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Towner Cinema returns on 2 July with a spectacular line-up of special screenings, new releases and an extra-long run of the new feature-length documentary, Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War.

Read on for the highlights of our July programme, featuring the untold stories of some of pop culture’s most intriguing figures and important cinematic excursions not to be missed on the big screen.

Since the 1930s, Towner has developed one of the largest public collections of work by Eric Ravilious (1903–1942) as well as extensive archive materials. A rotating selection of these works can be seen in The Ravilious Gallery and Collection Library, an ongoing display which is free to access and a quiet space for reading, reflection and discovery.

This year, we acknowledge the 80th anniversary of the artist’s death with these screenings of Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War, Margy Kinmonth’s new documentary and the first feature-length picture to explore the enigmatic life of one of Towner Collection’s most well-loved artists. 

Previously unseen private correspondence and rare archive film provide a narrative from Ravilious' own perspective, set against the dramatic wartime locations that inspired him. The film features Ai Weiwei, Alan Bennett, Grayson Perry and Robert Macfarlane among other contributors and admirers.

Join us on 10 July at 2.00pm for an extra-special screening followed by a live Q&A with Margy Kinmonth and Andy Friend, author and co-curator of Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship.

A full-length action-hero feature that forefronts Michelle Yeoh is a blessing in itself, but just as its multiverse continues to swell and develop, the gift of Everything Everywhere All at Once keeps on giving. In 1999, Being John Malkovich (Charlie Kaufman) dealt with the absurdity of existentialism in a similar, genre-rebellious way, but this 2022 film is able to combine the harsh banalities of modern life with a huge yet intricate sci-fi storyline in a way that could only make sense against the backdrop of late-stage capitalism. 

Visually sensational and with a dedication to telling the story of Evelyn Quan Wang (Yeoh), an Asian-American mother and struggling small business owner whose dissatisfaction with life is thrown into symbolic farce when she discovers that she is only one Evelyn occupying only one universe. While attempting to file taxes during an IRS audit of her family laundromat, she learns that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from causing the destruction of the multiverse. Throughout this quest, we are introduced to places, people and things both bizarre and breathtaking, but the film stays grounded as we dissect Evelyn’s familial relationships and understanding of herself. 

Brought to you by Eastbourne Film Society and including an introduction by chair Mansel Stimpson on 16 July, South is a staggering cinematic relic considered to be one of the world’s first documentary features. Originally released in 1919, this silent film - now with a newly commissioned score by Neil Brand - chronicles the Antarctic expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance during 1914 to 1916. This screening follows the baffling discovery of the ship’s wreck in March of this year, which has put a centuries-old maritime mystery into perspective. 

While Frank Hurley’s photography reveals the astounding, all-consuming and brilliant-white scenery, it is the natural storytelling and relatability of South that pushes it well into masterpiece territory. Hurley eloquently illustrates a gruelling tale of survival by spotlighting the important decision-making of the explorer in the face of fatality, shifting a perspective of a failed expedition to a gloriously successful one of… well, endurance. And on top of that, there’s some really nice footage of penguins. 

Swan Song is enchanting and homely but still fabulous, camp, queer and devotedly funny. This makes sense when considering that director Todd Stephens based the lead on a man he remembered from his youth, and who he credits as having had a great role in his own coming out story. Pat Pitsenbarger, a small-town character who exuded confidence, charm and self-certainty, is given this deserved and wonderful backstory driven by the expertise of unforgettable Udo Kier.

Pat is a retired hairdresser left out to pasture, counting down the days in a bleary nursing home where the lights of his past are dimmed beyond recognition. When he learns of a former client’s dying wish to have him style her final resting hair, he begins rediscovering the richness of his former life, as well as getting an opportunity to see the ongoing impact and influence he had as a part of a generation who paved the way for today’s community, surviving a pandemic and creating a foundation for gay rights. 

One of the most talked-about royal stories is that of Diana, but The Princess is certainly no fairy-tale. It does, however, provide an interrogation into the way that the media became the great orator of modern mythology, indulging a British fascination with pre-digested spectacle taking its cues from soap opera and farce. Today, themes of misogyny through sensationalism continue in the public portrayal of Meghan Markle, and seep sordidly into our everyday lives.

Director Ed Perkins uses chilling archive footage to produce a deeper look at The People’s Princess, forcing us to abandon obsessions with her private life to consider how her legacy was curated. Hitting hard at the tail-end of the Queen’s Jubilee, this is a bold take on a national tragedy and a life that came to be seen as public property. 

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