Cinema Releases - Ray & Liz
Renowned photographer Richard Billingham makes his feature-film debut with this intricate family portrait, inspired by his own memories of growing up in the West Midlands in the late 70s and early 80s, and then his father and mother in the late 90s.
Billingham revisits the figures of his earlier photographs — his alcoholic father Ray; his mother Liz; and his younger brother Jason — with a series of family vignettes where life, lived on the margins of society and societal taboos, can spiral out of control.
Director Richard Billingham and producer Jacqui Davies are both nominated for this year's BAFTA Outstanding Debut award.
Premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2018.
UK/English/108min/Cert 18
New screening Mar 26 2024, ICA
Q&A tour:
MAC Birmingham - Thu 24th Jan Chapter Cardiff - Fri 25th Jan Watershed Bristol - Sun 27th Jan ICA Cinema, London - Tue 29th Jan HOME Manchester - Mon Feb 4th Feb Quad Derby - Weds 6th Feb Phoenix Leicester - Thu 7th Feb BFI Southbank - Fri 8th Feb Light House, Dublin - Thu 28th Feb 6.15pm Malvern Theatres, Great Malvern - Fri 1 March Courtyard, Hereford - Wed 6 March Tyneside, Newcastle - Sat 9 March Curzon Bloomsbury - Sun 10 March Broadway, Nottingham - Wed 13 March
Week Commencing 8th March
BFI Southbank |
Belvedere Rd |
London SE1 8XT |
020 7298 3232 |
all week |
ICA Cinema |
The Mall |
London SW1Y 5AH |
020 7930 3647 |
all week |
Picturehouse Central | Great Windmill St |
London W1D 7DH |
0871 902 5755 |
all week |
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
Arthouse Crouch End |
159A Tottenham Lane |
London N8 9BT |
020 8245 3099 |
all week |
HOME |
2 Tony Wilson Place |
Manchester M15 4FN |
0161 200 1500 |
all week |
Showroom |
15 Paternoster Row |
Sheffield S1 2BX |
0114 275 7727 |
all week |
Watershed |
1 Canons Road |
Bristol BS1 5TX |
0117 927 5100 |
all week |
Broadway |
14-18 Broad St |
Nottingham NG1 3AL |
0115 952 6611 |
all week |
Tyneside Cinema | 10 Pilgrim St |
Newcastle NE1 6QG |
0191 227 5500 |
all week |
GFT | 12 Rose St | Glasgow G3 6RB | 0141 332 6535 | all week |
Chapter | Market Rd |
Cardiff CF5 1QE |
029 2030 4400 |
all week |
Electric | 47-49 Station St |
Birmingham B5 4DY |
0121 643 7879 |
all week |
Week Commencing 15th March
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
BFI Southbank |
Belvedere Rd |
London SE1 8XT |
020 7298 3232 |
all week |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
Kiln |
269 Kilburn High Rd |
London NW6 7JR |
020 7238 1000 |
all week |
Ritzy | Brixton Oval |
London SW2 1JG |
0871 902 5747 |
all week |
Watershed | 1 Canons Road | Bristol BS1 5TX | 0117 927 5100 | all week |
Tyneside Cinema | 10 Pilgrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 227 5500 | all week |
Electric | 47-49 Station St | Birmingham B5 4DY | 0121 643 7879 | 17,20,21 Mar |
Quad |
Market Place |
Derby DE1 3AS |
01332 290606 |
all week |
Broadway | 14-18 Broad St | Nottingham NG1 3AL | 0115 952 6611 | all week |
Cameo | 38 Home St |
Edinburgh EH3 9LZ |
0871 902 5747 |
all week |
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 200 1500 | all week |
Queens Film Theatre | 20 University Square |
Belfast BT7 1PA | 028 9097 1097 | all week |
Showroom | 15 Paternoster Row | Sheffield S1 2BX | 0114 275 7727 | 15-18, 21 Mar |
