The Dam12A

Directed by Ali Cherri | Sudan | 2023 | 1h 20m | Arabic w/ English subtitles | Starring Maher El Khair, Mudathir Musa, Santino Aguer Ding, Abo Algassim Sir Alkhatim, Ayman Sharif

Each evening after work, a Sudanese bricklayer wanders into the desert to work on a mysterious construction made out of mud. While the Sudanese people rise to claim their freedom, his creation starts to take a life of its own. Lebanese artist and filmmaker Ali Cherri’s quietly political first feature is an enigmatic and allegorical film with flourishes of magical realism.

Reviews

‘The Dam is an enigmatic and often eerie mood piece which incorporates elements of the supernatural as it weaves a poignant political allegory of revolution.’
Andrew Murray, The Upcoming

‘Eerie, hallucinatory tale of Sudan on the brink’
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed The Dam between June 9, 2023 and June 15, 2023.

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What else is on?

Today (Sunday 8th November)

14:30

The Big Heat 15
35mm Film Presentation
1h 29m
Homicide detective Dave Bannion takes the law into his own hands to bring down a crime syndicate after a fellow cop’s suspicious suicide. Fritz Lang’s 1953 noir is lean, angry and fatalistic, and one of the hardest-boiled films of the era. 35mm Film On Film Presentation.

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17:00

NTLive: Golden Boy 12A
2h 36m
Josh O’Connor leads the cast in this searing revival of Clifford Odets’ knockout American classic. Filmed live from the Almeida Theatre, Olivier Award-winner Sam Yates (Vanya) directs this propulsive drama exploring ambition, identity, and the high price of success.

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20:30

Fatherland 12A
1h 22m | German w/ English subtitles
1949: Erika joins her father, Nobel-winning author Thomas Mann, on a literary tour of East and West Germany. Then tragedy strikes the family. From the director of Ida and Cold War, a post-war drama about guilt, love, and a divided country trying to heal.

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Tomorrow (Monday 9th November)

17:45

Fatherland 12A
1h 22m | German w/ English subtitles
1949: Erika joins her father, Nobel-winning author Thomas Mann, on a literary tour of East and West Germany. Then tragedy strikes the family. From the director of Ida and Cold War, a post-war drama about guilt, love, and a divided country trying to heal.

Book here

20:00

Dead Souls Cert-TBC
+ Director Q&A
1h 28m
Arizona, 1890: a stranger named Strindler asks a small town to pay for the names of dead Mexican labourers. A meditative political Western from cult director Alex Cox (Repo Man, Moviedrome) who joins us for a Q&A after this one-off screening.

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23:00

Stewart Lee Live: Pea Green Boat 16+
An owl wakes at sea in a pea green boat, with a cat, its natural predator. And some honey. Stewart Lee’s darkly comic take on Lear’s poem comes with live improvised music, a Q&A and book signing. Late-night shows raising funds for #SaveTheUPP.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!