London always offers a lot of amazing film events, awards and festivals but one definite highlight of the every season is the Somerset House Film4 Summer Screen, in association with American Express. This year is runs from August 16th – 27th and includes three UK Premieres including two hot from the Cannes Film Festival.
Running for 12 nights, there’s a great mix of cult, classic and contemporary all set spectacularly in Somerset House’s 18th century courtyard. To further capture the audience, the films are shown on a giant 17 x 8 metre screen with surround sound in full effect, it’s a magnificent experience. As well as the best films, we have to mention the behind-the-screen programme that last year saw Pedro Almodovar, Alan Rickman and Joe Cornish attend. This year is expected to be just as stimulating.
So, what’s showing you ask? First up, some highlights and then scroll down for the full programme. Tickets are on sale from www.somersethouse.org.uk/film (or call Ticketmaster on 0844 847 1715). For up-to-date information, we’d also recommend following them on Twitter (@SomersetHouse) and checking out their Facebook page but, for the moment, on with that good stuff:
• Opening night film: UK Premiere, ON THE ROAD – Thursday 16 August 
UK audiences will get their first chance to experience Brazilian director Walter Salles’ vision of the classic novel On the Road, as Jack Kerouac’s book finally reaches the big-screen with stars Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund. Somerset House hosts the film’s UK Premiere, with the film receiving its World Premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival later this month before being released in the UK on 21 September by Icon and Lionsgate.
• People’s Premiere: THE WATCH – Sunday 19 August
Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade star in this outrageous comedy as four guys who come together to form a neighbourhood watch group as an excuse to escape their humdrum lives one night a week. However, they’re forced into action when they discover that their town has been overrun with aliens posing as ordinary suburbanites. The eagerly anticipated summer blockbuster is released in the UK on 29 August by Twentieth Century Fox.
• UK Premiere: LAWLESS – Monday 27 August
The UK Premiere of the tough and stylish crime-drama Lawless makes for a compelling Closing Night. A heavyweight cast including Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska bring this prohibition bootlegger story set in the 1920s to vivid life for acclaimed director John Hillcoat (‘The Road’). The film receives its World Premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival later this month before being released in the UK on 31 August by Momentum Pictures.
More highlights from this year’s programme:
• First UK screening of the newly restored digital print of THE BIRDS, introduced by the film’s star Tippi Hedren
On Friday 17 August, the perfect film for open-air cinema lands at Somerset House looking better than ever. The new digital print of Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS will be screened for the first time in the UK, having been fully restored as part of Universal Studio’s 100th anniversary celebrations. To make the evening even more memorable, the suspense classic will be introduced by star Tippi Hedren as part of a special collaboration between Film4 Summer Screen and the BFI’s blockbuster season The Genius of Hitchcock.
Amongst the other highlights of this year’s programme are three double-bills, which take Film4 Summer Screen into the early hours of the morning. Director Gaspar Noe’s controversial hallucinogenic epic ENTER THE VOID precedes the block-rockin’ concert film CHEMICAL BROTHERS: DON’T THINK, which had audiences dancing in front of the screen at cinemas earlier this year; the swingin’ 60s meets the sleazy ‘70s as Russ Meyer’s Beyond the VALLEY OF THE DOLLS comes together with director Paul Thomas Anderson’s porn industry drama BOOGIE NIGHTS; and popular stars Ray Winstone and Ryan Gosling provide cool heads and safe hands in the cracking crime double-bill SEXY BEAST and DRIVE.
Other films gracing the big-screen at Somerset House this year are director Vittorio de Sica’s masterpiece of Italian neorealism BICYCLE THIEVES; Francis Ford Coppola’s nightmarish war epic APOCALYPSE NOW; Steven Spielberg’s wild, whip-cracking adventure INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM; Molly Ringwald experiencing the pains of high-school romance in the‘80s classic PRETTY IN PINK; and Wim Wenders’ haunting drama PARIS, TEXAS, with its heartstopping secrets and memorable score by Ry Cooder.
