A neon-drenched trip through nocturnal Taipei, Millennium Mambo stars Shu Qi as Vicky, a bar hostess losing interest in her dull, garrulous boyfriend, and attracted to the mysterious, sensual gangster Jack. Built as a flashback from the future, she finds herself afloat amidst a world of ecstatic nights out and an undertow of nagging emptiness, torn between the two men.

Like Edward Yang (A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi), director Hou Hsiao-Hsien emerged as one the major figures of the Taiwanese New Wave, and even collaborated with Yang as a screenwriter on Taipei Story (1985).

Misunderstood at the time by critics and audiences as a misstep in Hou’s otherwise excellent track record, it’s now reclaimed as a vital cog in his filmography. Hou’s meditative style is front-and-centre in Millennium Mambo, aided by the presence of the sublime cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bin, who at the time had just finished work on In the Mood for Love (2001).

Kang lives alone in a big house. Through a glass façade, he looks out onto the treetops lashed by wind and rain. He feels a strange pain of unknown origin which he can hardly bear and which grips his whole body. Non lives in a small apartment in Bangkok where he methodically prepares traditional dishes from his native village. When Kang meets Non in a hotel room, the two men share each other's loneliness.

In the first film of Tales of the Four Seasons, a burgeoning friendship between philosophy teacher Jeanne (Anne Teyssèdre) and pianist Natacha (Florence Darel) is strained by jealousy, suspicion, and intrigue. Natacha encourages Jeanne to pursue Igor (Hugues Quester), Natacha’s father, in order to supplant Ève (Eloïse Bennett), his young girlfriend, whom Natacha loathes. Natacha’s scheme, however, risks alienating those closest to her as well as entangling Jeanne in the very kind of romantic drama she has vowed to avoid. 

Clumsy Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon becomes lost. His roundabout journey parallels that of an American tourist (Barbara Dennek), and as they weave through the inventive urban environment, they intermittently meet, developing an interest in one another. They eventually get together at a chaotic restaurant, along with several other quirky characters.

UK Theatrical Premiere of new 4K Restoration, courtesy of Arrow Films

This disturbing Japanese thriller follows Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a widower who decides to start dating again. Aided by a film-producer friend (Miyuki Matsuda), Aoyama uses auditions for a fake production to function as a dating service. When Aoyama becomes intrigued by the withdrawn, gorgeous Asami (Eihi Shiina), they begin a relationship. However, he begins to realise that Asami isn't as reserved as she appears to be, leading to gradually increased tension and a harrowing climax.

After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.

The first entry of writer-director Mark Jenkin's Cornish Trilogy follows Martin, a fisherman struggling to survive amid tourism, gentrification and family conflict. When his brother turns their fishing boat into a tourist attraction, tensions with locals and visitors escalate. Shot on striking 16mm monochrome, the film critiques displacement and precarity in a changing coastal community.

A stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves.

For Bleak Weak, Funeral Parade is proud to present In a Year of 13 Moons, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s devastating portrait of a heartbroken trans woman’s inner turmoil.

Elvira Weishaupt (Volker Spengler) is a trans woman and former slaughterhouse worker living unhappily in Frankfurt. According to her best friend Rote (Ingrid Caven), Elvira only decided to undergo gender-affirming surgery in Casablanca in order to appease a man, Anton (Gottfried John), who just abandoned her anyway. Now Elvira is trying to trace the events of her life in order mend her fractured psyche – but is it too late for her? 

Bleak even for Fassbinder, In a Year of 13 Moons is not for the faint of heart. However, if you can stomach its visceral imagery and extreme pessimism, you will be rewarded with one of the most powerful and emotionally raw films of the 1970s.

With intro from film curator Sarah Cleary.

This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the 'Sound', a new disco with most modern equipment. Although she's legally too young, she asks a friend to take her. There she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.

A singular artist and activist, Godfrey Reggio is best known for the galvanizing films of The Qatsi Trilogy. Astonishingly photographed, and featuring unforgettable, cascading scores by Philip Glass, these are immersive sensory experiences that meditate on the havoc humankind’s obsession with technological advancement has wreaked on our world. From 1983’s Koyaanisqatsi to 1988’s Powaqqatsi to 2002’s Naqoyqatsi, Reggio takes us on a journey from the ancient to the contemporary, from nature to industry, exploring life out of balance, in transformation, and as war, all the while keeping our eyes wide with wonder.

KOYAANSQATSI (1982): Drawing its title from the Hopi word meaning "life out of balance," this renowned documentary reveals how humanity has grown apart from nature. Featuring extensive footage of natural landscapes and elemental forces, the film gives way to many scenes of modern civilization and technology. Given its lack of narration and dialogue, the production makes its points solely through imagery and music, with many scenes either slowed down or sped up for dramatic effect.

POWAQQATSI (1988): Five years after Godfrey Reggio stunned audiences with Koyaanisqatsi, he again joined forces with composer Philip Glass and other collaborators for a second chapter. Here, Reggio turns his sights on third-world nations in the Southern Hemisphere. Forgoing the sped-up aesthetic of the first film, Powaqqatsi employs a meditative slow motion in order to reveal the beauty of the traditional ways of life in those parts of the planet, and to show how cultures there are being eroded as their environments are taken over by industry. This is the most intensely spiritual segment of Reggio’s philosophical and visually remarkable Qatsi Trilogy.

NAQOYQATSI (2002): Godfrey Reggio takes on the digital revolution in the final chapter of his Qatsi Trilogy. Through a variety of cinematic techniques, including slow motion, time-lapse, computer- generated imagery, and found footage, the film tells of a world that has completed the transition from the natural to the artificial. Globalization has been accomplished, all of our interactions are technologically mediated, and all images are manipulated. From this (virtual) reality, Reggio sculpts a frenetic yet ruminative portrait of an era in which the cacophony of “communication” has rendered humankind effectively postlanguage.