Another month, another packed calendar…October looks set to be a good ‘un here at Cornerhouse. We’ve got some fantastic new releases coming to our screens including Gone Girl, David Fincher’s twisted tale of a marriage gone awry, ’71, Yann Demange’s knife-edge thriller that follows the new army recruits patrolling the streets of Belfast at the height of the troubles, and Mr. Turner, the moving biopic of British painter J.M.W. Turner from Mike Leigh.
The official Asia Triennial Manchester 14 film programme is in full swing, and this year’s selection has a special focus on contemporary and classic Hong Kong and Chinese mainland cinema. ATM14 continues into November, but this month you can catch a preview screening of Letters from the South, a selection of six short films from Chinese-born filmmakers living in South-East Asia that represent their feelings about their homeland (Sun 19 Oct), and The Way We Dance, a Hong Kong street dance film that is undeniably corny but unbelievably good fun (Thu 23 Oct).
As always in October, the Halloween vibes are creeping in and you can catch our annual screenings of National Theatre Live’s Frankenstein, starring Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch, at the end of the month. We’re also going all apocalyptic with the launch of our Sci-Fi season – a selection of films and events exploring the great science fiction age of the 1930s-1960s. It kicks off on Saturday 25 October with Things to Come, the epic fantasy about the uncertain future of society in the face of new technology and total war, based on the novel by H.G. Wells.
We’re bringing a number of events your way this month, including the return of legendary Vegas drag queen Peaches Christ for a fully interactive performance of Bearbarella, her stage-show parody celebrating Roger Vadim’s 1968 sci-fi masterpiece Barbarella on Saturday 11 October. Expect drag aliens, an ‘orgasmatron’ challenge and a cinema experience like no other – we’ve only just recovered from her first visit in 2010. We’re also welcoming director Daniel Ribeiro for a Q&A following our screening of his debut feature-length film The Way He Looks on Monday 13 October; the story of blind teenager Leonardo, whose plan to live an independent life and go on an exchange trip abroad are thrown into dispute when meets new student Gabriel.
In the galleries, Qasim Riza Shaheen and Sophia Al-Maria’s exhibitions Autoportraits in love-like conditions and Virgin with a Memory continue until Sunday 2 November, so if you haven’t managed to take a look yet, now’s your chance. In the Café and Bar, we launch our latest Cornerhouse Project, How to Build a Body Without Organs on Thursday 16 October. Curated by Edinburgh University PhD candidate Alessandro Bucci, this selection of photographs, drawings and paintings from five artists emphasises the role of dress in creating ‘the self’.
If you’re interested in fashion, Alessandro Bucci is also leading our seven-week Introduction to Fashion Studies course, starting on Monday 13 October. You’ll become familiar with key concepts of the body, gender and sexuality, and will gain a broad understanding of fashion as a form of visual art. Places are going quickly so we’d recommend booking now!
Finally, a head’s up on some early November activity – Show & Tell returns on Saturday 1 November, giving you the chance to catch up on what’s happening inside the city’s creative minds. Programmer Dan Hett and Designer and Lecturer Tash Willcocks will join us to answer your questions. And the digital professionals among you might also be interested in our Explore Facebook Insights workshop, taking place on Tuesday 4 November, with Social Media and Digital Marketing Consultant Katie Moffatt on hand to help demystify the analytics process.
Enjoy!