Wagner Hall Brighton

Brighton Astro - Studying the universe on a tabletop
2024-11-07 19:00 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | Wagner Hall
Speaker: Amber Shepherd, University of Sussex

DOORS: 7.00pm

LECTURE: 7.30pm

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There is still a lot that we do not understand about our universe, such as dark matter and dark energy.

Much of our understanding of dark matter comes from observations made from far out galaxies. We are building a very sensitive tabletop device to gather data which may help to answer some of these questions. This talk will explore what new physics tabletop experiments may uncover, as well as the quantum technology we are setting up to search for dark matter.

If you would like to come along, please register below.

If you sign up via meetup but can no longer attend, please update your status to say that you are no longer attending so that someone on the waiting list gets a place.

Please only come along if you’ve signed up, as we’re limited on space so won’t be able to fit anyone else in.

For this meeting we will be at Wagner Hall on Regency Road, Brighton.Attendance is free, but we would be grateful if those of you who are able to could donate a few pounds to help cover the cost of hiring this event space. We will have a card reader and a money box you can drop your donations in on the night. We also have a bank account you can donate to electronically.

Please note that the venue has a bar that sells alcohol.

White Wall Cinema: ONE FINE DAY
2024-11-08 18:40 - 22:30
+ LIVE Q&A WITH CORRINA ANTROBUS AUTHOR OF ‘I LOVE ROMCOMS & I AM A FEMINIST’

Join us for an evening celebrating and reappraising one of cinema’s most beloved but misunderstood genres, the Romantic Comedy. On the night we’ll be hosting a special in person Q&A with author and film critic (Empire, BBC Radio, Huffington Post, Total Film, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch), & founder of the Bechdel Test Film Fest, straight from her event at London Film Festival, Corrina Antrobus.

In her new beautifully illustrated book*, she examines Rom Coms with a Feminist eye and highlights the (perhaps unexpectedly) positive contributions to feminism many of your favourites have made. From Harold & Maude to Notting Hill to Barbie, we discuss her joyous Rom Com feminist manifesto, followed by a screening of a true underrated gem of the genre, ‘One Fine Day’.

The film takes an almost classical 30s style romantic comedy approach fusing it with the aesthetics of a 1996 rainy New York as two working parents juggle kids and the corporate world. Led by two generational talents in Michelle Pfeifer and George Clooney (in full Cary Grant mode) it is a surprisingly witty affair with sharp dialogue and a refreshing honesty about parenthood and dating that all adds up to a big warm hug of a movie with a surprising dose of sophistication.

*Copies of the book will be available for purchase on the night

Tickets & More Info

DOORS: 6.40pm*

START TIME: 7.10pm*

RUN TIME: 108 mins + Q&A

CERT: PG (Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult)

Café Scientifique - The Neanderthal People of the English Channel: Adaptations and Extinctions
2024-11-13 19:15 - 21:30
With Dr Matt Pope

DOORS: 7.15pm

SPEAKER: 8.00pm

IMPORTANT
Please ensure you REGISTER prior to attending!

Register to Attend

La Manche is the name we give to the Ice Age landscapes of the English Channel, southern Britain and northern France. It has a record of early human behaviour which varies from isolated and difficult-to-interpret single artefacts through to rare sites preserving deep and rich accumulations of many thousands of finds. By interpreting these traces, which include rare human remains, we are able to tell a story of Neanderthal people from their earliest origins through to their apparent extinction. In this lecture we explore this record looking at Neanderthal culture through the lens of their adaptive success and consider in what ways their interactions with Homo sapiens may have led to their disappearance.

Matt Pope is an archaeologist based at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Leading on excavations in Britain and the Channel Islands, he studies the Ice Age prehistory of northern Europe. His research tries to understand how early human cultures pushed at the limits of their range and how these adaptations underpinned our species success and the current challenges it faces.

Doors and bar open 7:15pm

White Wall Cinema: HOUSEKEEPING
2024-11-14 19:30 - 22:30
Perhaps Scotland’s greatest ever director, Bill Forsyth is best known for his smash hit British films Gregory’s Girl and Local Hero, but it’s perhaps his first American film that is his masterpiece.

Based on the novel of the same name by Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping tells the story of two young girls who, after the suicide of their mother, find themselves in the care of their cheerful but decidedly odd aunt Sylvie who is, at best, barely tethered to social norms. The girls, Ruth & Lucille, have then to contend with, not only their own relationship with Sylvie, but also with the concerns of the well meaning but entirely conservative and perplexed residents of the small 1950s Pacific North-western town in which they live. Christine Lahti is exceptional as Sylvie and gives a sublime performance as the eccentric aunt who dares to step outside of the suffocating domesticity that faced women of the era, ‘a woman slightly distracted by the possibilities of life’.

Filled with Forsyth’s off-beat but exceptionally humanist style, Housekeeping is a wonderfully sad, funny, strange and accurate fable about life, directed with exceptional skill, grace and charm. A haunting comedy that will stay with you for many years to come.

