When the ICA Cinema opened on The Mall in 1968, it did not open to the public. Instead, under the guise ‘Club Deluxe’ it operated as a film club screening new works evolving outside the mainstream, for ICA Members only. This conception was a sign of the times, both in tune with the unabashed enthusiasm for a medium in the midst of revolution and in opposition to a rampant censorship that meant new revelatory works like Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend were deemed un-rateable and thus illegal to show to the general public.
Cinema in 2025 finds itself in a very different position than it did in 1968. Amidst a rampant corporatisation and generally insipid and risk-averse spirit, it is easy to become despondent about the future of cinema today, to wonder if we are in that ‘ignominious, irreversible decline’ that Susan Sontag wrote about more than two decades ago. In a time of artistic uniformity, of remarkably style-less house styles, the need for spaces dedicated to truly independent and original voices is as desperate in 2025 as it was in 1968. The obstacles may have changed but the necessity of overcoming them has not.
As the spaces dedicated to showcasing work outside the commercial sphere continue to shrink, the life cycle for a film beyond its festival run remains uncertain. In the same spirit with which Club Deluxe was founded, Off-Circuit aims to provide a platform to new films that have yet to receive a proper spotlight in the UK, facilitating a continuous connection between these profoundly rich works and audiences on the lookout for something new and different.
Off-Circuit offers audiences a chance to encounter this generation's landmark films on screen for the very first time, carving out a much-needed theatrical space for this generation's seminal and medium-redefining artists.
With support from the Edwin Fox Foundation.
Programme
Friday 4 September, 7pm
More screenings from 5 September
UK PREMIERE
Pin de Fartie + Q&A
A playful spin on theatrical adaptation, Alejo Moguillansky's latest film is a delightfully imaginative take on Samuel Beckett's Fin de Partie, punctuated by music, tennis, and another exceptional performance by Laura Paredes.
Friday 25 September, 6.30pm
More screenings from 26 September
The Seasons
Weaving together oral histories, archaeological field notes, regional legends, poetry, and song, Maureen Fazendeiro's The Seasons is a remarkable portrait of the Alentejo region of Portugal, its people, and its stories.
Upcoming Programme
Friday 23 October, 7pm
More screenings from 24 Oct
UK PREMIERE
The Night is Fading Away + Q&A
A projectionist navigating his own precarious living situation finds himself at the centre of an unconventional nocturnal community in Ramiro Sonzini and Ezequiel Salinas' luminous tale of friendship.
Friday 20 November, 6.30pm
More screenings from 21 Nov
My Wife Cries + Q&A
The latest film from German filmmaker Angela Schanelec is a spellbinding relationship drama that eschews conventional melodrama in favour of a formally audacious and elliptical approach to love, gender and trauma.
Friday 27 November, 6.30pm
More screenings from 28 Nov
UK PREMIERE
Everything Else is Noise + Q&A
An absurdist chamber comedy, Nicolás Pereda’s latest feature centres on the behind-the-scenes staging of an interview with a middle-aged female noise musician, which unfurls into a wider exploration of gender, performance and the costs of artistic independence.
Friday 4 December, 6.30pm
More screenings from 5 Dec
UK PREMIERE
Mirage + Q&A
A film about the very act of looking, Bingham Bryant’s reflexive and enigmatic second feature traces the unstable threshold between observation, memory and desire. Accompanied by a programme of Bryant's early work including the UK Premiere of his debut feature For The Plasma.
Friday 11 December, 6.30pm
More screenings from 12 December
UK PREMIERE
Recherche Médée + Q&A
Drawing inspiration from Heiner Müller's text Medea-Material and unfolding through a series of recitations and discussions, Mathilde Girard's search for Medea quickly evolves into a remarkable space for excavation and self-discovery.
