This Week's Recommendations

New Release: Perfect 10 (15)

“★★★★ – hugely confident coming-of-age drama” – The Times. 14-year-old Leigh (newcomer Frankie Box) lives with her neglectful father. A talented gymnast, she’s training hard for her first competition despite her lack of confidence and little money to pay for her fees. When an older half-brother appears at her house one night, Leigh’s lonely existence is altered as she starts to receive the attention she craves. Rental revenue is split between Phoenix and the film’s distributor, so you support us as you watch.

Available to stream now

CLEMENCY (15)

“★★★★★ – A performance of genius” – Observer. There still time to watch this outstanding film from writer-director Chinonye Chukwu, which won the Grand Jury Prize at last year’s Sundance Festiva. Alfre Woodard (12 Years a Slave) gives a career-best performance in this devastating prison drama. After years of carrying out death row executions, a prison warden begins to question the morality of capital punishment. Rental revenue is shared between Phoenix and the film’s distributor, so you support us as you watch.

Available to stream now

New Release: Young Ahmed (Unrated)

“★★★★ – a wise and sensitive contribution to a timely debate” – Time Out. Originally screened as part of French Film Festival UK, the Dardenne brothers take a gripping look at religious fundamentalism through the story of a 13-year-old boy, driven to a horrific act after taking to heart an extremist interpretation of the Qu’ran espoused by an imam operating out of the stock room of the local corner shop.

Streaming now on Curzon Home Cinema

THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO (PG)

Marking the feature debut of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbour Totoro), this gleefully enjoyable action adventure sees gentleman thief Lupin III rob a casino only to find out the money is counterfeit. Trying to find the source of the bills, he gets involved in trying to rescue a young woman from the home of the mysterious Count Cagliostro.

Available to stream on Netflix

Wuxia Dreams: A Touch of Zen (12A)

The first Chinese-language film to win an award at Cannes, King Hu’s sumptuous, Ming-dynasty saga is a veritable masterpiece of the wuxia genre. Stunning with its dynamic combat scenes and otherworldly beauty, A Touch of Zen breathtakingly brings a spiritual dimension to the drama of swordplay.

Available on MUBI from 16 Aug

Wuxia Dreams: Dragon Inn (12A)

During the Ming dynasty, the emperor’s minister of defence is framed by a powerful court eunuch and executed, and his family is pursued by secret police. In the ensuing chase, a mysterious band of strangers being to gather at the remote Dragon Gate Inn, where paths (and swords) will cross.

Available now on MUBI

WILD TALES (15)

“★★★★ – a fantastically scabrous collection” – Guardian. Produced by the masterful Pedro Almodóvar, this Oscar-nominated Argentinian anthology consists of six darkly comedic short thrillers. With violent revenge, marital mayhem and risks of road rage on the menu and with a host of familiar Argentinean stars including Ricardo Darín and Dario Grandinetti; it’s a shocking, laugh-out-loud delight.

Available FREE on All4 until 1 Sep

FOR THOSE IN PERIL (18)

“★★★★ – arresting and hypnotic” – Observer. A breakout role for George MacKay (Pride, 1917), he stars as Aaron, a young man in a remote Scottish fishing community. After Aaron survives a strange fishing accident that claims the lives of five men, he is ostracized by the village who blame him for the tragedy. Convinced the men are alive, Aaron becomes increasingly obsessed with finding them.

Available FREE on All4 until 4 Sep

UNITED SKATES (UNRATED)

Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler’s gem of a documentary screened at London Film Festival to a rapturous reception. When America’s last remaining roller rinks are threatened with closure, a community of thousands battles in a racially charged environment to save an underground subculture that has remained undiscovered by the mainstream for generations, yet has given rise to some of the world’s greatest musical talent.

Available FREE on BBC iPlayer

ATOMIC, LIVING IN DREAD AND PROMISE (12A)

The bombing of Hiroshima 75 years ago showed the appalling destructive power of the atomic bomb. Mark Cousins’s bold documentary looks at death in the atomic age, but life too. Using only archive film and a musical score by the band Mogwai, the film presents an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times – protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima – but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. 

