Forbidden Films... in a Day
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Why watch?
“Charlie consistently breaks tradition with his filmmaking and curatorial style, he challenges the norm, and through his art holds up a critical lens to convention. We are delighted to invite him to HPPH to share this dynamic programme.”
Mosa Mpetha,
Creative Engagement Officer
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Interview with Charlie Shackleton
For as long as filmmakers have been putting their pictures on the big screen, censors have been pulling them down. In the United States, the Hays Code cleansed Hollywood's output of illicit thrills for more than two decades, while in Britain, the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) snipped away at everything from 'indecorous dancing' to 'scenes holding up the King's uniform to contempt or ridicule'.
As time went on, film censorship became more subtle (the C of BBFC was changed from 'Censors' to 'Classification' in, of all years, 1984) but its effects remained just as pernicious. In response, generation after generation of filmmakers have found new and inventive ways to circumvent the restrictions placed upon them.
This special programme will explore the history of big-screen taboo, looking at those who've fought to keep to keep cinema's wildest excesses under wraps, and those who've fought back. From the unconstrained sexuality of a young Barbara Stanwyck in 1933's Baby Face, to Tinto Brass's daring attempt to blend historical epic and explicit sex in his 1979 biopic Caligula, we'll screen a variety of work once banished from the screen, and ask what might be forbidden in today's cinema—and by whom.
SCHEDULE:
10.30am – Introductory Talk
11.30am – Baby Face (1933)
12.45pm – Lunch
1.30pm – Reflections Baby Face, talk
1.45pm - Window Water Baby Moving on 16mm
2pm – Screen Taboos Talk
2.35pm - WR Mysteries of the Organism (1971)
4pm – Concluding Talk
5.15pm - Break
6pm – Caligula: The Ultimate Cut (2023)
While the talks are interactive, you’ll be invited to participate at a level that works for you: join friendly group discussions, or just sit back and listen. This is a limited capacity event so please book tickets in advance.
Tickets are £35 and include entry to all talks and films – including our public preview screening of Caligula: The Ultimate Cut the same evening – as well as free hot drinks served throughout the day.
Charlie Shackleton is a nonfiction filmmaker, critic and curator living and working in London. His most recent work, the one-on-one performance film As Mine Exactly, won the Immersive Art & XR Award at last year's BFI London Film Festival and went on to have extended runs at the Barbican Centre in London and the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
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As an extra treat, we are thrilled to be presenting Charlie Shackleton’s film The Afterlight the following day on Sunday 12 May at 2pm as part of our ReRun strand. This film will be presented on the only 35mm copy in existence and will be introduced live by Charlie. Tickets and more information here.