Cinetopia

16/12/2025

The legend of Kim's Video lives on! Swipe for roaring applause ➡️ 👏

Our pals at put on a screening of this awesome doc and invited us along to give an intro to the movie. What a great way to wrap up the year, celebrating film, community cinema, physical media and VHS dreams together 📼💯🔥

Great to see a packed crowd, and the Mystery Video Swap Box was heaving with some epic donated DVDs and Video tapes for folks to lucky dip for!

Thanks to Morvern, Fraser, Goszia and all Leith Kino team for having us 🙌

Thanks to and for sharing this story on film for us all to enjoy!

KIM'S VIDEO FOREVER!

12/12/2025

If you enjoyed our Cinetopia SALONS this year and want us to organise more, *PLEASE PLEASE* complete our audience survey! 🙏

Your feedback will help us to secure further funding, understand what you want to see more of, and to continue delivering amazing salon events in 2026!

Takes no longer than 4 minutes ⬇️

Complete it here: https://bit.ly/salonaudiencesurvey

11/12/2025

Hope for the younger generation is being "eroded away" in our current political climate.

Feminist artist Mary Kelly, member of Berwick Street Film Collective and the Cleaners Action Group in the 1970s, lays out the socio-political context of NIGHTCLEANERS, especially from a women's perspective, against our politics today.

What an honour to host such an incredible panel and important film to close out another year of CINETOPIA: DOC!

Thanks to all who attended and see you in 2026! 🙏

09/12/2025

"Watching Nightcleaners today, the parallels between this onscreen injustice and our current neo-liberal hellscape are clear."

Ahead of our screening tomorrow (10 December), writer and curator Rachel Pronger co-founder of archive activist feminist collective Invisible Women reflects on the context, form and legacy of Nightcleaners in its 50th anniversary year for Cinetopia's blog.

We recommend giving it a read before watching the film 👏 Hit up the link in the comments for the full essay.

Join us tomorrow for a special screening of the documentary + Q&A panel with members of the Berwick Street Collective, moderated by Dr Kirsten Lloyd.

➡️10 December, 6pm Filmhouse Edinburgh

08/12/2025

Cinephiles! Your weekly curated cinematic treats have landed… 🍿✨

Here are some highlights across Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond:

🌸 Nobody’s Wife
CinemaAttic presents this newly restored Mexican classic — a quietly radical story of self-discovery and resistance from María Luisa Bemberg.

🎞️ Nightcleaners – 50th Anniversary + Panel
A landmark of British political and experimental documentary, followed by a hybrid panel with members of the Berwick Street Collective, hosted by Dr Kirsten Lloyd.

🎬 Jo-Fei Chen Double Bill (Q***r East)
Two groundbreaking works from a pioneer of Taiwanese q***r cinema — Where Is My Love? and Incidental Journey.

🎥 Edinburgh Short Film Festival Highlights
Two curated programmes of standout shorts as part of Summerhall’s Winter Fair — from Iraqi documentary to Italian drama, Taiwanese animation and more.

🎬 Special Section
Costa-Gavras’ razor-sharp political thriller, winner of Best Director at Cannes, screens in this rare 35mm-era gem.

🕯️ ¡Qué Horror! Spooky Shorts from Mexico
Bold, atmospheric and gloriously strange horror shorts — the perfect winter chill at St Peter’s Episcopal Church.

📚 Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer
A festive German classic for families, full of curiosity, friendship and a beautifully nostalgic sense of adventure.

🎥 Shanghai Blues
Tsui Hark’s beloved 1980s romance returns in a stunning new 4K restoration — irresistible, playful and full of charm.

🔥 Fiume o Morte!
A punk, surreal and fiercely inventive retelling of D’Annunzio’s occupation of Fiume — still unlike anything else on screen.

📼 Kim’s Video
A wild documentary journey through the legendary video store’s lost archive — with an intro from Cinetopia’s Emma J.

