Cinetopia

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/

26/11/2025

We're hosting a very special screening and discussion panel as our last Cinetopia DOC of the year.⬇️

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Nightcleaners (Part 1) (1975) by the Berwick Street Collective, and we’re proud to screen the documentary as part of a series of activities being organised around the film for this occasion.

Nightcleaners (1975) captured the struggle of cleaners working nights in office buildings across London, and their early attempts to unionise to improve their working conditions where they faced constant discrimination, isolation, and victimisation.

Considered a landmark work of reflexive documentary and a forerunner of contemporary political art practice, Nightcleaners shuns conventional narrative, instead employing a fragmented, experimental style that reflects the complexity and disorientation of political struggle.

This approach challenges viewers to engage critically, not passively, with both the subject matter and the medium itself.

The screening will be followed by a hybrid panel discussion featuring members of the Collective. In person, Humphrey Trevelyan, and via zoom, James Scott and artist Mary Kelly (who was also a member of the Cleaners Action Group).

10th December, 6pm Filmhouse Edinburgh, tickets are now on sale, check the link in the comments.

Nightcleaners Part 1 was a documentary made by members of the Berwick Street Collective (Marc Karlin, Mary Kelly, James Scott and Humphry Trevelyan), about t...

26/11/2025

We’re live on EHFM from 2–4pm with the November edition of the Cinetopia Radio Show & Podcast.

Join us (Amanda, Emma, and Mariana) for reviews of Jay Kelly, The Running Man, Bugonia and Wake Up Dead Man, plus interviews with Yi Wang from Q***r East and Richard Mowe, Director of the French Film Festival UK.

Listen live at ehfm.live — see you there!

(Pod version to follow)

25/11/2025

How is it nearly the end of 2025!?🤯 Our last film networking of the year is on 4th December at Filmhouse Edinburgh - so we can all celebrate together!

A chance to toast yourself for all your achievements, hang out, get into the festive spirit (and celebrate getting through another wild year?!)

As always, our networking is free to attend, super informal, and very friendly.

We do ask if you can RSVP so we get an idea of numbers.

Food & drink are available at the Filmhouse bar, with a special 10% discount for Cinetopia attendees!

Further info & RSVP: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cinetopia/1959272

24/11/2025

Cinephiles! Your weekly curated cinematic treats for the coming week have dropped... 🍿

This week's highlights on the grid:

➡️ presents sacred art by secret women 👀 in Glasgow + gift us with ¡Too Much Mexican Melodrama!

➡️ cekebrate their first birthday with an evening of "Projections" - their monthlt screening and mixed media art space!

➡️ Benoit Blanc is BACK in Wake Up Dead Man! (With added bonus Josh O'Connor as detective priest!) - bring your dog to the Cameo's pup friendly screening 🐶

➡️ Music and Sound folks, get to
monthly networking TONIGHT!

➡️ PLUS! Sexy, q***r, cult, cool movies from ***reast and Paul Schrader...

To get the full, juicy list of all the cool screenings, events, opportunities and news from Edinburgh and Glasgow in your inbox, every Sunday, subscribe to our Substack - you know where the link is 🔗

To feature your film events or opportunities for free, upload them to 👍🍿

Happy Watching! 🎬

22/11/2025

Closing out 2025 with three great Cinetopia events in December! ⬇️ You can find out more about each of these (and book tix!) via the link at the bottom!

🍿4th December, 7-10pm | Xmas Film Networking - Filmhouse Edinburgh
A festive edition of our regular, informal film mixer to celebrate the end of the year!

🍿 6th December, 6-10pm | Cinetopia Salon #2 - Institut français d'Ecosse
An evening of cinema, music, and convivial fun with a French-style apero hour... Enjoy Rene Clair's 1924 silent sci-fi Paris Qui Dort + musical accompaniment from Aurora Engine!

🍿10th December, 6pm | Cinetopia: DOC - Filmhouse
A special 50th anniversary screening of landmark documentary Nightcleaners (1975) in collaboration with Lux and Berwick Street Collective followed by a discussion panel!

