Pick of the Week: 20 - 26 October

 

Reel Equality Film Club: Beast of the Southern Wilds
One of the newer film clubs on the scene (yes, we now officially have a film club scene) show female-centred films; they’re all about entertaining as well as celebrating equality. Not just for the ladies, the screenings are for everyone that loves movies. This month’s film is the beautiful and haunting Beasts of the Southern Wilds. A dystopian fantasy about survival, it’s set in a fictional, semi-submerged community in the southern USA, where the six-year-old Hushpuppy and her father confront the chaos of the Katrina disaster with defiance and determination. Making a night of it, there’ll be Louisiana-inspired cocktails, mocktails and New Orleans King Cake before the film.
Monday 20 October, 7.30pm, Screen 22

Sexuality Series: Transgenderism
Nottingham’s only independent book shop is hosting a series on everything regarding sexuality and the first event includes talks from Claire Jenkins and Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley off Corro). Claire will be reading a chapter from her book, Straddling the Scalpel of Identity, My Earliest Memory, where she will explore society’s struggle with her identity and practical problems with filling out forms. Julie will be answering questions about her role as the first trans character on television and how she felt about the initial negative responses from the general public and trans community alike. An eye-opening session to kick off a series of equally insightful events.
Tuesday 21 October, 7pm, £3, Five Leaves Bookshop

In Conversation with Russell Brand
Proving to be one of the most socially aware actors/comedians of his generation, Russell Brand has certainly made quite a name for himself over the past couple of years for his often controversial opinions. Whether or not you like him as an actor, you can’t deny he’s got a good head on him. To celebrate the launch of his new book, The Guardian’s Owen Jones will be chatting to Brand about the corrupt government, why he thinks a revolution is inevitable, and all manner of other subjects. An interesting insight into an enigmatic mind, we can’t wait.
Thursday 23 October, 7pm, £12, Broadway Cinema

Monsters and Mischief
To warm everyone up for Halloween (and, specifically, the Hallow Gore night), Bohunk Institute have an exhibition and a series of workshops celebrating the darker side of British folklore. Featuring artists including Tara Hill, Hand Cuts Hand, Steve Larder, Chie Hosaka and Spit and Sawdust, the range of work and disciplines is wide. The launch includes music from Sharron Krause, a talk by Dr Peter Millington and a performance from Arianne Churchman. It doesn’t end there though, there are workshops on corn dolly making, a relief printing workshop, and talks on folklore and practice. Check out the Facebook page for all the details and get a different take on this time of year.
Thursday 23 - Sunday 26 October, free, Bohunk Institute

Donuts
After bringing huge beats a plenty to Brighton for the past few years, Donuts is hitting up Nottingham with a night full of real hip hop and good times. Things start off pretty good when you realise it’s free, and they only get better when you see the kind of tunes they’ll be blasting out. From J Dilla to Ice Cube, Cypress Hill to Chaka Khan, just reading the playlists is making us shuffle in our seats. There are even free donuts while they last, so stuff your face but for God’s sake let ‘em go down before chugging beer and getting a skank on.
Friday 24 October, 9pm, free, Spanky Van Dykes

The Five and the Prophecy of Prana
We have plenty of exciting theatre shows going off all the time, but none have sounded quite as nuts as this. Dance Touring Partnership present Boy Blue Entertainment in The Five and the Prophecy of Prana, where five young, Tokyoite troublemakers fuse hip hop and martial arts to present a story of honour, peace, and warrior fall-outs. As a tribute to the popular Japanese graphic novel form, manga, be sure to expect overblown violence and incredible visuals. Considering they’ve worked with Shaolin Temple Warrior School monks, manga artist Akio Tanaka, video animation studio Yeast Culture and choreographers behind Streetdance 3D, this will be epic. Think Afro Samurai mixed with a b-boy battle and some mental scraps, right in front of you. Now we're talking.
Friday 24 – Saturday 25 October, 7pm, £12.50–£19, Nottingham Playhouse

Acoustic Music Night for Charity
In aid of Nottingham City Hospital and Clinical Haematology, local bloke Ian Clegg is organising a charity music event for causes close to his heart. After suffering from a form of cancer, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, which lead to intensive treatment, he spent a lot of time at the very department he now wants to return the favour to. At the same time as helping out a good cause, everyone can get a boogie on to Ian ‘Doc’ Shellard, Alta Pueblo, The Giles Rivers Company and DH Lawrence & The Vaudeville Skiffle Show. On top of all that, there’ll be a raffle to get stuck into, and you can leave with all the warm fuzzies you can handle.
Friday 24 October, 7.30pm, £5/£6, Guitar Bar, Hotel Deux

Mimm presents Time is Illmatic
On top of all the horror madness of Mayhem X kicking off in Broadway Cinema at the end of this week, there’s something a little different on one screen. As part of Black History Month, Broad Street’s token artistic collective is hosting a feature length documentary film delving into the work of hip hop legend Nas, specifically his 1994 debut album Illmatic. As well as the technical aspects of production, the screening explores the social conditions which influenced Nas’ work, and the voicing of young black men’s frustrations everywhere. Before the film kicks off, the full album will be played in the café bar and afterwards, Mimm DJs will be on hand to keep the vibe rolling until midnight.
Friday 24 October, 9pm, £8, Broadway Cinema

GameCity
Ever since humans have been around, we’ve played silly boggers to keep ourselves amused. From hoops and sticks to MMORPGs, we love being big in the game, and it’s time to celebrate that with a week of getting one over on each other. Video games galore, stuff for the kiddywinks, the chance to create your own games, the list goes on. In previous years, GameCity broke the world record for the largest zombie gathering and held the world’s largest science experiment. This year, the Sheriff of Nottingham will be issuing her challenge, and GameCity asks: Dare you run her gauntlet? We can also look forward to some larger-than-life games in the Market Square, an Open Arcade with game developers from around the world, the annual GameCity Prize, a Sports Time Machine and loads more. Knock on for your mates and get stuck in.
Saturday 25 October – Saturday 1 November, various times, places and locations

Teen Mayhem: Horror Make-Up Masterclass
It's happening. The Christmas blitz is seeping into the shops before the sun's had a chance to tek his hat off. Another jolly worth getting prepared for is Halloween, the only day where looking like death is not only acceptable, but respected. To get you warmed up, or in this case, down, special effects make up expert Jane Hyman is hosting a masterclass of “cuts and bruises” for budding zombie wannabes. Perfect for budding SFX make up artists, or even if you just fancy painting a massive gash on yer mate's forehead. It’s all part of Teen Mayhem, Mayhem X’s pre-festival which encourages the young ‘uns to embrace their love of genre horror. Don’t forget to book, and check out the range of screenings and talks for the younger fright lovers.
Saturday 25 October, 9.30am, £5, Broadway Cinema

For the full motherload of everything else going on this week check out our comprehensive Nottingham events listings.

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