ICA is closed from the 30 May – 3 June inclusive.
When the ICA Cinema opened on The Mall in 1968, it did not open to the public. Instead, under the guise ‘Club Deluxe’ it operated as a film club screening new works evolving outside the mainstream, for ICA Members only. This conception was a sign of the times, both in tune with the unabashed enthusiasm for a medium in the midst of revolution and in opposition to a rampant censorship that meant new revelatory works like Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend were deemed un-rateable and thus illegal to show to the general public.
Cinema in 2023 finds itself in a very different position than it did in 1968. Amidst a rampant corporatisation and generally insipid and risk-averse spirit, it is easy to become despondent about the future of cinema today, to wonder if we are in that ‘ignominious, irreversible decline’ that Susan Sontag wrote about more than two decades ago. In a time of artistic uniformity, of remarkably style-less house styles, the need for spaces dedicated to truly independent and original voices is as desperate in 2023 as it was in 1968. The obstacles may have changed but the necessity of overcoming them has not.
As the spaces dedicated to showcasing work outside the commercial sphere continue to shrink, the life cycle for a film beyond its festival run remains uncertain. In the same spirit with which Club Deluxe was founded, Off-circuit aims to provide a platform to new films that have yet to receive a proper spotlight in the UK, facilitating a continuous connection between these profoundly rich works and audiences on the lookout for something new and different.
Off-Circuit offers audiences a chance to encounter this generation's landmark films on screen for the very first time, carving out a much-needed theatrical space for this generation's seminal and medium-redefining artists.
Off-Circuit is generously supported by the Edwin Fox Foundation.
Programme
From 31 January 2025
By the Stream
The latest film from Hong Sangsoo reunites Kim Minhee and Kwon Haehyo in an autumnal tale of desire, self-expression and the inescapable nature of the past.
Friday 21 February, 6.45pm
More screenings from 22 February
UK PREMIERE
bluish + Q&A with Lilith Kraxner
Lilith Kraxner and Milena Czernovsky’s film, follows two women through a series of drifting vignettes. Their quotidian moments blend and overlay reality with performance, describing an aching state, and a meditation on identity.
Thursday 6 March, 7pm
More screenings from 7 March
UK PREMIERE
Jimmy + Q&A with Yashaddai Owens
James Baldwin left New York behind for Paris in November 1948. In Jimmy, filmmaker Yashaddai Owens paints an impressionistic portrait of these early days on rich 16mm black-and-white, capturing a transformative moment in the life of a young artist.
Friday 21 March, 6.45pm
More screenings from 22 March
DIRECT ACTION + Q&A with Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau
For two years, filmmakers Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau followed a militant activist community of squatters, anarchists, farmers in France. Composed of forty-one long takes, the film quietly assembles an immersive portrait of the movement and those involved alongside their activism.
From 11 April 2025
Caught by the Tides
Assembled from footage shot over a span of more than twenty years, Jia Zhangke crafts a boundless story of enduring but fragile love, anchored by the eternally captivating presence of Zhao Tao.
From 3 December 2024
UK PREMIERE
Favoriten
From 22 November 2024
C'est pas moi + Q&A with Denis Lavant
From 3 November 2024
UK PREMIERE
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956 + Q&A with Abdenour Zahzah
From 24 October 2024
UK PREMIERE
Matt and Mara + Q&A with Kazik Radwanski
From 27 September 2024
UK PREMIERE
I'm Not Everything I Want to Be
From 30 August 2024
Last Things + Memories of an Unborn Sun
From 11 August 2024
Our Body
From 2 August 2024
Outside Noise + Q&A with Ted Fendt
From 10 July 2024
A Prince
From 25 June 2024
Foremost by Night
From 6 June 2024
UK PREMIERE
You Burn Me + Q&A with Matías Piñeiro
From 23 May 2024
UK PREMIERE Regardless of Us
From 10 May 2024
Mambar Pierrette
From 18 April 2024
UK PREMIERE Grace + online Q&A
From 5 April 2024
The Human Surge 3
From 22 March 2024
Music + Q&A with Angela Schanelec
From 8 March 2024
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
From 23 February 2024
Unrest + online Q&A with Cyril Schäublin
From 2 February 2024
UK PREMIERE A Woman Escapes in 3D + Q&A
From 14 December 2023
UK PREMIERE Mal Viver
From 14 December 2023
UK PREMIERE Viver Mal
From 1 December 2023
LONDON PREMIERE Pictures of Ghosts + Q&A
From 16 November 2023
UK PREMIERE Human Flowers of Flesh + Q&A
From 27 October 2023
UK PREMIERE Man in Black + Q&A with Wang Bing
From 31 January 2025
By the Stream
The latest film from Hong Sangsoo reunites Kim Minhee and Kwon Haehyo in an autumnal tale of desire, self-expression and the inescapable nature of the past.
Friday 21 February, 6.45pm
More screenings from 22 February
UK PREMIERE
bluish + Q&A with Lilith Kraxner
Lilith Kraxner and Milena Czernovsky’s film, follows two women through a series of drifting vignettes. Their quotidian moments blend and overlay reality with performance, describing an aching state, and a meditation on identity.
Thursday 6 March, 7pm
More screenings from 7 March
UK PREMIERE
Jimmy + Q&A with Yashaddai Owens
James Baldwin left New York behind for Paris in November 1948. In Jimmy, filmmaker Yashaddai Owens paints an impressionistic portrait of these early days on rich 16mm black-and-white, capturing a transformative moment in the life of a young artist.
Friday 21 March, 6.45pm
More screenings from 22 March
DIRECT ACTION + Q&A with Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau
For two years, filmmakers Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau followed a militant activist community of squatters, anarchists, farmers in France. Composed of forty-one long takes, the film quietly assembles an immersive portrait of the movement and those involved alongside their activism.
From 11 April 2025
Caught by the Tides
Assembled from footage shot over a span of more than twenty years, Jia Zhangke crafts a boundless story of enduring but fragile love, anchored by the eternally captivating presence of Zhao Tao.
Past Programme
From 3 December 2024
UK PREMIERE
Favoriten
From 22 November 2024
C'est pas moi + Q&A with Denis Lavant
From 3 November 2024
UK PREMIERE
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956 + Q&A with Abdenour Zahzah
From 24 October 2024
UK PREMIERE
Matt and Mara + Q&A with Kazik Radwanski
From 27 September 2024
UK PREMIERE
I'm Not Everything I Want to Be
From 30 August 2024
Last Things + Memories of an Unborn Sun
From 11 August 2024
Our Body
From 2 August 2024
Outside Noise + Q&A with Ted Fendt
From 10 July 2024
A Prince
From 25 June 2024
Foremost by Night
From 6 June 2024
UK PREMIERE
You Burn Me + Q&A with Matías Piñeiro
From 23 May 2024
UK PREMIERE Regardless of Us
From 10 May 2024
Mambar Pierrette
From 18 April 2024
UK PREMIERE Grace + online Q&A
From 5 April 2024
The Human Surge 3
From 22 March 2024
Music + Q&A with Angela Schanelec
From 8 March 2024
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
From 23 February 2024
Unrest + online Q&A with Cyril Schäublin
From 2 February 2024
UK PREMIERE A Woman Escapes in 3D + Q&A
From 14 December 2023
UK PREMIERE Mal Viver
From 14 December 2023
UK PREMIERE Viver Mal
From 1 December 2023
LONDON PREMIERE Pictures of Ghosts + Q&A
From 16 November 2023
UK PREMIERE Human Flowers of Flesh + Q&A
From 27 October 2023
UK PREMIERE Man in Black + Q&A with Wang Bing
no. 236848.