DOORS: 7.30pm*

START TIME: 8pm*

RUN TIME: 116 mins

CERT: PG (Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult)

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White Wall Cinema: NETWORK
2024-11-20 19:20 - 22:30
Nominated for 10 Oscars with a searingly sensational Oscar winning screenplay named by The Writer’s Guild of America as one of the 10 best ever written, Paddy Chayefsky’s story of a TV news anchor who one day appears to have a nervous breakdown live on air whilst going on a fanatical rant, and the subsequent fall-out, is an all encompassing razor sharp satire about America and its media.

The New York Times labelled it “literate, darkly funny and breathtakingly prescient… the greatest screenplay of the 20th century’. Impeccably acted by Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, and Beatrice Straight (who all won Oscars for their roles) joined by William Holden and Robert Duvall, directed by one of the all time greats in Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon), Network is the benchmark by which all other media satires are measured.

DOORS: 7.20pm*

START TIME: 7.50pm*

RUN TIME: 121 mins

CERT: 15 (Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult)

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Waterstones: An Evening With Matt Haig
2024-11-21 19:00 - 21:30
DOORS – 6.15pm

EVENT – 7.00pm

Tickets

Matt Haig is the the beloved author of titles such as ‘The Midnight Library’ and ‘How to Stop Time’ and now brings us another beautifully wrought and inspiring novel, ‘The Life Impossible’

Meet Grace, a retired maths teacher who has been left a run down house on a Mediterranean island by a long lost friend. With little more than a one way ticket, she sets off … and so begins her wondrous and wild adventure. This is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.

An author who blurs the lines between genres, blending fantasy, myth and science fiction to create some of the most inventive and enduringly popular contemporary fiction, Matt Haig is also amongst Waterstones bookseller’s favourite authors. His novels include How to Stop Time, The Radleys and The Humans as well as children’s books including A Boy Called Christmas and The Girl Who Saved Christmas. He is also the author of the Sunday Times bestseller and Waterstones non-fiction Book of the Month, Reasons to Stay Alive and the follow up, Notes on a Nervous Planet.

Please note: the Book & Ticket option includes a copy of ‘The Life Impossible’ (rrp £20)

NOTE: this event is currently SOLD OUT. Please contact Waterstones Brighton for any returns / avails.

White Wall Cinema: AMERICAN MOVIE
2024-11-29 19:30 - 22:30
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One of the funniest, most heartfelt and enjoyable documentaries of all time now celebrating it’s 25th anniversary ‘American Movie’ (winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival) centres on young Wisconsin filmmaker Mark Borchardt who along with friend Mike Schank are attempting to make low budget horror movie ‘Coven’. ‘Attempting’ being the operative word. Armed only with determination and a $3000 loan from his uncle, a combination of mishaps, mismanagement and sheer ineptitude lead to a catalogue of hilarious filmmaking disasters.

Here director Chris Smith, who went on to create a string of successful docs that include ‘Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond’ (the doc about Jim Carrey playing Andy Kauffman in Man On The Moon), ‘Fyre’ (about the failed Fyre Festival), ‘Sr’ (about Robert Downey Jr. and his father, Robert Downey Sr), the recent 2023 Wham! doc and an upcoming 2024 DEVO doc. crafts one of the most beloved, intimate and amusing docs of all time in ‘American Movie’.

​This bittersweet doc about a would-be director and his bumbling but loyal friend is surprisingly funny, touching and a real love letter to the burning sense of ambition that fuels every true filmmaker as well as a loving and joyous portrait of two hapless friends chasing their dreams.

Also available is a discounted joint ticket for this screening and our September 24th screening of ‘Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse’. Charting the infamously over-budget out of control 1979 shoot of Francis Ford Coppola’s cinematic masterpiece Apocalypse Now. Encountering one monumental setback after another and fuelled by a burning desire to create something remarkable, Hearts of Darkness is American Movie writ large, and charts the very same filmmaking passion at the exact opposite end of the scale

DOORS: 7.30pm*

START TIME: 8pm*

RUN TIME: 107 mins

CERT: 15

White Wall Cinema: THE HOLDOVERS
2024-12-04 19:00 - 22:30
Christmas Special!

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Back at WWC again director Alexander Payne (responsible for the likes of Sideways, The Descendants, About Schmidt, Nebraska and more) brings us his latest film in the form of this delightfully witty and touching Christmas tale. Infused with Payne’s trademark bittersweet tone this was one the year’s best reviewed film.

A best picture nominee at this years Oscars the film’s leads came away with a clutch of awards including Best Actor for Paul Giamatti at the Golden Globes, and Da Vine Joy Randolph who took home Best Supporting Actress gongs from the Critics Choice Awards, The Baftas, The Golden Globes, New York Film Critics Circle and even earned herself an Oscar.

​The film takes place over the (perhaps not so) festive season at a snowy New England prep school in 1970, where curmudgeonly classics teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) is handed the task of looking after ‘The Holdovers’ i.e. the boys at the boarding school who aren’t going home for Christmas. An unlikely connection is formed between the most intelligent but emotionally troubled of the boys Angus (Dominic Sessna), as well as the recently bereaved school cook Mary, played with breath-taking skill and warmth by Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

This story of three shipwrecked people struggling to find meaning and indeed and any form of Christmas spirit is a masterclass in heartfelt, intelligent and tender comedy. Easily one of the best films the year, the studio bizarrely bungled it’s release putting it into cinemas AFTER Christmas. Easily the best Christmas movie of the last 20+ years it truly deserves to be watched on the big screen in the lead up to the big day as part of a new Christmas tradition given it’s pedigree as an instant classic.

