Totally Serialized, London
You could say it’s mission accomplished for this French TV festival, in the sense that Britain has now embraced quality foreign-language television to the extent it even has a dedicated service (Channel 4’s Walter Presents). French series such as The Returned, Spiral, Braquo and Witnesses have blazed that trail, and there’s plenty more where they came from. New prospects screened here include Cédric Klapisch’s hit series Call My Agent!, an insider showbiz comedy with cameos from stars such as Nathalie Baye and Cécile de France. The Bureau is an up-to-date geopolitical thriller starring Mathieu Kassovitz and, in a sillier spy vein, there’s A Very Secret Service, described as James Bond meets The Office. In a more cross-Channel spirit, there’s also the premiere of season 2 of Anglo-French series The Tunnel and a This Is England all-nighter. Key creatives will be in town for Q&As, masterclasses and industry events.
Ciné Lumière, SW7, Thu to 30 Jan
Night Thoughts: Revenge Of The Mekons, Manchester
A good week for rock encounters of the artier kind in Manchester. First up are Britpop survivors Suede, who have commissioned a new film to accompany their latest album Night Thoughts. Directed by music photographer Roger Sargent, it’s said to be a bleak, impressionistic seaside drama structured around a dying man’s tragic memories. Post-screening, the band’s Brett Anderson and Mat Osman, talk to fellow 90s indie veteran, Inspiral Carpets’ Clint Boon. Then on Monday, shifting genre and demographic, it’s Revenge Of The Mekons, a documentary on the unexpectedly enduring career of the adored punk/folk/country collective, who formed as Leeds arts students in 1977, and are credited as “the band that took punk ideology most seriously”. The screening is followed by a Q&A with the band’s original bassist Ros Allen.
.png?w=600)
