The Graphic Art and Forgotten Spy Films of Cold War Europe
Exhibition: 10 September – 16 October 2010
Symposium: 18 – 19 September, Lindop Building,
University of Hertfordshire

Kiss Kiss Kill Kill is a new touring exhibition and symposium, which opens a forgotten chapter in the history of post war European film and poster design to public scrutiny for the first time. The project offers an opportunity to view espionage films made on both sides of the Iron Curtain some of which, particularly from the Eastern Bloc, have never been screened before in the UK.

The 1-day symposium aims to bring together international scholars, critics, collectors, graphic artists and cinephiles to explore the issues surrounding the relationship between poster art, design and espionage cinema during the Cold War.

Price: £35 full / £25 concessions
Booking: 01707 28 1127
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk
Contact: Darren Elliott-Smith 01707 285949

(Mario Bava, IT, 1968)
5 October 7.00pm with introduction

Possibly the coolest film ever made, a fabulous mash up of master criminal, super-spy and psychedelic genres, horror maestro Mario Bava set the benchmark for the cool sixties flick. Diabolik (John Phillip Law) and Eva Kant (Marisa Mell) stage world class heists dressed in black leather cat-suits, live in a vast underground lair and sleep in banknotes. Diabolik is the pinnacle of the demented tradition of masked transgressive anti-heroes that evolved in Italian comic books in the 1960s. Revered in the USA and worshiped in Italy this cult monster is barely known in the UK, until now…

Introduced by: Richard Rhys Davies (Curator, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill)
Cost: £4 (full) / £3 (concessions)
Suitable for: 15+
Venue: The Weston Auditorum
Telephone: 01707 281127
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

(Michael Ocelot, FR, 2006)
19 October 11.00am

Azur, a blonde blue-eyed son of a noble woman and Asmar, the dark skinned and dark-eyed child of the nurse are raised as close brothers till cruelly separated. Some years later they are reunited, but this time as rivals on their quest to free the mythical Djinn fairy. Ocelot’s critically acclaimed animation is breathtakingly beautiful, with frames full of vivid colour, finely detailed high definition backgrounds and is a startling piece of storytelling.

Cost: FREE Running Time: 100mins
Suitability: All
Venue: The Weston Auditorum
Telephone: 01707 285949
Email: filmconsortium@herts.ac.uk

19 October 1.00pm – 3.00pm

Students will consider and respond to The Princes’ Quest as a story from another culture, before using it as inspiration for their own work in drawing and animation techniques as demonstrated in this workshop.

Led by: University of Hertfordshire Animation Lecturers
Cost: £4.00 per student
Running Time: 120 mins
Suitable for: KS2 English and Art and Design
Venue: de Havilland Campus
Telephone: 01707 285949
Email: filmconsortium@herts.ac.uk

(Dario Argento, IT 1977)
19 October from 6.30pm, Film starts at 7.30pm

Dare you witness Dario Argento’s cult horror masterpiece of the 70’s in digitally re-mastered, full HD visual delight on the big screen? This adult fairytale tells of Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper), an American ballet ingénue who enrols at a German dance school, she slowly discovers is run by a coven of ancient witches. Argento’s classic horror is infused by a surreal kaleidoscope of colour, sound and an internationally renowned soundtrack by Goblin.

Presented in collaboration with Nouveaux Pictures and Cine Excess.
Introduced by: Darren Elliott-Smith, University of Hertfordshire
Cost: £4.00 full / £3.00 concessions
Quiz: £2 per person
Suitable for: 18+ (A Level Film / Media Studies, Undergraduates)
Telephone: 01707 281127
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

8 November 5.00pm (Film starts at 7.00pm)

This educational study day is dedicated to Hitchcock’s dreamlike masterpiece of voyeurism. Students will be invited to experience a series of presentation and film clip analysis that will consider Hitchcock – the auteur, the representation of gender, obsession, fantasy and identification, before seeing a high definition screening of Hitchcock’s tale of spellbinding spectatorship, Vertigo (Hitchcock, US 1958).

