Factory International has announced a weekend double bill of two exclusive new film events as part of its winter programme at Aviva Studios.
The world premiere of All of This Unreal Time, starring Cillian Murphy, written by Max Porter, directed by Aoife McArdle and with music by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner and Jon Hopkins, was first presented as an immersive installation at Manchester Central during the 2021 edition of Manchester International Festival.
On Saturday 7 December, audiences will have another chance to see the standout film on the big screen, followed by live performances of new music inspired by the film from composers Jon Hopkins, Aaron & Bryce Dessner and a Q&A.
Described by the Guardian in its 5* review as “not just a film, but an exorcism”, the film follows the journey of a man – any man, everyman – as he walks alone through night and the city. From subway to pavement to wide open marshland, he confesses his failings: emotional, physical, political. To whom, and for what? Ashamed and alarmed, he considers both the smallness of human life and the scale of the world, and ultimately our most pressing obligation: to care for those alongside us, and for the earth that sustains us.
Cillian Murphy says: “All of This Unreal Time is a project I have deep affection for…. It was made in the bleak depths of a pandemic, yet comes from a place of pure collaboration and love. We wanted to make a visual poem that scratches at concerns about masculinity, society, and personal responsibility… all of that knotty difficult stuff, but make it with an open and a broken heart.” –
All of This Unreal Time returns to Manchester for one night only after making its London premiere at Royal Festival Hall (Southbank Centre). The screening is followed by a Q&A with members of the creative team and live performances of new work inspired by the film from composers Jon Hopkins and Aaron & Bryce Dessner. The events in London and Manchester also mark the publication of Rough Trade Books’ edition of All of This Unreal Time, with a new foreword by Cillian Murphy. Book and ticket bundles will be available.
Thirty years since the original release of Derek Jarman’s seminal film BLUE, Factory International presents BLUE NOW; a live performance reimagined by Neil Bartlett and testament to its enduring legacy on Sunday 8 December.
Created in 1993, just months before his death from AIDS-related illnesses, BLUE is Jarman’s masterpiece – an unchanging shot of celestial blue accompanied by a monologue on his illness, mortality and lost loved ones. As AIDS progressively steals his sight, Jarman experiences the world through shades of blue, inviting the viewer to join him for 74 minutes.
BLUE NOW brings together a star-studded cast – Travis Alabanza, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Jay Bernard and Joelle Taylor. Together they perform Jarman’s powerful words (previously voiced by Nigel Terry, John Quentin, Tilda Swinton and Jarman himself) alongside a new score, performed live by original composer Simon Fisher Turner in collaboration with cellist and composer Lucy Railton.
After a sell-out tour across the UK last year, the show arrives at Aviva Studios on 8 December, a unique opportunity to reflect on the impact of the AIDS epidemic and create space for compassion, rage, and poetry in the face of prejudice.
LISTINGS
7 December: All of This Unreal Time – Film screening, Q&A, New Music
8 December: BLUE NOW live
