Featuring Intro from Andrew Haigh (Director of Weekend, 45 Years, All of Us Strangers).

When a young rabbit named Fiver (Richard Briers) has a prophetic vision that the end of his warren is near, he persuades seven other rabbits to leave with him in search of a new home. Several obstacles impede their progress, including predators, a rat-filled cemetery and a speeding river. Upon arriving at their final destination, a hill dubbed Watership Down, the rabbits find that their journey is still far from over. Realistically drawn, this British animated film carries an emotional weight.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

A fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.

Twenty years after their last holiday at a fading vacation resort, Sophie reflects on the rare time spent with her loving and idealistic father Calum. At 11-years-old, as the world of adolescence creeps into Sophie's view, Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Sophie's recollections become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terri (John Travolta) stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally (Nancy Allen) from the car, but the other passenger is already dead -- a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.

Heroin addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends -- Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Begbie (Robert Carlyle), Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Tommy (Kevin McKidd). He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane (Kelly Macdonald), along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind when Begbie shows up at his front door on the lam, and a scheming Sick Boy follows.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

In the small South American town of Porvenir, four men on the run from the law are offered $10,000 and legal citizenship if they will transport a shipment of dangerously unstable nitroglycerin to an oil well 200 miles away. Led by Jackie Scanlon (Roy Scheider), the men set off on a hazardous journey, during which they must contend with dangerously rocky roads, unstable bridges, and attacks from local guerillas. The four fight for their lives as they struggle to complete their dangerous quest.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances are sweeping Tokyo.

This performance will feature an introduction by Jaye Hudson of TGirlsonFilm.

A trans woman in trouble.

Castration Movie is a labyrinthine post-modern epic about gender. The first part of this two part film includes Chapter i. Incel Superman and Chapter ii. Traps Swan Princess

Incel Superman follows Turner Stewart, a production assistant who sees his world spiral out of control as he uncompromisingly attempts to shape his life into the one he feels he deserves.

Traps Swan Princess follows a trans woman named Michaela "Traps" Sinclair, a sex worker in Vancouver who splits her time between seeing clients and hanging out with her group of trans friends, who finds her relationships strained when she decides to pursue motherhood.

Written and Directed by Louise Weard, the film's cast includes Vera Drew (The People's Joker), Ada Rook (Black Dresses), Alice Maio Mackay (T Blockers), Avalon Fast (Honeycomb), John Paizs (Crime Wave), and Lea Rose Sebastianis and Nate Wilson (The All Golden) amongst a mix of other emerging talent and weird and wonderful cameos. The original score was composed by Aoife Josie Clements/Ravine Angel, with additional music by Magda Baker, Alex Walton, and E_DEATH.

Part i. had its World Premiere in the United Kingdom in October 2024 at Glasgow’s Weird Weekend Film Festival.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Join Hugo Max as he accompanies a daring triptych of films by F. W. Murnau this spring with live soundtracks on solo viola. Following the success of his 2024 UK Tour, Max improvises scores to chamber drama The Last Laugh (1924). Max’s soundtracks draw on the dramatic and heightened worlds of this film, incorporating musical styles and techniques developed during the time of their conception. His vivid performances breathe new life into Murnau’s symbolic narratives and chiaroscuro imagery, exploring these films as cautionary tales for current times.

Hugo Max on F. W. Murnau’s Der Letzte Mann/The Last Laugh (1924):

“The life of a grand hotel doorman crumbles when he is demoted to the role of a lavatory attendant. Der Letzte Mann/The Last Laugh is a tragic chamber drama and intense character study propelled by Emil Jannings’ empathetic performance as the elderly doorman. Heightening the expressionist angst that permeates the film, my soundtrack on solo viola steps into the shoes of our protagonist, resonating with his doomed hopes and dreams.

Murnau’s study of the German psyche in the aftermath of World War I demonstrates his visual language at its most exhilarating. The director viewed intertitles as ‘an obstructive presence in film’; in The Last Laugh there is no on-screen dialogue, Murnau’s camera roaming bravely to propose a visionary form of cinematic storytelling. Hitchcock expressed his admiration for the film, visiting Germany during its production to assist at the studios where Murnau was shooting. Der Letzte Mann left its distorted shadow on the Master of Suspense and remains one of the most pioneering and affecting works of expressionist film.”

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Henry (Michael Rooker) is released from prison following his mother's murder. He supplements his job as an exterminator with a series of indiscriminate and violent murders. Fellow jailbird and drug dealer Otis (Tom Towles) becomes a willing accomplice in Henry's bloody killings. But as the depravity escalates and Henry forms a bond with Otis' sister, Becky (Tracy Arnold), things start to get out of hand. The film is based on the true-life story of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.

