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Emmanuel Corcel / France 2025 / 103 min / Cert 15 / Subtitles

This French comedy-drama, ‘En Fanfare’ looks at nature versus nurture in a thoroughly engaging, even feel-good way. A renowned young classical conductor receives a shock cancer diagnosis and needs a bone marrow transplant.

Learning that he is adopted, Thibault finds the brother he wasn’t aware of: Jimmy, who works in the canteen of a struggling northern factory — and plays trombone in the work’s marching band.

Despite the initial class/ culture difficulties, and responses to their very different upbringings, they come to share a common purpose (musical, as well as medical!).

Sometimes moving, sometimes painful, sometimes laugh-out-loud, this was the top-rated film at the recent ICO Screenings.

Peter Cattaneo / UK, Spain 2024 / 111 min / Cert 12A / Some subtitles

Steve Coogan stars in this enjoyable comedy-drama, based on a true story.

In the 1970s, disillusioned with life, Tom Mitchell accepts a teaching post in an exclusive boys’ school in authoritarian Argentina. After rescuing a penguin from an oil spill, he ends up smuggling it into the school, little realising the effect his unusual friendship will have on the unruly students and all who meet the endearing creature.

Ultimately it also helps Tom get out of his comfort zone and face up to the harsh realities of a military regime. “The Penguin Lessons is a work of surprising depth and subtle, irresistible impact.” Rex Reed, Observer.

Mohammad Rasoulof / Iran 2024 / 167 min / Cert 15

A powerful and moving tale of morality, paranoia and resistance set against the backdrop of contemporary protests in Iran which combines deeply felt performances with real footage of the protests.

Filmed secretly in Iran; the director and actors were forced to flee the country after the film’s release. Iman has just been promoted to state investigator in the revolutionary court.

His wife is delighted with the rise in status, while their two teenage daughters are more interested in the growing protests. However, he soon finds that he is expected to rubber-stamp death penalties without even reading the evidence, and struggles to reconcile his own morality.

When his gun goes missing, he suspects his wife and daughters, and the domestic drama gradually builds in intensity and paranoia to a violent and suspenseful climax.

Marianne Elliott / UK 2024 / 115 min / Cert 12A

The glorious scenery of the South West Coast Path forms the backdrop to this profound true story of a 630-mile trek along the Cornish, Devon and Dorset coastline.

After being forcibly removed from their home, husband and wife, Raynor and Moth Winn make the desperate decision to walk in the hope that, in nature, they will find solace.

With only a tent and very few resources, every step along the path is a testament to their growing strength and determination. A portrayal of home, how it can be lost and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.