Description

Scala!!! (Blu-ray)

Author/Editor: Jane Giles & Ali Catterall

---

CONTENTS

Scala!!! (2023) by Jane Giles & Ali Catterall; Blu-ray, color, sound, 96 minutes.

Archival footage, eye-popping movie clips, acid-crazed animation and famous names collide to tell the story of London’s infamous, influential Scala cinema. With its cracked marble floors, resident cats and mysterious, extrasensory rumblings, the Scala was magical and a refuge from the violence of Thatcher’s Britain. Hilarious, irreverent and ultimately heartbreaking with a fabulous original score by Barry Adamson, SCALA!!! is more than mere nostalgia—it’s an X-rated love letter and a universal shout-out to the power of cinemas to inspire young minds and create a sense of community for outsiders. A place where everyone is welcome.

Among those interviewed about their own experiences of the Scala are John Waters, Stephen Woolley, JoAnne Sellar, Caroline Catz, Ben Wheatley, Ralph Brown, Mary Harron, Adam Buxton, Peter Strickland, Beeban Kidron, Isaac Julien and Stewart Lee.

Disc 1: Scala!!! (2023) by Jane Giles & Ali Catterall; color, sound, 96 minutes.
Plus:

• Audio Commentary with co-directors Jane Giles and Ali Catterall
• Introduction from the UK Premiere at The 2023 BFI London Film Festival
• Introduction to SCALA by Director Michael Clifford
• SCALA (1990) by Michael Clifford 
• SCALA CINEMA (1992) by Ali Peck & Victor de Jesus
• Audio Commentary for SCALA CINEMAwith Paul R. White
• Scala Programs 1978-1993
• Cabinet Of Curiosities: Inside The Scala Archive
• Extended Interviews
• Outtakes with Mary Harron, Nick Kent, Thurston Moore and John Waters
• Cartoons by Davey Jones
• Osbert Parker’s SCALA!!! Animation Experiments and Outtakes
• Trailer

 

Disc 2: Scala-Screened Short Films

• Newsreel Collective: Divide and Rule – Never! (UK, 1978, 41 min)
• David Lewis: Dead Cat (UK, 1989, 20 min) 
• Chris Newby: Relax  (UK, 1991, 23 min)
• Aggy Read: Boobs A Lot (Australia, 1968, 3 min),
• Bob Godfrey: Kama Sutra Rides Again (UK, 1971, 9 min)
• Viv Albertine: Coping with Cupid (UK, 1991, 19 min) 
• Susan Lambert: On Guard (Australia, 1984, 51 min),

 

Disc 3:

• Kier-La Janisse: The Art of the Calendar (US/Canada, 2024, 48 min). Features an interview with San Francisco filmmaker/curator Craig Baldwin
• Jasper Sharp: Splatterfest Exhumed (US/UK, 2024, 81 min)
• Buddy Giovinazzo: Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie (US, 1966, 7.5 min)
• Paul Hart-Wilden: Horrorshow (UK, 1990, 5 min)
• Josh Becker: Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter (US, 1982, 8 min)
• Stéphane Ambiel: Mongolitos: (France, 1988, 7 min) 
• The Legendary H.G. Lewis Speaks: 1989 Scala Appearance by the Godfather of Gore Herschell Gordon Lewis