DOORS: 7pm*

START TIME: 7.30pm*

RUN TIME: 133 mins

CERT: 15 (Under 16s must accompanied by an adult)

The Comedy Graduation Night
2024-12-06 19:00 - 22:00
After weeks of hard work and dedication, the talented individuals from the 8-week comedy course are ready to take the stage and showcase their comedic genius.

From crafting hilarious material to perfecting their delivery, they’ve honed their skills week after week, and the results are nothing short of spectacular.

Join them for an unforgettable evening filled with laughter, camaraderie, and celebration of comedic talent.

Don’t miss out on this incredible showcase of comedy brilliance! See you there for a night to remember!

Tickets & Info

DOORS: 7pm

SHOW: 8pm

Christmas Makers Fair
2024-12-14 10:30 - 16:30, 2024-12-15 10:30 - 16:30
DOORS: 10.30am

Our 2-day Christmas Makers Fair returns to Wagner Hall for its fourth year, showcasing some of the most diverse and talented makers, artists & designers local to Brighton.

Get ready to embrace the festive spirit as we bring you an enchanting curated Christmas Makers Fair, where creativity and cheer collide. Join us for a joyful celebration with over 80 local artisans, crafters, creators & foodies, spread across the weekend, who are ready to showcase their unique handmade treasures & designs.

Grab a bite to eat and a coffee from the pop-up cafe run by local baker Seashore Bakes. You’ll find an amazing selection of cakes & sweet treats including some festive specials too. Head to the garden, where you’ll find Boella serving up authentic Neapolitan style pizzas, panuozzi’s and arancini’s. Get in the festive spirit with a cheeky mulled wine or cider!

After a successful weekend last year, Bunches of Sussex are back with their popular Wreath making workshop! You will design and make your very own wreath, with the support and guidance from specialist florists – just £40 per person. The class is open to all ages and abilities – everyone is welcome (littles ones will require adult supervision with snippers). So, bring your friends and family or come solo and make new friends as you bond over some festive crafting! please note: workshop is located outside in gazebos. Blankets will be provided but please wrap up warm!

Please note: some stalls will be located on the stage with access via stairs only.

For more info..

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White Wall Cinema: BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
2024-12-18 19:00 - 22:30
Christmas Special #2!

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Closing out the year much as we began it we are once again in the company of the world’s greatest living director Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, After Hours, Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street) who brings us this stealth adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

Suffering from depression, insomnia, and occupational burnout, paramedic Frank (Cage) finds himself botching patient care and experiencing ghostly hallucinations. Collapsing under the strain of the job we follow Frank across three consecutive New York City night shifts accompanied by three different paramedics (John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore) dealing with the kind of late night wildness only The Big Apple can deliver, his only salvation being a blossoming friendship with a recently treated patient’s daughter in the form of the ever brilliant Patricia Arquette.

One of the most underrated films of Scorsese’s career it is directed with the all the virtuosity that one might expect from this true giant of cinema as well as being one of the more interesting works in his cannon, fusing the ghosts of Christmas with the night time hellscape of his beloved New York during the holiday season. Manic, poignant, funny, gothic, spiritual and compulsively entertaining, it’s entirely fitting as our White Wall Cinema Christmas special and final event of 2024.

DOORS: 7pm*

START TIME: 7.30pm*

RUN TIME: 121 mins

CERT: 18

Café Scientifique: Unveiling the Brain’s circulatory secrets with MRI
2025-01-08 19:15 - 21:30
With Dr Iris Asllani

DOORS: 7.15pm

SPEAKER: 8.00pm

IMPORTANT
Please ensure you REGISTER prior to attending!

Register to Attend

This talk delves into the remarkable insights that MRI technology provides into the brain’s circulatory system and its impact on health. By exploring how blood flow sustains brain function, we will uncover its critical role in cognition, aging, and neurological disorders. You’ll learn how cutting-edge imaging techniques allow us to visualize and measure blood flow, enabling early detection of conditions like stroke, dementia, and other brain diseases.With a focus on practical applications and future advancements, this presentation highlights how understanding the brain’s hemodynamics can lead to better diagnostics, targeted treatments, and improved health outcomes. Designed for a general audience, this talk offers a window into the intersection of neuroscience, technology, and health.

Dr Asllani is Associate Professor in Imaging Science at the University of Sussex. She graduated from the University of Tirana, Albania, with a degree in Theoretical Nuclear Physics. A two-time Fulbright Scholar, she earned her Master’s degree in Microscopy and her Ph.D. in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance from the Bioengineering Department at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. She spent the following decade at Columbia University in New York City, where she spearheaded the Arterial Spin Labeling perfusion MRI program.Her primary research focuses on developing advanced MRI techniques to measure brain physiology in health and disease. Her recent work has expanded into multi-modal neuroimaging methods, enabling comprehensive and quantitative assessments of brain function and metabolism.In addition to her research and teaching, Dr Asllani serves as Vice Chair and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Consortium for Advancement of MRI Education and Research in Africa (CAMERA). She is also a faculty advisor for Engineering World Health, which is now part of Engineers Without Borders.

