Arriving later this week, The UK Asian Film Festival 2021 will be with us between Thu 27 May – Wed 2 Jun, featuring nine films all with accompanying Q&As or discussions. With stories ranging from domestic life to heartbreak to heists, it will no doubt be a thrill to once again immerse yourself in the communal festival experience. 

‘‎Fire Of Teak, Flame Of Chinar’, image courtesy of UK Asian Film Festival.

All tickets for the UK Asian Film Festival are £6, as are all of our cinema tickets all day everyday this summer, as we aim to make our screenings and special events accessible to everyone who wants to support their local independent cinema. Another way we are making Rich Mix more accessible is with our Pic ‘n’ Mix film screenings, where we host free screenings of children’s films for local schools.

As for our regular programme, we are giving these Oscar winners the big screen treatment they deserve. Nomadland, Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah and Sound of Metal are all richly textured, vivid works that we are proud to showcase. Nomadland is a story about Fern (Frances McDormand), a recent widow who takes to the open road in her van in search of community. It won the top awards of Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress at this year’s 92nd Academy Awards ceremony. We say: come for the ever enchanting McDormand and leave with serene images of the American frontier. Minari is a classic American dream tale about a Korean family striving to build a farm that will support their family for generations. The film emanates warmth and hope with an Oscar-winning performance from Best Supporting Actress Youn Yuh-Jung who plays the hilarious and heartbreaking Grandma Soon-Ja. 

‘Judas and the Black Messiah’, image courtesy of Warner Bros Entertainment UK Ltd.

Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah bagged London’s own Daniel Kaluuya his first Oscar for his role as Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton. You may have already seen Kaluuya’s iconic acceptance speech, and if that wasn’t enough to draw you in, the cinematography by Sean Bobbit (frequent collaborator of Steve McQueen) is something to behold on the big screen. Sound of Metal netted two Oscars for Best Film Editing and fittingly, for Best Sound. The story follows Riz Ahmed’s Ruben, a heavy metal drummer who loses his hearing and is torn between finding a home in the Deaf community or pursuing a revolutionary surgery to get his hearing back. The sound design is unlike anything you may have experienced in a cinema, placing us fully in Ruben’s shoes as he battles the noise. 

Come back next month for more experimental cinema, acclaimed classics, blockbusters and film festivals from your favourite independent cinema.

Words by Rōgan Graham

To celebrate our reopening, catch any film on our big screens for just £6 – explore our full cinema programme.

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