The ICO team look back on 2024 and share some personal cinematic highlights. We’d love to hear your favourite moments – let us know on X or Instagram.
Becky Padley, Film Programmer
Most Memorable Cinema Experiences of 2024
The Fall (2006) – 4K restoration, BFI IMAX, September 2024
This has to be my number one cinema experience of the year. When I found out Locarno Film Festival was premiering a 4K restoration of Tarsem Singh’s The Fall (2006) in the summer, I was keeping an eye out for the film being picked up for a UK release – having barely made it into cinemas the first time around. MUBI picked up the film for their streaming platform only, except for a one-off screening at the BFI IMAX. The Fall is one of my favourite films of all time, and I’ve never had the chance to see it on the big screen, so getting to see it in all its glory at such a rare screening was an incredibly special experience. The cherry on top was the film’s director, Tarsem Singh, was there to introduce the film. What a magical day!
Godzilla Minus One – Vue, Ocean Terminal (Edinburgh), January 2024
Ocean Terminal is a slightly strange place – it feels quite derelict and far from any city activity, so not my first choice of cinema in Edinburgh (in fact, in 10 years of living in the city, this was the first time I had visited this cinema). On this particular Tuesday morning, it was the only cinema playing the film. There was no one else in the screening at all, so I sat back in a recliner and had an accidental private showing of the film! Then, after the screening, in an unexpected turn of events, I bumped into old family friends who were visiting Edinburgh. I probably hadn’t seen them in over a decade, and considering I never visit that area, it was just such a weird coincidence. It was just one of those unexpected but delightful days. Go to the cinema; you never know when you’ll get a private showing and reconnect with old friends!
Love Lies Bleeding – Everyman Edinburgh, May 2024
In my final days in Edinburgh, one of my best pals invited me to join her for a last-minute BAFTA screening of Love Lies Bleeding. It might not sound like much, but everything about it was perfect – the film, the friend, the timing. It was a very cathartic and memorable final hurrah and a great way to round things off before my big move to London. It’s also turned out to be one of my films of the year!
Jade Turner, Film Programmer
Top 10 Films of 2024
I feel as though I’ve had a lopsided relationship with cinema over the past twelve months. I had an operation at the start of the year and wasn’t able to go to the cinema until spring was almost turning into summer. I stayed on the sofa for several months, staring at the ceiling, and it was tricky to watch films even at home. I was so excited to get back into the cinema, and I’ve spent the second half of the year happily playing catch up.
There are still plenty of gems I haven’t had a chance to watch from 2024, but my favourites are all films that have left a profound impact. From those I couldn’t shake from my mind for days afterwards, Close Your Eyes and Good One, or films that took my breath away – whether in scope, beauty, audaciousness or a mixture of all three – The Brutalist, Vermiglio and Hollywoodgate, to deeply emotional and overwhelmingly poignant relationship studies, Slow and Sing Sing, and some of the most enjoyable cinema experiences I’ve had in a long time, Anora, Four Mothers and Memoir of a Snail, these films have served as beacons of light.
James Calver, Projects and Events Coordinator
Favourite Repertory Screenings of 2024
Women of the LA Rebellion – Garden Cinema
The films from the LA Rebellion filmmakers have always been slightly tricky to see on the big screen, so this screening, which featured works from Julie Dash, Alile Sharon Larkin and Zeinabu irene Davis, was a great opportunity to dig into these filmmakers’ back catalogue. A Different Image (1982) was the highlight for me, an exploration of the ways in which Black women are spoken about and objectified whilst also investigating how it feels to be treated in that way. I’m hugely grateful to the Garden Cinema for taking the time to put this programme together, and the following discussion was also incredibly insightful.
The Train (dir. John Frankenheimer, 1964) – BFI
The Art of Action project has inspired an amazing selection of programmes this year, but the most enjoyable for me was a screening of John Frankenheimer’s The Train, introduced by modern action extraordinaire Christopher McQuarrie. It feels cliché to say that they don’t make action films like this anymore, but they really don’t. The scene that typified this was a chase scene between Burt Lancaster on a train and a Spitfire, which was only included because the studio felt like the film needed “more action”. This scene was included shortly after a scene where they blew up an entire railway yard. The screening was preceded by an introduction from Mission Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie, and his enthusiasm for the genre really shone through.