Doors and bar open 7:15pm

White Wall Cinema: LOVE LIES BLEEDING
2025-01-31 18:50 - 22:30
PLUS MYSTERY MOVIE

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WWC is back at the end of January by which time (let’s be honest) you will have given up on the gym membership you so enthusiastically bought at the beginning of the year. So why not let White Wall Cinema do the heavy lifting for you and provide some cinematic ‘gymspiration’ in the form of a muscular double bill starting with Rose Glass’s rippling queer revenge thriller Love Lies Bleeding followed by a magnificent (and no less ripped) mystery movie.

A major step-up from Rose Glass’s Bafta Nominated 2020 debut ‘Saint Maud’ (Mark Kermode’s favourite film of that year) Love Lies Bleeding is a uber cool sapphic thriller starring Kristen Stewart as shy and reclusive gym manager Lou living in a rural town in New Mexico in the late 1980s. When she meets ambitious female bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian), who is en-route to her Vegas bodybuilding competition dreams, romance immediately blossoms, but is stopped in it’s tracks by the complications of Lou’s dangerous and criminal family headed by her ruthless gangster father Lou Sr (Ed Harris).

This hyper stylised, ultra horny revenge thriller splattered with flashes of violence and even a psychedelic horror edge is also blessed with a brilliant soundtrack and an excellent ensemble performance that all adds up to a rip(ped) roaring tale that pulls off the herculean feat of being both a crowd pleaser and a true piece of cult cinema. Join us for this brilliant Friday night screening that will be followed by another equally entertaining cult gem with a reputation as big as Katy O’Brian’s biceps. This mystery movie is really quite something, an eye popping cinematic extravaganza not to be missed.

DOORS: 6.50pm*

START TIME: 7.20pm*

RUN TIME: 104 + 80 mins

CERT: 15 (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)

Please Note: There will be a short interval between the films but patrons will only be able to enter prior to the start of the first film.

Brighton Astro - Exploring the end of the dark ages
2025-02-06 19:00 - 21:30
Speaker: Professor Stephen WilkinsUniversity of Sussex

DOORS: 7.00pm

LECTURE: 7.30pm

Register to Attend

In our current understanding, our Universe emerged from an incredibly hot, dense state roughly 14 billion years ago. While initially incredibly hot and full of light as the Universe expanded it cooled, eventually becoming dark, entering a period known as the “cosmological dark ages”. During this period dark matter and gas, attracted by the force of gravity, developed into structures, eventually leading to the formation of the first stars and galaxies, lighting up the Universe. This earliest period of galaxy formation is now accessible thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). Webb not only allows us to identify examples of early galaxies but learn about their detailed physical properties. Webb has already thrown up surprising results including many more super-massive black holes in the early Universe than expected.

Stephen Wilkins is a Professor of Astronomy and Public Understanding of Science at the University of Sussex. Stephen obtained his Masters in Physics from the University of Durham before receiving his PhD from the University of Cambridge. Stephen then worked as a research fellow at the University of Oxford before joining the faculty at Sussex in 2013. Stephen’s main research focuses on understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, particularly the first stages in the distant early Universe. Outside his research Stephen is also a keen advocate of public understanding of science.

If you sign up via meetup but can no longer attend, please update your status to say that you are no longer attending so that someone on the waiting list gets a place.

Please only come along if you’ve signed up, as we’re limited on space so won’t be able to fit anyone else in.

Wagner Hall is on on Regency Road, Brighton.Attendance is free, but we would be grateful if those of you who are able to could donate a few pounds to help cover the cost of hiring this event space. We will have a card reader and a money box you can drop your donations in on the night. We also have a bank account you can donate to electronically.

Please note that the venue has a bar that sells alcohol.

Waterstones: An Evening With Gary Stevenson
2025-02-10 18:15 - 21:30
DOORS – 6.15pm

EVENT – 7.00pm

Tickets

In ‘The Trading Game’, Gary Stevenson charts his life from working-class roots in Ilford to becoming one of Citibank’s leading financial traders, dealing in trillions of dollars of other people’s money everyday. He takes us right to the dark heart of the trading world, introducing us to the many intoxicating and amoral characters who reside there.

This is a white-knuckle, thriller of a memoir about an extremely talented man who took on and survived the trading game … then blew it wide open.

We hope you can join us for what promises to be a fascinating evening.

Please note, book & ticket option includes a paperback copy of ‘The Trading Game’ (RRP £10.99) available for collection on the evening.

Café Scientifique: What part will hydrogen play in getting to Net Zero?
2025-02-12 19:15 - 21:30
With Abigail Dombey CEng

DOORS: 7.15pm

SPEAKER: 8.00pm

IMPORTANT
Please ensure you REGISTER prior to attending!

Register to Attend

What part will hydrogen play in getting to Net Zero? with Abigail Dombey CEng CEnv.

Hydrogen is being hyped as THE energy vector for the transition to net zero. However, whilst it will be essential for the decarbonisation of many areas of the economy, there will be limits to its use.

This presentation will identify the key uses for hydrogen and hydrogen-derived fuels and those uses where there are likely to be more efficient alternatives to hydrogen, as well as discuss Sussex’s strengths in hydrogen.

