A romantic and thrilling story that spans several decades and continents; following one man's emotional journey to find his first love who disappeared 50 years ago, before his time runs out.

Kristopher (Egill Ólafsson) is a widower who is in the early stages of dementia. Realizing there isn’t a lot of time left before his memories are gone completely, he leaves Iceland and ventures to London, hoping to find his lost love. Flashbacks build up the story of how young Kristopher (Pálmi Kormákur) dropped out of school, got a job washing dishes at a Japanese restaurant, and fell in love with the owner’s daughter, Miko (Kōki). The film cleverly builds suspense in two directions simultaneously. We watch old Kristopher trying to find Miko and wondering if he’ll succeed, and we also wait with nervous anticipation to learn why the two were separated decades ago. Director Baltasar Kormákur masterfully weaves a story that encapsulates the human experience with poetic honesty and emotional depth. This is one of the most genuinely romantic movies of the past few years, not lightweight romantic, but rather romantic in a deep, human way that you can feel in your soul. (Some subtitles)

Iceland 2024 Baltasar Kormákur 121m

El Eco

The unique ties which bind rural farming communities are examined in this richly textured documentary which depicts all the nuances of a small Mexican community living in the remote village of El Eco.

Documenting life in the small village of El Eco in Mexico’s Puebla over the course of 18 months, we observe its changes in weather, fortune and the temperament of its few, tightly bonded residents in fine degrees. Here, everyone’s welfare hangs on the same unkind elements; with the frost and drought punishing the land, they learn to understand death, illness and love with each act, word and silence of their parents. Will the teenage Montse, prematurely aged by the rigours and responsibilities of a life on the land, break the patten and diverge from the path taken by generations of her ancestors? Salvadoran-Mexican director Tatiana Huezo has somehow crafted this compelling and beautifully observed documentary in such a way that it looks like realist drama. (Subtitles)

Mexico/Germany 2023 Tatiana Huezo 102m

Imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he did not commit, an inmate finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity and the transformative power of art. Oscar tipped, this is a remarkable film that soars, and is justly hailed by film critics around the world.

Divine G (Colman Domingo) finds purpose at Sing Sing Prison by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men, including a wary newcomer (Clarence Maclin). When the curtain rises on the beauty they’ve all built, what we witness is a work of art that never papers over the injustices, just as we see the men who are fighting for their humanity in a world that doesn’t value it. This isn’t simply a movie about one man experiencing the power of the arts, but about how such a programme acts as a consistent source of sanctuary for everybody involved. Kwedar’s deft direction works in tandem with fine-tuned drama to craft naturalistic mosaics, drawn from a patchwork of real prison experiences. This film will break your heart and rebuild it stronger than before.

USA 2023 Greg Kwedar 105m

Ten years after the disappearance of their teenage daughter, a couple is confronted by a young woman claiming to be their lost child.

John (Jared Harris) and Mary (Juliet Stevenson) have lived with desolating grief and the agony of uncertainty for the past ten years. Their only child, Clare, ran away from home when she was fourteen and no trace of her whereabouts has ever been found. When Clare (Erin Doherty) returns, now a young woman of twenty-four, Mary is overjoyed. But John comes to believe that Clare is not who she claims to be. As old tensions resurface, deceptive motivations and thrilling suspense culminate in a gripping search for the truth. Harris and Stevenson deliver exceptional performances. Doherty subtly delivers nervous looks and hesitations which make her character a believable prodigal daughter but leave enough doubt about her to sustain the mystery. This is an absorbing and affecting tale beautifully told by director Gilbert.

UK 2024 Virginia Gilbert 90m

This tense, touching and funny portrait of family dynamics follows three estranged sisters as they converge in a New York apartment to care for their ailing father.

Katie (Carrie Coon) is a controlling Brooklyn mother dealing with a wayward teenage daughter; free-spirited Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) is separated from her offspring for the first time; and Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) is a sports-betting stoner who has never left her father's apartment. We follow the siblings over the course of three volatile days, as death looms, grievances erupt and love seeps through the cracks of a fractured home.

USA 2023 Azazel Jacobs 101m

Gou Zhen

As part of a dog patrol tasked with clearing stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, a newly released convict bonds with a black stray and the two lonely souls embark on a new journey together.

