East End Film Festival to screen The Devils

The Devils

East End Film Festival

27 April – 2 May 2011

EEFF website

We are very excited to announce that our friends at the East End Film Festival will present a very special screening of Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) at the Barbican on Sunday 1 May. Heavily cut by the studio and by the British censors on release, this provocative portrayal of witchcraft and possession in 17th-century France has now been restored and footage that was previously thought lost is included in this never-seen ‘director’s cut’. It is only the second official screening of the film in the UK and this chance to see Russell’s astonishing visions and Derek Jarman’s stylised sets on the big screen is not to be missed! Tickets available from the Barbican.

The EEFF will also screen Jerzy Kwalerowicz’s Mother Joan of the Angels (1964), a feverish exploration of sexual repression and religious fanaticism based on the same cases of possession in 1634 France dramatised in The Devils.

In addition, there are two late-night horror screenings: Julia’s Eyes, a Guillermo del Toro-produced chiller about a near-blind woman trying to solve the mystery of her sister’s death, and Agnosia, a retro-futurist thriller about a young woman suffering from a neuropsychological disorder that confuses her senses and who is being manipulated by two ruthless men.

We are especially looking forward to the Secret Societies day of screening in a beautiful and atmospheric Masonic Lodge on Monday 2 May. The films include From Hell, Dark Days and The Brotherhood of the Wolf, with more events to be announced shortly. In fact, we liked the idea so much that we’ve made ‘Secret Societies’ our theme for May, so look out for more on this!

The EEFF runs from 27 April to 2 May and this year’s tenth anniversary edition will open with an all-access documentary about The Libertines, There Are No Innocent Bystanders. Other highlights include the UK premiere of the new, digitally restored print of Taxi Driver introduced by Adrian Utley of Portishead, a special focus on the Romanian New Wave, a free outdoor screening in Spitalfields Market of silent 1925 Romanian drama Manasse with live accompaniment by Minima and a Bank Holiday bonanza of movie madness where hundreds of free screenings, projections, live music and events will be found in every nook and cranny of the East End…

Tickets are now on sale for all screenings and events here. For full programme information, please visit the EEFF Festival website.