Scala!!! Or, the incredibly strange rise and fall of...

Scala!!! Or, the incredibly strange rise and fall of...

(Scala!!! Or, the incredibly strange rise and fall of the world's wildest cinema and how it influenced a mixed-up generation of weirdos and misfits)

Ali Catterall & Jane Giles

  • 2023
  • Great-Britain
  • Documentary
  • 1h36mn
  • Original version with French subtitles
  • Color
French premiere
The saga of The Scala, the London alternative venue from 1978 to 1993, patronized by over a million people taunting Thatcherian censorship. On the same day, a Bergman movie might precede a porn film, the only rule for Stephen Woolley and his co-programmer Jayne Pilling being the quality of the films. As testified by their fascinating paper billboards whose eclectic imagery was susceptible of shocking “young catholic girls”, the Scala was an altar of transgression, where LGBTQ+ or punk expressivity could breathe as freely as Kung-fu or horror, establishing a sort of ideal filmography. The film is told by the actors and patrons, with a trove of archives and extracts, and as a bonus a superb score from Barry Adamson. Let’s plunge back into an era of (counter-)cultural and rebellious choices.

John Waters

The Scala had magic. It was like joining a club -- a very secret club, like a bikers gang or something. It's like they were a country club for criminals and lunatics and people that were high... which is a good way to see movies.

Screenings

12/09 • 18h45 • Screen 100
In presence of the director

Booking

13/09 • 19h00 • Screen 100
In presence of the director

Booking

Credits

  • With : Barry Adamson, Mary Harron, Beeban Kidron, Peter Strickland, Ben Wheatley
  • Screenplay : Ali Catterall, Janes Giles
  • Photography : Sarah Appleton
  • Editing : Edward Mills, Andrew Starke
  • Music by : Barry Adamson
  • Production : Alan Marke, Jim Reid, Andrew Starke