A warm-hearted crowd pleaser about an ex-convict - Land (Eddie Peng) - and the canine he befriends, this the latest picture from prolific Chinese director Guan Hu, which elevates the man and dog genre in this moving film in which a lost soul is redeemed by his bond with a trusty mutt. This is a beautiful film that, with few words, reveals a personal drama while reflecting a complex social situation that affects many communities in China. The film makes the most of its blighted Gobi desert backdrop. Cinematographer Gai Weizhe shoots in widescreen, the better to capture the intimidatingly bleak lunar expanses of rock and sand. One of two very good Chinese films in this season’s programme (see also ‘Only the River Flows’). (Subtitles)

China 2024 Hu Guan 110m

Saoirse Ronan astounds as a young woman searching for grace in the face of addiction.

After living life on the edge in London, Rona (Ronan) attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland's Orkney Islands (where she grew up but left more than a decade ago) hoping to heal. As she reconnects with the dramatic landscape where she grew up, memories of her childhood merge with the more recent challenging events that have set her on the path to recovery. This is that rare, effective addiction film with a potent, if simple, message: if you persevere with curiosity and awe of the world, you will open the door to loving yourself as a part of it all. Adapted from Amy Liptrot's bestselling memoir.

UK 2023 Nora Fingscheidt 118m

An architect wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia following a devastating disaster. This was the most polarizing film at this years’ Cannes Film Festival.

Francis Ford Coppola turns the fall of ancient Rome into a fable about the perils of American capitalistic greed. Caesar (Adam Driver) is a celebrity architect with aspirations to build a utopia in the ruins of New York City, here called New Rome. This is the battleground between Cesar, Mayor Frankyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) and Hamilton Crassus (Jon Voight), head of the national bank. The supporting cast also includes Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Shia LaBeouf and Dustin Hoffman. Premiered at Cannes 2024 to a mixed reception, and as is most often the case, the most interesting films are those that once seen, leave you not knowing if you have seen a stinker, or the best film ever made.

USA 2024 Francis Ford Coppola 138m

<strong>‘This film contains flickering or flashing lights that may affect those with photosensitive epilepsy’.</strong>

This is the first full length feature documentary about Eric Ravilious, told in his own words through previously unseen private correspondence, made with the blessing of the Ravilious estate.

Sun 8 Sep 15:30

Thu 12 Sep 12:45

ROH

Tumble down the rabbit hole in this ballet adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s famous family story. Journey through Wonderland with Alice and encounter a host of curious characters in Christopher Wheeldon’s unique theatrical interpretation.  

Sat 19 Oct 14:00

Mavka: Lisova Pisnya

A beautiful Ukrainian animation based on a well-known story from Slavic mythology that celebrates the power of love, and the harmony between humankind and the natural world. Screened originally at the 2023 Chichester Film Festival, and brought back this season in support of the local Ukrainian community.

After a long-forgotten war between humans and the spirits of the forest that sees the mountains declared forbidden to humans, Lucas is tasked by the evil Kylina to find the tree of healing that caused the war. Young and naive forest nymph Mavka takes a shine to village artist Lucas, to the strong disapproval of the rest of the forest spirits and humans alike. There are strong ecological themes here, as well as some good old-fashioned fairytale morals about vanity and selfishness. This visually stunning film includes some beautiful Ukrainian folk music with striking close harmonies. (Subtitles)

Ukraine 2023 Oleh Malamuzh & Oleksandra Ruban 99m

Met Opera

Two-time Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera ‘Grounded’, commissioned by the Met and based on librettist George Brant’s acclaimed play, wrestles with the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of 21st-century warfare.

Sun 20 Oct 15:00

To complement our ‘Catching Fire’ special Q&A event and Rolling Stones talk, we present this career-spanning documentary on the band, with concert footage from their ‘A Bigger Bang’ tour.

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese documents the Stones' energetic performance at New York's Beacon Theatre. The concert, filmed in 2006, features Stones standards and favourites, plus guest appearances by Buddy Guy, Christina Aguilera and Jack White III. Scorsese takes note of the band's long career with music clips and interviews from previous decades. This is a masterful concert film, one that will appeal to movie lovers and hardcore Stones admirers alike.

USA 2008 Martin Scorsese 122m

NT Live

Jodie Comer's West End debut. 'Prima Facie' takes us to the heart of where emotion and experience collide with the rules of the game.

