After a forced hiatus that put the world on ice, DukeFest returns like a tornado ready to sweep away the movie cobwebs with a program stuffed to the gills with celluloid madness. From a Cannes favourite to NY Public Access TV, our four-day bonanza is eager to celebrate the madness of cinema in every possible format across TWO amazing London venues: Prince Charles Cinema & King & Queen pub in Fitzrovia!
Bloody Oranges (UK Premiere)
Sunday 31st July @Prince Charles Cinema – Book Tickets
Alex’s Mystery Show / Evrim presents: 15-Years Of The Duke
Monday 1st August @King And Queen – FREE ENTRY
Secret Society / Evrim’s Worst Of Show / The New York TV Archive Part 2
Tuesday 2nd August @King And Queen – FREE ENTRY
Sean Hogan “Twilight’s Last Screaming” book launch event with special screening of The Possession Of Joel Delany (1972) plus Q&A
Wednesday 3rd August @Prince Charles Cinema – Book Tickets
Sunday 31st July – Prince Charles Cinema, 8.30 PM
Bloody Oranges (2021 – UK Premiere)
Hot off its explosive Cannes Midnight debut in 2021 (Screen Daily called it ‘A Savage Black comedy’), and thanks to our friends at Anti-Worlds Releasing, The Duke Mitchell Film Club is honoured to present the most transgressive, outrageous, and in-your-face black comedy of the last few decades – combining bad taste and eye-popping extremes to magical effect, this is one wild ride you will never forget – trust us as you’ll want to tell your friends you saw it here first!
A retired couple tries to win a dance competition to pay their outstanding bills. A minister is suspected of tax fraud. A teenager tries to navigate her everyday life. However, what none of them know is that they all have a date with a monster – a true one that’s living in their midst – and once these disparate characters all converge, nothing will ever be the same again.
Plus, in true Duke fashion, we have put together a mystery reel of rare & unseen 35mm trailers. What’s on it? Well, there’s only ONE way to find out. Buy a ticket, enjoy the ride and come join the Duke as we celebrate the return of cinemas.
Monday 1st August – King & Queen pub – Fitzrovia – Doors 7, Show 7:30 PM – FREE ENTRY!
Alex’s Mystery Show
Originally planned to be an event back in January 2021, but canceled for obvious reasons, we’re bringing you this previously unseen night that features all new material, but why were we doing this and what film oddities was it going to contain? We can say more so you’ll have to join us on the night to find out what the mystery was!
The Duke – 15th Anniversary Show
Join Evrim as he takes you through the strange history of The Duke Mitchell Film Club and its many homes, the founding of DukeFest and what the future may hold – expect plenty of old friends, new surprises, ramshackle oral history and more!
Tuesday 2nd August – King & Queen pub – Fitzrovia – Doors 7, Show 7:30 PM FREE ENTRY!
Secret Society: The Zircon Affair
The 1980s, a national scandal, BBC offices raided, secret screenings, a long-forgotten TV series: all sounds like perfect Duke material, yes? Well come and find out what it was all about as we delve into the world of Secret Society and its infamous episode The Zircon Affair, a show so controversial at the time that it was banned from ever being screened.
The Best of the Worst of Evrim’s Favourites
Of course, a pandemic was the perfect time for Evrim to lose his mind slowly but surely and reflecting upon his time in lockdown, he’s bringing to the stage the craziest things his eyeballs saw – from shorts to public safety shows, from info films to trailers, here’s the best of the worst of the last two years as viewed by Evrim.
The New York Public Access Show – Part 2
Let’s delve back into the 300-hours of New York Public Access TV that was discovered on a collection of VHS tapes, recorded by one man on a mission in the early 1990s NYC! We’ve combed through the middle 100-hours of the tapes to bring you this brand new show that highlights just what a wild and out-of-control place public access TV was back in the day. You’ll experience strange chat shows, call-in shows, strange news reports, wild individuals who shouldn’t have ever been allowed to make their own TV programmes and much more. You can watch the complete Part 1 on YouTube HERE! Don’t worry if you don’t watch it though, this is a totally new self-contained show!
Wednesday 3rd August – Prince Charles Cinema – 20:20 PM
‘Twilight’s Last Screaming’ & ‘That Fatal Shore’ Book Launch + ‘The Possession of Joel Delaney’ + Q&A with author Sean Hogan & author and critic Kim Newman plus book signing!
Author & filmmaker Sean Hogan is one of the most talented figures on the U.K’s arts landscape, and his metafictional novel ‘England’s Screaming’ proved to be a welcome tonic for our sanity during the multiple lockdowns of 2020-21.
Now he’s back with a sequel, ‘Twilight’s Last Screaming’ which picks up the plot threads begun in the first book but now takes the continuing story to North America. Combining fiction and film criticism, he once again crafts an enticing tale full of unexpected connections and brilliant narrative flourishes. Both a deconstruction of American horror cinema and a reassembly of it into something wholly original, we are honoured to be hosting the launch of the book as the closing event of Dukefest 2022.
Not only that, but Sean will also be bringing along his brand new companion piece, ‘That Fatal Shore’, which, like its Eurohorror predecessor ‘Three Mothers, One Father’, examines an entirely different aspect of international genre cinema – namely, Australian horror films.
The event will include an ultra-rare screening of underrated horror classic ‘The Possession of Joel Delaney’ (Digital projection) followed by an extensive Q&A with Sean, hosted by none other than brilliant author and all-round legend Kim Newman. Sean will be signing copies of both books after the Q&A, both books will be available to buy at the show on the night.
‘The Possession of Joel Delaney’ is the very definition of a 70’s supernatural chiller (starring David Elliott AND Shirley MacLaine) concerning a Manhattan socialite who, to her growing unease, starts to realise that her brother is behaving more and more bizarrely – and even more concerningly, might be involved in a series of brutal murders…
Join The Duke for this very special night celebrating the best of UK talent, as well as the chance to see one of the most underrated horror classics of the 1970s on the big screen.
Book tickets HERE!
The Duke Mitchell Film Club 