"THE COLOUR OF ILLUSION IS PERFECT BLUE"

A young Japanese singer is encouraged by her agent to quit singing and pursue an acting career, beginning with a role in a murder mystery TV show.

In 1986, Park (Song Kang-ho) and Cho (Kim Roi-ha) are two simple-minded detectives assigned to a double murder investigation in a South Korean province. But when the murderer strikes several more times with the same pattern, the detectives realize that they are chasing the country's first documented serial killer. Relying on only their basic skills and tools, Park and Jo attempt to piece together the clues and solve the case in this thriller based on true events.

When infertility threatens mankind with extinction and the last child born has perished, a disillusioned bureaucrat (Clive Owen) becomes the unlikely champion in the fight for the survival of Earth's population; He must face down his own demons and protect the planet's last remaining hope from danger.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview moves to oil-rich California. Using his adopted son HW to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainviews motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

This remarkable television production, imagining how a nuclear war might unfold, remains one of the most shocking and devastating films ever to air in the UK. Combining documentary-style realism and kitchen-sink drama, Threads observes the looming threat of nuclear war from the perspective of an average working-class family in Sheffield, before shifting to the detailed depiction of a society in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. It’s 40 years since the film was originally broadcast and it has lost none of its power to shock.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

When a woman, able to read the thoughts of others, comes to help survivors of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, she encounters a girl with Multiple Personality Disorder whose dangerous 13th personality, Isola, must be stopped.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

While holidaying in Ireland, a pregnant children's author finds her mental state becoming increasingly unstable, resulting in paranoia, hallucinations, and visions of a doppelgänger.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Featuring Intro from Prano Bailey-Bond (Director of Censor).

A seemingly model citizen living in mid-century London, John Christie (Richard Attenborough) is actually a killer. Masquerading as a doctor, he convinces guileless women that he can cure whatever might ail them, and when they follow him to his home, he chokes them to death and buries them in a makeshift graveyard. Based on a series of real-life killings, the story follows John as he cons a pregnant bride (Judy Geeson) and wonders if he might have found a scapegoat in her husband (John Hurt).

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Set on the outskirts of Bradford, ‘The Selfish Giant’ follows two rebellious young lads - Arbor (Conner Chapman) and Swifty (Shaun Thomas) - and their involvement with a local scrap dealer. At first their earnings seem to roll in but as jealousy and resentment begin to drive the boys apart Arbor will resort to a desperate act of greed, the tragic consequences of which will tear apart the lives of everyone involved… Boldly cinematic and thoroughly gripping, Clio Barnard’s second feature boasts breathtaking cinematography and astonishing performances from its two young leads.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Jack Carter (Michael Caine) is a cold-blooded London gangster, and not the sort of man you want to cross. When Carter's brother winds up dead, he travels to Newcastle to arrange the funeral. Convinced that his brother was murdered, Carter questions local thug Eric (Ian Hendry), who eventually leads him to kingpin Kinnear. From there, Carter carves a bloody trail of revenge through the seedy underbelly of Newcastle in search of his brother's killer.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Featuring Post-Film Q&A with Director Mike Leigh

Moments from the uncompromisingly bleak existence of a secretary, her intellectually disabled sister, aloof and uneasy teacher boyfriend, bizarre neighbour and irritating workmate.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

In Vietnam in 1970, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) takes a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who has reportedly gone completely mad. In the company of a Navy patrol boat filled with street-smart kids, a surfing-obsessed Air Cavalry officer (Robert Duvall), and a crazed freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper), Willard travels further and further into the heart of darkness.

David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy (Susan George), an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie (Del Henney). Eventually the taunts escalate, and two of the locals rape Amy. This sexual assault awakes a shockingly violent side of David.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Featuring Post-Film Q&A with Director Mike Leigh

Johnny (David Thewlis) is a frenetic and destructive outsider who tears through the lives of others like an emotional tornado. On the run from Manchester, he seeks sanctuary with his ex-girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp) in London, where he immediately targets her vulnerable housemate Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge) with his unique blend of predatory charm. From there he embarks on a nocturnal odyssey across the city, dragging other disaffected souls into his orbit as he spirals towards his own personal apocalypse.

Mike Leigh’s Cannes-winning film is a masterful, controversial, and totally unforgettable exploration of society in free-fall at the tail end of Thatcher’s Britain.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Featuring Intro by Robert Eggers (Director of The Witch, The Lighthouse and Nosferatu)

During the Prussian invasion of Poland in 1793, a Polish nobleman is saved from imprisonment by a stranger who wants a list of conspirators as repayment. He travels across the country with his rescuer and commits a number of gory murders.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.