Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story
Frank Sidebottom was a pillar of alternative comedy of the late 80s/early 90s, and this charming documentary remembers the man behind the papier-mâché head.
Documentary 2018 101 mins
Director: Steve Sullivan
Overview
Cult comedy figure Frank Sidebottom, the anarchic pop-star-wannabe from Timperley, is one of the most beloved characters to come out of the alternative comedy scene in the late 80s. Being Frank takes a hilarious in-depth look at another Mancunian with pop dreams: Chris Sievey, the man behind Frank.
Using footage from Sievey's relentless self-documentation, and interviews with the likes of Frank's former band members, DJ Mark Radcliffe and author Jon Ronson (co-writer of 2014's Frank, a fictionalised account of Sidebottom) Being Frank presents a comprehensive look at Sievey as an obsessive and often tortured artist.

Accessibility
Related
Documentary

Lawrence of Belgravia Lawrence of Belgravia
Documentary 2011 85 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly's stirring and acclaimed character study of enigmatic musician Lawrence (Felt, Denim and Go-Kart Mozart).

My Nazi Legacy My Nazi Legacy
Documentary 2015 96 mins Director: David Evans
What if your father was a Nazi? This is the harrowing question raised in David Evans’ thought-provoking documentary.

I Am Samuel I Am Samuel
Documentary 2020 68 mins Director: Pete Murimi
Kenyan couple Samuel and Alex remain committed to each other despite the danger and hardship facing them in Peter Murimi’s moving documentary portrait.

Why We Fight Why We Fight
Documentary 2004 99 mins Director: Eugene Jarecki
An unflinching and award-winning look at the anatomy of American war-making.

The Pearl Button The Pearl Button
Documentary 2015 82 mins Director: Patricio Guzmán
Patricio Guzmán’s lyrical, illuminating follow-up to Nostalgia for the Light explores the fateful role played by water in Chile’s tragic history.

Sound It Out Sound It Out
Documentary 2011 75 mins Director: Jeanie Finlay
Jeanie Finlay's elegaic account of the very last record shop in Teesside, UK.
BFI London Film Festival

The Handmaiden The Handmaiden
Period drama 2016 146 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Stoker) channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller full of erotic intrigue.

Ladyworld Ladyworld
Thriller 2018 94 mins Director: Amanda Kramer
Welcome to Ladyworld, a shadowy dwelling where tensions run high and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

The Painted Bird The Painted Bird
Drama 2019 169 mins Director: Vaclav Marhoul
Based on Jerzy Kosiński’s 1965 novel and a long time in the making, Václav Marhoul’s extraordinary The Painted Bird finds a lone Jewish boy on a dark odyssey towards home during wartime.

After Love After Love
Drama 2020 90 mins Director: Aleem Khan
In this knockout feature debut from Aleem Khan, Bafta-winner Joanna Scanlan is the woman who discovers her late husband’s secrets.

The Prey The Prey
Action and Adventure 2018 93 mins Director: Jimmy Henderson
An innocent man sentenced to rot in a Cambodian jail is released for the sadistic pleasure of twisted trophy hunters and forced to fight – or die.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Comedy 2021 106 mins Director: Radu Jude
Berlin Golden Bear winner, Radu Jude’s scathing satire finds schoolteacher Emi threatened with dismissal when a private sex tape goes viral.
New

Goodbye Solo Goodbye Solo
Comedy 2008 87 mins Director: Ramin Bahrani
The pairing of a Senegalese taxi driver and a grumbling old-timer in North Carolina is the basis for the latest insightful portrait of human behaviour from Ramin Bahrani.

Chop Shop Chop Shop
Drama 2007 81 mins Director: Ramin Bahrani
Hopeful and heartbreaking second feature from the director of Man Push Cart.

Catch the Fair One Catch the Fair One
Thriller 2021 86 mins Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Haunted by the disappearance of her younger sister two years prior, a former champion boxer (Kali Reis) leaves no stone unturned in her brutal search for answers.

Servants Servants
Drama 2020 81 mins Director: Ivan Ostrochovský
Ivan Ostrochovský’s stark drama about a seminary’s struggles for religious independence under Communist rule is both beautiful and brutal.

Tides Tides
Drama 2017 100 mins Director: Tupaq Felber
Four thirtysomethings find some much-needed time to reconnect in this beautifully observed and subtly insightful debut.

Rojo Rojo
Thriller 2018 105 mins Director: Benjamin Naishtat
Set in a pre-coup d’etat Argentina, successful lawyer Claudio (Darío Grandinetti, Wild Tales) leads a comfortable life – until an altercation in a restaurant and a split-second decision slowly unravel everything he has built up.