London
20 May – 1 June 2025 

South West & Scotland
5 September – 25 October 2025 

Fashion in Film Festival’s 8th edition, GROUNDED, takes cinema as a lens through which to consider the complex entanglements between fashion and nature. Spanning cinema's history from the early 20th century up to the present moment – an era marked by escalating ecological crises – the season reveals fashion as both a barrier and a connecting tissue between humans and the natural world. In the Western psyche, humanity and nature are often perceived as distinct entities, with phenomena such as landscapes, oceans, flora, and fauna frequently regarded as passive resources, picturesque mise-en-scenes or, worse, dumping grounds for human activity. Pulling at the threads of conflicting and overlapping viewpoints, GROUNDED seeks to illuminate and renegotiate such an anthropocentric worldview.

The imaginative and sensory world of cinema is our way towards an expanded understanding of themes including production and disposal, hybridity and interdependence, migration, social justice and environmental harm. Taking a decentred perspective, GROUNDED features over 80 films from around the world including many rarely-screened works. Hosted across 16 venues in London, South West England and Scotland, the programme boasts several UK premieres and new archival restorations, as well as talks, introductions, Q&As and ciné concerts.

UK-wide festival highlights include Sacred Transmissions, a programme curated by festival co-founder Christel Tsilibaris; Ready-to-wear Landscapes, in which Meghna Gupta, Yayra Agbofah, Jeremy Hutchison and Matthew Needham explore the relationship between discarded clothing and climate; artist Jeannette Ehlers in conversation with curator Karen Alexander for Cartographies of Memory; experimental filmmaker Jodie Mack’s radiant feature The Grand Bizarre (2018), and the We Are All Chimeras, a screen talk by creative producer and educator Margarita Louca.

Through five distinct but overlapping strands – From the Ground Up, Uncommon Ground, Otherground, Shaky Ground and Ancestral Ground – the season attempts to ‘re-ground’ the concept of fashion within a nature that has its own agency and affects. It presents rich narratives spotlighting not only ecological and geopolitical concerns but also imaginative spaces of poetry, comedy, beauty, joy, horror, violence, and transgression.

Programme Curators: Marketa Uhlirova and Dal Chodha

Guest Curators: Christel Tsilibaris, Ray Sims, Cyana Madsen, Isabella Coraça, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi, Mariana Cunha (CREAM), Sarah Cooper, Karen Alexander, Margarita Louca, Susie Evans and Becca Voelcker

Season Graphic Design: Kia Tasbihgou

Curatorial Assistant: Bambi Harlow

Marketing & Press: Letty Cole, Sarabi Hawke and Margaret London

Marketing Assistant: Harvey Byworth-Morgan

Environmental Consultant: George Barker

Research Assistants: Atlanta Anley, Mamady Diana and Lianne Piroddi

The festival is proud to partner with the following venues:

LONDON: BARBICAN CENTRE, CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS, GENESIS CINEMA, RIO CINEMA, THE HORSE HOSPITAL, GARDEN CINEMA, LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION and REGENT STREET CINEMA

SOUTH WEST ENGLAND: WATERSHED BRISTOL, ARNOLFINI BRISTOL, EXETER PHOENIX and PLYMOUTH ARTS CINEMA

SCOTLAND: GLASGOW FILM THEATRE, GARNETHILL MULTICULTURAL CENTRE GLASGOW, DUNDEE CONTEMPORARY ARTS and EDEN COURT INVERNESS

Fashion in Film Festival is based at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. GROUNDED: Fashion’s Entanglements with Nature is organised with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery. Additional support is provided by Central Saint Martins, Dana and Michal Malý, Margaret London, Czech Centre London and Ian Butler.

With special thanks to EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam, BFI Archive, Národní filmový archiv, Les Archives françaises du film (CNC), FPA Classics Paris, Cinematek Brussels, Gaumont-Pathé Archives, Filmoteca de Catalunya, Filmoteca Española, Deutsche Kinemathek, The Japan Foundation, The Library of Congress, Creative Access, Tamara Anderson, Molly Cowderoy, Abla Kandalaft, James Hayes, Elza Rauza, Ranjit Ruprai, Rosie Greatorex, Peter Howden, Agnès Bertola, Caroline Patte, Regina De Martelaere, Arianna Turci, Tereza Sklenářová, Zuzana Štefunková, Josie Walters-Johnston, Naoki Watanabe, Josep Calle Buendía, Aide Fernandez, Anke Hahn and OKI Masaharu.

The programme wouldn’t have been possible without the precious advice, support and creative input from Danielle Knight, May Adadol Ingawanij, Paul Șoptirean, Sam Mitchell, Phoebe Davies, John McKnight, Maddy Probst, Tom Gunning, Daniel Morgan, David Schwartz, Tracey Whittingham, Ben McLaughlin, Reiki Zhang, Laurenz Brunner, Ivana Nohel, Sarah-Jane Meredith, Hywel Davies, Helen Brooks, Matt Malpass, Caterina Albano, Lucy Bolland, Renata Clark, Markus Nornes, Ruth Stella Lingford, Juliana Neufeld, Celia Kent, Phuong Le, Tamsin Blanchard, Chris Nield and Joe Hunter.

Big thanks also to Katy Louis, Emma Pettit, Grace Gabriele, Diamond Abdulrahim, Ashitey Akomfrah, Reinhild Feldhaus, Jonathan Gleneadie, Carsten Zimmer, Monica Hundal, Heidi Hammond, Melanie Ashley, Alistair O’Neill, Philip Clarke, Adam Murray, Olivia Oben, Willy Ndatira, Lindsay Pentelow, Rosemary Massiah, Darla Jane Gilroy, Kate Pelen, Monika Gravagno, Esther Lucas and Serife Dervish.

REGIONAL SCHEDULE

WATERSHED BRISTOL

Sat 31 May

Fruit of Paradise (1970) + Intro

18:00

Ready-to-Wear Landscapes + Panel

15:00

Youth (Spring) + Intro

15:00

ARNOLFINI BRISTOL

DUNDEE
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
+ V&A DUNDEE

EDEN COURT INVERNESS

PLYMOUTH ARTS CINEMA

Fri 23 May

Sat 24 May

Tue 27 May

Sun 1 May

Discovery Family Film Club: Nature’s Resources + Talks

11:00

The Grand Bizarre (2018) + Intro

18:15

Kids’ Programme: Nature’s Resources + Talks

11:30

Fri 3 Oct

Sat 4 Oct

We Are All Chimeras + Talk