Classic Woody Allen films, Barbican Centre: Film by Film

Director Woody Allen is one of the most prolific in history, making a film a year since the 1970s. Winner of four Academy Awards and recent recipient of the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award (but refusing to ever attend any of the ceremonies) Allen is widely recognised as one of the great masters of cinematic form, producing laugh-out-loud screwball comedies (Bananas; Take the Money and Run) and haunting black and white dramas (Stardust Memories; Zelig) with his signature blend of anxiety and humour.

Hot on the heels of new Woody Allen film Irrational Man, critic Jason Solomons will be celebrating 50 years of the New Yorker’s outstanding cinema with two special screenings of Woody Allen directed movies at the Barbican Centre.

Woody Allen: Sweet and Lowdown

The first will be Sweet and Lowdown on 22 October, starring Sean Penn and Uma Thurman. In this musical comedy, Woody Allen explores his love of jazz by recounting the life and career of fictional guitarist Emmet Ray. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Jason Solomons and Samantha Morton (who plays Penn’s lover in the film).

The Purple Rose of Cairo: film & screen talk

Swoony romantics will want to pencil The Purple Rose of Cairo screening into their diaries, which will be showing on 24 October. Mia Farrow is wonderful as wistful Cecilia, who falls in love with movie character Tom (Jeff Daniels). A touch of magic allows Tom to step out of the cinema screen that imprisons him, spearheading an impossible love story that insightfully meditates on the boundaries of fiction and reality. Once again, Jason Solomons will be on hand to present the film.

A retrospective look at the films of Woody Allen 

A must for fans of Woody Allen films the season invites us to look back at some of the better known works of one of the world's most famous directors.