➕ Plus: The Shining (US Cut), Muppet Christmas Carol + treats, Restless Natives 40th, Planetarium festive films, and more across the city.

📣 See the full listings on Cinetopia Recommends — the best way to catch everything happening this week.

Submit your events and opportunities through so we don’t miss them.

Save, share, and plan your cinema week 🔥

08/12/2025

"This unique experimental documentary tells us so much about class and sexual politics at a tumultuous and transformative time in Britain’s history. I can’t wait to hear what its makers have to say about their on-the-ground experiences of making films politically."

Dr Kirsten Lloyd, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art History and Curating at Edinburgh College of Art will be hosting our Q&A with members of the Berwick Street Collective following our Cinetopia DOC screening of NIGHTCLEANERS this Wednesday!

We're joined in person by Humphrey Trevelyan, and via zoom by James Scott and feminist artist Mary Kelly.

NIGHTCLEANERS by Berwick Street Collective
➡️10 December, 6pm Filmhouse Edinburgh
Tickets in the comments! 🔗

02/12/2025

Our next DOC screening + Q&A! ⬇️

NIGHTCLEANERS (1975) by the Berwick Street Collective is a mix of experimental and political film, widely considered a landmark work of reflexive documentary.

Originally intended as a campaign film documenting the attempts by office night cleaners to unionise in the 70s, the filmmakers were obliged to adapt their approach as the work developed, experimenting with image, sound and form as they recorded the complex struggle between the Cleaners Action Group, and the unions.

We're joined by three original members of the Collective for a post-film panel, Humphrey Trevelyan (in person), James Scott, and artist Mary Kelly (via zoom) - moderated by Dr Kirsten Lloyd, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art History and Curating at Edinburgh College of Art.

We hope to see you at this very special, 50th anniversary screening in what promises to be a fascinating evening of film and discussion.

10th December, 6pm Filmhouse Edinburgh

Tickets: https://www.filmhouse.org.uk/movie/nightcleaners-qa/

01/12/2025

Feminist artist Mary Kelly joins our post-film discussion after our DOC screening of Berwick Street Collective's NIGHTCLEANERS (10th December, 6pm Filmhouse Edinburgh) 💯

Mary joins alongside Humphrey Trvelyan (in person) and James Scott (zoom) marking the 50th anniversary of this important documentary, considered a landmark political art film.

This excellent Guardian interview gives a flavour of Mary's political art and her involvement in the filming of NIGHTCLEANERS, we're honoured she will be talking with us!

"...Nightcleaners – a study of the women cleaning London office buildings. The groups involved in that project give a real flavour of the time. She was part of a women’s-lib cadre called the History Group, and was assigned to work with the Berwick Street film collective to support unionisation. Nightcleaners was intended as a propaganda film, but became a seminal work of documentary art."
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/18/mary-kelly-meet-the-mother-of-all-feminist-artists

Tickets via cinetopia website under Events tab!

In the 1970s, she pinned dirty nappies to a gallery wall. Today, Mary Kelly spins war memorials from mountains of tumble-dryer lint. At her home in Bel Air, the feminist pioneer reveals 40 years of shock tactics

01/12/2025

Cinephiles! Your weekly curated cinematic treats have landed… 🍿✨

Here are some highlights across Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond:

✨ DOCo #: Portencross (Edinburgh) monthly work-in-progress session with filmmaker Matt Robinson — open, informal, and perfect for anyone who loves seeing a documentary take shape.

🎞️ Invisible Women – Mexican Melodrama The season continues with Stronger Than Love (Más Fuerte que el Amor) — Miroslava Stern in full melodramatic glory.

🪶 Killa (Before the Moon Rises) A landmark for Kichwa cinema, screening with at (with intro + Q&A by Dr Peter Baker) and at .

🎶 Paris qui Dort + Live Score by Aurora Engine Silent sci-fi magic transformed with Aurora Engine’s shimmering live score.