A tantalising trio of treats before we all put our feet up for Christmas... 🎥

🎟️ Book: www.cinetopia.co.uk/events

17/11/2025

Movie nerds! Your weekly curated cinematic treats for the coming week have dropped... 🍿

This week's highlights on the grid:

➡️ Cinemaattic screens films by Argentinian director Maria Luisa Bemberg, playing in Glasgow and Edinburgh + Invisible Women with more Mexican Melodrama by Adela Sequeyro!

➡️ Goethe Institut brings Hannah Arendt's life to the screen at Institut français d'Ecosse

➡️ Q***r East goes on the road with Takeshi Kitano's KUBI and more!

➡️ Disabled documentary maker Reid Davenport's Sundance-winner I Didn't See You There is at Leith Kino

➡️ PLUS! Gaza documentary Yalla Parkour as pur next Cinetopia Doc, Iron Ladies at and creative networking with Short Com and SiFan Film Fest

To get the full, juicy list of all the cool screenings, events, opportunities and news from Edinburgh and Glasgow in your inbox, every Sunday, subscribe to our Substack - link in the comments!

To feature your film events or opportunities for free, upload them to the Cinetopia Connect platform 👍🍿

Happy Watching! 🎬

13/11/2025

"Bonjour? I'd like to book a ticket to Cinetopia Salon, s'il vout plait!"

You loved our first Salon, here's a first tease of our next one! René Clair's 1924 silent sci-fi, Paris Qui Dort with musical accompaniment from Aurora Engine...

6th December, 6-10pm, details and tickets in the comments... ⬇️

Cinetopia Salon is a new cultural evening where French-style apéro, arts, cinema, and conversation come together, in the elegant surrounds of the French Institute 🍸

11/11/2025

Filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter will share her story of making YALLA PARKOUR at our next Cinetopia DOC screening on 19 November (via pre-recorded Q&A).

YALLA PARKOUR documents Areeb's friendship with a young Gazan parkour athlete. Initially driven by nostalgia for the Gaza of her childhood visits and memories of her Palestinian mother, as Areeb rediscovers Gaza through Ahmed's eyes and their relationship deepens, a growing internal conflict and emotional struggle surfaces.

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A multinational filmmaker based in Washington, D.C, Areeb's work focuses on art, identity, and social issues. She holds an MA in Film and Video from American University and her work has won multiple international awards.

Her debut short, Stained, won the Jury Award at Beirutʼs European International Film Festival. Her documentary, Colors of Resistance, was nominated for Sonyʼs Outstanding Thesis Award and won multiple awards at the Colorado Activism Film Festival and the Spotlight Documentary Film Awards.

Zuaiter has previously worked at the Associated Press, and served a Goldman Sachs Film and Video Fellow at the Smithsonianʼs National Museum of American History. She has lead the Regional Training
Department at the Royal Film Commission - Jordan, and taught at several universities in Washington, DC. In addition to working on her films, Zuaiter heads the programming department at the Amman International Film Festival (AIFF).

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Book tickets for YALLA PARKOUR + recorded Q&A with Areeb via our bio link 🔗

➡️ 19 November, 5.50pm

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Cinetopia: DOC is supported by part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI, and the , and produced by Cinetopia, a hub of activity around filmgoing and filmmaking based in Edinburgh.

10/11/2025

Your weekly movie date planner is here! Our recommended 🔥 film events in Edinburgh & Glasgow to check out this week 💯

✨️ For the full Cinetopia Recommends listings newsletter, don't forget to sign-up on Substack ➡️ you'll get a weekly digest packed with film screenings, events, jobs, opportunities, and news for both cities, every Sunday in your inbox!

✨️ To submit an event to be featured in the Substack, you can upload it for free to - all events and opportunities added there are automatically included in Cinetopia Recommends!

Read the latest: https://substack.com/home/post/p-178221245