This film is currently unavailable

Institute Benjamenta
Mark Rylance stars in the debut feature film from the Brothers Quay. A student at a peculiar school for servants gradually uncovers its secrets and, by extension, those of life itself.
Director: Brothers Quay
Overview
Jakob (Mark Rylance) wants to be of service. Admitted to a peculiar school for servants run by domineering Johannes (Gottfried John) and his sorrowful sister Lisa (Alice Krige), Jakob gradually uncovers the mystical Institute's secrets and, by extension, those of life itself.
This striking live action feature from the master animators is a beautifully realised anti-fairytale. The Quays' visionary style breathes life into every corner of this fragile world, which shimmers with luminous energy and hypnotic beauty.
Related

The Last Showgirl The Last Showgirl
Drama 2024 89 mins Director: Gia Coppola
Golden Globe-nominated Pamela Anderson is enchanting as the Las Vegas showgirl whose stage show is set to close.

Driving Mum Driving Mum
Comedy 2022 113 mins Director: Hilmar Oddsson
Jon drives his mums corpse across Iceland in Hilmar Oddssonβs darkly comic odyssey of self-discovery and acceptance, beautifully filmed in crisp black and white.

Barrio Boy Barrio Boy
Romance 2022 83 mins Director: Dennis Shinners
A Latino barber embarks on an erotically charged odyssey of self-discovery over one hot summer in Brooklyn.

Small Things Like These Small Things Like These
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Tim Mielants
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as a coal merchant who discovers horrific secrets about his local convent.

Rafiki Rafiki
Drama 2018 83 mins Director: Wanuri Kahiu
Romantic sparks fly between the daughters of two opposing politicians in Wanuri Kahiuβs neon-bright story of forbidden love in Kenya.

Only the River Flows Only the River Flows
Crime 2023 102 mins Director: Shujun Wei
Shujun Wei's slow-burn noir draws us inexorably into its mysterious psychological journey.

Street of Crocodiles Street of Crocodiles
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 21 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Quays' best-known (and highest budgeted) short takes place in nightmarish netherworld populated by strange and sinister puppets.

The Phantom Museum The Phantom Museum
2003 12 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Quay Brothers' partly animated exploration of the Wellcome Trust's medical collections.

The Comb The Comb
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1990 18 mins Director: Brothers Quay
A woman dreams of a fairytale landscape populated by ladders and sinister puppets.

In Absentia In Absentia
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2000 20 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Brothers Quay's visualisation of a piece by Karlheinz Stockhausen. A woman alone in a room repeatedly writes a letter with tiny broken off pieces of pencil lead. Outside her window, vistas of ever-changing light register her every emotion.

Nocturna Artificialia Nocturna Artificialia
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1979 21 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The debut film from the Brothers Quay follows a dreamer who's seduced by the mystery of the city at night. He leaves his room and goes into the street, where a tram-car carries him away.

This Unnameable Little Broom This Unnameable Little Broom
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 11 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Brothers Quay take on the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, presenting the character as a childlike figure who sets a series of vicious traps to catch Enkidu, the guileless forest creature.

The BFG The BFG
Children's 2016 117 mins Director: Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielbergβs luminous Roald Dahl adaptation boasts an enchanting performance from Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant who befriends a little girl (Ruby Barnhill).

She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbertβs strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.

Nocturna Artificialia Nocturna Artificialia
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1979 21 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The debut film from the Brothers Quay follows a dreamer who's seduced by the mystery of the city at night. He leaves his room and goes into the street, where a tram-car carries him away.

This Unnameable Little Broom This Unnameable Little Broom
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 11 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Brothers Quay take on the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, presenting the character as a childlike figure who sets a series of vicious traps to catch Enkidu, the guileless forest creature.

The Phantom Museum The Phantom Museum
2003 12 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Quay Brothers' partly animated exploration of the Wellcome Trust's medical collections.

In Absentia In Absentia
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2000 20 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Brothers Quay's visualisation of a piece by Karlheinz Stockhausen. A woman alone in a room repeatedly writes a letter with tiny broken off pieces of pencil lead. Outside her window, vistas of ever-changing light register her every emotion.

Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1988 14 mins Director: Brothers Quay
Beautiful near-abstract black-and-white animation inspired by the work of painter Jean-HonorΓ© Fragonard (and his anatomist cousin HonorΓ©).

Street of Crocodiles Street of Crocodiles
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 21 mins Director: Brothers Quay
The Quays' best-known (and highest budgeted) short takes place in nightmarish netherworld populated by strange and sinister puppets.

The Last Showgirl The Last Showgirl
Drama 2024 89 mins Director: Gia Coppola
Golden Globe-nominated Pamela Anderson is enchanting as the Las Vegas showgirl whose stage show is set to close.

Dust & Metal Dust & Metal
Documentary 2022 82 mins Director: Esther Johnson
Discover unfamiliar histories of Vietnam through Esther Johnsonβs poetic documentary on the countryβs love affair with the motorbike.

Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound
Documentary 2024 91 mins Director: Antony Crook
Celestial sonic odyssey charting the cult Scottish bandβs expansive career from the mid-90s to their tenth studio album written during lockdown.

Flow Flow
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 85 mins Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Oscar-winning animated adventure about an unlikely group of animals who must work together to survive a natural disaster.

Invasion Invasion
Science Fiction 1966 79 mins Director: Alan Bridges
An alien fugitive, injured in a road accident, pitches up at a rural hospital. But when two intergallactic pursuers arrive, things start to heat up...

Twiggy Twiggy
Documentary 2024 94 mins Director: Sadie Frost
International supermodel, actor, singer and one of the most iconic British figures β this is the real story of Twiggy.