Picturehouse at FACT | 88 Wood St |
Liverpool L1 4DQ |
0871 902 5747 |
all week |
Square Chapel | 10 Square Rd |
Halifax HX1 1QG |
01422 349422 |
16-20 Mar |
Mockingbird | Custard Factory, Gibb St |
Birmingham B9 4AA |
0121 224 7456 |
19-21 Mar |
Pontio | Deiniol Rd |
Bangor L57 2TQ |
01248 383838 |
all week |
Brunswick Moviebowl | Pennyburn Ind. Estate |
Derry BT48 0LU |
028 7137 1999 |
20 Mar only |
Everyman Leeds | 30 Albion St | Leeds LS1 6HW | 0871 906 9060 | 20 Mar only |
Week Commencing 22nd March
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
Dukes at Komedia |
44-47 Gardener St |
Brighton BN1 1UN |
0871 902 5747 |
22,27 Mar |
Arts Picturehouse |
38-39 St Andrew's St |
Cambridge CB2 3AR |
0871 902 5747 |
22-23,25-26,28 Mar |
Cinema City |
27 St Andrews St |
Norwich NR2 4AD |
0871 902 5747 |
23, 26-28 Mar |
Tyneside Cinema | 10 Pilgrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 227 5500 | 22, 24-28 Mar |
Depot | Pinwell Rd |
Lewes BN7 2JS |
01273 525354 |
all week |
Electric | 47-49 Station St | Birmingham B5 4DY | 0121 643 7879 | 27 Mar only |
Picturehouse at FACT | 88 Wood St | Liverpool L1 4DQ | 0871 902 5747 | 23-24,27 Mar |
Kino | Lion St | Rye TB31 7LB | 01797 226293 | 24,28 Mar |
Week Commencing 29th March
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | to April 3 |
Filmhouse |
88 Lothian Rd |
Edinburgh EH3 9BZ |
0131 228 2688 |
all week |
Midlands Arts Centre |
Cannon Hill Park |
Birmingham B12 9QH |
0121 446 3232 |
all week |
Belmont | 49 Belmont St | Aberdeen AB10 1JS | 01224 343500 | all week |
Cube |
Dove St South |
Bristol BS2 8JD |
0117 907 4190 |
30,31/3, 4/4 |
Firstsite | Lewis Gardens |
Colchester CO1 1JH |
01206 713700 |
30/3 - 1/4 |
Curzon Goldsmiths | Lewisham Way | London SE14 6NW | 0333 321 0104 | 31 March |
JW3 | 341-351 Finchley Rd |
London NW3 6ET |
020 7433 8988 |
1 & 2 April |
Northampton Filmhouse |
Derngate |
Northampton NN1 1TU |
01604 624811 |
31/3, 1/4 |
Brewery Arts Centre | 122a Highgate | Kendal LA9 4HE | 01539 725133 | 31/3, 4/4 |
Barn Cinema |
Dartington Hall |
Totnes TQ9 6EL |
01803 847070 |
2 - 4 April |
Stoke Film Theatre | College Rd |
Stoke ST4 2EF |
01782 411188 |
4 April only |
Week Commencing 5th April
Light House | Fryer St | Wolverhampton WV1 1HT | 01892 716055 | all week |
Towner Arts Centre |
Devonshire Park, College Rd |
Eastbourne BN21 4JJ |
01323 434670 |
6,7,11 April |
Eden Court |
Bishops Rd |
Inverness IV3 5SA |
01463 234234 |
8 - 10 April |
Plymouth Arts Centre |
Tavistock Place |
Plymouth PL4 8AT |
01752 206114 |
9 - 11 April |
Week Commencing 12th April
Saffron Screen |
Audley End Rd |
Saffron Walden CB11 4UH |
01799 500238 |
15 April |
Theatr Clwyd |
Raikes Lane |
MOld CH7 1YA |
01352 701521 |
16 - 18 April |
Week Commencing 19th April
Picture House |
New Road |
Hebden Bridge HX7 8AD |
01422 842807 |
21 & 24 April |
Dukes |
Moor Lane |
Lancaster LA1 1QE |
01 |
23-24 April |
Born in 1970, Richard Billingham is an English photographer, visual artist and filmmaker. Recipient of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 1997, his work has been exhibited at the Tate, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum amongst others. In 1998, he directed his first short documentary, Fishtank. RAY & LIZ is his first feature.