Thu 12 Sep 19:45

Sat 21 Sep 15:15

In this sharp, visceral and blackly humorous read on showbiz culture and society, a young actor in a cycle of nightmarish auditions takes it upon himself to find a new part to play.

Aden (Nabhaan Rizwan) is a young man who spends most of his time recording self-tapes for parts he never gets. After he receives multiple rejections for a series of terrible commercial auditions, he takes it upon himself to find a new part to play. This is a distressing metaphor for acting as a career, the ways in which we see other people, how we exploit what we see, and the harm that can cause. A seriously talented performer, Rizwan shines in a role that demands every shade in the spectrum from goofy comedy to dark contemplation. The varying characters he plays in auditions are vividly focussed and the layers of emotion Aden feels throughout each moment are easy to identify with.

UK 2023 Naqqash Khalid 95m

Isabella Tree and her husband, Charlie Burrell, strive to breathe new life into the ailing Knepp estate near Pulborough. A dying landscape is healed against all odds, and goes on to thrive in astonishing ways.

Imagine you’ve inherited a castle in West Sussex plus five square miles of farmland. You continue the family tradition of mixed arable and dairy farming, but the soil is so depleted that yields decrease, year on year. In 2000, faced with these dire circumstances, Isabella and Charlie took the risky decision. They abandoned farming, tore down the fences, introduced herds of Exmoor ponies, longhorn cattle and deer and some cute Tamworth pigs… and waited. 20 years later, largely by helping nature restore itself, Knepp has become a wildlife haven – and a beacon of hope for nature lovers. In this glorious documentary that engenders hope, you will be treated to beautiful Attenborough-style photography of the countryside reasserting itself and of the animals that returned to it. This is unmissable cinema (a huge hit across the country this Summer), and a source of pride for this area of the UK.

UK 2024 David Allen 75m

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo

This new adaptation of the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas was the summer box office smash in France.

Set against the tumultuous post-Napoleonic era, the story follows Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney), who is wrongly imprisoned and then escapes, crafting intricate revenge schemes against those who wronged him. This is a stunning and emotionally gratifying adventure film, built on rock-solid source material of course – with its timeless revenge theme still entertaining modern-day viewers. Compared to earlier adaptations, this latest version is briskly paced and rousingly acted by an all-around stellar ensemble. Everything about this robust and very enjoyable retelling of the classic is epic in scale: from the lavish sets and the orchestral score to the bold performances and the running time. We will include a short intermission.

France 2024 Alexandre de La Patellière & Matthieu Delaporte 178m

A brilliant young man puts his bright future at risk to help his father.

This new drama, written and directed by, and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor (‘Twelve Years A Slave’), follows the true story of a brilliant young black man from New Jersey (a magnificent performance from Jay Will) raised by his devoted yet struggling mother (Mary J. Blige) following his father’s murder conviction. Having won a scholarship to Yale against all the odds, he puts everything at risk to free his imprisoned father (Ejiofor). Also starring Camila Cabello and based on the New York Times bestseller ‘The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace’ by Jeff Hobb. This is the second directing role for Ejiofor following his debut ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’ in 2019.

UK 2024 Chiwetel Ejiofor 119m

Failed comedian Arthur Fleck meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn, while in Arkham State Hospital. Upon release, the pair embark on a doomed romantic misadventure.

USA 2024 Todd Phillips 138m

After undergoing a facial reconstructive surgery, a man becomes fixated on an actor in a stage production based on his former life.

Aspiring actor Edward (Sebastian Stan) undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost. This is as much a tale of outward appearance as it is inner anxieties, a balance director Schimberg strikes in careful ways as he crafts a stunning comedy-drama about seeing oneself. Think Aki Kaurismäki collaborating with David Cronenberg and that may get you close to having an idea to the originality of this film.

USA 2024 Aaron Schimberg 112m

Between Dream and Wakefulness

An Introduction to the Cinema of the Surreal

Following the screenings of the film ‘Lee’ (see above), with Kate Winslet as the photographer Lee Miller, this talk will take a look at Surrealist cinema, including Miller’s only film as an actor, Jean Cocteau’s ’The Blood of a Poet’.

Sat 26 Oct 10:30

ROH

Do not miss the return of this enchantingly staged family folk opera, following the triumphant, Olivier Award-winning run in 2021.

Sat 26 Oct 14:15

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.

