Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month
Black Joy
Ben, an innocent immigrant from a remote village in Guyana, arrives in Brixton and falls prey to an assortment of streetwise characters in Anthony Simmons' Palme d’Or nominated comic drama.
Director: Anthony Simmons
Overview
Ben (Trevor Thomas), an innocent immigrant from a remote village in Guyana, arrives into Brixton with a full wallet and a packed suitcase. When he bumps into Devon, a young streetwise boy with an eye on his money, he is taken for a fool – but is gradually drawn in to the boy’s charismatic family circle, which includes Floella Benjamin in one of her earliest roles. Nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1977, and produced shortly after Horace Ové’s landmark film Pressure, Black Joy is both a culture-clash comedy and an unflinching look at the social and financial issues facing black Britons.
Director Anthony Simmons came from a legal background – formerly a barrister, his debut work, the short documentary Sunday by the Sea (1953) won the Grand Prix at Venice Film Festival.
Contains strong languageRelated
Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.
The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.
Hannah Takes the Stairs Hannah Takes the Stairs
Comedy 2006 84 mins Director: Joe Swanberg
Greta Gerwig plays the carefree intern who finds herself at the centre of a love triangle with two co-workers, in this charming 'mumblecore' rom-com.
The Queen of My Dreams The Queen of My Dreams
Comedy 2023 99 mins Director: Fawzia Mirza
Soulful story of the love and war between a queer woman and her mother, spanning across decades and continents.
The Last Detail The Last Detail
Comedy 1973 104 mins Director: Hal Ashby
Jack Nicholson is at his very best in this highly-acclaimed dramatic comedy from Hal Ashby about three sailors on the loose.
Taxi Zum Klo Taxi Zum Klo
Comedy 1981 90 mins Director: Frank Ripploh
Taxi zum Klo is a refreshingly guilt-free gay movie from West Germany about a promiscuous teacher, played by director Frank Ripploh.
Tangerine Tangerine
Comedy 2015 88 mins Director: Sean Baker
A big-hearted film shot on a small phone, this LA tale of two transgender working girls out for vengeance fizzes with wild energy.
Frances Ha Frances Ha
Comedy 2012 86 mins Director: Noah Baumbach
Barbie creators Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach hit their stride with this critical smash about an awkward girl and her complex passions.
Daisies Daisies
Comedy 1966 73 mins Director: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
Ghost World Ghost World
Comedy 2001 107 mins Director: Terry Zwigoff
Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch star as a pair of social outcasts struggling to make sense of the world around them, in this sublime love story based on the work of underground artist Daniel Clowes.
La Haine La Haine
Drama 1995 98 mins Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Mathieu Kassovitz’s landmark mid-90s drama throws a cinematic Molotov cocktail at structural racism, police brutality and media manipulation.
The Eight Mountains The Eight Mountains
Drama 2022 147 mins Director: Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch
An epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set against a magnificent and breath-taking Italian landscape, winner of the 2022 Cannes Jury Prize.
Chocolat Chocolat
Drama 1988 100 mins Director: Claire Denis
Claire Denis' fully formed debut offers a child’s-eye-view of racial and sexual tension that bubbles with unspoken desires.
Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.
Eat the Night Eat the Night
Thriller 2024 107 mins Director: Caroline Poggi and Johnathan Vinel
Siblings find passion and peril online and in the real world, in this visually electric French drama.
Bound Bound
Gangster 1996 109 mins Director: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski
A seductive neo-noir and cult classic centring on lesbian desire in dangerous circumstances.
High Life High Life
Science Fiction 2019 113 mins Director: Claire Denis
The messiness of sex, the mysteries of birth and the moving spectacle of devoted parenting in the face of impending oblivion create a potent atmosphere in Claire Denis’ English-language debut.
Pornomelancholia Pornomelancholia
Drama 2022 94 mins Director: Manuel Abramovich
Soulful docufiction featuring real-life porn actor Lalo Santos.