Speakers include:
Darren Elliott-Smith (University of Hertfordshire)
Felicity Gee (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Cost: £3.00 per student for study day
Cost for general public: Film £4 full price / £3 concessions
Running Time: Workshop: 90 mins / Film: 110 mins
Suitable for: 15+ A-Level (AS/A2 Film Studies/Media Studies) and Undergraduates
Venue: The Weston Auditorium, De Havilland Campus, University of Herts
Telephone: 01707 285949
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

30 November 11.00am

Centered around the study of British Horror Film as seen in contemporary film releases including Hammer and Ealing. This clip-based event is designed to complement and support Film Studies AS/A2 Genre and Production (WJEC) also suitable for undergraduates with an interest in British Horror Film History and genre. Includes films such as: Dracula: Prince of Darkness, The Devil Rides Out, Blood on Satan’s Claw, Witchfinder General, Dead of Night, Dog Soldiers and Creep.

Introduced by: Darren Elliott-Smith (University of Hertfordshire)
Cost: £3 per student
Running Time: 120 mins
Suitable for: A-Level Film and Media Studies, Undergraduates
Course includes: Comprehensive Teaching Resources
Venue: University of Hertfordshire, College Lane Campus
Telephone: 01707 285949
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

Series 1: Tuesday 19 October – Tuesday 14 December 2010 (9 weeks)
Doors open 5.15pm, starts 5.30pm

What is contemporary art practice? What are the issues, debates and theoretical elements involved?

This lecture series is designed to explore how contemporary art interacts with the social, political and philosophical dimensions of the contemporary world and where it intersects with other disciplines and discourses. Featuring invited artists, curators and critics and incorporating a Q&A session, the series will also include film screenings.

Limited to 30 people. Booking is essential.

Cost: FREE
Venue: College Lane
Bookings and more info: Amisha Karia
Telephone: 01707 284290
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

(Italy 1992 Dir. Claudio Fragassi)
2 November 7.00pm

The subject of recent documentary film ‘The Best Worst Movie’, this true masterpiece of bad film making plumbs the depths of awfulness. Troll 2 tells the hokey tale of a particularly idiotic family on vacation in Nilbog (Goblin spelled backwards) who are harassed by a gang of backwoods goblins with murderous intentions, their pursuit escalates ‘until the director runs out of film’.

Join Nicko, Joe and likeminded folk gathering to celebrate the guilty joy that is a good bad movie. The shackles of polite cinema etiquette are discarded as the audience are encouraged to jeer, heckle and participate.

Cost: Price: £4 (full) / £3 (concessions)
Suitable for: 15+
Venue: The Weston Auditorium
Telephone: 01707 281127
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

(Powell, GB 1947)
17 November 7.00pm with introduction

Five young British nuns move to the convent of the St.Faith Order – based in the Himalayan foothills. Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) is assigned as the superior sister, and her liaison with civilization is the government agent Mr. Dean (David Farrar). This lonely and exotic place and the presence of Mr. Dean awaken the innermost desires of the sisters leading to a conflict between the spirit and the flesh and a descent into the madness of temptation! The haunting use of music, startling colour and framing are perfectly fused in Powell and Pressburger’s classic.

Introduced by: Trish Sheil (Cambridgeshire Film Consortium)
Cost: £4 (full) / £3 (concessions)
Suitable for: 15+ students of Film, Media Studies & Music
Venue: The Weston Auditorium
Telephone: 01707 281127
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

(Vincent Paronnaud / Marjane Satrapi, 2007)
30 November 7.00pm

Satrapi’s critically acclaimed autobiographic graphic novel is translated almost seamlessly for the big screen. Set in the midst of the Islamic revolution, 9 year old school girl Marjanne is sent away to a school in Austria after her uncle is killed, her penchant for ABBA, Bruce Lee and Iron Maiden help her make sense of the world’s violent absurdities. She eventually returns home after an enlightening coming-of-age.

The screening will be preceded by a masterclass in autobiographical comics with UniComics collaborators Nicola Streeten and Sarah Lightman from Laydeez Do Comics.

Introduced by: Laydeez Do Comics
Cost: £4 (full) / £3 (concessions)
Venue: The Weston Auditorium
Telephone: 01707 281127
Email: uharts@herts.ac.uk