Abigail Dombey (CEng CEnv) is an energy and sustainability engineer at Net Zero Associates, and is Chair of Hydrogen Sussex. Abigail has an extensive background in carbon reduction projects in the public sector, having spent 10 years as Head of Sustainability at the University of Brighton. She has worked on a number of decarbonisation projects across industrial sectors, and is currently leading on a UK Government funded Industrial Fuel Switching project to trial using green hydrogen as a fuel source.

Doors and bar open 7:15pm

Please note that we are entirely dependent on donations from those who attend our events. You can make a donation as you arrive or leave; we are happy to accept cash or card payments. All donations greatly appreciated!

White Wall Cinema: REAR WINDOW
2025-02-14 19:40 - 22:30
ALT. VALENTINE’S SPECIAL

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Legendary director Alfred Hitchcock is often mistakenly most associated with his hit horror movies such as Psycho or The Birds, but any real Hitchcock lover will tell you these don’t come near top of the list when it comes to the director’s greatest films. Hitchcock movies that employ an air of mystery such as Vertigo, or North By Northwest (amongst many others) are the films that best exemplify the style that earned him the moniker ‘The Master of Suspense’. This outrageously brilliant and incredibly entertaining 1954 mystery romance thriller is undoubtedly among Hitchcock’s best as he employs genius production design and his two ultra magnetic leads Jimmy Stewart & Grace Kelly (as well as the wonderful Thelma Ritter) to brilliant effect to create one of the best (and most referenced) films in all of cinema history.

When professional photographer L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jeffries (Stewart) is laid up with an injury after an accident he finds himself confined to a wheelchair and a waist high, leg and foot plaster-cast. Despite frequent visits and overtures from his glamorous socialite girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly sporting a series of jaw droppingly gorgeous pieces of couture fashion) and sage advice from his no-nonsense (and hilarious) nurse Stella (Ritter), Jeff can’t help voyeuristically tracking the activities of his neighbours as he looks out across the courtyard from his chair, only to suspect something entirely more sinister is going on just across the way.

The perfect alternative Valentines film, not only as an undisputed masterpiece of cinema (consistently ranked in the best 50 American films ever made) but as a romantic piece, both through the simultaneously amusing, heart-breaking, sinister and joyous lives of Jeff’s neighbours but through the film’s central enjoyable will they, won’t they relationship between Stewart & Kelly. And after all, what would our now traditional annual alternative Valentine’s romantic special be without something like a suspected murder and some dark humour (here in Hitchcock’s trademark style) thrown into the plot. Book now for a Friday night to remember, whether you are flying solo or bringing your date it doesn’t matter, Rear Window is a joy to watch from beginning to end.

DOORS: 7.40pm*

START TIME: 8.10pm*

RUN TIME: 111 mins

CERT: 15 (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)

White Wall Cinema: THELMA
2025-02-20 19:10 - 22:30
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Mission Impossible on mobility scooters, the fabulous 93 year old June Squibb takes on her FIRST EVER lead role in the history of her remarkable 70 year career (and is about to have her second ever lead role in the first film directed by Scarlett Johansson). A remarkable treasure of the movie industry, Squibb plays the equally remarkable Thelma, a grandmother who falls foul of a con artist and loses $10,000 dollars. Not willing to stand idly by, she instead plans to take action by sitting quite comfortably on a mobility scooter and hurtling towards danger to try and recover the money.

A fantastically funny and remarkably poignant film, former Oscar nominee Squibb stars alongside Fred Hechinger (Eighth Grade, The White Lotus, Gladiator II, Nickel Boys), Clark Gragg (The Avengers), Parker Posey (Best In Show, Beau Is Afraid), Malcolm McDowell (If…., A Clockwork Orange) and the recently departed legendary Richard Roundtree (best remembered for his role as Shaft in the era defining 70s Blaxploitation film of the same name), in his final role.

A beautiful tribute to the director’s own grandmother, this nonagenarian action movie is a one of kind gem that earns every point of its 98% Rotten Tomatoes score. Infectiously funny, surprisingly affecting and quite unlike anything you have ever seen before.

DOORS: 7.10pm*

START TIME: 7.40pm*

RUN TIME: 98 mins

CERT: 12 (Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)

White Wall Cinema: DUNE
2025-03-01 18:30 - 22:30
DAVID LYNCH’S (1984) – 4K REMASTER

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With the sad passing of a true icon of cinema in David Lynch, this previously scheduled screening now becomes an unintended tribute to one of the great directors of all time. Despite being Lynch’s second most successful film at the box office (his highest earner was The Elephant Man) 1984’s Dune was seen as a box office bomb and remains (easily) one of Lynch’s most underappreciated works and is still (incredibly given his back catalogue) one of his most misunderstood.

Built for the big screen Dune is a masterpiece of epic and eccentric gothic production design, a true feast for the eyes, with even the less well aged special effects oozing (sometimes literally) charm. It also features an out of this world all-star cast that ranges from Twin Peaks cast members like Kyle MacLachlan, Everett McGill, and Jack Nance, as well as Blue Velvet cast like Dean Stockwell and Brad Dourif mixed in with a stunning array of talent that includes Bergman regular Max Von Sydow, Blade Runner’s Sean Young, and Das Boot’s Jürgen Prochnow. Hell, even Sting turns up (in some outrageously small and weird leather underpants) all offering some of the most wonderfully memorable and ‘Lynchian’ line readings in cinema history.

