The Ghostlights Collective

A crumbling sanatorium.
A father waiting inside.
A world where time seems to have come loose.

For our next Ghostlights film night, we’re watching The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973), directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has and inspired by the writing of Bruno Schulz.

We’ll be watching the new 2026 4K UHD edition, all the better for taking in those rich colours, elaborate sets and details.

What begins as a visit to Józef’s father becomes a wandering journey through childhood, desire and a vanished world. Rooms overflow with strange objects, memories take on lives of their own, and one scene slips into another with the unpredictability of a dream.

It’s colourful, eerie, sometimes absurd, and full of images worth getting lost in.

A good film to watch together, then compare notes on what we’ve just seen.

We’ll settle into the cosy cinema room in my building in central Manchester, with the gathering limited to five people.

Afterwards, we’ll have a relaxed chat about the film — whatever fascinated, moved or puzzled us.

Come along if you enjoy unusual cinema, or simply fancy trying something different with a small, friendly group.

Polish with English subtitles · approximately two hours

I’ll share arrival and access details with those attending.

With just five places, please update your RSVP if your plans change so someone else can join us!

This event is free.

Piranesi: The House, the Labyrinth & the Sacred

A Ghostlights Book Club

Imagine a house so vast that it contains an ocean. Waves rise through its staircases, clouds gather in its upper halls, and statues stand watch over seemingly endless rooms.

For our next Ghostlights book club, we’re reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: a strange, beautiful novel about a man who calls this extraordinary place home.

There’s a mystery at its heart, but there’s also something quietly moving about the way Piranesi inhabits his world, noticing its smallest details and finding companionship and meaning in unexpected places.

We’ll explore the House, the story’s unfolding mystery, and its questions about memory, solitude and belonging.

I’m particularly interested in its sense of the sacred: how a place can become meaningful through the attention we give it.

I’ll bring a handout with a few prompts and ideas to get us started, and we’ll leave room for whatever caught your imagination:

• a favourite passage,
• a puzzling moment
• or an image you can’t quite shake

Please read the book beforehand if you can, as we’ll discuss the whole story, including the ending. New faces are very welcome.

PRACTICAL DETAILS