Franki Raffles | Film Screening Bundle (30 Oct, 20 Nov, 22 Jan, 26 Feb)

From October to February, we are screening a series of four films in our cinema on Wednesday evenings which will expand further on the themes of labour and feminism, showing rarely-seen work from feminist post-punk icons to classic world cinema. Can't make all four dates? Book separate tickets for these screenings here.

In near-future New York, 10 years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organise a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.

‘The film that rocked the foundations of the 1980s underground, this postpunk provocation is a DIY fantasia of female rebellion set in America ten years after a social-democratic cultural revolution. When the black revolutionary founder of the Woman’s Army is mysteriously killed, a coalition of women merges to blow the system apart. Filmed guerrilla-style on the streets of pre-gentrification New York, Born in Flames is a Molotov cocktail of feminist futurism that’s both an essential document of its time and radically ahead of it.’ — Criterion

‘The anarchic spirit of agitprop pulses from this scrappy, smart, subversive film.’ — The Guardian

Driven by a commitment to document the impact of deindustrialisation on working-class communities in the North East in the 1970s and 1980s, Newcastle-based photographer Tish Murtha used her camera to expose societal inequality. She felt she had an obligation to the people and problems within her local environment, and that documentary photography could highlight and challenge the social disadvantages that she herself had suffered. However, despite early acclaim for her work, she was unable to make a living from photography and died in poverty.
Tish is a journey of exploration for Ella Murtha as both daughter and custodian of the Tish Murtha archive, a chance to elevate and preserve a legacy that has been lost and to tell the story of an artist and woman outside of the ‘mother’ that existed for her – or the version of Tish claimed within dominant narratives of the 70s and 80s photography – from the people who knew Tish and the images she left behind.

‘A tremendous, humane tribute to a real artist.’ — The Guardian

‘Icarus (after Amelia) is a gendered labour study. Beginning in the clouds above the city of Glasgow and continuing to the workplace below, this film is a meditation on ideologies of work; on fixed perspectives, horizons, love, and theoretical determinants.

First and foremost a deconstruction of contemporary life through the lens of feminist economic theory, Icarus (after Amelia) is an effort to present audiences with an emotive, intuitive discussion of value, production and hope within the ‘family’ and wider community in Britain. Responding to research and relationships through an intimate process of making and discussion, this body of work traces and archives a period of dramatic change in the UK in 2020/21.’ — LUX

‘Salmon studies how gender is implicated in production as she stages the complex relationship between labour and visibility’ — Laura Guy

Mona Bergeron (Sandrine Bonnaire) is dead, her frozen body found in a ditch in the French countryside. From this, the film flashes back to the weeks leading up to her death. Through these flashbacks, Mona gradually declines as she travels from place to place, taking odd jobs and staying with whomever will offer her a place to sleep. Mona is fiercely independent, craving freedom over comfort, but it is this desire to be free that will eventually lead to her demise.

‘Surely one of Agnès Varda’s greatest films: enigmatic, possessed of a cool artistry in its structural asymmetries and inconsistencies, and as gripping as any thriller.’ — The Guardian

‘The film is so startling because its protagonist is a woman. We’ve seen male drifters and loners throughout film history. A man alone has a reason, and his isolation is therefore noble. A male drifter is doing penance for something for which he was found innocent but for which he cannot forgive himself. A woman alone is crazy.’ — The Paris Review

We are also showing free lunchtime talks by artists, activists, researchers and thinkers who will discuss some of the themes of Raffles’ work and consider their significance from a local, contemporary perspective. See full programme here.

If you're unable to attend any of these screenings, we are unfortunately unable to refund your bundle ticket.

We want our events to be inclusive and accessible. Please email [email protected] to let us know about any requirements you have. Ahead of your visit, you can find out about Baltic's facilities and accessibility here.

Host or Publisher Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art