The Hotel is proud to present a screening of London Orbital (2002), directed by Chris Petit and Iain Sinclair, at The Cinema Museum, London on 3rd December 2026.

London Orbital is a film about the M25, the circular motorway that surrounds London in its outer edges. Commissioned by Channel 4, the film is loosely based on Iain Sinclair’s book published two years prior, which saw the author walk the entire length of the Orbital motorway over a two-year period.

Chris Petit took this concept further by electing to drive around the motorway, using nascent digital technology and CCTV footage to reveal the uncanny atmospherics, beauty and oddly terrifying nature of the endless motorway. The film masterfully deploys the outer-ring motorway as a metaphor for the liminal states of the mind. As Petit puts it, ‘driving as an exercise in forward projection’, or, ‘a quest for transcendental boredom’.

London Orbital is published by The Hotel on vinyl as a ‘sound film’ – with Bruce Gilbert’s rich tapestry of electronics, field recordings and guitar creating a listening experience that is just as if not more evocative than the theatrical viewing experience. The LP’s accompanying booklet offers extensive stills from the film alongside newly-commissioned essays by Chris Petit and Iain Sinclair.

The screening will be followed by a conversation with Chris Petit, conducted by artist-filmmaker Aislinn Evans.

London Orbital LP is released by The Hotel on 27th November 2026.
LP copies will be available at the merch table alongside all other titles from The Hotel.