Today, Thursday 26th May, the UK’s finest multi-arts festival Latitude is delighted to announce the Film and Music Arena for this year’s event which takes place from Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th July 2016 in the stunning grounds of Henham Park, Suffolk.
Latitude’s Curator of the Arts, Tania Harrison says:
“Once again the Film and Music Arena will be playing host to stimulating documentaries, discussions and first-see film screenings, boasting a mix of brilliant ideas, visuals, speakers and music. The Arena will be the destination location with Adam Green in conversation before a screening of his adaptation of Aladdin and a live performance of the soundtrack with a full band. As ever it’s as much about the music as it is film, with Submotion Orchestra, Koreless and Andy Stott all set to fill the bespoke arena with their unique sounds, plus The London Contemporary Orchestra who will be presenting exciting works by Jonny Greenwood, Mica Levi, Michael Gordon and Steve Reich. The Latitude audience will find something brilliant and inspiring in this arena any time of day.”
Film and Music Arena
Latitude Festival is proud to welcome comedian, presenter and all-round beloved funnyman Adam Buxton to the Film and Music Arena to present a special edition of his celebrated BUG show - dedicated to the work of David Bowie. Adam Buxton's BUG: David Bowie special will celebrate Bowie's music video output as well as other on-screen appearances, in a journey through some of the key moments of Bowie's life and career.
The Film and Music Arena will host a performance by the extraordinary Submotion Orchestra who make some of the most interesting and exciting music in the UK today. A mixture of electronic bass music, entrancing vocals, ambient jazz and dub, their unique sound is at once delicate, heavy and highly atmospheric. The fragile beauty of Ruby Wood’s vocals and the celestial effects of producer Ruckspin has resulted in one of the most exciting shows around.
This year Latitude Festival welcomes producers and DJ’s from across the UK, with seminal dub and techno producer Andy Stott set to bring his inimitable sound to Henham Park. With four critically acclaimed albums under his belt, the Manchester based producer continues to push the genre forward with his mind-bending compositions. Young Turks’ Welsh producer and ambient mastermind Koreless will showcase his colourful, electronic soundscape. Remarkable in his restraint, Koreless’s sound stands out for its sophistication despite its simplicity. DJ Femi AKA Femi Fem will join the DJ line up, bringing his soul rhythms to Latitude along with South Londoner ‘no-genre’ beat masher Ross Allen.
The Latitude audience will be treated to an extraordinary live performance by musician, artist and filmmaker Adam Green, who accompanied by a full band, will perform the soundtrack from his quirky new adaptation of Aladdin; a hyper-sensory, poetic and humorously subversive take on the Classic Arabian Nights tale. There will also be a Q&A with Adam alongside a screening of the film, which also features an all-star cast including Macaulay Culkin and Natasha Lyonne.
Latitude Festival will also host The London Contemporary Orchestra, one of the UK's most innovative and respected ensembles that promotes the best new music and cross-arts collaborations in classical music. This year the orchestra presents Jonny Greenwood's Prospector’s Quartet from ‘There Will Be Blood’, Mica Levi's SAW, Michael Gordon's Potassium, Jonny Greenwood's 88, and Steve Reich's Triple Quartet.
National Portrait Gallery's Gregory Batsleer, producer Louis Hartshorn of the Arts Theatre London, and Latitude’s own Tania Harrison present a fusion of electronica with New York-based composer Tarik O'Regan's exhilarating work The Ecstasies Within, performed by The Festival Voices. DJ Nico Bentley, 16 singers, a string quartet and a company of dancers led by choreographer Lily Howkins are brought together to create this unique presentation for Latitude. Exploring the visceral and intellectual crossover between classical music and electronica, this unique experience will enlighten surprise and stir the ecstasies within.
Animated duo Cassetteboy vs DJ Rubbish, infamous for mashing up TV stars and politicians to make surreal, satirical and possibly slanderous jokes, will be presenting their comedy disco. Part comedy club, part disco, all party - it promises Madonna to MasterChef and 50 Cent to Jeremy Paxman. Be prepared for prizes, drinks, swearing and stupidity.
Critically acclaimed folk band Lau will bring their thrilling, free-thinking performance to Henham Park, alongside DIY folk singer-songwriter and activist Grace Petrie who has been hailed as one of the “powerful new voices” of UK songwriting. Up and coming pianist Parker will be performing compositions from her first EP which is due out in August, as well as speaking about her performance as she strives to make classical music accessible.
