This film is currently unavailable
The Wiz
NYC becomes Oz in the cult, urban reimagining of the family favourite, featuring an all-African American cast including Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Overview
Based on the popular Broadway musical, Motown and Universal Pictures’ all-African-American reimagining of The Wizard of Oz has transcended its initial commercial failure to become a cult favourite.
Directed by 1970s great Sidney Lumet, this urban reimaging finds an adult Dorothy (Diana Ross) embarking on a colourful fantasy through the edgy, dishevelled decay of 1970s New York. Michael Jackson makes his first screen appearance as the Scarecrow, while Richard Pryor is the titular Wiz, in a musical stacked with memorable songs from Luther Vandross and Charlie Smalls, arranged by Quincy Jones. If the film’s combination of upbeat disco with gritty 1970s aesthetics wasn’t strange enough, Joel Schumacher’s script is also peppered with oblique allusions to Werner Erhard’s EST movement, a popular Hollywood fad of the time. A genuine cult marvel, The Wiz is an otherworldly oddity that has to be seen to be believed.
Related
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.
Timestalker Timestalker
Fantasy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
What if unrequited love spanned the centuries? Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
The BFG The BFG
Children's 2016 117 mins Director: Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg’s luminous Roald Dahl adaptation boasts an enchanting performance from Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant who befriends a little girl (Ruby Barnhill).
Lost River Lost River
Fantasy 2013 95 mins Director: Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut is a disturbing, visually experimental fairytale about a single mother drawn into a nightmarish netherworld.
The Beast The Beast
Science Fiction 2022 145 mins Director: Bertrand Bonello
Léa Seydoux wanders through a maze of past, present and uncertain future in Bertrand Bonello’s audacious blend of period drama and conceptual crystal-gazing.
La Chimera La Chimera
Action and Adventure 2023 132 mins Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Alice Rohrwacher’s fascinating new drama finds Josh O’Connor’s fish out of water delving into the world of stolen artefacts.
Moonlight Moonlight
Drama 2016 111 mins Director: Barry Jenkins
Winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture (eventually!), Barry Jenkins’ intoxicating drama follows the furtive life of a gay black boy through 80s Miami.
I Am Not Your Negro I Am Not Your Negro
Documentary 2016 94 mins Director: Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck’s penetrating and acclaimed documentary reconstructs an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin, chronicler of America’s Civil Rights Movement.
Daughters of the Dust Daughters of the Dust
Drama 1991 112 mins Director: Julie Dash
Julie Dash’s groundbreaking Daughters of the Dust remains urgent and poetic and continues to resonate, inspiring Beyoncé’s iconic visual album Lemonade.
A United Kingdom A United Kingdom
Drama 2016 111 mins Director: Amma Asante
Amma Assante (Belle) directs this impassioned drama starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike depicting an interracial romance that changed the world.
Selma Selma
Biopic 2015 128 mins Director: Ava DuVernay
David Oyelowo’s stunning performance as Martin Luther King Jr. adorns this gripping account of the campaign that changed the course of American civil rights.
The Fits The Fits
Drama 2015 72 mins Director: Anna Rose Holmer
Toni, an eleven year-old tomboy, finds a new purpose when an epidemic of seizures strikes her dance class, in this riveting and psychological character portrait from filmmaker Anna Rose Holmer.
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
Documentary 100 mins Director: Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter
A creative artist couple navigate love and ageing in this brave, fascinating documentary.
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 Johnson’s poetic documentary on the country’s 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 band’s 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...