My Order

When Society Collapsed, Music Took Over.

Late 80s. In an England suffocated by unemployment and Margaret Thatcher’s policies, a generation found refuge and a voice in music. In abandoned factories and secret fields, underground raves were born—explosions of light and sound where thousands of young people escaped social oppression to the rhythm of a new musical genre: breakbeat.

Fusing the raw intensity of Detroit techno, the warmth of Chicago house, and the energy of New York hip hop, breakbeat shattered all the rules. Syncopated rhythms, powerful bass lines, and limitless production fuelled by samplers and synthesisers gave birth to a sound that was not just danced to—it was an act of rebellion.

RAVE CULTURE–A NEW ERA is an electrifying journey into the heart of the rave revolution, from the first illegal beats in England to its global explosion. Through never-before-seen archival footage, interviews with the most underground pioneers, and a soundtrack that still resonates today, this documentary unveils the story of a movement that transformed music, culture, and the very essence of nightlife.

Followed by a live Q&A with the filmmakers

The multi award-winning director of NOMADLAND, Chloé Zhao, is back with a raw and honest, lyrical and passionate, portrait of love, grief and the power of storytelling that features truly captivating performances from Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley.

England 1580. Impoverished Latin tutor William Shakespeare meets free-spirited Agnes, and the pair, strike up a torrid affair that leads to marriage and three children. When tragedy strikes, the couple's once-unshakable bond is tested, but a masterpiece is born…

Paul Mescal has never been better, but it is Jessie Buckley as the fierce and determined Agnes who takes centre stage with an enthralling performance that makes HAMNET moving, meaningful and timeless.

Award winners, audience favourites from the opening night – all unforgettable stories from the 2025 Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival, held annually in Cardiff and followed by Iris on the Move, a touring showcase bringing outstanding short films to venues across the UK.

From a haunted tollhouse to a high-rise reckoning, from quiet self-discovery to a love song by the sea, these films capture the brilliance, beauty, and bravery that define Iris. Featuring Y Tolldy, Blackout, One Day This Kid and Never, Never, Never, this programme celebrates the very best of Iris 2025 — films that moved audiences, impressed juries, and reminded us why Iris has never been just a festival. 

Y Tolldy (15). Dir. Dan Thomas. Wales, UK. 10 mins. (2025 Opening Night) 

Welsh with English Subtitles 

When Emyr visits his hometown with his partner, a decade after vowing not to return, a chance meeting with his old school bully turns into a terrifying battle against forces they cannot explain. 

Blackout (15). Dir. Chris Urch. UK. 15 mins. (2025 Best British Winner) 

English, No Subtitles 

When a young man living in a high-rise is disturbed by domestic violence in the flat next door, he comes to realise that violence isn’t always on the outside – sometimes it’s with us all along. 

One Day This Kid (15). Dir. Alexander Farah. Canada. 18 mins. (2025 Iris Prize Winner) 

English & Farsi with English Subtitles 

As told by filmmaker Alexander Farah through a deftly composed array of small yet pivotal moments, a first-generation Afghan Canadian man takes steps toward establishing an identity of his own while always conscious of his father's shadow. 

Never Never Never (15). Dir. John Sheedy. UK/ Australia. 18 mins. (2025 Opening night) 

English & Welsh with English Subtitles 

A poignant and heartwarming story set in a Welsh fishing village. Henrick (Ché) and Arwyn (Iwan Bond) share a bond that transcends friendship, filled with unspoken longing and love. Henrick's love for Shirley Bassey's music is his way to overcome the conservative views of their community. The film explores the struggles of Henrick and Arwyn as they navigate their feelings for each other in a society that may not fully accept them. This is the thirteenth film made by a winner of the Iris Prize. 

Followed by a live Q&A with guests including actors Iwan Bond and Ché from Never Never Never.

With a loving lens on East London, this exploration of masculinity and Islamophobia is poignantly told by men facing an identity crisis at the intersection of the generational racism they’ve endured.

Behind the loud and intimidating motorcycles of the "Bangladeshi Bad Boys" is a group of second-generation Bangladeshi men who find in their bikes a sense of identity and a way to overcome racism.

Co-directed by Arun Nangla and Laura Pavone, this documentary offers surprisingly vulnerable moments as it lifts a curtain on the racism faced by the Bangladeshi community in the UK, as well as the frustrations, hurt, and pain that come with it.

The screening is followed by a live Q&A with guests to be announced.

Dap (Laurence Fishburne) and Julian, Big Brother Almighty (Giancarlo Esposito) conflict over their opposing political views in Spike Lee’s second joint, SCHOOL DAZE, one of the first feature length theatrical films focused on presenting the Black American college experience.

At historically black Mission College, the activist-minded Dap immerses himself in a world of political rhetoric and social movements -- one day he hopes to rally the students as a united front. At the other end of the spectrum, Julian, the head of the biggest fraternity on campus, is more concerned with maintaining a strict social order. In between, Dap's conflicted cousin, Half-Pint (Spike Lee), spends most of his time rushing the fraternity.

