Cube Cinema | Jan 21st | “Baal Chalchitra: the Kids Kino Project visits Nepal”

In November, after months of planning and fundraising the NKKP team sent four volunteers to Nepal to screen films to children affected by the 2015 earthquakes. We spent a month screening films in camps and villages that were close to the epicentre, and helped children to make films about their lives.

This evening will be a chance to share in that experience with films and footage from the trip, along with news about the future of the Kids Kino Project.

This is a free event but donations will be very welcome!

Half term fun with Nanoplex and NKKP

1427684857589_MOYvU61Bring the whole family to the Cube next Monday & Tuesday, as we team up with Nanoplex to bring you some half-term entertainment.

Song of the Sea tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse – the last Seal-child – who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea, a world that needs Saoirse to find her voice and sing the ‘Song of the Sea’ to save all of fairy kind from being lost forever. A modern fairy tale which stays true to the celebrated 2D animation style of animation wunderkind Tomm Moore/Cartoon Saloon with a beautiful story for the whole family. Watch the trailer here.

The screening is followed by an animation workshop where you can create and animate your own magical creatures inspired by the lovely Song of The Sea characters – us NKKP travellers will be taking notes so we can do similar workshops with the kids in Nepal.

Monday 26 October 11am & Tuesday 27 October 11am

Tickets: £4/£3. Please note workshop after screening. Event finish approx 1.30pm. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Tickets: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/105735
Cube: https://www.cubecinema.com/programme/event/song-of-the-sea,8290/

Thanks BBFC and Shambala

Wow, we managed to raise over £750 due to your love of terrible movies – the lovely folk behind Bristol Bad Film Club donated the proceeds from both ticket sales and beer sales, plus you ate ALL the cake & gave us plenty of loose change as well. No amount too small, it all adds up –  I should know, I carried £80.67 worth of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 pence pieces to the bank, it was heavy!

Many thanks also to Shambala Festival for their generous donation of £700. We’re so close to reaching our target for this trip now, it’s dead exciting!

An interview with Bristol Bad Film Club

On October 8th at The Station, Bristol Bad Film Club are holding a screening of “Never Too Young To Die” – a James Bond parody starring Gene Simmons (yes that one!) as an androgynous, leather-bound cross-dressing criminal genius sets out to finish off all of L.A. by contaminating the city’s water supply. All proceeds will be donated to NKKP. To book tickets for the event click here.

Gene Simmons as Velvet Von Ragner

Gene Simmons as Velvet Von Ragner

We caught up with Bristol Bad Film Club (or “the other BBFC” if you will) founder Timon Singh ahead of the screening.

Oh hai Ti! Tell us about Never Too Young To Die.

It is essentially a teenage James Bond film with John Stamos as the son of legendary secret agent Stargrove (played by George Lazenby – a former Bond himself). He discovers a plot to poison LA’s water supply headed by the evil Ragnar who is, as described in the official synopsis, a ‘maniacal hermaphrodite’. He’s played by KISS’s Gene Simmons and isn’t exactly the red letter day for the LGTB community that you might think. The film tries to incorporate every other popular film trope from the 80s as well, so you have Mad Max-type street gangs, an Asian geeky sidekick and Vanity – Prince’s protegee who isn’t afraid to disrobe in the name of art.

Tell us what the difference is between a bad movie and a Bad Movie, and what was the Bad Movie that inspired you to start the BBFC?

Whether it’s enjoyable or not! No-one really enjoyed the last few Transformers films, but they were, for better or worse, well-made films. However good the FX may be or the explosions were lovingly shot, they were just… dull. On the other hand, an unknown actor fighting badly-trained stuntmen in a poorly-choreographed fight sequence can be hilarious and thoroughly more enjoyable.

Sincerity also plays a key part. Directors like Tommy Wiseau (director of The Room) and James Nguyen (director of Birdemic: Shock and Terror) honestly believe that their films have something important to say – they just completely lack the technical skills to translate their vision into something coherent.

For me, it was a double bill of The Room and cult actioner Samurai Cop that convinced me that Bristol needed to have regular screenings of these little-known, but highly entertaining cult films.

We both share a belief in the power of cinema to bring people together in a social setting. What’s the difference between watching a bad movie at home, and coming to the Bristol Bad Film Club?

The group experience – I have to watch A LOT of bad films by myself… and it’s hard. My fiancee’s not going to watch Nazi Zombie Horror SHOCK WAVES with me at 11pm and to be honest, neither are most of my friends. However, on the rare occasion I can get a bunch of them to watch a bad film with me, so I can decide whether it might work for a screening – it’s hilarious. We’re all drinking, noticing things that others haven’t and having a great time.

