This film is part of Rentals

I Am (Not) a Monster
In this thought-provoking and playful documentary, ebullient director Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian (Disaster Playground) takes you on a journey to find the origins of knowledge.
Overview
Starting with the thoughts of political theorist Hannah Arendt, Ben Hayoun-Stépanian (founder of the University of the Underground) travels the world to meet a variety of people and organisations including political theorist Noam Chomsky, former Lord Mayor of Sheffield Magid Magid, Pussy Riot activist Nadya Tolokonnikova, philosophers, alternative schools and many more. She ponders on the ownership and plurality of our thoughts, and the means by which freedom of learning and innovative education can exist in contemporary times. The result is a joyful potpourri of ideas and alternative thinking, propelled by a thrilling soundtrack of Ethiopian hip hop.
Asserting that the need for change has never been more urgent, I Am (Not) a Monster is an ambitious yet accessible activist outcry: ‘knowledge is power’.
Related

20 Days in Mariupol 20 Days in Mariupol
Documentary 2023 94 mins Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Vivid and harrowing account of life under siege, Ukrainian journalists try to fulfil their mission to capture what later become defining images of the atrocities of the 2022 Russian invasion.

Is There Anybody Out There? Is There Anybody Out There?
Documentary 2023 87 mins Director: Ella Glendining
Highlighting the importance of being seen, Ella Glendining invites us on a personal journey as she sets out to find others with the same rare disability as herself.

Angelheaded Hipster Angelheaded Hipster
Biopic 2023 99 mins Director: Ethan Silverman
Stomping documentary celebrating the revolutionary music of Glam Rock pioneer Marc Bolan and T. Rex, combining archive footage with new musical interpretations by renowned contemporary artists.

Kokomo City Kokomo City
Documentary 2023 73 mins Director: D. Smith
A bold first feature about Black trans sex workers that buzzes with passion, energy and intelligence.

Fragments of Paradise Fragments of Paradise
Documentary 2023 98 mins Director: KD Davison
Intimate portrait of the life and career of the pioneering filmmaker, poet and critic, Jonas Mekas, assembled from thousands of hours of his personal film footage and letters.

Tina Tina
Documentary 2021 118 mins Director: Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
Classic live footage and engaging interviews create a powerful film that celebrates icon Tina Turner's tumultuous career.

Tori and Lokita Tori and Lokita
Drama 2022 89 mins Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
The Dardenne brothers’ Cannes prize-winner – about the plight of two teenage African migrants struggling to survive in Belgium – is characteristically gripping, sobering and deeply moving.

The Blue Caftan The Blue Caftan
Drama 2022 123 mins Director: Maryam Touzani
A married tailor falls for his younger apprentice in Maryam Touzani’s richly textured and sweepingly beautiful exploration of love, desire and tradition.

My Imaginary Country My Imaginary Country
Documentary 2022 83 mins Director: Patricio Guzmán
Women have been a driving force in the recent Chilean Revolution, as Nostalgia for the Light director Patricio Guzmán highlights in this galvanising documentary.

Saint Omer Saint Omer
Drama 2022 122 mins Director: Alice Diop
Alice Diop reinvents the courtroom drama in this concentrated, gripping study of a writer and the young African woman accused of murdering her own daughter. Based on a true story.

Small, Slow But Steady Small, Slow But Steady
Drama 2022 99 mins Director: Shô Miyake
Sho Miyake crafts a moving, one-of-a-kind sports film, anchored by Yukino Kishii’s precise, subtle, unsentimental performance as Deaf aspiring boxer Keiko.

Inland Inland
Drama 2022 82 mins Director: Fridtjof Ryder
This strange, enigmatic and engrossing thriller finds a troubled young man returning to his hometown in the wake of his mother’s disappearance.

Typist Artist Pirate King Typist Artist Pirate King
Drama 2022 106 mins Director: Carol Morley
Monica Dolan and Kelly Macdonald star in Carol Morley's darkly humorous portrait of a forgotten artist.

20 Days in Mariupol 20 Days in Mariupol
Documentary 2023 94 mins Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Vivid and harrowing account of life under siege, Ukrainian journalists try to fulfil their mission to capture what later become defining images of the atrocities of the 2022 Russian invasion.

Eismayer Eismayer
Drama 2022 87 mins Director: David Wagner
Drill sergeant Eismayer has a reputation as the toughest training officer in the Austrian military, but when he starts to fall in love with a new recruit, his closeted existence is shaken to the core.

Is There Anybody Out There? Is There Anybody Out There?
Documentary 2023 87 mins Director: Ella Glendining
Highlighting the importance of being seen, Ella Glendining invites us on a personal journey as she sets out to find others with the same rare disability as herself.

His Lordship His Lordship
Comedy 1932 73 mins Director: Michael Powell
A plumber discovers to his horror that he is, in fact, a hereditary Lord in Michael Powell's riotous satirical musical.

The Fire Raisers The Fire Raisers
Crime 1934 78 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s atmospheric thriller about an insurance man in over his head with a gang of arsonists.