Film4 Channel’s David Cox, who programmes Film4 Summer Screen, had this to say:
“The foundation of the Film4 Summer Screen programme has always been classics and cult favourites, to be enjoyed and re-discovered with friends and fellow fans. We’re thrilled that this year we’re also able to offer our audience three major premieres – a first for the season. The Watch and Lawless, with their great casts, promise to be two of the most exciting new releases of the year, and we’re particularly proud to be opening with Walter Salles’ On the Road – the first time that a Film4-backed film has had its UK Premiere at Film4 Summer Screen. These brand new films perfectly complement the classic titles, making for a line-up we hope will appeal to avid film lovers and casual cinemagoers alike.”
For the second year running, American Express is supporting the Film4 Summer Screen as part of its Preferred Seating Programme. The Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) is delighted to be the official wine sponsor and don’t forget Tom’s Bar!
Behind the Screen
Following appearances last year by Pedro Almodovar, Alan Rickman and Joe Cornish, live introductions to selected screenings will once again provide special moments for audiences this year. In addition, an accompanying programme of insider talks and special events, offering rare opportunities to hear directors, actors and industry experts illuminate the films continues this year with Behind the Screen. Some of this year’s highlights include:
• The Genius of Hitchcock Friday 17 August. Somerset House and the BFI team up to present insights into Britain’s most influential and iconic filmmaker.
• A Trip to the Movies Saturday 18 August with Director of Chemical Brothers: Don’t Think, Adam Smith
• Nothing So Strange As Ordinary Folk Tuesday 21 August. In conjunction with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), Film4 Summer Screen presents a discussion on realism in British cinema.
Ticket details:
• Tickets for film screenings and Behind the Screen talks go on sale Friday 18 May, 10am
• To book tickets, visit www.somersethouse.org.uk or call Ticketmaster on 0844 847 1715
• Film4 Summer Screen runs from 16 – 27 August 2012
• Ticket prices: Single Bills: £14.50, Double Bills: £18.00. Premieres £22.50. All ticket prices are subject to booking fees.
• Behind the Screen talks ticket prices: £10 (includes glass of wine)
• For film screenings, doors open 18.30, DJs from 19.00, Film starts 21.00.
• For Behind the Screen talks, doors open 18.30, talk starts 19.00
• For more information visit www.somersethouse.org.uk/film
Film4 SUMMER SCREEN & BEHIND THE SCREEN SCHEDULE:
Thursday 16 August
21.00 UK Premiere: On the Road
Friday 17 August
19.00 Behind the Screen: The Genius of Hitchcock. Somerset House and the BFI team up to present insights into Britain’s most influential and iconic filmmaker.
21.00 The Birds
Saturday 18 August
19.00 Behind the Screen: A Trip to the Movies.
A look at how cinema can go beyond rational thought to create experiences unique to the art form. With Adam Smith, director of Chemical Brothers: Don’t Think
21.00 Double-Bill: Enter the Void and Chemical Brothers: Don’t Think
Sunday 19 August
21.00 People’s Premiere: The Watch
Monday 20 August
19.00 Behind the Screen: BAFTA Shorts.
Highlights from 2012 BAFTA nominations for short film and short animation including the live action and animation winners. In association with BAFTA
21.00 Apocalypse Now
Tuesday 21 August
19.00 Behind the Screen: Nothing So Strange As Ordinary Folk.
In conjunction with BAFTA, we present a discussion on realism in British cinema, and how the approach has evolved in recent years, through genre-mixing, formal devices and the demonstration of Britain’s other great historical talent, black humour. In association with BAFTA
21.00 Bicycle Thieves
Wednesday 22 August
19.00 Behind the Screen: The Magic of Paris, Texas.
In appreciation of the iconic 80’s film, with a panel of musicians, artists and filmmakers
21.00 Paris, Texas
Thursday 23 August
19.00 Behind the Screen: Film4 Shorts.
A specially curated programme of short films that have emerged through Film4 Productions, responsible for such recent features as Shame and The Iron Lady and this year celebrates its 30th anniversary
21.00 Pretty in Pink
Friday 24 August
19.00 Behind the Screen: Long Live Cinema!
An examination of the recent rise in rep cinemas, cinema societies, independent programming and the art of the ‘double-bill’
21.00 Double-Bill: Boogie Nights and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Saturday 25 August
21.00 Double-Bill: Sexy Beast and Drive
Sunday 26 August
21.00 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Monday 27 August
21.00 UK Premiere: Lawless
We’ll be there! Will you? Book here: www.somersethouse.org.uk/film
