Baltic Cinema: Leviathan

Dirs. Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel USA 2012 86’ (12A)

French and Dutch with English subtitles | Digital video

A documentary like no other, Leviathan is a thrilling, immersive film set on and in the sea as a commercial fishing crew navigates the treacherous waves off the New England coast.

Sailing the very waters that once inspired Moby Dick, Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s incredible film captures the harsh, unforgiving world of the fishermen in haunting yet beautiful detail. Employing an arsenal of cameras that pass freely from film crew to ship crew, and swoop from below sea level to astonishing bird’s-eye views, Leviathan is unlike anything you have ever seen; a purely visceral, cinematic experience.

Leviathan screens here in response to the exhibition in our Level 4 Gallery.

‘The imagery is simply, bluntly majestic … it’s staggering cinema – proof that there are more things in heaven and below the sea that you can imagine, that there are new images waiting to be discovered.’ — Nick Pinkerton, Sight & Sound

‘These saturated, sublime images bear little comparison to any other film; rather, they evoke the work of artists such as Winslow Homer and JMW Turner. In fact, by attaching 21st-century cameras to themselves and the crew of the Athena, the directors were re-enacting Turner's legendary feat, when he had his body lashed to the mast of a Harwich boat for four hours to experience a storm at sea face-to-face and thus render it in oil.’ — Philip Hoare, The Guardian

Doors open 18:30; Film starts 18:45. Baltic Kitchen is open until 18:30 for drinks, which you are welcome to take up to the cinema.

Please note we cannot offer refunds on this event.

Baltic Cinema is a new year-round cinema programme at Baltic, lighting up our Level 1 Cinema with the best new and archive films. Bringing otherwise rarely-screened work to the North East, Baltic Cinema also expands our exhibitions, offering a chance to explore further some of the themes they raise.

Baltic Cinema has five strands:

Currents presents new work from across the world

Sources expands on our exhibitions

Selected shows films selected by our artists and partners

Quayside Kino is a monthly screening for families and children

News From Home offers films on and from the North East, for the people who live here

All regular screenings take place in our Level 1 Cinema. In addition, you can catch free drop-in films in Front Room every week. See full programme of screenings here.

Baltic Cinema is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.

We want our events to be inclusive and accessible. If you have any accessibility requests or questions, please email [email protected]. Ahead of your visit, you can find out about Baltic's facilities and accessibility here.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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