#53
Dry Leaf
dir. Alexandre Koberidze
#38
Afternoons of Solitude
dir. Albert Serra
#37
Measures for a Funeral
dir. Sofia Bohdanowicz
#36
Việt and Nam
dir. Trương Minh Quý
#35
What Does That Nature Say to You
dir. Hong Sangsoo
#34
The Tree of Authenticity
dir. Sammy Baloji
#33
The Triptych of Mondongo
dir. Mariano Llinás
#32
When the Phone Rang
dir. Iva Radivojević
#31
Spring Night
dir. Kang Mi-ja
#30
Bury Us in a Lone Desert
dir. Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc
#29
Caught by the Tides
dir. Jia Zhangke
#28
DIRECT ACTION
dirs. Guillaume Cailleau & Ben Russell
#27
Jimmy
dir. Yashaddai Owens
#26
bluish
dirs. Lilith Kraxner & Milena Czernovsky
#25
By the Stream
dir. Hong Sangsoo
#24
Favoriten
dir. Ruth Beckermann
#23
C'est pas moi
dir. Leos Carax
#22
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956
dir. Abdenour Zahzah
#21
Matt and Mara
dir. Kazik Radwanski
#20
I'm Not Everything I Want to Be
dir. Klára Tasovská
#19
Last Things + Memories of an Unborn Sun
dir. Deborah Stratman
dir. Marcel Mrejen
#18
Our Body
dir. Claire Simon
#16
Outside Noise
dir. Ted Fendt
#15
A Prince
dir. Pierre Creton
#14
Foremost by Night
dir. Victor Iriarte
#13
You Burn Me
dir. Matías Piñeiro
#12
Regardless of Us
dir. Yoo Heong-jun
#11
Mambar Pierrette
dir. Rosine Mbakam
#10
Grace
dir. Ilya Povolotsky
#9
The Human Surge 3
dir. Eduardo Williams
#8
Music
dir. Angela Schanelec
#7
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
dir. Phạm Thiên An
#6
Unrest
dir. Cyril Schäublin
#5
A Woman Escapes in 3D
dirs. Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, Blake Williams
#4
Mal Viver
dir. João Canijo
#4
Viver Mal
dir. João Canijo
#3
Pictures of Ghosts
dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
#2
Human Flowers of Flesh
dir. Helena Wittmann
#1
Man in Black
dir. Wang Bing
Friday 4 September, 7pm
More screenings from 5 September
UK PREMIERE
Pin de Fartie + Q&A
A playful spin on theatrical adaptation, Alejo Moguillansky's latest film is a delightfully imaginative take on Samuel Beckett's Fin de Partie, punctuated by music, tennis, and another exceptional performance by Laura Paredes.
Friday 25 September, 6.30pm
More screenings from 26 September
The Seasons
Weaving together oral histories, archaeological field notes, regional legends, poetry, and song, Maureen Fazendeiro's The Seasons is a remarkable portrait of the Alentejo region of Portugal, its people, and its stories.
Upcoming Programme
Friday 23 October, 7pm
More screenings from 24 Oct
UK PREMIERE
The Night is Fading Away + Q&A
A projectionist navigating his own precarious living situation finds himself at the centre of an unconventional nocturnal community in Ramiro Sonzini and Ezequiel Salinas' luminous tale of friendship.
Friday 20 November, 6.30pm
More screenings from 21 Nov
My Wife Cries + Q&A
The latest film from German filmmaker Angela Schanelec is a spellbinding relationship drama that eschews conventional melodrama in favour of a formally audacious and elliptical approach to love, gender and trauma.
Friday 27 November, 6.30pm
More screenings from 28 Nov
UK PREMIERE
Everything Else is Noise + Q&A
An absurdist chamber comedy, Nicolás Pereda’s latest feature centres on the behind-the-scenes staging of an interview with a middle-aged female noise musician, which unfurls into a wider exploration of gender, performance and the costs of artistic independence.
