6th–11th
May 2025
across London

Full Programme

18:30
Wed 24 Apr

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"Animating a host of dispersed fragments from historical documents to architectural remnants and the river, Sunless Haven looks at the docklands as a resonant chamber connecting disparate worlds." (George Clark) George Clark worked with historians Simeon Koole and Ben Mechen, sound artist Jol Thoms and performance artist Yarli Allison to imagine the experiences in, around and through the Lon... Read More

Opening Night: Sunless Haven

Apr 25 —
Apr 30

The Common Press Bookshop

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Throughout the festival we’re happy to host a curated bookstand at The Common Press, London's first consciously queer intersectional bookshop, with a selection of publications from and about filmmakers in this year’s and past festival programmes, as well as anthologies and artists’ publication from friends and collaborators. Read More

Festival Bookshop at the Common Press

Apr 25 —
Apr 30

Festival Hub at Rich Mix

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Our week-long pass gives you access to the talks, workshops and masterclasses taking place at our Festival Hub between 25th – 30th of April. Pass holders can attend any of the events listed below, no pre-registration required. Printed Forms: Publishing and Experimental Moving Image Thursday 25 April, 11am-12.30pm Gathering, collaging: Moving image artists and other peoples' archives... Read More

Talks & Workshops Pass

11:00
Thu 25 Apr

Festival Hub at Rich Mix

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Bringing together the writers and publishers of recent books devoted to experimental cinema, many of whom focus on filmmakers from this year’s Open City programme, this encounter will present a range of methodologies of mediation involved in translating the communal, temporal experience of cinema to text and the printed page. Panellists will include: DOWSER, notes on artists moving image... Read More

Printed Forms: Publishing and Experimental Moving Image

11:00
Thu 25 Apr

Close-Up Film Centre

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Daily programme of free screenings and in-depth conversations with festival filmmakers, hosted by tutors from the Documentary & Ethnographic Film MA (UCL). For students in higher education only. All screenings take place at Close-Up Film Centre at 11am. These screenings are open by application only. The closing date for applications is midnight on Tuesday 2nd April. Thursday 25 April: Th... Read More

Student Screenings

14:00
Thu 25 Apr

Festival Hub at Rich Mix

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The Documentary Film Council, FLAMIN, LUX, The Scottish Documentary Institute, and T A P E Collective will be hosting one-to-one surgeries and drop-in sessions throughout the festival. Check below closer to the festival date for more information and details on how to book. The Documentary Film Council is a democratically run, sector-wide organisation facilitating effective, coordinated action ... Read More

Surgeries

14:30
Thu 25 Apr

Festival Hub at Rich Mix

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Close and careful collaboration runs deeply through the Open City programme, with many filmmakers working with their subjects on the basis of trust and shared storytelling. This panel aims to discuss the diffuse acts of assembly and re-inscription that are required when taking on the responsibilities, risks and advocacy involved in presenting experiences other than our own, sometimes across tim... Read More

Gathering, collaging: Moving image artists and other peoples’ archives

17:00
Thu 25 Apr

Festival Hub at Rich Mix

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The filmmaker meetup sessions are a chance to hang out, meet other artists and gossip about cameras, image making, potential collaborations and more in a relaxed and supportive environment. The filmmaker meetups are inclusive, open to anyone who works with moving images and were launched at Open City Documentary Festival 2023. We’re more than happy to have them back. Read More

Filmmaker Meetups of London

18:15
Thu 25 Apr

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Bosque Jessica Sarah Rinland / 2006-2007 / UK / 4’ / Digital / silent An impressionistic portrait of a woodland in Southern England, shot on 16mm over two years, before and after felling. Y Berá – Bright Waters Jessica Sarah Rinland / 2016 / Argentina, UK / 10’ / Digital / English spoken With her 16mm camera, Jessica Sarah Rinland documents the incredible biodiversity of fauna an... Read More

In Focus: Jessica Sarah Rinland 1

18:15
Thu 25 Apr

Bertha DocHouse

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Since the founding of the Palestine Film Unit (PFU) in 1968, cinema has been central to the struggle for Palestinian liberation. PFU co-founder Mustafa Abu Ali described it as “cinema of the people, for the people. Cinema that is simple and profound at the same time, easy to understand and beautiful.” This selection of films attempts to keep alive the tradition of fierce beauty, celebrating the... Read More

OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE: MILITANT PALESTINIAN CINEMA (1968-1982)

18:30
Thu 25 Apr

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Part of a larger research project that takes the siren as a prompt for exploring the politics of listening and emergency, Preemptive Listening brings together musicians, activists and thinkers to propose alternatives modes of sounding and recalibrating the signal. The film weaves together original music by Mazen Kerbaj, Raven Chacon, Evelyn Glennie, David Toop, Elaine Mitchener, Camille Norment... Read More

Preemptive Listening

20:30
Thu 25 Apr

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Losing Ground Anonymous Collective / 2023 / Myanmar / 18’ / Digital / Burmese spoken, English subtitles The aftermath of the 2021 coup d’état in Yangon, Myanmar sees an entire generation left in a brutal environment. The country’s economic capital city has rapidly become an open-air prison. Protest attempts are met with hostility, arrests, involuntary confinement and the threat of executio... Read More

Losing Ground + GAMA