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Film Forum


a young Mel Brooks in an automat

The concept of automats might seem alien to generations born in towns and cities now full of cafes and restaurants, but those of a certain age will remember a time before gastropubs, KFC and McDonalds. There’s something very Tomorrow’s World about the concept of a restaurant where you selected your food and drink from vending …

Speer at the Nuremberg Trials

Of all the senior figures in the Nazi Party, Albert Speer was perhaps the most interesting. Hitler’s architect, he was entrusted with a huge programme of works to rebuild and transform Germany and beyond. As part of the Führer’s inner circle, Speer was afforded opportunities he could only have dreamed of; building such iconic buildings …

The Velvet Underground & Nico

It’s rare to hear a band who sound completely new of different. Who don’t just mimic their idols or produce music which is a slight variation on a popular theme. Nowadays, it’s almost unheard of. Whilst this has always been the case and musicians have always been influenced by what has come before, very occasionally …

Moka and Nana

Japan is a country which has always been renowned for its cinema. The likes of Ozu and Kurosawa regularly top ‘best-of’ lists. In modern times, the film industry has been less successful but the likes of Hirokazu Koreeda, Naomi Kawase and Kiyoshi Kurosawa have still made their mark on a global stage. Meanwhile, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi …

Karen Dalton with Bob Dylan and Fred Neil performing at Café Wah?

The streets of history are paved with the names of musicians who were supremely talented yet failed to realise their full potential. More often than not, their natural and immense ability is overshadowed by personal demons. Drug or alcohol addiction account for many but sometimes it’s simply a case of having a self-destructive personality or …

People looking at the Salvator Mundi the Louvre

Leonardo da Vinci was the most famous painter from the High Renaissance period but his skills spanned numerous technical and scientific disciplines. Despite his fame and the continued popularity of the Mona Lisa, there are less than twenty surviving paintings which can be definitely attributed to him. A sale of one of this small number …