festival announce this year’s Clifton Summer Screenings

Posted on: 01 May 2024

After a successful launch in the summer of 2023, film buffs will once more be able to relax in the beautiful surroundings of Mall Gardens before taking a seat in a unique pop-up cinema.

 

Bristol Film Festival’s Clifton Summer Screenings run from Thursday 4 until Sunday 7 July 2024.

 

In addition to classic films screened in pop-up cinemas - complete with covered seating, state-of-the-art LED screens and wireless headphones – this year, the festival is introducing ‘screen2’, a programme of talks, short films, cult movies and ‘Vintage Screenings’ (which combine films and wine) “on tour”.

 

Browse the full summer programme and book your tickets HERE.

 

 

Thursday 4 July:

 

The very first screening of the summer series will see Bristol Film Festival collaborate with the Cary Grant Festival to celebrate 120 years of Cary Grant. Uncover the story of Bristol boy Archibald Leach (now a certified Hollywood icon) with a special talk and a screening of the classic Grant-starring comedy Arsenic & Old Lace (1942).

 

Other classic screenings on Thursday will be Mary Poppins (1964) on its 60th anniversary, heart-melting Pixar favourite Up (2009), star-studded pensioner heist flick Golden Years (2016), enduring romance movie Dirty Dancing (1987) and Julia Roberts and Richard Gere starring rom-com Pretty Woman (1990).

 

There will also be more adult screenings in Guy Ritchie’s cult comedy crime caper Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and found footage horror sensation The Blair Witch Project (1999) on its 25th anniversary, as well as a ‘Bristol & Flight on Film’ event featuring archive footage from Bristol’s aviation history.

 

 

Friday 5 July:

 

On Friday, enjoy a wonderful charity screening of Disney’s enduring classic Sleeping Beauty (1959) on its 65th anniversary and laugh-out-loud true story Calendar Girls (2003). Also screening will be Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971) starring Gene Wilder, the definitive Wonka who was trained just around the corner!

 

If you’re looking for a spot of musical cinema, look no further than feel-good ABBA jukebox phenomenon Mamma Mia! (2007), Greta Gerwig’s contemporary cultural sensation Barbie (2023) and lost yourself in the magic of iconic global phenomenon Riverdance: 25th Anniversary (2020).

 

Celebrating its 21st anniversary, enjoy a screening of the swashbuckling epic Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003), while Vintage Screening will pair Alan Rickman-starring Bottle Shock (2008) with French and American wines. Friday’s Late Night Screening will be notorious slasher Friday The 13th (1980).

 

 

Saturday 6 July:

 

Mall Gardens is going dinosaur-centric on Saturday morning, starting with the epic children’s animated adventure The Land Before Time (1988) and ending with the all-time great blockbuster Jurassic Park (1993), complete with resident dinos! There will also be a FREE Raptors World Fossil Experience.

 

Saturday will be filled with feel-good favourites, from heart-warming BAFTA nominated hit Pride (2014) to the ultimate disco film Saturday Night Fever (1977), Roman Holiday (1953) featuring a multi-award-winning turn from Audrey Hepburn to hilarious rom-com Notting Hill (1999) starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.

 

Elsewhere there will be screenings of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s innovative art documentary The Mystery of Picasso (1956), hilarious Wells-set action satire Hot Fuzz (2007) and Late Night Screening, the nightmarish The Evil Dead (1981). There will also be a live podcast pilot with festival Director, Owen Franklin.

Sunday 7 July:

 

Opening proceeding on Sunday is the wacky wildlife animated comedy Madagascar (2005), followed by such gems as Keira Knightley-starring Jane Austen adaptation Pride and Prejudice (2005) Bristol University set and James McAvoy starring comedy-drama Starter For Ten (2006) and yet another screening of Mamma Mia!.

 

Bristolian film lovers will also be able to enjoy the swashbuckling sequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on its 40th anniversary, ultimate wine film Sideways (2004) with Paul Giamatti and Sandra Oh, Richard Curtis’ seminal rom-com Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and, closing the festival, cult folk horror The Wicker Man (1973).

 

The screen2 events on the final day of the festival are ‘Wildlife Filmmaking’, taking an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at Bristol’s booming industry; ‘Blitz On Bristol’, a 1980 documentary with archive footage and eyewitness accounts; and ‘ABBA vs Queen’, a short film that asks the question: “who was bigger and better?”.

 

 

Bristol Film Festival’s Clifton Summer Screenings run at Mall Gardens in Clifton from Thursday 4 until Sunday 7 July 2024. Visit the festival website to find out more.

Read more:

 

Article by:

Stanley Gray

Stan is a born and bred Bristolian, recently graduated from studying English Literature in Sheffield. His passions are music and literature and he spends the majority of his time in venues all over the city, immersing himself in Bristol’s alternative music scene. A lifelong Bristol City fan, Stan’s Saturdays are spent watching his team both home and away.