WHITE MINK; the project that blends orchestral sounds and DJ beats to create a mixture of brand new compositions with strings against bass, presents Vintage Remix which features a plethora of DJ’s including Jenova Collective, DJ Nick Hollywood, Scarecrow, Lee Bruck and Dancers, DJ Chris Tofu, Temple Funk Collective and DJ Daytoner.
Brian Lobel will be showcasing his phenomenal 24 Italian Songs and Arias, a conceptual classical music recital made in collaboration with Gweneth Ann Jeffers, which looks at failure, what it means to try your hardest and what it means to be ‘good enough’. Through a moving performance of the beautiful Baroque music in Schirmer classics, Lobel explores what is at stake when we fail as artists, children, citizens and people who have tried their hardest.
The Film and Music Arena will be showcasing some further, exceptional film screenings including The Odyssey: Florence and the Machine. Conceived by Florence Welch and Vincent Haycock for Florence + The Machine's new album How Big How Blue How Beautiful and starring Welch, the film unites each visual segment created for the album into a 48-minute, cohesive short film complete with new, connecting scenes.
The Arena will show Gary Numan: Android In La La Land; a profile of the reclusive musician directed by Steve Read and Rob Alexander. Filmed with candour, warmth and humour, the film looks at life for Gary and his Numanoid family as they set up home in California, and as Gary records his eagerly anticipated new album Splinter.
Also on offer is a screening of Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise; the inspiring first documentary about the American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. The film will reflect on how the events of history, culture, and the arts shaped Dr. Angelou’s life and how she, in turn, helped shape our own worldview through her autobiographical literature and activism.
Finally in the Film and Music Arena, Latitude Festival is delighted to welcome Holly Gilliam, the producer of The Meaning of Live, who will be conducting a Q&A alongside the screening. The film follows the stars of Monty Python as they reform and stage a ten show marathon at The O2 in London. With unparalleled backstage access, this observational screening reveals the humour, chaos and passion that went into bringing the Monty Python Live as they reunite for their first live performance in 34 years.
Across Other Stages
Following her highly praised debut album Quick Sparrows Over The Black Ear, violinist Laura Cannell will perform on the bandstand in the Faraway Forest. Having toured for nearly a decade as one part of award winning duo Horses Brawl, Cannell’s work draws on the emotional influences of the landscape and the sometimes dissonant chords of early and medieval music. Composer and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Angliss will bring her sound design, live performance and robotic art to Latitude. Angliss’ work reflects her lifelong fascination with English folksong, faded variety acts and defunct machines. Through her original music and writing, she explores resonances between folklore and early notions of technology.
Keeping the Latitude audience dancing throughout the weekend will be some of the best club nights in the country. Big, bold and brash, Guilty Pleasures is packed with relentlessly energetic DJ’s, bedazzling dancers, live bands and cabaret performers galore and will have everyone on their feet and head over heels with excitement.
The popular Buttoned Down Disco will make its return to Henham Park. Mixing trendy indie anthems with classic dancefloor-fillers, club founder and resident DJ Christian Laing will be mashing up eclectic pop, indie, punk, electro, funk & disco late into the night.
Rave Karaoke is making its Latitude debut with host and DJ, Anna Greenwood. Expect a range of classic dance tracks from the 90’s to now, for a full on day-glo karaoke on the dance floor party. Break out the glow sticks; it’s time for a singalong.
Latitude’s late night programme at Pandora’s Playground will host Disco Shed every night. The Disco Shed takes the best elements of modern clubbing but disguises it amongst all the stuff you’d find in your Dad’s old shed, to make a truly unique entertainment space and novel curiosity, guaranteed to intrigue and interest, amuse & amaze at all times.
Keith Allen’s Establishment Club
Keith Allen brings his legendary Establishment Club back to Latitude with special guests across the weekend in The Alcove. Thursday night’s Wakey Wakey promises an evening of fun with resident DJ El Rewind and the Establishment’s house band Big Intent. Friday will see performances by Brix and the Extricated, Dingus Khan, Purple Lights and The Woodentops. Saturday’s antics will come from Kitty Finer, Cowtown and The Haggis Horns, with the weekend being rounded off on the Sunday by The Establishment Club, Emily Capell, Jack Jones and Keith Allen’s own esteemed band Grow Up.
TICKET INFORMATION
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
Adult Weekend tickets £197.50 face value + £8 booking fee per ticket
Accompanied Teen Weekend tickets (13-15 years) £132.50 + £8 booking fee per ticket
Child Weekend tickets £7.50 + £2.70 booking fee per ticket
Adult Day tickets £77.50 + £7 booking fee per ticket
Child Day Tickets are £4.50 + £2.70 booking fee per ticket
