Watch movies under the stars in Hackney
The Dalston Roof Park is "a new green space in an area of very few". Photograph: Bootstrap Company
Fresh summer breezes wafting across the buzz of a city night… what better atmosphere to soak up a bit of cinematic culture? Most films shown in stale stuffy halls, but recent weeks have seen a renaissance of the tradition of open air cinema in Hackney.
From the classic drive-ins of 1950s America to the iconic Ouagadougou Film Festival, outdoor cinema has a long and venerable lineage. The local take on this classic genre is characteristically quirky, with films showing on rooftops, under bridges and on the water. Provided you remember to bring along a jumper in case it gets chilly, a film en plein air can make for a fantastic evening.
Here is a selection of the best:
For the most sophisticated in open air cinema, try the Rooftop Film Club at the Queen of Hoxton. Boasting ‘big seats, wireless headphones, comfy seats, 5 nights a week’, the variety of films is impressive, with classic and cult cinema mingled with recent releases. Food and drink are on offer during screenings and the screen is large, making this a deluxe movie experience.
Films to be screened this summer include Motorcycle Diaries, Amelie, Breathless, Cinema Paradiso, Belleville Rendezvous, Scarface, Pulp Fiction, Roger and Me, Memento, Donnie Darko, The Usual Suspects, The Terminator, Kickboxer, Night of The Living Dead, Rocky, Thank You For Smoking, The Social Network, Spinal Tap, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Part of The Weekend Never Dies, Kurt and Courtney, and Control.
Tickets are bookable in advance online at We Got Tickets. Films will be shown through the end of September.. The on-site box office is open on the nights of screenings from 8.30pm to 9.30pm. Doors open at 8.30pm and screenings start when it gets dark (after 9pm).
Queen of Hoxton
1-5 Curtain Road, EC2A 3JX
020 7422 0958
info@thequeenofhoxton.co.uk
Created by Hackney-based architects Studio Weave and artist duo Somewhere (Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie), the Floating Cinema is a customised narrow boat. It will ply the waterways of East London this summer hosting a varied programme of free on-board screenings as well as larger canal-side film events. Also on offer are canal tours, talks and workshops.
The boat itself was built as a British Waterways workboat named ‘Cole’ and it has been adapted to show films in the run-up to the Olympics.
Check the Floating Cinema website for details of screenings.
The Floating Cinema is not wheelchair accessible. Young people under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
Various locations
Contact UP Projects for further information: 020 7377 9677
Folly for a Flyover
This cinema-cum-cultural space crouched beneath the A12 has to take the prize for originality. See this story for full details.
Perched atop the premises of the Bootstrap Company on Ashwin Street , the Dalston Roof Park offers much more than cinema, but the series of evening screenings at Hackney’s newest park has proved popular.
The park is open to ‘friends of Dalston Roof Park’. You can befriend the park by signing up for free membership on the Bootstrap Company website or collecting a card from reception. The park hosts a bar as well as green space and an events area.
Upcoming films include The Virgin Suicides on 22 July and Hackney Pirates on 27 July (the August and September programmes are to be announced soon).
Dalston Roof Park
Bootstrap Company
The Print House
18 Ashwin Street
E8 3DL
020 7275 0825