Magdalen Monday Movies

Magdalen Monday Movies is a film club that runs every Monday during term time. We have a different theme each term. The club runs in conjunction with the Oxford Film Studies Network.

Our curator, Peter Kessler, introduces each film. Sometimes we have guest speakers, and occasionally we follow screenings with interviews with the director. We also have a regular strand called ‘Desert Island Movies’, where a celebrity guest takes us through their personal favourite films.

This is all provided for free. Everyone is welcome to come along – but booking via our Eventbrite page is a good idea.

You don’t need to be a member of Magdalen College. Magdalen Monday Movies is open to everyone over the age of 18: students, academics, members of the public. So please feel free to bring your friends and family.

We also offer everyone free popcorn, because that’s (partly) what going to the movies is all about. And we even provide a full Content Warning page.

Our new season starts on April 28th. This term our Eras Tour is focusing on the 1980s. Book now and join us for nine weeks of film-going fascination.

28 April, 7pm: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (1988) plus film studies lecture/intro
5 May, 7pm: AFTER HOURS (1985)
12 May, 7pm: RAN (1985)
19 May, 7pm: THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)
26 May, 7pm: BLUE VELVET (1987) plus film studies lecture/intro
3 June, 7pm: BURNING AN ILLUSION (1982)
8 June, 7pm: EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987) plus film studies lecture/intro
16 June, 7pm: FITZCARRALDO (1982)
23 June, 7pm: LOCAL HERO (1983)

Plus special features this term…

STEWART LEE’s DESERT ISLAND MOVIES: 1 June, 7pm

Following Mike Newell’s star turn last term, we are excited to announce our second Desert Island Movies event. Our castaway this time is the brilliant Stewart Lee, cultural commentator extraordinaire, film guru, and ‘the world’s greatest living stand-up comedian’ (The Times).

MR BURTON with JOSH HYAMS: 11 May, 7pm

Josh is a BAFTA- and Emmy-winning Magdalen alumnus. The man behind Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s The Trip, he has just finished writing and producing this biographical film about Richard Burton’s early career. Josh is a fascinating speaker at the forefront of the British film industry, and he has kindly offered to show the film along with a Q&A.

SURVIVOR with ZOOM ROCKMAN: 2 May, 5pm

At the age of 25, Zoom Rockman is an award-winning political cartoonist, and the originator of a unique blend of animation and puppetry. His new film Survivor is the true story of Ivor Perl, a twelve-year-old child who lived through Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Zoom will present the film himself, and participate in a discussion afterwards.

Plus TWO ONLINE TALKS

20 May, 5pm: Professor Dana Polan. Subject: Fred Astaire in Multimedia

Dana Polan is the author of eleven books and over two hundred scholarly articles on Film topics. He’s been knighted by the French Ministry of Culture and made a Foundation Scholar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He knows what he’s tyalking about. And he will be talking to us about Fred Astaire across multiple media.

17 June, 5pm: Issy Price: Subject: the Alien franchise

Issy Price was awarded a First in Film Studies from Royal Holloway College, and has contributed to podcasts on Film as well as guest introducing for Magdalen Monday Movies. If you thought the Alien movies were just about Sigourney Weaver fighting monsters with too many teeth, prepare to see science fiction from a whole new perspective.

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