Friday 4 December, 6.30pm
More screenings from 5 Dec
UK PREMIERE
Mirage + Q&A
A film about the very act of looking, Bingham Bryant’s reflexive and enigmatic second feature traces the unstable threshold between observation, memory and desire. Accompanied by a programme of Bryant's early work including the UK Premiere of his debut feature For The Plasma.
Friday 11 December, 6.30pm
More screenings from 12 December
UK PREMIERE
Recherche Médée + Q&A
Drawing inspiration from Heiner Müller's text Medea-Material and unfolding through a series of recitations and discussions, Mathilde Girard's search for Medea quickly evolves into a remarkable space for excavation and self-discovery.
Past Programme
#56
The Visitor
dir. Vytautas Katkus
#55
Memory
dir. Vladlena Sandu
#54
The Day She Returns
dir. Hong Sangsoo
Dry Leaf
dir. Alexandre Koberidze
#52
Tycoon
dir. Charlotte Zhang
#51
Fuck The Polis
dir. Rita Azevedo Gomes
#50
Phantoms of July
dir. Julian Radlmaier
#49
Dracula
dir. Radu Jude
#48
Bouchra
dir. Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani
#47
MACDO
dir. Racornelia
#46
Gangsterism
dir. Isiah Medina
#45
Do You Love Me
dir. Lana Daher
#44
Escape
dir. Adachi Masao
#43
I Only Rest in the Storm
dir. Pedro Pinho
#42
Fiume o morte!
dir. Igor Bezinović
#41
Fantaisie
dir. Isabel Pagliai
#40
Levers
dir. Rhayne Vermette
#39
Invention
dir. Courtney Stephens
Afternoons of Solitude
dir. Albert Serra
#37
Measures for a Funeral
dir. Sofia Bohdanowicz
#36
Việt and Nam
dir. Trương Minh Quý
#35
What Does That Nature Say to You
dir. Hong Sangsoo
#34
The Tree of Authenticity
dir. Sammy Baloji
#33
The Triptych of Mondongo
dir. Mariano Llinás
#32
When the Phone Rang
dir. Iva Radivojević
#31
Spring Night
dir. Kang Mi-ja
#30
Bury Us in a Lone Desert
dir. Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc
#29
Caught by the Tides
dir. Jia Zhangke
#28
DIRECT ACTION
dirs. Guillaume Cailleau & Ben Russell
#27
Jimmy
dir. Yashaddai Owens
#26
bluish
dirs. Lilith Kraxner & Milena Czernovsky
#25
By the Stream
dir. Hong Sangsoo
#24
Favoriten
dir. Ruth Beckermann
#23
C'est pas moi
dir. Leos Carax
#22
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956
dir. Abdenour Zahzah
#21
Matt and Mara
dir. Kazik Radwanski
#20
I'm Not Everything I Want to Be
dir. Klára Tasovská
#19
Last Things + Memories of an Unborn Sun
dir. Deborah Stratman
dir. Marcel Mrejen
#18
Our Body
dir. Claire Simon
#16
Outside Noise
dir. Ted Fendt
#15
A Prince
dir. Pierre Creton
#14
Foremost by Night
dir. Victor Iriarte
#13
You Burn Me
dir. Matías Piñeiro
#12
Regardless of Us
dir. Yoo Heong-jun
#11
Mambar Pierrette
dir. Rosine Mbakam
#10
Grace
dir. Ilya Povolotsky
#9
The Human Surge 3
dir. Eduardo Williams
#8
Music
dir. Angela Schanelec
#7
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
dir. Phạm Thiên An
#6
Unrest
dir. Cyril Schäublin
#5
A Woman Escapes in 3D
dirs. Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, Blake Williams
#4
Mal Viver
dir. João Canijo
#4
Viver Mal
dir. João Canijo
#3
Pictures of Ghosts
dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
#2
Human Flowers of Flesh
dir. Helena Wittmann
#1
Man in Black
dir. Wang Bing