SCHOOL DAZE examines the experiences of regular college life in collision with black identity, class division and colourism. While Dap is busy organising and Big Brother Almighty hazes the new cohort, sororities of "Wanna-be’s" and "Jigaboo’s" are divided by their complexion. Their main quarrel comes from their opposing ideologies of what progression for Black women should look like. 

As cinematographer Ernest Dickerson states, SCHOOL DAZE is about student apathy and class divisions within the Black community, Mission College (the film's university) has financial interests in South Africa, and the main character — Dap, leads a campaign to persuade the school to divest them. However, most of the students either aren’t interested in his activist movement or don’t want to rock the boat. They just want an education in order to get a good job,”.

This screening is hosted by NEVER WATCHING MOVIES, so expect raffles (all ticket holders are immediately entered into the raffle), intro, and fun before the film with an appearance from self-proclaimed MAYOR of Stevenage, artist and presenter TEGAN CHINOGUREI. 

A delightfully wicked, razor-sharp, thriller from Park Chan-wook, the ever incisive teller of such chillingly incisive, darkly comic tales as DECISION TO LEAVE, THE HANDMAIDEN and OLDBOY.

Model employee Man-soo’s life unravels when he’s abruptly laid off after 25 years. Facing mounting debts and a vanishing sense of dignity, he sets his sights on a coveted job at a rival company, only to discover the competition is fierce. To Man-soo, there is an obvious answer…

With all the director’s signature twists, dark humour and exquisite imagery, NO OTHER CHOICE is a stylish, merciless satire of ambition, corporate cruelty, and the murderous lengths some will go to stay on top.

“What Bressan has given us is what we’ve wanted to see for so long, something neither Hollywood...nor the specifically gay (which is to say porno) movie producers have given us: the gay love fantasy.” – The Advocate

With a recorded intro from director Elizabeth Purchell.

Long before Hollywood films like CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and LOVE, SIMON became common fare at the multiplex, the only place gay men could see their lives and lusts depicted on screen with any degree of honesty was at their local all-male adult cinema. From coming-out stories to romances, horror to camp comedy, the hundreds of features churned out by the gay adult film industry throughout the 60s/70s/80s were a driving force behind the spread of gay culture and constitute a largely forgotten cinematic document of the era. These films were often shot in actual queer spaces, starred the people who frequented them, and were then screened in porn cinemas that doubled as safe communal spaces for members of the community.

This incredible film exists as part of a larger multimedia project that also encompasses an acclaimed podcast and Instagram feed, Elizabeth Purchell’s ASK ANY BUDDY compiles fragments from over 125 feature films to create a kaleidoscopic, dreamlike snapshot of the era. An official selection of nearly two-dozen international film festivals including BFI Flare and Outfest, ASK ANY BUDDY is a funny, sexy portrait of urban gay life in the years following the Stonewall Riots – or at least how it looked in the movies.

As an addition to the film, Pink Palace presents an illustrated talk on the history of gay, lesbian and queer film programming at the Rio since the 70’s and a cheeky look at the history of porn cinemas that thrived in Soho and East London until the arrival of VHS.

Pink Palace is a super low fi highly relaxed weekly queer film club that takes place in the basement bar, its a safe space so come along and catch some queer film and pop culture history, each week the film is introduced by curator Andrew Woodyatt, feel free to stay and chat afterwards, participation is encouraged!

Screening as part of our Return to the Tatler Season, celebrating the history of the Rio as it turns 50.

Between 1970 and 1975 the Rio (then the Dalston Tatler Cinema Club) was one of London's highest grossing adult cinemas, in this period the cinema screened an incredible range of weird, exploitation, trashy, grind house, hard core and experimental cinema titles, it also provided a full burlesque striptease experience and there are many stories from that era to be told.

As part of our celebration and investigation into that chapter of the Rio's story we will be providing an immersive experience, people attending this screening will be issued a souvenir Tatler cinema club membership card and supporting materials!

With a recorded intro by director Elizabeth Purchell and a talk by Molly Miles.

“Wild, wicked, and wanton!”

Roommates Lisa, Beth, and Tess are three young women who each share the same goal of hooking up with their respective male bosses. While their attempts at seduction get off to a rough start, their peeping tom neighbour Billy spends his days spying through keyholes and trying to get a piece of the action. Will these roommates finally make it with their managers? And what about Billy?

Octogenarian filmmaker and “Queen of Sexploitation” and John Water’s favourite director Doris Wishman was working at a sex shop in Miami in the early 90s when she met experimental musician Tom Smith (To Live and Shave in L.A.), spurring a full-blown career revival that saw her honoured at film festivals around the world and featured on HBO’s Real Sex and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Intended to be her comeback movie, Dildo Heaven premiered at the New York Underground Film Festival just months before her passing in 2002 and then was never officially widely released until now. A charming shot-on-video sex comedy that defies all description–and surely the only movie by a senior citizen to feature an original rap theme song–Dildo Heaven(also known as Desperate Desires) is a fitting swan song for one of the most beloved cult filmmakers of all time.