Snow Canon / A Thousand Suns (dir. Mati Diop, 2011 / 2013) – mBank New Horizons International Film Festival
New Horizons Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland, has always had an eclectic programme, and this year was no different. As part of their Mati Diop retrospective, there was a screening of two of her shorts, Snow Canon and A Thousand Suns, and both were stunning pieces of filmmaking. A Thousand Suns has especially stuck with me since, and it was great for the festival to include a screening of Touki Bouki (1973) the following day to help contextualise both titles. The joy of New Horizons is also that the audience is so much younger for repertory titles than you typically see in the UK, and the energy of a new generation interacting and enjoying these titles is infectious.
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (dir. Nick Park & Steve Box, 2005) – BFI
Continuing on the young audience trend, being a huge Aardman fan, I couldn’t resist the chance to see their first feature on the big screen for what was ashamedly my first time. What made the screening special was the number of young families in the room who also brought their little ones along to see the film in the cinema for the first time. You could feel the excitement in their chatter before the film, and it was a delightful reminder of how enjoyable the Wallace & Gromit films are for all audiences.
Kat Haylett, Events and Communications Officer (FHSE)
Favourite Film Club Screenings
Bar Trash – House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Bar Trash is a weekly retro cult horror film night in the bar of the Genesis Cinema in Mile End, run by Token Homo. I’d contend it’s the most fun you can have in London for £3, and my favourite this year was his screening of William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill (1959), starring the iconic Vincent Price and near endless plot twists. Castle was known for his live and interactive audience gimmicks, and Token Homo recreated this film’s device, “EMERGO”, on a somewhat smaller scale – it was equal parts terrifying and hilarious.
Category H – Candyman (1992)
Not for the faint of heart (when it comes to getting eight hours of sleep), Category H Horror Club’s late-night lock-in double-bills start at midnight in the Rio Cinema in Dalston and end shortly before the sun comes up. Their most recent was a loving tribute to Tony Todd, who passed away in November at the end of one of the most prolific acting careers of all time. I find his most iconic role, the titular Candyman, almost unbearably sad – the film’s visuals are immense, the score unforgettable, and Todd’s performance is unmatched in its gravity, tragedy, and gore. To be honest, I was too sleepy for the second half of the double-bill, but this eulogising screening sat with me for a long time.
Triangle Deptford – Queerama (2017)
The Triangle LGBTQ+ Cultural Centre in Deptford functions as a community centre, gardening club, gallery, nightclub, and cinema. They recently got funding for a programme of screenings from the BFI’s Archive and kicked it off with Queerama, a compilation documentary about queer readings of the past century of cinema housed within the BFI’s archive. Although not the most formally interesting documentary, the soundtrack by John Grant was a highlight, and the screening was introduced in an incredibly illuminating way, with an excellent post-film discussion in the bar.
Ecstatic Truths – Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988)
As a small, indulgent self-plug, I started my own film club with a friend this year, Ecstatic Truths. It’s hard to pick a favourite since we’re just screening the films we want to see big, but Cane Toads was a particular highlight, paired with Peter Greenaway’s Act of God (1980). This zany documentary chronicles the origin story of the invasive cane toad species in Australia, is shot from a toads’-eye-view, and features more than one toad-centric blues song. It’s a real crowd pleaser, unless you’re afraid of toads.
Duncan Carson, Projects and Business Manager
Favourite Screening I was Involved In
2024 was my first full year doing freelance work – getting my hands dirty at the business end of the realities of cinema operating – alongside my work at ICO. It’s very healthy, heartening and humbling(!) to get back into the slow, uplifting, dispiriting, minutiae-strewn work of long-term audience development with venues. Mostly, it’s about closely reading the runes of data to see where tiny shoots of good results are cropping up and where a rethink might be needed. Then, sometimes, life hands you an almighty literal affirmation that you’re on the right path.
One of my clients, Kiln Cinema in Kilburn, is in the heart of London’s Irish diaspora community. Historically, that hasn’t always translated into the kind of connections in the cinema that I knew were possible. Audience development, in my view, is always a mix of slow work and rank opportunism. We’ve played the recent crop of superb Irish films like The Quiet Girl (2022), Small Things Like These (2024), Pray for Our Sinners (2022) and That They May Face the Rising Sun (2023) (which outsold Barbie for us!) in front of audiences, and given them real prominence. So, when I saw Kneecap back in March at Screening Days, I knew this was a ripe opportunity. Any concerns I might have otherwise had about its ability to connect with people from all generations evaporated with the warm reception it had in that room, and the guess that it would go over even better with people who had a direct connection with the country proved correct.
