Bleak Week: WATERSHIP DOWN (1978) – with pre-recorded intro by Guillermo del Toro!
Runtime: 88 mins | Release Year: 1978 | Rating: PG | Genre(s): Adventure, Animation, Drama
Production Country: United Kingdom | Original Language: English
When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.
Showtimes
Featuring a Pre-recorded intro by director Guillermo del Toro!
Presented in partnership with the American Cinematheque, ‘Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair’ is an annual film festival showcasing some of the greatest works of cinema from across the globe that venture into the darkest sides of humanity and the bleakest points in human history.
The fifth annual edition in June 2026 expands to nearly 100 theaters across the U.S., Canada, U.K. and South and Central America, with each venue presenting its own original curated lineup of uncompromising films defined by unpleasant truths and raw empathy.
With this passion project, screenwriter-producer-director Martin Rosen brilliantly achieved what had been thought nearly impossible: a faithful big-screen adaptation of Richard Adams’s classic British dystopian novel about a community of rabbits under terrible threat from modern forces. With its naturalistic hand-drawn animation, dreamily expressionistic touches, gorgeously bucolic background design, and elegant voice work from such superb English actors as John Hurt, Ralph Richardson, Richard Briers, and Denholm Elliott, Watership Down is an emotionally arresting, dark-toned allegory about freedom amid political turmoil. (JANUS FILMS)
Content Warning: This film features violence against animals, bloody images and bad language. This film may be considered disturbing to younger viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
Part of the Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair series!
Cast/Crew Info
Director: Martin Rosen | Cast: John Hurt, Richard Briers, Michael Graham Cox, John Bennett, Ralph Richardson