Based on Christopher Isherwood’s biographical 1939 novel ‘Goodbye to Berlin’, written when he lived in the city to experience its more liberal gay scene, Cabaret was one of the first musicals to be based on adult themes and not made for family audiences. Set mainly within the confines of the Kit Kat Club, during the final days of the Weimar Republic, it shows the emerging fascism of the rising Nazi party while the clubs performers, Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli, winner of the Best Actress Oscar) and the Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey, winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) continue oblivious to the changes that are happening around them in Germany, while adopting the Nazi paraphernalia in their routines. Set around a love triangle between Sally Bowles, sexually confused British academic Brian (Michael York) and a wealthy German playboy (Helmut Griem), Fosse’s film is decadent, vibrant and relevant.

Winner of eight Oscars, Cabaret remains as relevant and prescient today as it did in 1972 and Isherwood’s novel was in 1939.

Age guidance: 15+
Content advice: Contains strong sex references, violence and drug references

Part of Eden Court’s Cinema Against Fascism programme for Our Freedom, a powerful new season of films exploring what freedom means in age of rising hate, division and authoritarianism and how communities around the world are shaping more just and hopeful futures.