❤️ Seeking Mavis Beacon shares the Scottish premiere of a Sundance acclaimed documentary as a fundraiser screening for families in Gaza. All proceeds donated.

📚 Girls’ Stories - a documentary on girlhood and identity, followed by a Q&A with director Aga Borzym.

💄 Gilda + Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
A classic Hollywood double bill — glamour, wit and signature sparkle.

🎥 Hong Kong Film Festival UK (Edinburgh) The programme features Q***rpanorama, Spacked Out and Montages of a Modern Motherhood.

🌍 Preparation for the Next Life A powerful early preview of Bing Liu’s new feature.

➕ Plus: Zodiac Killer Project + Q&A, Pink Flamingos, The Wolves Always Come at Night, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, The Holdovers, Eyes of Wakanda, Prime Minister, Sunset Boulevard (4K), and the Cinetopia Xmas Networking Night.

📣 See the full listings on Cinetopia Recommends — the best way to catch everything happening this week.

Submit your own events and opportunities there too so we don’t miss them.

Save, share, and plan your cinema week 🔥

30/11/2025

If you missed our EHFM airing last Wednesday, you can now catch the podcast version of the Cinetopia Radio Show and Podcast — November Edition wherever you get your podcasts.

This month, Amanda is joined by Emma and Mariana for a full run of reviews and festival conversations:

🎬 Jay Kelly
Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer’s Hollywood character story starring George Clooney — a glossy, self-aware look at fame and legacy.

⚡ The Running Man
Edgar Wright’s high-energy, near-future take on Stephen King’s novel — sharp, propulsive, and packed with commentary on surveillance and spectacle.

🐝 Bugonia
Yorgos Lanthimos’ ferocious conspiracy satire with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons — wild, abrasive, and one of his strongest films in years.

🔍 Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc, with Josh O’Connor stealing the show in the tightest, most Agatha Christie-like entry in the series.

🎤 Interviews
• Yi Wang, Director of the Q***r East Film Festival, on this year’s programme
• Richard Mowe, Director of the French Film Festival UK, on the festival’s history and its 2025 highlights

Plus updates on Cinetopia Recommends and the new Cinetopia Connect platform for film events and opportunities across Scotland.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app.

30/11/2025

Actual scenes from our next Cinetopia Salon... 👀

Come and enjoy an evening of cinema, live music, drinks, and good conversation...

We're celebrating the City of Light with a screening of René Clair's silent film Paris Qui Dort (The Crazy Ray, 1924) accompanied live by composer and sonic artist Aurora Engine at Institut français d'Ecosse

Doors open an hour before the film so you can enjoy drinks at our paid bar, with complementary canapes, and meet and mingle in true Salon style.

➡️6 December, 6-10pm | Tickets from £10 at www.cinetopia.co.uk/events
🕰️Aperitif hour at 6pm, film at 7pm, more mingling from 8.15pm onwards...

28/11/2025

Thrilled to welcome three members of Berwick Street Collective at next week's Cinetopia DOC screening of Nightcleaners for a hybrid panel discussion moderated by Dr Kirsten Lloyd, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art History and Curating at the Edinburgh College of Art.

We will be joined in person by Humphrey Trevelyan, and via zoom: James Scott and artist Mary Kelly (also a member of the Cleaners Action Group), to mark the 50th anniversary of the film.

Nightcleaners traces the early 1970s efforts to unionise London’s night time office cleaners - almost all women and many of them immigrants - exposing the isolation and exploitation that burdened their working conditions.

The film became a landmark political work, described by Claire Johnston in feminist magazine Spare Rib (1975) as one where “As the Women’s Movement is redefining the class struggle, so is The Nightcleaners redefining the struggle for revolutionary cinema.”

10 December, 6pm at Filmhouse Edinburgh
Tickets: https://www.filmhouse.org.uk/movie/nightcleaners-qa/