Film is a fundamental part of our programme: the ICA has followed cinema around the world since the 1940s.
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Film is a fundamental part of our programme: the ICA has followed cinema around the world since the 1940s.
Right from its formative years in the late 1940s, cinema has played a vital and often provocative part of the programme of the ICA, initially in the form of talks and lectures, and in 1950 the ICA began showing films at the French Institute, with members voting for what they wanted to see.
Experimental US film director Kenneth Anger showed three films to ICA members in 1955, while in 1957 Guy Debord, film director and Situationist leader, showed the notorious Situationist film (banned after the Paris riots) Hurlements en faveur de Sade, only to be chased over the rooftops of Dover Street.
The late 1950s and '60s saw focus on the British and French new wave as well as screenings of films from the US underground movement, and in 1958 with the move of the ICA to The Mall there was finally a dedicated cinema, programmed by Hercules Bellville.
The continuing screening of underground and art film directors continued through the 1960s - with Fellini, Warhol and Ray getting special attention - as well as classic rock movies. In 1981 the ICA Cinematheque was formally established, with its first programme The Art Film: Documentary and Documentation (featuring documentaries on Hockney and Kitaj) while its second was a groundbreaking season of Super-8 films, featuring the work of John Maybury and Ceryth Wyn Evans.
In 1973 a one-off ICA Chinese Festival had examined new Chinese cinema, advised and programmed by Tony Rayns, while the subsequent screening in 1986 of Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth was seminal in establishing a fresh look at Chinese cinema, and was also linked to ICA Cinema extending its activities to begin acquiring and distributing films.
The link with Chinese cinema continued into the 1990s, with 'fifth generation' filmmakers such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige showing their films, while the ICA was also a leader in screening new cinema from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Japan also proved to be an important source of new filmmaking talent, with the ICA screening the groundbreaking Japanese animation season Manga! Manga! In 1992 as well as showing the cult cyberpunk Tetsuo films of Shinya Tsukamoto. The ICA opened Wong Kar-Wai's hit film Chungking Express and also opened the way for Iranian cinema, featuring the work of Abbas Kiarostami.
The 1990s also saw the ICA become an outlet for the New Queer cinema, which was setting about challenging mainstream cinema as well the established cinematic avant-garde. The late 1990s saw films screened ranging from Nick Park's Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit animation A Close Shave through to Lars Von Trier's stunning television drama The Kingdom.
The ICA's film distribution arm ICA Projects - subsequently renamed ICA Films in 2006 - developed a strong reputation for acquiring provocative and individualistic films which regularly garnered a strong critical response. From Japan came the acclaimed work of cult filmmaker Takeshi Kitano - films such as Sonatine and Boiling Point - as well as the stunning post-apocalyptic animation Akira, directed by Katushiro Otomo.
Canadian filmmakers such as Guy Maddin (Tales From The Gimli Hospital) and Atom Egoyan (Calendar) worked with ICA Projects, while Jan Svankmajer's animated work was regularly acquired. Other ICA Projects highlights included Aki Kaurismaki's films Total Balalaika Show and The Man Without A Past; Bruno Dumont's La Vie de Jesus; Olivier Assayas's Irma Vep; Clara Law's Autumn Moon, and Wayne Wang's Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper is Expensive.
Recent successes include the Oscar-nominated Sophie Scholl and Brazilian documentary Favela Rising, while brand new acquisitions include the award-winning Finnish drama Frozen Land; controversial documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated and the striking Australian film Candy, starring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush.