Bowie on the Silver Screen: An Illustrated Talk by Adrian Wootton + The Man Who Fell to Earth

Ten years after the passing of the legendary artist and icon David Bowie and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of his first major film role, The Man Who Fell to Earth, this talk focuses on the fascinating but arguably lesser-known history of The Thin White Duke’s film and TV career. We welcome back Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London, very old friend (and founder director) of Broadway to give one of his inimitable, lively presentations revealing the many surprising, funny and little-known stories behind the greatest moments of Bowie’s onscreen career, replete with a jamboree of clips and slide images. 

This will be followed by a screening of The Man Who Fell to Earth. David Bowie‘s first major starring role saw him playing with otherworldly authenticity Thomas Newton, an alien sent to Earth to try and save his own water-starved planet. Based on Walter Tevis’s classic prescient novel, this is one of the great dystopian sci-fi films that is also a scathing satire of 1970’s America, tinged with the paranoia and conspiracy thriller politics of the Watergate era. Brilliantly directed by Nicolas Roeg, one of our best but often unfairly neglected British filmmakers, this was a commercial disaster on first release but has since been rightfully recognised as a genuine masterpiece.

Schedule

Illustrated talk: 6pm - 7.30pm

Break: 7.30pm - 7.45pm

Film: 7.45pm - 10.10pm (approx.)