1998 Fishtank, documentary, 47 mins
1998 Liz Smoking, documentary short
1998 Tony Smoking Backwards, short
1999 Ray in Bed, short
1999 Playstation
2016 Ray, 30 mins, part 1 of a 3-part feature film, that became -
2018 Ray & Liz
Cast |
||
Liz |
Ella Smith |
|
Ray |
Justin Salinger |
|
Older Ray |
Patrick Romer |
|
Older Liz |
Deirdre Kelly |
|
Lol |
Tony Way |
|
Will |
Sam Gittins |
|
Jason aged 9 |
Joshua Millard-Lloyd |
|
Sid |
Richard Ashton |
|
Richard aged 10 |
Jacob Tuton |
|
Richard aged 16 |
Sam Plant |
|
Hilda |
Mary Helen Donald |
|
Cahill |
Sam Dodd |
|
Cahill's Mum |
Zoe Holness |
|
Zineb |
Michelle Bonnard |
|
Crew |
||
Written and directed by |
Richard Billingham |
|
Producer |
Jacqui Davies |
|
Director of Photography |
Daniel Landin |
|
Editor |
Tracy Granger |
|
Sound Design |
Joakim Sundström |
|
Production Designer |
Beck Rainford |
|
Costume Designer |
Emma Rees |
|
Hair and Make-up |
My Alehammar |
|
Casting |
Shaheen Baig |
|
Music Supervisor |
Becca Gatrell |
|
Art Director |
Laura Bishop |
|
Production Manager |
Deborah Aston |
|
Line Producer |
Greg McManus |
|
Executive Producers |
Lizzie Francke, Adam Partridge, |
|
Ed Talfan |
||
Production |
Primitive Film |
|
Funders |
BFI |
|
Ffilm Cymru Wales |
||
Severn Screen |
||
Rapid Eye |
||
Supported by |
Fidlab, agnes b. |
|
UK 2018 108 minutes |
||
Ratio 1.33:1 Sound 5.1 |
||
Certificate 15 | ||
★★★★
"Richard Billingham’s virtuoso debut feature is set in council houses and high rise flats on the outskirts of Birmingham but it boasts as many animals and insects as you will find in the average natural history documentary…
The director isn’t judging his characters. Nor is he patronising them. Instead, he is observing them as they try and fail to make sense of their lives. Shot in grainy 16mm, the film doesn’t have much of a storyline but is unexpectedly moving and graceful in its depiction of this ill-fated family."
Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent
★★★★★
"Photographer turned film-maker Richard Billingham, who’s been documenting his parents for years, does an incredible job in this autobiographical tale of making us feel at home in a series of decrepit rooms that aren’t in the least bit cosy.
Billingham doesn’t romanticise a single molecule of the past. Maybe it’s a West Midlands thing. All hail an instant classic."Charlotte O'Sullivan, The Evening Standard
★★★★
"Even though it’s tough to like any of the characters, it’s also tough to dislike them, as the film neither panders for sympathy nor chides their listless ways. It bemoans neither the politics of the era nor blames the system which pins these people to the bottom of the barrel. It’s about the vividness of memory and how these lives have shaped Billingham’s own. It’s a very special film, perhaps the best to come out of the UK in many years."
David Jenkins, Little White Lies
★★★★
"A darkly funny portrait of a Britain that shouldn’t exist....Billingham is working with the outstanding cinematographer Daniel Landin, much celebrated for his work on Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, who sends a mythological shiver coursing through the chaos and clutter.