Available FREE on BBC iPlayer until 4 Sep

THE EDGE (15)

Between 2009 and 2013, England’s cricket team rose from the depths of the rankings to become the first and only English side to reach world number one. Compelling, funny and emotional, Barney Douglas’s film tells the story of a special band of brothers’ rise to the top, their unmatched achievements and the huge toll it would take. The Edge is the rollercoaster story of a team that went above and beyond the call of duty.

Available FREE on BBC iPlayer

Film School

Award-winning filmmaker and director Keith Allott leads our annual 8-week practical introduction to filmmaking, taking you step by step all the way from pre-production planning through to the final edit of your film. Delivered via Zoom, you’ll receive expert tuition in the comfort of your own home. Starts Thursday 3 September, 7pm. Online bookings only – member discounts available.

Find out more and book a place

Phoenix Explores: Musical Film

From The Jazz Singer to La La Land, we invite you to explore the musical film genre, with a host of resources to help you on your journey through 90 years’ of movies.

Free online resource

Phoenix Explores: 30 Greatest Foreign-Language Films

In October 2018 the BBC polled over 200 international film critics to find out their favourite movies made in a language other than English. We explore the top 30.

Free online resource

Free access to MUBI for My Phoenix Members

MyPhoenix Members and Friends can get 90 days FREE access to MUBI’s fantastic movie collection, including their newly-opened film library. Not a MyPhoenix Member ? Join online now and we’ll then email you details of how to access MUBI’s incredible offer.

More about MUBI

FREE ACCESS TO BFI PLAYER FOR PHOENIX MEMBERS

MyPhoenix Members & Friends can get an additional 4 weeks free on BFI Player’s subscription service (on top of the standard 14 day free trial) giving you access to thousands of critically acclaimed and classic movies. Not a MyPhoenix Member ? Join online now and we’ll email you details of how to access the offer.

More about BFI Player

Phoenix Membership offer: 6 months free

To thank all our MyPhoenix Members and Friends for your continuing support, we are offering 18 months for the price of 12 to anyone who joins or renews a membership during our closure (which began on 18 March). Check the terms and conditions of this offer.

Find out more about membership

Free 3D Design 'At-Home' course

Learn the basics of free digital 3D modelling with our FREE online 3D design course for young people. The course starts with a beginners guide to Goxel, a free voxel-based design tool; part 2 looks at Tinkercad, an online app for creating 3D models; and the final video tutorial explores the display.land phone app that you can use for 3D modelling technique called photogrammetry. The full course of video tutorials is available FREE online now, so get creative!

Find out more

PHOENIX ART ARCHIVE

With the gallery closed, we’re delving into our archive to look back at some of the past highlights from our art programme. In the summer of 2017 we hosted Playback, a national touring exhibition that brought together over 150 short films made by young artist filmmakers. These remarkable and award-winning films made by emerging talent span a range of art forms and topics – from an animated take on the refugee crisis, to the dark dreamscape of a zombie apocalypse.

Explore the archive

Free online Game Design course

All four parts of our FREE online game design course are now available on our website. Using experimental tools like Bitsy and Twine, we’ll take you through the basics of building and publishing story-telling games. Suitable for ages 12+.

View our FREE video tutorials

SIAN FAN: DOWNTIME

Simulating a tranquil digital landscape, Downtime is an interactive online artwork that is counter to the hyper-productivity of the online world, virtually embodying the experience of ASMR into a calming interactive environment. The user navigates via their computer arrow keys to explore the aimless world and discover aural sensations.

Explore Downtime

Free Scratch projects for kids

We usually host free monthly workshops and activities for families, but as this isn’t possible at the moment we’ve put together a range of projects that you can download and try at home. We’ve got 11 different ones to choose from, so take a look and get creative!

Check out our FREE activities

FAMILY WORKSHOP GALLERY

Take a look at our gallery to see the fabulously inventive work that children have made in some of our regular workshop sessions that give kids the chance to get creative with the latest digital technologies. The Colour-a-Frame gallery also includes instructions and access to the resources, so you can have a go at the activity yourself at home.

Find out more and explore the gallery

Help us understand our digital audiences and share your thoughts on our online programme by taking our Phoenix at Home survey

Take the Survey