Ali: Fear Eats the Soul12A

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder | West Germany | 1974 | 1h 33m | Arabic & German w/ English subtitles | Starring Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin, Irm Hermann, Elma Karlowa

During a rainstorm, a sixty-year-old German widow visits a bar frequented by Arab migrants and befriends a younger man from Morocco. As their friendship blossoms into romance, they face growing challenges from the xenophobic and ageist prejudice surrounding them. Renowned German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, inspired by his cinematic hero Douglas Sirk, created a romantic melodrama of his own that is now widely regarded as a pinnacle of the New German Cinema movement of the 1970s.

Classic Season: 1974

Reviews

‘The performances are flawless; the themes remain timely.’
★★★★★
Wendy Ide, The Observer

‘Fassbinder made so many incredible films, but this is certainly up there with his finest.’
★★★★★
David Jenkin, Little White Lies

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Ali: Fear Eats the Soul between July 7, 2024 and July 10, 2024.

Join our mailing list and we'll make sure you always know what's on and when.

What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 16th September)
Find out more

18:00

Bitter Christmas 15
1h 51m | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film is a sun-dappled exploration of life, art and storytelling, as two filmmakers’ lives intertwine in a playful meditation on memory, creativity and the blurred boundaries between reality and fiction.

Book here

Find out more

20:30

Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Mias 15
1h 52m
Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow) unleashes a bloody, bewildering meta-horror, as a young director and a reclusive scream queen descend into a delirious world of queer desire, fear and blood-soaked obsession. Starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

Book here


Tomorrow (Thursday 17th September)
Find out more

12:30

Bitter Christmas 15
Parent + Baby Screening
1h 51m | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film is a sun-dappled exploration of life, art and storytelling, as two filmmakers’ lives intertwine in a playful meditation on memory, creativity and the blurred boundaries between reality and fiction.

Book here

Find out more

15:30

Lady 15
1h 35m
Self-described "aristocracy's answer to the Kardashians", Lady Isabella has everything but loneliness to fill. When a filmmaker arrives to document her estate, her hunger for attention takes a strange turn. Sian Clifford (Fleabag) stars in this riotous mockumentary.

Book here

Find out more

18:00

Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Mias 15
1h 52m
Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow) unleashes a bloody, bewildering meta-horror, as a young director and a reclusive scream queen descend into a delirious world of queer desire, fear and blood-soaked obsession. Starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

Book here

Find out more

20:30

Bitter Christmas 15
1h 51m | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film is a sun-dappled exploration of life, art and storytelling, as two filmmakers’ lives intertwine in a playful meditation on memory, creativity and the blurred boundaries between reality and fiction.

Book here


See all upcoming films

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!

Find out more