Translate presents: The People’s Joker15

Directed by Vera Drew | USA | 2022 | 1h 32m | Starring Vera Drew, Lynn Downey, Tim Heidecker, Bob Odenkirk, David Liebe Hart, Phil Braun

In a dystopian Gotham City where comedy is outlawed, Joker the Harlequin, a painfully unfunny aspiring clown, struggles with her gender identity while chasing a spot on a government-approved late-night sketch show. As mainstream success remains out of reach, she bands together with a group of comedy outcasts, setting her on a collision course with the city’s fascist caped crusader. Subjected to studio pressure both before and after its 2022 premiere, including canceled screenings over trademark disputes, Vera Drew’s absurdist, autobiographical comedy is poised to become a defiant queer cult classic.

Reviews

‘A true original – Vera Drew is a superstar in the making. Takes on many targets, and nails each and every god damn one of them. You have to see it to believe it’
★★★★★
Violet Lucca, Little White Lies

‘Unlike many comedies — alternative and mainstream — The People’s Joker is not so in love with its own satire to rob it of any emotional truth. Underneath the satirical madness lies a genuinely moving story of self-acceptance.’
★★★★
Jude Dry, IndieWire

Translate is a monthly evening social for the Trans, Non-binary, and Queer communities in Oxford, where people can come together, make new friends, relax and have fun! Translate takes place at the Jolly Farmers every 4th Thursday of the month.

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Translate presents: The People’s Joker between March 26, 2025 and March 26, 2025.

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What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 7th October)

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De Gaulle: Résistance 15
2h 38m | French w/ English subtitles
June 1940: France has fallen. Army general Charles de Gaulle refuses to accept defeat, fleeing to London to rally resistance. Simon Russell Beale plays Churchill in this internationally cast first chapter of Antonin Baudry's two-part historical epic. x§

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Tomorrow (Thursday 8th October)

13:30

De Gaulle: Résistance 15
2h 38m | French w/ English subtitles
June 1940: France has fallen. Army general Charles de Gaulle refuses to accept defeat, fleeing to London to rally resistance. Simon Russell Beale plays Churchill in this internationally cast first chapter of Antonin Baudry's two-part historical epic. x§

Book here

18:30

Bad Apples 15
1h 41m
A teacher at a struggling school kidnaps her most disruptive pupil and locks him in her basement, then watches the rest of the class flourish. Saoirse Ronan stars in this satirical black comedy about how doing the wrong thing sometimes gives the right result.

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21:00

MISSNOMA Women’s DJ Collective N/A
The Oxford-based women’s DJ collective MISSNOMA, is joining forces with the UPP cinema to hold a unique listening-room session featuring DJs Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani, Lily London, and Martha, powered by Oxford-based FLOW soundsystem.

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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!