A punky, gleeful, unorthodox documentary about one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century.

Baltic Cinema: Don’t Blink — Robert Frank (adv 12)

Thursday 28 January | 18:30

£6 / £4.50* per person

Dir. Laura Israel / USA / 2015 / 1h 22m

Digital video | In English

‘Robert Frank was gloriously notorious. He was the groundbreaking photographer of The Americans; the iconoclastic director of Pull My Daisy; a difficult (almost impossible) interview subject; a rejecter of wealth and celebrity; a man whose ‘sympathies were with people who struggled,’ who has a ‘mistrust of people who made the rules.’

He was also a father to a daughter, Andrea, and a son, Pablo, who both died young. His work is emotional and impulsive. Filmmaker Richard Linklater describes Frank, who emigrated to the United States from Switzerland in the 1940s, beautifully as ‘a restless, searching artist pushing the boundaries of the documentary, experimental, and more traditional narrative forms.’ Fans will be giddy with the unprecedented access to Frank – and his irrepressible irascibility, energy, and humor – this film offers. Those uninitiated into the cult of Robert Frank should be prepared for a wild and wonderful ride.’ (Full Frame Documentary Festival).

‘This bracing documentary portrait finds the artist, now in his 90s, as refreshingly prickly and uncompromising as ever.’ —The Guardian ★★★★

Watch the trailer (https://vimeo.com/168531103?fl=pl&fe=vl)

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Doors open 18:00; Film starts 18:30.

Pop-up cinema bar open from 18:00 for drinks.

*Concessions: under 18s, unwaged & 65+

Please note we cannot offer refunds on this event.

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Shooting the Messenger

November 2026 – March 2027

Films on Photographers, Photographers on Film. What drives photographers to frame, to capture, to record? Sometimes compulsion, sometimes necessity, always curiosity.

Across five documentaries, this season looks at photography and photographers – their desires and struggles, passions and fears – to accompany Baltic’s current exhibition Tish Murtha & Kuba Ryniewicz: Close to Home.

The films propose photography as a lifetime’s quest and suggest that for many photographers – whether railing against the system, documenting their communities or pushing the boundaries of the medium – the more they take photographs, the more they know themselves.

View full film schedule

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Baltic Cinema

Baltic Cinema is a year-round cinema programme at Baltic, lighting up our Level 1 Cinema with the best new and archive films. Expanding on our exhibition themes and bringing otherwise rarely-screened work to the North East.

Supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.

Accessibility

We want our events to be inclusive and accessible. If you have any accessibility requests or questions, please email myexperience@balticmill.com (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/baltic-shop-creates-a-mini-banner-tickets-1254428863499?aff=oddtdtcreator). Ahead of your visit, you can find out about Baltic's facilities and accessibility here (https://baltic.art/plan-your-visit/supporting-your-access-needs/).

Description supplied by the event organiser.