Relive the hauntingly beautiful British animated classic, WATERSHIP DOWN, as it serves as the Opening Film for Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair on Sunday 15th June. On the day, we will be ed by Andrew Haigh for an Introduction.

Step into the hauntingly poetic world of WATERSHIP DOWN, Martin Rosen’s groundbreaking 1978 animated adaptation of Richard Adams' beloved novel, as it opens our leg of the Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair strand, in collaboration with American Cinematheque. This special screening will not be one to miss, as it features an exclusive introduction by acclaimed British filmmaker Andrew Haigh, director of Weekend, 45 Years and, most recently, All of Us Strangers.

Watership Down is no ordinary animated film. Based on Richard Adams’ celebrated novel, the film follows a group of rabbits who flee the impending destruction of their warren in search of a new home. Led by the visionary Hazel (voiced by John Hurt) and the troubled seer Fiver (Richard Briers), their journey across the English countryside is filled with danger, discovery, and unexpected allies. Along the way, they face natural predators, human encroachment, and the terrifying totalitarian rule of the Efrafa warren, forcing them to confront what it truly means to live free. More than a simple tale of survival, the film explores community, courage in the face of brutality, and it continues to move and challenge audiences decades after its release.

Whether you are revisiting this film that perhaps traumatised you in childhood, or witnessing if for the first time, WATERSHIP DOWN is not one to miss on the big screen. It’s the perfect film to kick off our Bleak Week programming, and made even better with Andrew Haigh Live Introduction. See the animated classic on Sunday 15th June. CLICK HERE to book today...