Kadoyng
Dir. Ian Shand UK 1972 60’ (Cert. U)
English | 35mm transferred to digital video
It looks like the quaint village of Byway will be bulldozed to make way for a motorway – until alien outcast Kadoyng arrives from outer space to help.
This gloriously odd, gently subversive comedy from the Children’s Film Foundation sees cosmic hobo Kadoyng – blessed with mysterious powers and a stalk-like appendage on his head – arrive unexpectedly on earth, to befriend local residents, and take on nasty politicians and road developers. Wittily written by Leo Maguire, who stars as Kadoyng, this is 1970s CFF at its weirdest, wackiest best.
The Glitterball
Dir. Harley Cokeliss UK 1977 56’ (Cert. U)
English | 35mm transferred to digital video
Somewhere in 1970s England, a UFO crashes in a potting shed. Inside is a strange round visitor from space: the Glitterball. How will it get home?
This ingeniously small-scale sci-fi adventure of a tiny, shiny alien ball-being with strange powers and a taste for electricity, crisps and custard, was released the same year as Star Wars, and foreshadows E.T., but was made for just a fraction of the cost of either. It was produced for The Children’s Film Foundation, makers of intelligent, fun films for British kids, from the 1950s to the 1980s.
The Glitterball boasts outstanding visuals, with striking special effects by Brian Johnson (who worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien) and Barry Leith (animator of Paddington and The Wombles). Not long afterwards, director Harley Cokeliss was enlisted to shoot the SFX sequences for the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back.
Part of Baltic Cinema’s Quayside Kino strand — fantastic films for families each month.
Level 1 Cinema
Doors open 11:00; Films start 11:15. You are welcome to bring drinks up to the cinema.
