Fri 29 Feb • Late night show

VANISHED! A VIDEO SÉANCE (15) 11.15pm

(UK 1999) 75m. dirs. Brian Catling & Tony Grisoni
Julian Curry, Rosemary McHale, Victoria Seifert

‘Vanished! A Video Séance’ is a true story. In 1932 elderly parents and their young daughter came to live in isolation on a wind-swept hill on the west coast of the Isle of Man. Gef, an entity or familiar or presence, attached itself to the family for six years. It proclaimed its identity in a number of ways, one being, "I am the ghost of a mongoose with tiny yellow hands". The notoriety and investigations of the event are now all but forgotten, the house where they lived erased. Only fragments and shadows can be summoned to bear witness to that which has vanished. A rare opportunity to see this experimental film made by the poet/performance artist Brian Catling and the screenwriter Tony Grisoni in 1999 with help from the Arts Council of England.

+ a free beer with your ticket

£6/£5 Concs

Sat 1 Mar • Matinee

La Scala Opera series

The Rio is delighted to be able to present the La Scala Opera series, featuring seven operas over the next five months, all from the birth place of opera - Italy. The first opera is Verdi's La Traviata on Saturday 1 March, recorded at La Scala, Milan in 2007 with Angela Gheorghiu and Ramon Vargas. The second opera on 29 March will be Verdi's Aida with Violeta Urmana and Roberto Alagna. The following five productions will be: Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, Puccini's La Rondine, Verdi's La Forza del Destino, Puccini's Il Trittico and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Join us at the birth of the Dalston Opera House!

www.artsalliancemedia.com/Opera

View trailer (10MB .mov)

LA TRAVIATA (U) 3.15
by Giuseppe Verdi

Conductor – Lorin Maazel; Staging – Liliana Cavani (revived by Marina Bianchi); Sets – Dante Ferretti; Costumes – Gabriella Pescucci; Choreography – Micha van Hoecke; Mimical Moves – Marise Flach.
Cast: Angela Gheorghiu (Violetta), Natascha Petrinsky (Flora), Tiziana Tramonti (Annina), Ramón Vargas (Alfredo Germont), Roberto Frontali (Giorgio Germont), Enrico Cossutta (Gastone), Alessandro Paliaga (Barone Douphol), Piero Terranova (Marchese d'Obigny), Luigi Roni (Dottor Grenvil), Nicola Pamio (Giuseppe), Giuseppe Nicodemo (Domestico), Ernesto Panariello (Commissionario).

Digital. 160 mins (including one interval)

£12/£10 Concessions & Rio Friends

Book for Moscow City Ballet's Swan Lake (25 & 26 Feb) or English Touring Opera (13-15 Mar) at the Hackney Empire and obtain admission at £10 to our La Scala Opera Series upon presentation of your ticket stub. Please visit www.hackneyempire.co.uk to book your tickets.

THE FIGHTING SPIRIT (15) 2.15

(UK 2007) dir. George Amponsah 80m. Digital.

There aren’t a lot of ways to leave Bukom, a poor fishing village in Ghana. So its young people are fighting their way out – literally. Three boxers, two men and a woman fight their way to the glittering rings of New York and London for the biggest prizes in the business. A story of modern Africans’ dreams and ambitions, fighting for respect, for reward and their home. This documentary is a spirited look at Ghana through the eyes of those fighting for their dreams.

+ Q&A with George Amponsah

£6/£5 Concessions

Benefit for Ladyfest London Films May 9–11 2008

UNDER THE SKIN (18) 2.00

(UK 1997) dir. Carine Adler 83m.
Samantha Morton, Claire Rushbrook, Stuart Townsend.

Married and pregnant Rose has always been Mother's favourite, but it is younger sister Iris whose life goes off the rails when their mother dies suddenly. Giving up her job, flat and steady boyfriend and alienating her friends and family, Iris loses herself in a string of casual lovers as she struggles to cope with her grief... The feature film debut of both Samantha Morton and director Carine Adler is a powerful and unsentimental portrait of a life spiralling out of control and into sexual oblivion.

+ MORVERN CALLAR (15) 3.50

(UK 2002) dir. Lynne Ramsay 98m.
Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire.

Morvern Callar wakes up on Christmas morning to discover that her boyfriend has committed suicide leaving behind his unpublished novel and a note urging her to 'be brave'. She duly decides to dispose of his body and pass the novel off as her own work... Lynne Ramsay's multi award-winning movie is an eerie study of a dislocated state of mind that provides no easy answers. Beautifully photographed with a great soundtrack and a powerfully enigmatic performance from Samantha Morton at its heart, the film will linger in your mind long after the final reel.

Ladyfest London is an arts festival which celebrates female creativity in all its forms. They aim to provide a platform for women’s talents in music, art, comedy, photography, film, debate, written and spoken word. Ladyfests have been taking place all over the world in the past few years and Ladyfest London will be taking place 9-11 May. www.ladyfest.co.uk

£8/£6 Concs

AIDA (U) 2.30

by Giuseppe Verdi

Conductor – Riccardo Chailly; Staging and Sets – Franco Zeffirelli;
Costumes – Maurizio Millenotti; Choreography – Vladimir Vassiliev.

Cast: Marco Spotti (The King), Ildiko Komlosi (Amneris), Violeta Urmana (Aida), Roberto Alagna (Radames), Giorgio Giuseppini (Ramfis), Carlo Guelfi (Amonasro), Antonello Ceron (Messenger), Sae Kyung Rim (Priestess), Luciana Svignano, Roberto Bolle, Myrna Kamara (Dancers).

Digital. 185mins (including 1 interval)

www.artsalliancemedia.com/Opera

£12/£10 Concs & Rio Friends

Book for Moscow City Ballet's Swan Lake (25 & 26 Feb) or English Touring Opera (13-15 Mar) at the Hackney Empire and obtain admission at £10 to our La Scala Opera Series upon presentation of your ticket stub. Please visit www.hackneyempire.co.uk to book your tickets.