Despite the film’s initial reception, in 2025, Dune’s concoction of sights and sounds, all capped with an epic soundtrack from Brian Eno and Toto, remains an undeniably mesmerising experience that shows one of cinema’s true iconoclasts attempting and perhaps ‘failing’ to redefine the blockbuster Sci Fi movie. Oh but what beauty there is in the failing, Dune is a swirling dream of a movie that thrills, confounds, entertains and catches the viewer repeatedly off-guard. We urge you to see or re-visit this fascinating, beguiling ride that we think contains a true epic masterpiece lurking just below the surface like a giant Sandworm in the deserts of Arrakis. Come celebrate this legend of cinema in all his eccentricity let loose with $40 million dollars ($121 million in today’s money) with this special 4K restoration screening on Saturday March 1st.

DOORS: 6.30pm*

START TIME: 7pm*

RUN TIME: 137 mins

CERT: 12 (Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)

White Wall Cinema: PARIS MEMORIES
2025-03-05 19:00 - 22:30
AKA – REVOIR PARIS

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Acclaimed director Alice Wincour (Disorder / Proxima) brings us this tale of remarkable power about Mia (Virginie Efira) a 40 something Parisian who after being caught up in a horrific gunman attack in a bistro attempts to piece back together her life and come to terms with the extreme shock of the event. Desperate to make sense of it all and for some semblance of normality, Mia finds herself returning to the scene of the incident and forming bonds with fellow survivors in order to work through the mental puzzle of recovery.

A devastatingly tender portrait of trauma the film is a remarkable cinematic study of memory and the colliding of the emotional and analytical mind in the most difficult of circumstances. Featuring an astonishingly measured central performance from the brilliant Virginie Efira (Elle / Benedetta) who unearths hope, humanity and courage against the backdrop of a vividly captured city of light. This is a moving and exceptionally crafted film from director Alice Winocour, who is fast becoming one of cinema’s key voices.

DOORS: 7pm*

START TIME: 7.30pm*

RUN TIME: 105 mins

LANGUAGE: French w English Subtitles

CERT: 15 (Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult)

*This screening will be followed by an optional and informal post film discussion group.*

Brighton Astro - Mercury 13: The Pioneering Women Who Defied the Space Race and Fought for Their Place Among the Stars
2025-03-06 19:00 - 21:30
Speaker: Tahani BaldwinUniversity of Sussex

DOORS: 7.00pm

LECTURE: 7.30pm

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During the height of the Space Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, a little-known yet revolutionary program dared to defy the norms of the 1960s. Spearheaded by visionary aerospace physician Dr. William Randolph Lovelace ll, this groundbreaking initiative sought to answer one bold question: Could women endure the physical and psychological demands of spaceflight? The answer came from thirteen extraordinary women – accomplished pilots who challenged societal expectations and excelled under gruelling tests, often surpassing their male counterparts. Though the program was ultimately discontinued, their resilience in the face of entrenched prejudices became a powerful and enduring symbol of progress and possibility. This Women’s History Month, we honour these trailblazing women, whose courage and determination not only shaped the history of human spaceflight, but also inspired generations of explorers to reach for the stars.

Tahani Baldwin, GMBPsS, is a PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, with a research focus on digital interventions and behavioural change. She graduated with honours in Psychology from Aston University in 2022 and went on to complete her Master’s degree in Psychology at the University of Birmingham. Tahani’s passion for space exploration emerged during her postgraduate studies. As Chairperson of the University of Birmingham Astronomical Society, she led initiatives to promote engagement with astronomy and space research. For her master’s thesis, she explored the role of personality traits in stress adaptation within a simulated Martian environment. An avid space enthusiast and advocate for interdisciplinary research, Tahani is dedicated to advancing our understanding of human behaviour in extraterrestrial contexts, and deepening our knowledge of humanity’s place in the cosmos.

If you sign up via meetup but can no longer attend, please update your status to say that you are no longer attending so that someone on the waiting list gets a place.

Please only come along if you’ve signed up, as we’re limited on space so won’t be able to fit anyone else in.

Wagner Hall is on on Regency Road, Brighton.Attendance is free, but we would be grateful if those of you who are able to could donate a few pounds to help cover the cost of hiring this event space. We will have a card reader and a money box you can drop your donations in on the night. We also have a bank account you can donate to electronically.

Please note that the venue has a bar that sells alcohol.

Café Scientifique: The teen brain - don't be afraid
2025-03-12 19:15 - 21:30
With Dr Liat Levita

DOORS: 7.15pm

SPEAKER: 8.00pm

IMPORTANT
Please ensure you REGISTER prior to attending!

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Are adolescents really just thrill-seekers who struggle to learn from negative outcomes? The answer, as we will talk about, is a big no. I will share some exciting research from my lab, using insights from EEG and behavioural tasks to challenge common misconceptions about teens. We will explore what these findings reveal about brain plasticity, risk-taking, and mental health, and why adolescence—while for most is an age full of opportunity—can also be a time of increased vulnerability. This will be an informal and interactive talk, so feel free to jump in with any questions, thoughts, or anything that fascinates you about the teenage brain!

