South Africa At 20: The Freedom Tour, Nationwide
Celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of democratic South Africa began last year, and continue with this touring programme, which both celebrates freedom and commemorates the ongoing struggle for it. Music figures strongly: national electronic music survey Future Sound Of Mzansi (Bristol, London and Cambridge) should help you separate your Durban qhum from your Shangaan electro; Hear Me Move (Bristol, Cromarty, Glasgow, Oban and Cambridge) is a streetdance drama in the Step Up vein; while the uplifting Felix (Anstruther, Inverness, Cambridge and Saffron Walden) follows a gifted boy saxophonist. By contrast, there’s Cape Town-set thriller Four Corners (Cambridge, Inverness, Glasgow and Kendal) and Lionel Rogosin’s 1959 docudrama Come Back, Africa (London, Cambridge and Inverness).
Various venues, Mon to 31 Mar
Borderlines film festival, Nationwide
Despite the rural remit, there’s nothing provincial about this festival, which holds screenings in schools, village halls and whatever else it can find in the cinema-scarce Welsh borders. It’s a cosmopolitan programme too, with hits such as Whiplash (Fri to 12 Mar), international movies like The Clouds Of Sils Maria (6 & 9 Mar), plus strands on topics such as Palestinian cinema. It opens with a festival of British cinema, which brings a selection of films chosen by Ken Loach, silent classics and upcoming releases including The Goob (Fri & 1 Mar).
Various venues, Fri to 15 Mar
Carnival Of Souls, Manchester
It sounds crazy, but then it was crazy to start with anyway. Few people who’ve seen Herk Harvey’s low-budget 1962 oddity Carnival Of Souls can forget it. Prefiguring the likes of David Lynch and M Night Shyamalan, it’s an unsettling stalk through an otherworldly American town populated by creepy ghouls, sinister organ music and abandoned fairgrounds. But Film Hub North West Central have come up with a novel way to experience this cult classic: by not showing it at all. That’s right, the auditorium will be completely dark, with wireless headphones conveying the story in immersive “binaural audio”. Somewhere between sensory deprivation and an old-school radio serial, it sounds like a genuine experiment in fear.
Cornerhouse, Fri
Keswick film festival
If you live in Keswick you probably get all the visual stimulation you need just by looking out the window. But for a change of scene, this Lake District festival gives you windows on to the rest of the world, plus a few new angles on its own locale. Veteran actors Gemma Jones and Richard Johnson are in town to talk about their new seniors’ drama Radiator (Thu) – think Michael Haneke’s Amour in Cumbria. Or you can travel as far afield as New Zealand (acclaimed chess drama The Dark Horse, Thu), Ukraine (sign-language teen drama The Tribe, Fri) or North Korea (prisoner doc Camp 14: Total Control Zone, which is followed by a discussion on human rights, 28 Feb).
Various venues, Thu to 1 Mar
