Nottingham Contemporary

lot can happen in just 24 hours. Join us this summer for moody, feverish and frantic stories told with a day.

Touch of Evil (1957)
Dir Orson Wells
The police, border patrol, crooks, honeymooners and a fortune teller converge one night in a Bordertown where a bomb has been detonated. The classic noir is cynical and nightmarish depiction of good and evil and timeless example cinematic artistry. The film opens with the now infamous and often parodied long shot of 12 minutes that lavishly opens the story to us.

Do the Right Thing (1989)
Dir. Spike Lee
Mookie, a young pizza delivery man sees tensions rise between races in his Brooklyn neighbourhood throughout a scorching summers day. A film that marks its place in time with music and style of New York 80's hip hop culture the themes of hate and intolerance are startlingly relevant today. Jonze, uses the backdrop of a sickly hot city summer as incubator for the turmoil waiting to release.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Dir. Richard Brooks
Brick and Maggie visit his affluent family for Big Daddy birthday where tensions take hold and threaten to suffocate them all. No one does sultry, claustrophobic summer in the south like Tennessee Williams and Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman simmer with tension in this film adaptation. Lies, greed, sex, the failure of masculinity and threat of the female all comes to a boil in this delicious classic.

Victoria (2015)
Dir. Sebastian Schipper
A young woman new to Berlin goes to a club alone, longing for connection and adventure she tags along with some fellow revellers- the night twists from the every day to the explosive. The entire film is done in one long shot- an extraordinary cinematic feat whilst sensitively clicking into themes of love, loneliness and belonging. An impeccably performed and delivered gem- one of the films of the decade.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dir. Sidney Lumet
On a dank summers afternoon in New York an inexperienced criminal attempt to rob a bank. The chaos that evolves turns into a standoff with the police and an explosive media circus. Based on a true story this was at once one of the defining films of the 1970's and its new wave of filmmakers and a parable for the disenfranchised.

Dazed & Confused (1993)
Dir. Richard Linklater
We follow a group of Texas teens on their last day of high school smoking, drinking and rubbing up against each other in Regan era America. Linklater is the master of telling stories that are told within the arc of a day- this now iconic film is told using his usual meandering charm, stoner sensibility, smart chat and intrinsic observations. Best summer film ever!

Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Dir. George A Romero
Lifeless zombies stalk the earth and a group barricade themselves in a farmhouse to survive but will they make it through the night? A low budget indie film with unknown actors was lauded by the counterculture for its commentary on American society and a trailblazer for zombie films and the horror genre. We are proud to have this Special preview for 50th Anniversary theatrical rerelease in October. For more information and details visit nightofthelivingdead.com

A Single Man (2009)
Dir. Tom Ford
A college Professor, in mourning since his partners untimely death moves about the summer day distanced as if in a dream. One of the most stylish and stunning films ever made this is a aesthetic love letter to film, fashion and a bygone daydream of Los Angeles. It also has a subtle emotional charge that will take hold and remain long after the final frame.

Rope (1948)
Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Set in real time two affluent friends, philosophise on their superior natures and decide to commit the perfect murder. This has all Hitchcock's usual pang of suspense with a sombre dash of social commentary- filmed just three years after WW2 ended it themes speak vividly of the blood on humankinds’ hands and the reasoning used to get it there.