The VITO Project Queer Film Club is thrilled to collaborate with the BFI to bring you a very rare screening of The Driver’s Seat (aka Identikit) from 1974 – one of the most obscure, bizarre and wildly misunderstood films of Elizabeth Taylor’s illustrious career. We will be celebrating the BFI’s Blu-ray release of a new 4K restoration – the first time the film is offically available in any format in the UK.

Elizabeth Taylor stars as a troubled woman who, upon arriving in Rome, finds a city fragmented by autocratic law, leftist violence and her own increasingly unhinged mission to find the most dangerous liaison of all.

Adapted from an unnerving novella by Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), the film marked a wild step into the unknown for the screen icon, as she cast off the shackles of the US studio system in the shadow of her tumultuous personal life. Co-starring Ian Bannen, Mona Washbourne and Andy Warhol, The Driver’s Seat stunned critics and audiences alike upon its premiere in 1974 but failed to secure a UK release – until now.

Directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi (of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore) and featuring cinematography by three-time Oscar® winner Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now and many others), The Drivers Seat is presented in a new 4K restoration from Cineteca di Bologna and Severin Films.

Event format: Doors open one hour before start times for socialising. Screening is preceded by an introduction and followed by a Q&A. Drinks and homemade food by the Electric Elephant Café available.

The BFI is kindly donating a few Blu-rays of the movie to be raffled on the night, so don’t miss it!

About The VITO Project Queer Film Club: The popular series has been running at The Cinema Museum since 2015, promoting a safe space to promote dialogue between different generations of LGBTQ+ people, allies, and film lovers. It takes its name after Vito Russo (1945-1990), New York-native a gay rights activist, film historian and author best known for his book The Celluloid Closet, a ground-breaking chronicle of the LGBTQ+ experience in film. Russo famously screened movies in a space for them to be discussed and debated, and the Project continues to honour his tradition at the historic Cinema Museum London.

Doors open at 18.30, for a 19.30 start.

Refreshments will be available in our licensed cafe/bar.

TICKETS & PRICING

Tickets £8 in advance or on the door.

Advance tickets may be purchased from Ticketlab, or direct from the Museum by calling 020 7840 2200 in office hours.