Dr Liat Levita is the head of the Developmental Affective Neuroscience Lab and a Reader in Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. Her research takes a translational approach to understanding adolescence—a period of both immense opportunity and heightened vulnerability. By examining individual developmental trajectories from childhood through adulthood, she investigates both normative and non-normative development, with a focus on the impact of early life stress on well-being. She also studies the emergence of mental health pathologies, using a combination of brain imaging and psychophysiological methods (e.g., heart rate). She has held academic positions at the Universities of York, Sheffield, and Sussex, following postdoctoral research at Cornell, Columbia, and Emory Universities. She earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge and BSc in Neuroscience from the University of St Andrews.

Doors and bar open 7:15pm

Please note that we are entirely dependent on donations from those who attend our events. You can make a donation as you arrive or leave; we are happy to accept cash or card payments. All donations greatly appreciated!

White Wall Cinema: INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS + ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER TIME
2025-03-14 18:40 - 23:00
GREENWICH VILLAGE DOUBLE BILL

Now that Timothée Chalamet has done us all the service of bringing Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village back into the cultural conversation we finally have an excuse to screen the greatest piece of film about said 1960s folk cultural hotbed in the shape of one of the finest Coen Brothers films (Fargo, Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading, True Grit etc) the glorious Inside Llewyn Davis starring Oscar Isaac & Carey Mulligan.

Not only that but the evening will continue with the screening of a very special companion piece film ‘Another Day, Another Time’ celebrating the folk music explosion in early 60s New York featuring a who’s who of musicians (Joan Baez, Marcus Mumford, Punch Brothers, Patti Smith, Gillian Welch, Jack White & more) all captured giving sublime stage performances of music from the era, on a truly glorious evening at New York Town Hall.

Considered one of the finest Coen Brothers films and regularly named amongst the top entries in ‘best films of the 21st century’ lists, Inside Llewyn Davis is an undoubted masterpiece of melancholic comedy that follows ‘a complete unknown’ folk singer called Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), struggling to keep his personal life in order (chiefly his relationship with married folk singer Jean – Carrie Mulligan, and his friend’s ginger cat) whilst also attempting to become a success on the early 60s folk scene. Exceptionally witty, beautifully photographed, with an exceptional supporting cast this is the Coen Brothers at the absolute peak of their powers.

The accompanying concert film is an equally remarkable document of some of the most uplifting and affectingly brilliant folk music performances ever recorded and is a truly joyous concert film produced by the genius behind so many Coen Bros film soundtracks, the fifteen time Grammy Award winner T. Bone Burnett.

DOORS: 6.40pm*

START TIME: 7.10pm*

RUN TIME: 105 mins + 101 mins

CERT: 15 (Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult)

TICKETS & MORE INFO

Please Note: There will be a short interval between the films but patrons will only be able to enter prior to the start of the first film.

White Wall Cinema: INLAND EMPIRE
2025-03-23 17:40 - 22:30
DAVID LYNCH’S – 4K REMASTER

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With the sad passing of a true icon of cinema in David Lynch, we screen the final feature film of his illustrious career in the shape of this special 4K remaster presentation of the infamous Inland Empire. The final ‘ultimate’ puzzle of a career made out of cinematic puzzles, this 2006 experimental psychological thriller represents the natural progression and final landing point of the much discussed Lynchian style. Inland Empire is the direct successor to the likes of Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway and perhaps most crucially Mulholland Drive.

A crucial artefact of the early digital filmmaking era, Lynch is as innovative as ever in this wild tale of a Hollywood actress (a mighty performance by Laura Dern) who begins to take on the personality traits of a character she is playing in a supposedly cursed film production. ​​Largely financed by Lynch himself, started without a finished screenplay and developed (as was Lynch’s preference) on a scene by scene basis, the film is famously shot by Lynch himself entirely on a handheld Sony camcorder. If Lynch was known for his pre-occupation with the relationship between cinema and dreams then Inland Empire is the closest we will ever come to having a live feed from inside David Lynch’s head on the screen.

The final and most undiluted statement by one of cinemas great heroes Inland Empire is a full circle moment and easily his most personal film since 1977’s Eraserhead and an extraordinary document of Lynch’s boundless imagination. Once again joining with regular collaborators like Dern (Blue Velvet / Wild At Heart) as well Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive), Harry Dean Stanton (Wild At Heart) & Grace Zabriskie (Twin Peaks) David also brings in the likes of Jeremy Irons and Julia Ormond plus a collection of star cameos. Uncompromising and masterful, Inland Empire is a deep, seductive, troubling and confrontational whirlwind of a film that will confound and beguile you throughout.

DOORS: 5.40pm*

START TIME: 6.10pm*

RUN TIME: 180 mins

CERT: 12 (Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)

White Wall Cinema: RETURN TO OZ
2025-03-28 19:20 - 22:30
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This wonderfully creepy kids classic still lives rent free in the minds of all who saw it in their youth. Forget Arianna Grande, this is the ONLY truly WICKED adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s Oz novels.

When the mother (Piper Laurie of Twin Peaks fame) of the young Dorothy Gale (played by the one and only Fairuza Balk from The Craft) fears her daughter is too disturbed by her memories/visions of the imaginary world of Oz, she takes her for psychological experimentation. Dorothy manages to escape to Oz, only find a vain witch and evil king have turned the yellow brick road to rubble, and left the Emerald City a pile of ruins. Determined to save the day she, with the help of some new friends like Billina, Tik-Tok, Jack Pumkinhead and The Gump, heads off to rescue her old friends the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion.