Presented in a new digital restoration by Muscle Distribution, the screening includes a recorded intro by Elizabeth Purchell and a live intro by our very own Molly Miles, non-binary film curator, popcorn salesman and Doris Wishman aficionado. They are one half of Category H Horror Club and the curator of the recent Tetsuo and Beyond season at the Prince Charles Cinema.

Pink Palace is a super low fi highly relaxed weekly queer film club that takes place in the basement bar, its a safe space so come along and catch some queer film and pop culture history, each week the film is introduced by curator Andrew Woodyatt, feel free to stay and chat afterwards, participation is encouraged!

All tickets free

We made a film!

Back in September we challenged the queer community in Hackney to film themselves and send those clips in, the aim was to record one ordinary day in the queer lives of Hackney residents, to show queer folks at play, at work, at rest.

More than ever LGBTQI+ lives are under pressure and threat from the media and society, queer venues are disappearing, queer her/history is not being recorded. So this was a chance to record the everyday life that we and others don’t see, of what its like to be queer and live in Hackney, how we exist and support each other, the challenges and ways the community comes together, to cover working, creativity, expression, housing, mobility, ageing, support, love, all in one day as a snap shot of life, to show its diversity, and not just the more visible members, but the everyday people and a glimpse into their daily routine.

In addition, we went out with a camera crew and filmed extra footage of queer businesses and community groups and nightlife. And you delivered! A huge thanks to all those who made this documentary possible.

Now its been edited together into a queer snapshot, covering 24 hours of One Queer Day in Hackney, and we are showing it for free in the big screen at the Rio, so come along, if you were involved or not and see what its all about!

Buster Keaton’s 1924 comedy masterpiece is coupled with  two of R.E.M.'s alt-rock masterpieces Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi in this latest presentation from Silents Synced which pairs classic silent movies with classic rock albums to create a unique cinema experience.

In the sublime SHERLOCK JUNIOR, teetering between reality and illusion, Buster Keaton stars as a film projectionist who dreams of becoming a detective. He uses his limited skills when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend’s father’s pocket watch. Keaton reportedly broke his neck performing one of the many dangerous practical stunts in the film. 

Sherlock Jr. will be preceded by a special presentation of one of Keaton’s classic short films, THE BALLOONATIC soundtracked by a new composition by renowned Brazilian electronic artist, Amon Tobin. 

A seasonally appropriate look at family relationships, the internationally acclaimed SENTIMENTAL VALUE is an insightful, captivating, often unexpectedly funny, triumph for director Joachim Trier.

After years apart, Nora and Agnes are reunited with their father, Gustav, a once-renowned film director with a new project with his actress daughter Nora in the lead role that he’s convinced will revive his career andwill also repair his family’s broken bonds.  The appearance of an ambitious young Hollywood star changes all that and Nora, Agnes and Gustav are each forced to confront their difficult pasts...

Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve and Elle Fanning lead an incomparable cast in this Cannes Grand Prix winner, now also nominated for eight Golden Globes. Director Joachim Trier’s nuanced screenplay matches his 2021 hit THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD as he continues to explore the emotional depths of human relationships and the evocative power of childhood memories.

Capturing the human devastation at the heart of war, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB is an innovative hybrid of drama and documentary in which hope and helplessness are balanced on a tightrope.

January 29, 2024. Workers at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society receive an emergency call. A terrified 6-year-old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab…

Never less than powerfully compelling and tense THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB uses real call recordings and scripted re-enactments based on first-hand testimonies and transcripts. to lay bare the agonising vulnerability and suffering of ordinary people amid horrendous violence.

A Rio Feminist Film Programming Group x Women’s History Month East London 2026 special! 

In a series of letters to her young son, a mother, soldier and filmmaker documents her thoughts from the Ukrainian frontline. A deeply moving and existential film of unimaginable courage.

Alisa Kovalenko is a mother, soldier and filmmaker. When Russia invades Ukraine in the spring of 2022, she enlists as a soldier to defend her country. MY DEAR THEO is structured as a series of letters to her young son Theo, sent from the frontline. The letters revolve around topics such as war, love and the most difficult choices in life.

Through Alisa’s camera, we experience the harsh reality of the Ukrainian frontline, from the quiet moments of reflection and camaraderie, to the sudden chaos when the Russians attack. But most of a soldier’s time is spent waiting, and this is the time when the inner turmoil is greater than the ferocity of the battlefield.

MY DEAR THEO is above all an existential, heartbreaking and deeply personal film created with almost unimaginable courage. A vital testimony to what is actually at stake in Ukraine, and a fundamentally moving film against any kind of war. (CPHDOX 2025)

The Rio Feminist Film Programming group is Sarah Chorley, Helen de Witt, Selina Robertson and Corrina Antrobus. Inspired by the passionate feminist programming work that took place at the Rio in the late 1970s and 1980s, we have reinstated feminist film screenings and events that link the Rio’s film feminist pasts with current feminist urgencies. All are welcome!