Place: A huge, dark hall in a castle, with seven locked doors.

Time: Not defined.

A newly-wed bride enters her husband’s dark and forbidding castle. Offered the opportunity to leave, she refuses but asks for all the doors to be opened to allow light to enter into the interior. Her husband refuses saying each of the seven room are private places not to be explored by others. The wife insists and behind each unlocked door comes another sinister revelation about the man she married. And then the final door is unlocked...

Béla Bartók’s one act symbolist opera is considered to be amongst the greatest musical works of the 20^th Century. Here we present it in Michael Powell’s boldly original 1963 production. Unavailable for many years, Bluebeard’s Castle has been painstakingly restored by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation. The film stars Norman Foster as Bluebeard and Ana Raquel Satre as his wife Judith.

Before Bluebeard's Castle we will be screening Spoonbenders, a short documentary from Star and Shadow stalwart Adrin Neatrour which features a delightful soundtrack composed and performed by Keith Morris. 

November 1973: Uri Geller appeared on David Dimbleby’s TV show and caused a sensation by apparently causing a metal fork to bend over completely upon itself by gentle stroking. It  had a surprising outcome: hundred's of children contacted the BBC, claiming to be able to perform a similar feat.

Spoonbenders probes into the strange world of child paranormal metal benders. Set against the background of controversy the film looks at two generations of children who claim to be ‘benders’. With the help of scientists and the children themselves. The film probes beneath the surface of society’s preconceptions about these paranormal events; this contrast between the world of science and the world of the child gives the film both its internal dynamic and its poignancy.