15 Mar 2017 Director: Pedro Almodóvar Spain 2016 99 min Pedro Almodóvar is back on familiar ground with this sombre and ravishing study of grief, guilt and burden. Told over 30 years with two actresses (Emma Suárez and the younger Adriana Ugarte) playing one woman, this is the story of Julieta who is facing family… Continue reading Julieta
Category: Film season 2016-2017
I, Daniel Blake
29 Mar 2017 Director: Ken Loach UK 2016 100 min Daniel Blake is an older resident of Newcastle and, after suffering a heart attack, he can no longer do his job. However, a mobility test by the Department of Work and Pensions declares him fit for work and, while he waits for his appeal, Daniel… Continue reading I, Daniel Blake
Dheepan
21 Sept 2016 Director: Jacques Audiard France 2015 110 min Sivadhasan is a former Tamil Tiger soldier who is forced to move to a refugee camp following the conclusion of the Sri Lankan conflict. Viewing France as a potential home for his new life, he requires a convincing cover story in order to gain political… Continue reading Dheepan
Mon Roi
16 Nov 2016 Director: Maïwenn Le Besco France 2015 124 min The subject of this intoxicating love story is a tempestuous ten-year romance between two forty-something Parisians, criminal lawyer Tony (Emanuelle Bercot) and charismatic Georgio (Vincent Cassell). In a rehabilitation centre following an accident, Tony looks back on their times together. Why did they fall… Continue reading Mon Roi
Our Little Sister
5 Oct 2016 Director: Hirokazu Kore-Eda Japan 2015 128 min Full of quiet joy and simple pleasures, this sublime and elegant production focuses on the lives of four young women, related through their late father, in provincial Japan. As the women attempt to help each other along, the film touches on themes of stolen childhood… Continue reading Our Little Sister
Rams
2 Nov 2016 Director: Grímur Hákonarson Iceland 2015 93 min In a remote Icelandic valley, two sheep farms exist side by side. They are owned by two estranged brothers who haven’t spoken to each other for forty years. Nothing is a matter of greater pride to the brothers than their flocks and, when disease threatens… Continue reading Rams
The Pearl Button
30 Nov 2016 Director: Patricio Guzmán Chile, France, Spain 2015 82 min Water is the key to life and the central subject of this intensely lyrical documentary essay from Guzmán. Chile’s history is defined by its long indented coastline and Katell Djian’s gliding camera makes the most of massive mountains, volcanoes and glaciers. The fate… Continue reading The Pearl Button
Theeb
4 Jan 2017 Director: Naji Abu Nowar Jordan, UK, UAE, Qatar 2014 100 min Set in 1916, on the eve of the great Arab revolt, Theeb unravels in the ruthless heat of Jordan’s desert. In a forgotten corner of the Ottoman Empire, during World War I, lies the campsite of a Bedouin tribe where orphaned… Continue reading Theeb
Mustang
1 Feb 2017 Director: Deniz Gamze Ergűven Turkey, France 2015 97 min It’s early summer in a village on the Black Sea coast in northern Turkey. Lale and her four sisters are walking home from school at the end of term, playing innocently with some boys at the local beach. Their very conservative guardians, however,… Continue reading Mustang
Embrace of the Serpent
1 Mar 2017 Director: Ciro Guerra Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela 2015 122 min A breathtaking odyssey through the Colombian Amazon region, Embrace of The Serpent details the quests of two European explorers searching independently for a flower alleged to have healing properties. Taking inspiration from the real-life journals kept by these men, we travel with them… Continue reading Embrace of the Serpent