<img src='' title='Event Category: Film' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Event Category: Film

Emmanuelle Nicot / France, Belgium 2023 / 83 min / Cert 15 / Subtitles

This deservedly multi-award-winning film will blow you away. Twelve-year-old Zelda Samson gives an exceptional performance as Dalva, a girl who was groomed by her father. The viewer follows the young girl from the moment she was taken into care and through her journey to recovery. The director paints an achingly beautiful portrait of friendship, recovery and identity, without falling into the trap of sensationalising or melodrama, yet there is room for humour and laughter, pathos and catharsis. “Dalva, the film, Dalva, the character is rebellious, full of pain, festive, tough, candid and scandalously human.” Erick Estrata, Cinegarage.

Nida Manzoor / UK 2023 / 105 min / Cert 12A

Dynamic, energetic and wickedly funny, Polite Society tells its story via anarchic genre shifts that take in action comedy, martial arts, Bollywood and social horror. 16-year-old Ria Khan is desperate to become a stuntwoman regardless of the disapproval of her British-Pakistani family and posh school. Loyal to her older sister Lena, she’s horrified when Lena becomes engaged to surgeon Salim – who somehow only Ria can see is a sinister creep. Is it sibling envy or loss Ria feels, or is something genuinely awry? After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood. Beautifully designed and boasting a tremendously witty, punchy script, it’s a light-hearted, exuberant and distinctive study of sibling affection.

Raine Allen Miller / UK 2023 / 82 min / 15 / Subtitles

Set over the course of a single day in South London, this vivacious debut from director Raine Allen-Miller is a wonderfully fresh take on the romcom genre. Yas and Dom meet, somewhat unconventionally, at a mutual friend’s art show before they step out into the chaos and vibrancy of Peckham’s Rye Lane, so beginning their adventure. During which, in a nod to the genre, Colin Firth serves them burritos from a cafe called Love Guac’tually. This is a lovely feel-good film where comedy, heartbreak and romance intersect beautifully.

Alice Diop / France / 123 min / Cert 12 / Subtitles

Rama, a successful writer, observes a court case in the French town of Saint Omer, where the defendant, Laurence, stands accused of killing her own infant daughter. We hear from Laurence, the lawyers and several witnesses; meanwhile Rama, pregnant herself, grows increasingly distressed as

the contradictions of the testimonies of each witness take us further and further away from knowable truth. Winning 14 awards and based on an actual case, this fiercely intelligent and engrossing film will continue to haunt your thoughts. ‘Diop’s careful direction allows the elegant dialogue to soar ‘ Sight and Sound ‘…delivered with astonishing clarity’ Empire

USA 2022 / 158 min / Cert 15

Cate Blanchett gives an Oscar nominated performance of renowned conductor/composer Lydia Tár, the fictitious first female principal music director of the Berlin Philharmonic. At the start of the film, she is at the top of her game, preparing to release her memoir and perform a live recording of Mahler’s Symphony No 5, whilst juggling work and family life. As the story unfolds her life begins to unravel due to forces she cannot control. Relationships, status and position in society are all threatened as Tár abuses the power she has on those around her.

Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch / Italy 2022 / 147 min / 12 / Subtitles

This rich beautiful film is about the friendship between two men. It is set up in the breath-takingly scenic Italian Val d’Aosta. The film begins with the friendship of two 12-year-old boys. Bruno has grown up in a tiny remote alpine village while Pietro is a city boy who has come to the village for the summer. Both boys have complicated father-son relationships that will impact on each other. Years pass and they meet again as adults, facing some difficult truths. Pietro travels the world visiting the Himalayas but is eventually drawn back to Bruno’s tough mountain existence, bringing the film to a gripping climax. “This is a film with air in its lungs and love in its heart”.

Ken Loach / UK 2023 / 110 min / Cert 12A

Ken Loach continues his creative Indian summer streak with this follow-up to I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You. Two disenfranchised communities interact: a decaying NE mining village; Syrian refugees fleeing the Assad regime. Mutual distrust and antipathy are moderated through the failing Old Oak pub‘s jaded proprietor ‘TJ’ (Dave Turner) and positive, empathetic exile Yara (Ebla Mari), in despair over her missing, probably murdered father. We follow TJ as he tries to do the right thing, amongst the crushed hopes and resentments from years of austerity and post-industrial decline. As with Daniel Blake, director Loach will have you fully engaged and rooting for TJ, and for Yara: good people in a seemingly uncaring world.

Hettie MacDonald / UK 2023 / 107 min / Cert 12A

Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton shine in the lead roles in this poignant drama. A retiree impulsively decides to walk across the country to visit his terminally ill friend and former colleague Queenie, leaving his wife hurt and confused. This warm and tender story remains loyal to the popular book of the same name, with the same hope and reconciliation at the end. “This politely unassuming little film builds into a wrenching examination of grief, guilt and eventual closure.” (Wendy Ide, The Observer)