24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE: British Film Week at FOMO Cinema Tbilisi

June 16-21 FOMO is taking a tour through some of the most distinctive films to emerge from the United Kingdom over the last fifty years. Punk manifestos. Social realism. Gangster films. Cult classics. Coming-of-age stories. Music culture. Working-class Britain. Films that helped define entire generations, alongside newer works that show where British cinema is heading today.

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE

Michael Winterbottom | 2002 | United Kingdom | 1h57m | Presented in the original English audio with English subtitles

There are films about music and then there are films about what music does to people. 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE belongs firmly in the second category.

The film tells the story of Tony Wilson (played to perfection by Steven Coogan.) He's the television presenter, promoter, entrepreneur, and self-appointed cultural visionary who helped transform Manchester into one of the most important music cities in the world. Through Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub he helped launch the careers of Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, and a generation of artists who would shape British music for decades.

What I love about the film is that it understands something many music biopics completely miss. Culture is usually chaotic. Nobody knows what they're doing. Great movements are rarely planned. They're built by enthusiasts, eccentrics, opportunists, idealists, and people making things up as they go along. Tony Wilson may have been all of those things simultaneously.

Steve Coogan plays Wilson as a man with limitless confidence, questionable judgement, and an almost supernatural ability to turn disasters into opportunities. The film constantly breaks the fourth wall, allows Wilson to argue with the audience, and cheerfully ignores the conventions of the traditional biopic whenever it becomes bored by them.

The soundtrack alone would justify a screening. Joy Division. New Order. Happy Mondays. The Buzzcocks. The Smiths. It's less a collection of songs than a guided tour through one of the most creative periods in British cultural history.

I've chosen 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE as the closing film of British Film Week because it feels like a celebration. So many films in this program are about decline, conflict, alienation, crime, and social breakdown. This one is about people creating something. Against the odds and all common sense. Sometimes succeeding and often failing, but always having a fantastic time in the process.

I've seen this film more times than I can count and it still makes me want to open a nightclub and launch a record label. That's probably the highest compliment I can give it.

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: FOMO Cinema Lounge Bar opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 02:00, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1