Part One: DaDa Makes Music
6pm – 6.45pm
Join them to celebrate 10 years of the DaDa Ensemble project and wider music programme.
DaDa have commissioned a new short film looking at the work of the DaDa Ensemble over the years. The film features clips from past performances and interviews with the young musicians, the music leaders and project staff. This is an informal celebration event, the film is approximately 6 minutes long and there will be an opportunity to chat before and after the screening.
Part Two: DaDa’s Film Shorts
7pm – 8.30pm
The film shorts programme includes two new commissions to accompany the artists’ recent poems ‘Unwoven’ by Amina Atiq and ‘I Want More Disabled Rage’ by Dolly Sen and ‘Home’, a new work from Dora Colquhoun (featuring original music). Join us to watch all 3 films, an informal Q&A, with an opportunity to meet the artists. Drinks and snacks provided.
Access: Venue access information visit fact.co.uk
The event will be BSL interpreted. Audio Description and Captions will be available to accompany the films.
Booking info: Book tickets via the FACT website: fact.co.uk
About DDFI40:
DaDaFest International returns 8th-31st March 2025 to celebrate DaDa’s 40th Anniversary and this time we are coming with ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’.
DDFI40 will showcase work by disabled artists that captures all shapes and sides of rage. From the internal quiet frustrations and righteous rage, to overt injustice and activism, DDFI40 will explore disability rights, disability arts, access, ableism and ‘Rage’ in an explosion of creativity.
Better Man looks at the rise, fall and resurrection of Robbie Williams – one of the UK’s bestselling artists of all time.
Inspired by Williams’ life and how he sees himself, the film shines a light on the incredible highs and lows of celebrity and the journey to stardom. This fantastical musical will be filled with reimagined versions of Williams’ musical hits and iconic performances, with spectacular set pieces and stunning visual effects.
Age Rating: 15
The original Queens are back and hitting the big screen. Winner of over 35 awards, experience the best of British Musical HER-story in a live capture of the must-see musical sensation, SIX the Musical.
The Original West End cast reunite at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in front of a sold-out audience to strut their stuff and re-write their Tudor traumas in an unmissable cinematic recording of the show packed full of style, sass, and sensational songs.
Cert tbc
Set in the influential New York music scene of the early 60s, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician BOB DYLAN’s (Timothée Chalamet) meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts – his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation – culminating in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
Cert 15
Cert 12A
Becoming Led Zeppelin explores the origins of this iconic group and their meteoric rise in just one year against all the odds. Powered by awe-inspiring, psychedelic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, Bernard MacMahon’s experiential cinematic odyssey explores Led Zeppelin’s creative, musical, and personal origin story. The film is told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.
Elton John’s Billy Elliot musical – based on Stephen Daldry’s 2000 film – beamed into cinemas, shot live in HD at Victoria Palace Theatre in London’s West End.
Based on the Academy Award® nominated film, Billy Elliot the Musical has won the hearts of millions since it opened in London’s West End in 2005. Set in a northern mining town, against the background of the 1984/85 miners’ strike, Billy’s journey takes him out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and whole community and changes his life forever.
Cert 15
1972, New York. In John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s apartment, the TV is permanently on, acting as a ‘window to the world’.
Through their television this inventive documentary explores the America of that time, the Lennons’ evolving politics and their complex personal life as they search for Yoko’s estranged daughter Kyoko against the backdrop of the Nixon-McGovern election. Featuring previously unheard phone recordings and music from John’s only post-Beatles concert, it reveals the world that John and Yoko inhabited and the couple’s relevance, which still stands today
Paraphysis Theatre are very happy to announce their next screening in partnership with MatchBox Cine: Vera Drew’s debut The People’s Joker.
“This revolutionary DIY parody film and hilarious reimagining of the classic autobiographical coming-of-age story follows an unconfident, closeted trans girl as she moves to Gotham City to make it big as a comedian by joining the cast of UCB Live – a government-sanctioned late night sketch show in a world where comedy has been outlawed.
As mainstream success eludes our heroine, leading her to unite with a ragtag team of rejects, misfits, and a certain love interest named Mister J, “Joker the Harlequin” is born again as a confident (and psychotic) joker on a collision course with the city’s fascist caped crusader. Vats of feminizing chemicals, sexy cartoon interludes, scarecrow psychiatrists, CGI Lorne Michaels, and psychedelic gender dysphoria all play supporting roles. Helmed by writer/director/editor/star Vera Drew and using her own life experiences as a basis for the film, THE PEOPLE’S JOKER is a deeply personal journey that’s as much documentary as it is parody.”
Head along and watch this highly anticipated title in the most perfect space: a grassroots DIY queer cinema with a bunch of weirdos!
All profits are going towards QUARRY’s next venture. General Admission and Low Income/Unwaged tickets available.
Black Orpheus, or Orfeu Negro, is a romantic tragedy based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes. Set during Carnaval, two lovers embark on a tale of love and tragedy against the backdrop of late-1950’s Brazil.
It’s notoriety is both iconic and controversial; after sweeping the Oscars, Golden Globes, and receiving the Palme D’or, the music from the film became staples in Bossa Nova whilst it’s depiction of Brazil and people of colour has been perceived negatively with modern eyes. This beautiful dark romance will challenge you, delight you, bring you to tears and get you dancing up on your feet! Join them February 20th to grab some food and get involved in the post-screening discussion.
Tickets start from £1 so grab yours now by clicking the link on the right or on the door!
6:30PM – DOORS OPEN
*We’ll be serving refreshments*
7:00PM – BLACK ORPHEUS BEGINS
9:00PM – POST SCREENING DISCUSSION
THE FILM
Year: 1959
Runtime: 1h 40m
Certificate: 15
Director: Marcel Camus
Writers: Marcel Camus, Jacques Viot, Vinicius de Moraes
Country: Brazil
Languages: Portuguese
Genre: Drama, Romance
Cast: Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Marcel Camus, Fausto Guerzoni, Lourdes de Oliveira, Léa Garcia, Adhemar da Silva, Alexandro Constantino, Waldemar De Souza, Jorge Dos Santos, Aurino Cassiano
Synopsis: A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
This screening is in collaboration with Liverpool African Diaspora Film Network
Presented by Black Girl Watching Film Club
A year after its launch at St Helens Lucem Cinema the film Another Country: A Journey through St Helens past is being launched on-line. and for free, courtesy of the St Helens Arts Service. The film was written and produced by Roger Hill.
What’s it about? Well, here’s what it says about itself-
Another Country tells the story of a not-so-quiet revolution. It is a documentary account of a particularly memorable period of music and culture in St Helens, a township among the many which sprang up across Northern England in the Industrial Revolution. In the 1980’s and 1990’s an exciting, unexpected and uniquely wonderful scene developed in the town, apparently from nowhere, and here it is in all its wayward spontaneity, as told by the surviving “actors” in that scene, with material from the period, and brought into the present with an optimistic glance into the future. Can culture make history? And then make it again? “Another Country” says Yes.”
You can access the film by going to https://vimeo.com/892908308. The film was made to provoke new activities and to open up the debate about local culture and is still available for public showings.
Also, look out for copies of a new magazine appearing in your library, bookshop or arts centre. It’s called Glass Eye and is being produced to feature the arts and culture scene in St Helens with a special emphasis on heritage.