Alcohol definitely helps, which is why we also try and find venues with bars.

Like us, you’ve done some outdoor screenings too. What makes an outdoor screening special? Is there a difference between an outdoor screening and an indoor screening?

A lot of work goes into outdoor screenings – not to mention stress. As well as site permissions, logistics, screening rights, you’ve then got to bank on the weather being on your side. However, for all of ours, we’ve have been incredibly lucky. I think it’s all about finding the right film – something that will play to a large crowd of all ages, isn’t TOO culty (because you want to draw a crowd) and something that’s fun and light-hearted which is why we went for the family-friendly Masters of the Universe and cowboy-vs-dinosaurs monster flick The Valley of Gwangi.

Plus the council wouldn’t approve of the likes of Robot Holocaust in a public park…

Any favourite stories from past events you’d care to share? Anything get a different reaction to what you were expecting?

Our third screening was at the Bristol Planetarium and it was of an Italian Star Wars rip-off called StarCrash. For the screening, we got Dr Mark Bould of UWE and Bristol’s resident sci-fi expert to introduce the film. It was a sell-out crowd, but all the way through his presentation, Mark was getting heckled by an 11 year old boy who seemed to know everything there was to know on science-fiction. That was pretty hilarious.

What’s been your favourite Bristol Bad Film Club event so far? Why?

Screening Miami Connection (a tai-kwon-do rock band vs drug smuggling ninjas) was pretty awesome. We were one of the first places in the UK to screen the film and it was a massive hit. I even got Dragon Sound (the name of the band in the film) t-shirts made – they all sold out.

Are there any dream Bad Film Club projects you haven’t yet managed to realise? 

I really want to show Neil Breen’s Fateful Findings – he keeps saying no.

Who is the greatest Bad Movie director of all time? 

I have a really soft spot for Andy Sidaris whose entire back catalogue features Playboy centerfolds as secret agents. I purchased his entire collection for $1.99! Still, he is the genius behind Hard Ticket To Hawaii that features a toxic killer snake and a man getting killed by a frisbee.

…and finally, who’d win in a fight: The Hulk or Bruce Lee?

Hulk’s got the strength, but Bruce Lee’s got the speed…. so the Hulk.

Bristol Bad Film Club present Never Too Young To Die at The Station on October 8th. Tickets are available for £5 by clicking here. All proceeds will go to supporting the Nepal Kids Kino Project. We’ll also be bringing our t-shirts and tote bags down for you to buy, and will be having a cake sale too! Yum.

Check out the BBFC on social media at Facebook or Twitter.

The Great Art Jumble 2015 is fundraising for NKKP

Screen shot 2010-09-28 at 22.22.58The highly successful Art Jumble in 2011 sold works by the likes of Andrew Mania, Ben Newman, Aardman Animations, Danny Wainwright, Viv Baker, Danny Capozzi, Ciara Phelen, Lucie Sheridan, Teneya Steed, Raisa Veikkola, Lady Lucy, Bryony Budd, Dan Buzzo, Anna Lucas, Spike Print Studio, Simon Webb, Verity Keniger, Aurelia Lange, Tom Bugs, My Two Toms, Sony award winning photographer Tamany Baker, Adam Faraday, Jerwood collected Aaron Sewards, MOTORBOY, Beardyman, Francois and Rozi, Kayle Brandon, Mr Hopkinson, Dudley Sutton and many more….  http://kidskino.cubecinema.com/haiti-events/

The 2015 Great Art Jumble promises to be even more extraordinary. It will be held at Cafe Kino on Stokes Croft, Bristol over the weekend of the 12 &13 December.  The curated set of art works, pictures, photos, music, films and thrift will all be in a price range you can pick from. A perfect winter’s gift.

To find out how you can donate, submit or sell your art work via us with the commission going to NKKP please contact artnkkp@cubecinema.com

Our first major fundraiser

On September 3rd we held our first major fundraising event – a night of laughter at the Colston Hall’s Lantern.

nkkpjl

We were thrilled to have a bill that included Josie Long, Mark Olver, Gavin Osborn and Jon Hare, Mat Ewins, Nikesh Shukla and Luke Sargeant. In the days running up to the show Mark Olver managed to call in a favour from his good chum and ex-housemate Russell Howard who joined us as special guest.

We’ve now received the final fundraising total from the evening and I am delighted to say that together we raised just over £3.5k. This is a huge chunk of the money we need to send the first team out to Nepal in November. A massive thank you goes out to all of the acts that gave their time so generously, the staff of the Colston Hall and all of you that attended and gave so freely of your time and money. Thank you!

