Film programmer, curator, writer
Joined April 2016
- Tweets 2,657
- Following 409
- Followers 850
- Likes 18,657
354 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
25 Nov 2024
Pleased to say I've curated a season of Sidney Poitier's films, coming to @BFI Southbank in January 2025. 16 films showcasing his work as an actor and director, almost half of them on 35mm, across 40 years. Tickets on sale from 5 December. More info here: tinyurl.com/2p9ppmc7
1
4
15
914
Jonathan Ali retweeted
25 May 2025
Terribly sorry to learn of the passing of the great Michael Roemer, at the age of ninety-seven—a true independent, of mind and spirit, whose work, though little-seen in its time, will long outlive most films loudly acclaimed then.
4
24
254
25,995
28 Feb 2025
Lovely little write-up by @tnyfrontrow on Malaury Eloi-Paisley’s brilliant L’Homme-Vertige, which we’re screening tomorrow at BAM in Brooklyn in our Caribbean Film Series. The Pedro Costa comparison is spot on.
28 Feb 2025
A terrific documentary Saturday in Caribbean Film Series @BAMfilmBrooklyn: Malaury Eloi Paisley's L'Homme-Vertige: Tales of a City, blending portraiture and discussion, and incarnating history, reminds me of great films by Pedro Costa and Khalik Allah:
newyorker.com/goings-on-abou…
1
278
7 Feb 2025
Duel at Diablo was a film I left out of the Sidney Poitier season at BFI last month (another was Buck and the Preacher) knowing it would be in the Black Rodeo season. Poitier’s first western, and a fascinating film worth seeing on the big screen.
7 Feb 2025
#bestfilminlondontoday Feb 7 at capitalcelluloid.blogspot.co… guide to London films. 'employs the Anglo-Native American conflict as a metaphor for Black-white relations in contemporary US society' DUEL AT DIABLO (35mm) @BFI Southbank capitalcelluloid.blogspot.co…
1
1
330
Although most celebrated for his civil rights era dramas, a younger generation of viewers first discovered Sidney Poitier via late-career video-shop favourites like Sneakers and Deadly Pursuit. theb.fi/3Pl4650
1
3
22
6,421
Jonathan Ali retweeted
5 Jan 2025
#bestfilminlondontoday Jan 5 at capitalcelluloid.blogspot.co… guide to London films. Nickel Boys' fans will want to catch this. THE DEFIANT ONES (1958) on 35mm in Sidney Poitier season @BFI Southbank capitalcelluloid.blogspot.co…
18 Dec 2024
#bestfilminlondontoday Jan 5 at capitalcelluloid.blogspot.co… guide to London films. Nickel Boys' fans will want to catch this. THE DEFIANT ONES (1958) on 35mm in Sidney Poitier season @BFI Southbank capitalcelluloid.blogspot.co… youtube.com/watch?v=fBrw8dmg…
2
1
493
Jonathan Ali retweeted
4 Jan 2025
January's London repertory cinema spreadsheet newsletter are out! Become a supporter from just £2.99 a month and view 600 repertory film screenings across 35 London cinemas, sorted by:
🎞️Films On Film
🎬Release Year
🎬Title
🎬Date
🎬 Cinema
repcinema.com/post/repertory…
5
8
4,280
Jonathan Ali retweeted
3 Jan 2025
To mark the third anniversary of Sidney Poitier's passing and to launch the Poitier season, join us @BFI Southbank on Mon 6 Jan for a discussion about Poitier's life and legacy with @JonathanAliTT @JanaSante @RyanCalaisC & Nicole-Rachelle Moore
whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/ar…
1
3
242
Jonathan Ali retweeted
1 Jan 2025
A great way to see in 2025 with a month of films celebrating the work of film legend, Sidney Poitier.
As a season of the actor & directors work opens tonight with 50s classic Noir thriller, No Way Out whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/de… at @BFI.
1
2
177
23 Dec 2024
Has all the wonderful things you would expect, and at least one thing you might not: a very Jamesian analysis of Dog Day Afternoon and the motivations of Al Pacino’s Sonny (“that young man”).
21 Dec 2024
In 1976 Stuart Hall interviewed CLR James for the BBC. The tape, made by Mike Dibb, was sadly wiped unaired. This is the full transcript of their conversation, with intro by me, a glorious illustration by @mollycrabapple, and 🔥 editing by @elusivecorporal
nybooks.com/online/2024/12/2…
2
201
20 Dec 2024
Tickets are on sale, guests are being announced, and here's the rather smashing trailer for Sidney Poitier: His Own Person, @BFI Southbank in January. I couldn't be happier to have curated this season celebrating a true-blue icon. Get on board: theb.fi/3DA17mo
2
7
1,708
12 Dec 2024
My ten films for Sight and Sound magazine’s best films of 2024 feature.
5
143
5 Dec 2024
Tickets on sale now for Sidney Poitier: His Own Person, @BFI Southbank in January. It was an honour to curate this season of 16 of Poitier's films—groundbreaking early works, star-maing vehicles, career-defining blockbusters and more.
Get your tickets: tinyurl.com/2p9ppmc7
1
2
7
313
25 Nov 2024
Pleased to say I've curated a season of Sidney Poitier's films, coming to @BFI Southbank in January 2025. 16 films showcasing his work as an actor and director, almost half of them on 35mm, across 40 years. Tickets on sale from 5 December. More info here: tinyurl.com/2p9ppmc7
1
4
15
914
25 Nov 2024
"And the black face, truthfully reflected, is not only no part of this dream, it is antithetical to it. And this puts the black performer in a rather grim bind. He knows, on the one hand, that if the reality of a black man’s life were on that screen...
1
58
25 Nov 2024
"...it would destroy the fantasy totally. And on the other hand, he really has no right not to appear, not only because he must work, but for all those people who need to see him. By the use of his own person, he must smuggle in a reality that he knows is not in the script."
52
5 Nov 2024
A reminder on this day that the first US woman to become president was Janet Jagan, née Rosenberg. Chicagoan, Marxist, and president of Guyana from 1997-1999
1
5
469
Jonathan Ali retweeted
28 Oct 2024
As we gear up for next year’s festival, we’re reminiscing on how memorable this year’s festival was.
Check out our full #THFF24 recap video on youtube: youtu.be/FvHBnsGnG_A?si=LYqe…
What was your favorite memory from #THFF24?
✂️🎞️ Edit by Yaphet Jackman
1
4
136