Pink Palace presents the winner of the Palme D'Or Award at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. This controversial film by Gus van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Drugstore Cowboy) portrays two days in the life of a suburban American high school as it tips from mundane normality into chilling violence. 

Semi-improvised, using unknown teenagers rather than professional actors, the film adopts a fly-on-the-wall approach that surveys the various cliques and social strata of the school in a non dramatic almost dreamlike documentary style. Against this background, two misfit friends, Eric and Alex, who spend their free-time collecting Nazi iconography and playing ultra-violent video games, are coolly planning an armed assault on the school, drawing working diagrams of the school refectory during study period and buying weapons over the Internet. A mesmerising study of outsiders and alienated teens. 

“one of the best and most disturbing films of the year… With this stunningly effective film, Van Sant returns to his indie roots, blending them with a European sensibility." 5/5 stars 

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian 

Pink Palace is a super low fi highly relaxed weekly queer film club that takes place in the RIO 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!