So we spent six months badgering Curzon for a preview (generously granted), connecting with the amazing Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith to become a partner, and planning a three-film Irish language season around Kneecap. And it paid off. Even the relatively obscure first-ever Irish language feature Poítin pushed 90 admissions, and Kneecap itself sold out the 280-seat cinema. The roar of the crowd as I took to the stage to introduce the film felt like the band themselves were about to join, balaclavas at the ready. A quick nod to projectionist (and project co-conspirator) Emmett Cruddas, and we were away. While there was beautiful unity from the crowd in the rolling laughter during the film, the discussion that followed with journalist Anna Cafolla showed the power of the film to unlock discussion on differing viewpoints on Irish independence, the place of language in liberation and the long shadow of the Troubles. It also made clear that truly local independent film has a place in this world: a film that arises from a particular place, taken to a particular place, with the ability to contain the breadths of both. We need local cinemas that are specific to give these films their full life.
Of course, screenings like this happen infrequently, but they’re important to reconnect you to why you’re doing the rest of it. So here’s to that feeling. May we all know many more of them in 2025!
David Williams, Film Hub South East Officer
And the Award Goes To…
Best Lead Performances – Sebastian Stan (A Different Man), Mikey Madison (Anora)
It’s been a great year for Sebastian Stan. I was extremely impressed by his performance in The Apprentice, where I walked in thinking he was woefully miscast as the United States’ Convict-in-Chief, only for him to slowly morph into a very recognisable version of the man that felt more three-dimensional than the real deal. Then there’s A Different Man, another film where the premise could be absolutely ruined by a poorly-modulated performance, but Stan delivers what he needs to and then some – a sensitive portrayal of self-hatred and righteous anger, anchoring a uniquely off-kilter drama.
Mikey Madison has very few credits to her name, so to burst onto the scene with a name-above-the-title role like this is something special. An instantly iconic character, Madison charms in the role of Anora, chewing up the scenery with shouty, sweary, thick-New-York-accent dialogue and drawing in the viewer with quiet soulfulness in equal measure.
Best Supporting Performances – Javier Bardem (Dune Part Two), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
Bardem appeared in the previous instalment of Dune without having anywhere near as much of an impact as he does in part two. The journey his character takes in this film allows for a stunning comedic and dramatic range, equal parts terrifying and giggle-fit-inducing, as he portrays the most zealous follower of the movie’s hero that could possibly exist.
In The Brutalist, Pearce explodes onto the screen, furious. His reputation precedes him; you hear him before you see him, and as he transitions from malevolent foil to generous benefactor to something much more complicated than either of those things, you can’t take your eyes off of him. Much like Bardem, he’s an absolute scene-stealer.
Best Breakout Performance – Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding)
Honourable mentions go to Benjamin Clementine (Blitz), and DJ Próvaí (Kneecap), for being surprisingly great in their films, but the uncontested breakout performance this year is O’Brian. In The Mandalorian, she was magnetic on the small screen; in Twisters, she was criminally wasted. In Love Lies Bleeding, she was a breath of fresh air, a great scene partner for Kristen Stewart, with a physicality and energy that it’s difficult to imagine anyone else bringing to the role.
Best Casting – Julie Harkin (Bring Them Down)
I simply do not understand how you arrive at Christopher Abbott for this role. It doesn’t even make sense now that I’ve seen it and know it works. If you look at Christopher Abbott and think “this is who we need to play our Irish shepherd” you deserve some recognition for that.
Best Animal Performance – Xin the Dog (Black Dog)
Robbed of the coveted Palm Dog award at this year’s Cannes, Xin does comedy. Xin does stunts. In this film, which could be described as elevated dog cinema, Xin does it all. He’s a good boy.
The Washington Award for Putting on This Dress, These Rings, and Going Crazy – Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)
While the spectacle and the nostalgia of Gladiator II may not have been enough to carry the film to greatness, one man made a valiant attempt to carry the glory of Rome on his luxuriously-costumed back and for that, we salute him.
Best Silly Voice – Jodie Comer (The Bikeriders)
You may have seen The Bikeriders and believed Jodie Comer’s voicework to be enjoyably over the top. You may have found it to be over the top to the point of embarrassment. Either way, you likely thought it was over the top. That’s where you’re wrong. Not only did Comer show up and outdo Tom Hardy’s silly voice, she did so by authentically mimicking the real-life character she was based on so exactly that it defies logic and reason. Surely, no one could sound like that? They did, though, and so does she. I encourage you to track down the recordings of the real-life woman she plays, and you won’t be disappointed. Commitment worth acknowledging.
Thanks for reading and joining us for a great year of film – we hope you have a happy and restful festive season, and we’ll be back with lots more in 2025!
Header image: Kneecap (dir. Rich Peppiatt, 2023), courtesy of Curzon Film