Once again, we will be offering the best of world cinema over 16 fortnightly Friday nights with 16 top-notch films from 16 different countries.
Friday 1 November 2024
Mr Klein
12 | France | 1976 | French, subtitled | 119 mins
Director: Joseph Losey
Joseph Losey’s gripping political thriller, set in Paris in 1942, stars Alain Delon in one of his best roles as an art dealer whose opportunistic business unravels when a dopplegänger appears.
Friday 15 November 2024
Totem
12 | Mexico | 2023 | Spanish, subtitled | 95 mins
Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés, director of “The Chambermaid”, creates a richly textured, deeply compassionate portrait of Mexican family life centred on a birthday party that is also a farewell ceremony
Friday 29 November 2024
Uzak
15 | Turkey | 2002 | Turkish, subtitled | 110 mins
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
A fashionable photographer in Istanbul has his life upended by the arrival of his dopey country nephew. Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan develops a beautiful, gentle drama about human dreams and longings.
Friday 13 December 2024
The Holdovers
15 | USA | 2023 | English | 127 mins
Director: Alexander Payne
Our Christmas film is this hugely entertaining and enjoyable comedy drama, set in a New England boarding school in 1971 over the holiday break when all but a handful of staff and pupils have departed.
Friday 3 January 2025
No Bears
12 | Iran | 2022 | Persian, Turkish, subtitled | 106 mins
Director: Jafar Panahi
An Iranian director tries to make a film about his own country by directing a cast and crew just over the border in Turkey by remote control. Suspicions and traditions provide quite a challenge.
Friday 17 January 2025
Godland
12 | Iceland | 2022 | Danish, Icelandic, subtitled | 143 mins
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
In the middle of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote Icelandic outpost to establish a church. He faces physical, spiritual and social challenges in carrying out his mission.
Friday 31 January 2025
Dragon’s Return
12 | Slovakia | 1967 | Slovak, Czech, subtitled | 81 mins
Director: Eduard Grecner
A reclusive potter returns to his mountain village after years of exile and encounters a wide range of reactions in this beautifully poetic reflection on the essentials of life in a world governed by superstition.
Friday 14 February 2025
Past Lives
12 | Korea/USA | 2023 | Korean, English, subtitled | 101 mins
Director: Celine Song
Two Korean childhood friends reunite in New York as adults for just one fateful week. Their reflections on love, destiny, and life-choices make for a compelling drama.
Friday 28 February 2025
1976
15 | Chile | 2022 | Spanish, subtitled | 95 mins
Director: Manuela Martelli
Three years after General Pinochet’s coup, his opponents are being hunted down. When one is given refuge by a stranger, both of their lives develop along unforeseen paths.
Friday 14 March 2025
Still Walking
U | Japan | 2008 | Japanese, subtitled | 114 mins
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu
A moving portrait of the day in the life of a Japanese family, focusing on tensions between its members and the changing values of the different generations as they confront the past.
Friday 28 March 2025
The Seventh Seal
PG | Sweden | 1957 | Swedish, subtitled | 92 mins
Director: Ingmar Bergman
This is the definitive “art house cinema” film - endlessly discussed, widely cited, but rarely shown on the big screen. Don’t miss this chance to see Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece.
Friday 11 April 2025
R.M.N
15 | Romania | 2022 | Romanian, Hungarian, German, English, French, Sinhalese, subtitled | 125 mins
Director: Cristian Mungiu
The local baker in a Transylvanian village close to the Romania-Hungary border hires migrants to supplement her local workforce, setting off a troubling set of consequences that soon absorb all the locals, sometimes in unexpected ways.
Friday 25 April 2025
Rye Lane
15 | UK | 2023 | English | 82 mins
Director: Raine Allen-Miller
A romantic comedy set in South East London, this is the story of two strangers, a chance encounter, and an entertaining series of adventures. An uplifting end to our season!
(a) romance bursting with wit, grit and charm - Mark Kermode