Given the awesome reputation of the original Wizard Of Oz film, spin-off adaptations were inevitable, but from The Wiz to Wicked no other Oz movie will ever quite achieve the cult status of this bizarre, brilliant and often dazzling creation that all adds up to the most wonderfully unexpected sequel to the 1939 MGM classic. Ingenious production design and irresistible nightmarish special effects combine to create a fantastic voyage that is burned into the psyche of every 80s kid and still stands today as a joyously creative and stylish take on the world over the rainbow.

DOORS: 7.20pm*

START TIME: 7.50pm*

RUN TIME: 113 mins

CERT: PG (Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult).

Waterstones: An Evening With Elif Shafak
2025-04-01 17:45 - 21:30
Elif Shafak’s latest novel, ‘There Are Rivers In The Sky’ is a sweeping and enchanting story set between the 19th century and modern times. Events centre around three extraordinary characters, Arthur, Narin and Zaleekhah, living on the banks of the Thames and the Tigris, their lives all curiously touched by the epic of Gilgamesh.

This is a truly beautiful novel about love, loss, memory & healing and, since its hardback release last year, has become one of Shafak’s most praised and beloved titles.

We do hope you can join us for what will be a very special and memorable evening, celebrating both this remarkable book and its much loved, highly acclaimed author.

Please note, book & ticket option includes a paperback copy of ‘There Are Rivers In The Sky’ (rrp £9.99) available for collection on the night.

DOORS – 5.45pm

EVENT – 6.30pm

TICKETS

Brighton Astro: The European Southern Observatory - at the cutting edge of astronomy
2025-04-03 19:00 - 21:30
Speaker: Peter Grimley

DOORS: 7.00pm

LECTURE: 7.30pm

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The European Southern Observatory — ESO — was established in 1962 to provide astronomers in Europe with access to the southern skies by operating an observatory in Chile. Its five founding Member States have now grown to sixteen, including the UK. Since its inception ESO has been at the forefront of technological and engineering development and it now operates a suite of telescopes on three sites. In this Peter will describe ESO, its history and some of the cutting-edge instruments it now operates, and highlight just a few of the remarkable discoveries made with those facilities.

Peter Grimley is an editorial consultant working with ESO, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory and the International Astronomical Union. He has a BSc in Physics with Astrophysics from Leicester University and a PhD in astronomy from University College Cardiff. Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and manages a programme of talks for the Friends of the RAS (ras.ac.uk/friends).

If you sign up via meetup but can no longer attend, please update your status to say that you are no longer attending so that someone on the waiting list gets a place.

Please only come along if you’ve signed up, as we’re limited on space so won’t be able to fit anyone else in.

Wagner Hall is on on Regency Road, Brighton.Attendance is free, but we would be grateful if those of you who are able to could donate a few pounds to help cover the cost of hiring this event space. We will have a card reader and a money box you can drop your donations in on the night. We also have a bank account you can donate to electronically.

Please note that the venue has a bar.

The Cellar - One Night Stand
2025-04-05 18:30 - 21:30
Brighton Rocks International Film Festival

Join Brighton Rocks International Film Festival as we present an exclusive screening of The Cellar by Jamie Langlands followed by a filmmaker Q&A by BIFA Qualified Festival directors.

A sci-fi horror depicting one girl’s battle against her inner demons. One she day wakes up imprisoned underground, with amnesia. She must escape, unravel the mystery behind her captivity, and confront her personal struggles. A suspenseful tale of survival, truth, and inner turmoil unfolds.

DOORS – 6.30pm

TICKETS

White Wall Cinema: DOGFIGHT
2025-04-06 18:40 - 22:00
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Nancy Savoca’s criminally underseen 1991 film is an ineffably bittersweet portrait of youth in the 1960s, starring two of cinema’s brightest and most underserved talents in the late great River Phoenix (Stand By Me, My Own Private Idaho) and the wonderful Lili Taylor (Mystic Pizza, Six Feet Under).

When hot headed, Vietnam-bound marine Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix), brings aspiring San Francisco folk singer Rose (Lili Taylor) as his date to a pre-shipping out to war ‘Dogfight’ party (a cruelly misogynistic party where men compete to bring the most unattractive dates they can find), things seem destined for disaster. But what begins as a night to forget unexpectedly develops into something far more meaningful.

Featuring music by folk legends Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Pete Seeger, Dogfight captures the miracle of human connection whilst gently prodding at notions of societal roles and the assumptions we make about others, all played out between two vividly drawn and beautifully acted characters (critics have argued Taylor more than deserved an Oscar nomination here). The film also gracefully subverts ideas surrounding machismo, patriotic duty, and the very meaning of America itself.

Finally seeing a renaissance in recent years Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight is a forgotten gem that deserves its new status as an undiscovered classic, that, whilst imbued with a light touch by its director, will non the less stay with you long after the credits roll.

DOORS: 6.40pm*

START TIME: 7.10pm*

RUN TIME: 93 mins

CERT: 15 (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)