Donate to NKKP at Bristol Sunset Cinema’s screening of Flash Gordon

Flash-GordonBristol Sunset Cinema are letting us shake buckets again, this time at their screening of 80s space opera Flash Gordon, up at the Clifton Observatory on Saturday 26 September.

American football hero Flash (Sam Jones) is dragged from Earth to the outer reaches of the Universe where he must battle the evil dictatorship of Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow). He is helped by technical wizard Dr Hans Zarkov (Topol), the winged Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed) and the brooding Prince Barin (a pre-Bond Timothy Dalton). Queen provide the film’s amazing soundtrack.

Adult tickets are £10, kids are just £5. Buy them here.

More information: twitter.com/BristolSunset

Thank you Princess Bride fans

11879151_10154176531889616_4434948751674022502_oMassive thanks to Bristol Sunset Cinema for supporting ‪NKKP with donations of over £150 from last night’s screening of the Princess Bride at Blaise Castle.

We’re also pretty pleased to be #1 on this list of Essential Things To Do In Bristol This September, plus our Josie Long fundraiser was included in last Saturday’s Guardian Guide, and made Bristol24/7’s list of 10 Things To Do This Week. It’s all go around here!

Josie Long and friends at The Lantern

Thursday 3 September 2015, 7.30pm // BUY TICKETS

Josie LongOn September 3rd, at the Colston Hall’s Lantern, writer, comedian and creative whirlwind JOSIE LONG will be joined by special guests including GAVIN OSBORN and host MARK OLVER for this special fundraiser in support of the Cube Cinema’s NEPAL KIDS KINO PROJECT. NKKP is a mobile cinema project that screens films to children in rural areas of Nepal displaced from their homes by the recent earthquakes.

Josie won the BBC New Comedy Award at just 17 and has been a regular voice on Radio 4 (as well as Radio 1, 5 & 6!) ever since. You may know her from her podcasts (often with Robin Ince), the telly (Skins, Buzzcocks, 8 out of 10 Cats, The Culture Show), her writing, or for her work with Arts Emergency and the Alternative Reality Tour. Or of course you might know her comedy which has seen her nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award three years in a row and win both the Edinburgh Comedy Newcomer Award in 2006 and the Chortle Newcomer Award in 2005.”

VODOU FILM NIGHT at the Cube

8pm Friday 21st January – £4 entry

The Cube Cinema will be showing the amazing 2002 documentary Des Hommes et Dieux which looks at the role of gay men in the Vodou religion.  There’ll also be an introductory talk by vodou expert Dr Bettina Schmidt, plus clips from Hollywood “voodoo” movies, a secret surprise extra screening, and DJ The Janitor from QuJunctions spinning Haitian sounds in the bar.

Vodou flags , Petionville March 2010

Haitian Vodou must be one of the most misrepresented religions in the world.
Since 1932’s  White Zombie starring Bela Lugosi, Hollywood movies have portrayed “voodoo” as being about black magic and zombies.
In fact Vodou is a complex mix of Western African religions brought over by the original slave population, which incorporated the iconography of the slave masters’ Roman Catholicism and Free Masonry.
It is also a deeply egalitarian, communal, and artistically creative religion which has stubbornly survived two centuries of negative propaganda from the ex-colonial powers and evangelical Christianity.
Tonight’s event is an opportunity to see some films that are very rarely screened in the UK and find out about a religion and culture that is often deeply misunderstood.

“I am always in support of events that educate people about Vodou. The negative connotation of Vodou can be traced back to the time of the slave rebellion in the 18th century and has never stopped to harm the image of Haiti and the religion. It’s appalling that so many people in the US, UK, and elsewhere still believe the Hollywood Zombie movie idea of Vodou”  Dr. Bettina Schmidt, editor of “Spirit Possession and Trance”

This event is particularly relevant given news stories about the murder of vodou priests in “retaliation” for the current cholera outbreak in Haiti.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12073029

About Des Hommes et Dieux

Prevalent, yet still taboo in Haitian society, homosexuality and gay culture are allowed to flourish within the context of the Vodou religion. As “children of the gods,” the men find an explanation for homosexuality as well as divine protection. They also find an outlet for theatrical expression through exhilarating performances in which they embody the gods. Meanwhile, the AIDS epidemic looms as a continual threat and adds a disquieting degree of nihilism to their relatively optimistic attitudes toward life and happiness in Port-au-Prince.