Ray and Liz are wonderfuly played by Justin Salinger and Ella Smith in young adulthod and Patrick Romer and Deirdre Kelly in late middle age."
Robbie Collin, The Daily Telegraph
★★★★★
"Funny, and brimming with colour, character and eventually compassion, Ray & Liz represents film at its most painstakingly personal."
Emma Simmonds, The List
★★★★
"Stingingly intimate first feature...Ella Smith is superb...the film is extraordinary and unflinching. And remarkably it's made with as much ove as anger."
Wendy Ide, The Observer
"Extraordinary...it is his bruised and complex view of the past, seen through nicotine-yellowed net curtains rather than rose-tinted glasses, that makes the film such a rich experience.
As much as any film since Terence Davies’s Distant Voices, Still Lives, Billingham’s Ray & Liz is not merely about revisiting the past but re-examining it from a new angle."
Ryan Gilbey, The New Statesman
"Ray & Liz is no gratuitous wallow; it is authentic, sympathetic, lyrical, keenly observant and richly detailed."
Steve Rose, The Guardian Guide
★★★★
"Richard Billingham soaks his terrific debut in bleak authenticity and some gorgeous cinematography...
a quietly enraged, ultimately compassionate portrait of people who have nothing."
Chris Waywell, Time Out
★★★★
"A gifted photographer writing/directing his first feature creates a sardonically confident, pictorially faultless fly-on-the-wall drama about, inter alia, flies on walls."
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times
★★★★
"Splendidly played by Justin Salinger and Ella Smith."
Ed Potton, The Times
★★★★
"A sympathetic meditation on the effects of poverty and lack of opportunity told from the perspective of the one who managed to escape through education. Billingham looks back with understanding, rather than anger, at the people he left behind."
Sarah Kent, The ArtsDesk
"The British kitchen sink drama receives a welcome injection of texture, fragmentation and rhythm in Richard Billingham’s Ray & Liz, a highlight of the 2018 Locarno Film Festival competition. Largely retelling his own troubled childhood spent in Birmingham during the Thatcher era, the celebrated photographer and artist’s debut feature is by turns brutal, tender and bleakly funny."
James Lattimer, Sight & Sound
"It’s the way art imitates, reflects and recomposes other art — specifically, Billingham’s much-discussed photography — that lends complex layers of memoir and mimesis to this singular spin on the British kitchen-sink drama, preserving both the director’s childhood and his creative evolution in gorgeous, grainy amber…
“Ray & Liz” stands as a uniquely moving work of self-identification and self-illustration, bristling with pride, anger and even some regret — for the general ugly state of things, certainly, but perhaps for a family he’s come to see, and shoot, a little differently over the decades."
Guy Lodge, Variety
"A striking, sustained artistic achievement… A beautifully understated, heart melting performance from Joshua Millard Lloyd is a stand out and gives the film a real grip on the emotions."
Allan Hunter, Screen International
"It’s a beautifully crafted and meticulously made snapshot of life on the margins of society."
Rob Aldham, Backseat Mafia
"The first feature from photographer Richard Billingham is a moving yet unsentimental portrait of a life in fragments, as empathetic as it is brutal."
Elena Lazic, Seventh Row
"A remarkable debut…an immersive poetic-realist dive into the artist’s fractured memories of his parents during the time he spent growing up in Birmingham in the ‘70s and ‘80s."
Rory O’Connor, The Film Stage
★★★★
“Billingham uses his talent for still photography as much as his own memories to craft a portrait of poverty without pity, through love laced with dysfunction…It’s a love letter as much as a demand for an apology, a reckoning with a life lived in decay which unfolds with a humble but powerful stillness.”
Ella Kemp, Culture Whisper
Interviews with Richard Billingham in
The Observer
The List
The Skinny
Seventh Row
Time Out