Director's double bill

11:33am Wednesday 6th August 2008

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Nicolas Roeg worked for many years as a cinematographer before making the move into movie directing.

He is known for his characteristic interest in sex, symbolism and the supernatural, and his penchant for disrupting a story’s linear narrative structure.

Now two of his films will be screened in a double bill at the Phoenix Cinema, in High Road, East Finchley, on August 17.

In Eureka (18), made in 1984, a reclusive, unhappy gold magnate finds his tropical paradise threatened by the intrusion of criminals.

Gene Hackman stars as Jack McCann, the one-time gold prospector whose wealth has led to depression and paranoia.

The second film to be shown will be last year’s Puffball (18), an adaptation of a novel by Fay Weldon, starring Donald Sutherland, Miranda Richardson and Kelly Reilly.

It tells the story of Liffey, a young architect who becomes pregnant after moving to a remote Irish village.

One of the other villagers, desperate to have a son, becomes convinced the newcomer has somehow stolen the unborn child meant for her, leading the villagers to resort to witchcraft.

Eureka is on at 1.30pm, followed by Puffball at 4.10pm. Tickets cost £8 (concessions £6) for both films and are available from the box office on 020 8444 6789.