Magdalen Monday Movies - Magdalen College

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. Content warnings are available via IMDb or DoestheDogDie.

Our new season starts on October 12th. This term’s theme is All-Time Favourite Films (that wouldn’t fit in any other season). Book now and join us for nine weeks of film-going fascination..

Mon 12 Oct: 12 Angry Men (1957)
Mon 19 Oct, 7pm: Mary Poppins (1964)
Mon 26 Oct, 7.30pm: Harakiri (1962)
Mon 18 May, 7pm: O Lucky Man! (1973)
Sat 31 Oct, 7pm: Hallowe’en Special – The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Mon 2, 7pm: Ninotchka (1939)
Mon 9 Nov, 7pm: Network (1976)
Mon 16 Nov, 7pm: Tampopo (1985)
Mon 30 Nov, 7pm: The League of Gentlemen (1960)
Mon 7 Dec, 7pm: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Plus special features this term…

DESERT AISLAND MOVIES – Sunday 18 Oct 7pm

This is a genuine first. After a series of interviews with celebrities about their favourite movies, we’ve decided to get truly experimental, and explore the blurry boundaries of technology and art. Over the long, hot summer, I’ve created two distinct Artificial Intelligences who have the ability to converse with an interviewer, with each other, and with anyone in the audience. They will take us through their own Desert Island Movies, discussing how an artificial creation, who has never actually ‘seen’ anything in the conventional sense of the word, but who nevertheless has total awareness of all film history, can deal with the idea of favourite movies. What will they choose? How will they explain their choices? And how will they treat a humble interviewer who can’t hope to have even a thousandth of their knowledge? Join us to find out.

THE THIRD MAN WITH LIVE ZITHER – Sunday 15 Nov 7pm

We’ve had some special events before. This might just be the most special yet. It’s a world-first. Never done before. Anywhere. Using the latest audio technology, we have been able meticulously to uncouple and remove the entire musical soundtrack of the greatest British film of all time, The Third Man. That includes picking the music out even when it’s behind spoken dialogue. And we’ve found an expert zither player, Astrid Hoffmann, who will be flying over from Vienna to play live with the film. Part virtuoso performance, part film classic, this is an unmissable and genuinely ground-breaking cinematic experience.

FILM STUDIES SPECIAL: BECOMING AMERICAN: PHILADELPHIA’S STORY – Sat 21 Nov 7pm

Becoming American: Philadelphia’s Story is a remarkable, feature-length documentary that offers a fresh account of the founding of the United States, seen through the extraordinary social and political world of Philadelphia, America’s first capital. Alongside the familiar story of the Founding Fathers, this film recovers the experiences of the city’s Indigenous people, free Black community, enslaved Africans, immigrants and artisans — people whose lives and struggles helped shape the new nation and the meaning of its ideals.

This special screening will be followed by a conversation with the film’s presenter and creator, Oliver St. Clair Franklin, and executive producer Annie Connolly, exploring the making of the documentary, the histories it brings to light, and what they can tell us about America at the moment of its 250th anniversary.

UKRAINIAN FILM EVENING – Sun 1 Nov 7pm

We’re thrilled to welcome back Olga Sydorushkina, film curator at the Ukrainian Institute in London. Olga will be screening and discussing an important Ukrainian film. Further details soon!

Our previous seasons have been