16 April – 20 April

Drawn to the influence of memory on everyday life, the films of Terence Davies (b.1945) often revolve around recollections of his own childhood experiences. Though one of the most respected filmmakers in cinema today, Davies’ output has been sporadic, gaining prominence in the early Eighties with a collection of autobiographical short films (Children, Madonna and Child & Death and Transfiguration) before making only four feature films over a period of 20 years.

Dir: Terence Davies UK 1988 85mins 16mm
Davies’ autobiographical feature debut is a tribute to his working class Liverpool family through the Forties and Fifties. Past and present interweave, as the marriage of the eldest Davies child and the funeral of their father evoke memories of the past. Structured in two sections, each shot two years apart, popular songs of the time thread together the fragmented narrative style. Since its release it has come to be considered a neglected masterpiece and one of the most haunting “musicals” of modern cinema. Stars Pete Postlethwaite.

Dir: Terence Davies UK 1995 91mins 35mm
This lyrical story of a young boy growing up in a small Bible-belt town in Georgia is based on the John Kennedy Toole novel, written when he was only sixteen. David is left to take care of his mother after his abusive father leaves to enlist in WWII, but the arrival of his rowdy and glamorous Aunt Mae has an immediate impact on the boy’s life, firing both his imagination and his hopes. Stars Gena Rowlands and Denis Leary.