Respected medical lecturer Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) learns that he has inherited his infamous grandfather's estate in Transylvania. Arriving at the castle, Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate his grandfather's experiments with the help of servants Igor (Marty Feldman), Inga (Teri Garr) and the fearsome Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman). After he creates his own monster (Peter Boyle), new complications ensue with the arrival of the doctor's fiancée, Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn).

USA 1974 Mel Brooks 106m

We take you on an incredible journey through the creation of one of the world’s most iconic recording studios. Directed by John McDermott and produced by Janie Hendrix, George Scott, and McDermott, this film is a treasure trove for music lovers and Hendrix fans alike.

Sun 27 Oct 17:30

In a legendary feat of leadership and perseverance, polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton kept alive his crew of 27 men for over a year despite the loss of their ship in frigid pack ice. Over a century later, a team of modern-day explorers sets out to find the sunken ship.

Using unprecedented AI tools, the actual voices of Shackleton and his crew "read" their personal diaries from the 1914 expedition and, illustrated with Frank Hurley's original expedition footage and photos, create a shiver-inducing venture into the past using immersive techniques. Expedition Leader Dr. John Shears, Subsea Manager Nico Vincent, Director of Exploration Mensun Bound and historian and broadcaster Dan Snow led a team of experts from around the globe in search of this perfect time capsule.

USA/UK 2024 J. Chin, N. Hewit & E. Chai Vasarhelyi 103m

Shipwrecked on a remote island, a young boy must adapt to life alone. But is he alone? A gripping animated adaptation of Michael Morpugo’s beloved novel with an A-list voice cast.

When Michael (Aaron MacGregor) is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parents' (Cillian Murphy and Sally Hawkins) yacht, he struggles to survive on his own. He can't find food or water, and as Michael and his dog curl up to sleep, he knows they cannot last long. But he soon realizes there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive. Following a close-run battle between life and death, the mysterious stranger – Kensuke (Ken Watanabe) - allows Michael into his world and they become friends, teaching and learning from each other until the day of separation becomes inevitable. This is a traditional hand-drawn animation which adds to the film’s charm, and the message that we should all work together despite our cultural differences is more relevant today than ever.

UK 2023 Neil Boyle & Kirk Hendry 85m

English National Ballet

Spectacular! This is the first time the stage production of ‘Swan Lake’ in-the-round will be shown in cinemas. It brought magic and glorious dancing to a packed Royal Albert Hall.

Wed 30 Oct 19:45

Sat 2 Nov time TBC

Sign up for the next CineCircle to discuss films seen at New Park.

Choose a warming drink, a glass of wine or beer at Brasserie Blanc.

TICKETS ARE FREE, but bookings are essential as we have limited numbers.

Brasserie Blanc, Chichester

The story of how a young Donald Trump started his real-estate business in 1970s and '80s New York with the helping hand of infamous lawyer Roy Cohn.

Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), eager to make his name as a hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé -- someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Both actors, especially Jeremy Strong, are gripping in a coming-of-age story that portrays the younger Trump somewhat sympathetically, though he loses his soul as he learns to imitate Cohn’s tactics. Can be compared to the Frankenstein tale in which the mad doctor creates a monster and then loses control of it.

USA 2024 Ali Abbasi 120m

This latest from Pedro Almodóvar was awarded the 2024 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for best film. It tells the story of two friends who get back in touch after many years apart.

Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation. This is Almodóvar’s first feature-length film in English, and contains sharp dialogue, great performances from Moore and Swinton and incredible style that makes it very watchable. Even though this film contemplates death, perhaps even embraces it, in doing so, Almodóvar effectively underscores the need to embrace life and joy.

Spain/USA 2024 Pedro Almodóvar 107m

Mon Crime

François Ozon’s latest film is a joyous comedy set in 1935 Paris, which sees a young actress acquitted of murdering a famous French producer. However, this is where the story just begins. Opened the 2024 Chichester International Film Festival.

Madeleine (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), a pretty, young, penniless and talentless actress, is accused of murdering a famous producer (Jean-Christophe Bouvet). Helped by her best friend Pauline (Rebecca Marder), a young unemployed lawyer, she is acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. A new life of fame and success begins, until the truth comes out. French A-listers Isabelle Huppert (a silent movie queen), Fabrice Luchini (the pedantic magistrate) and Danny Boon (a suave bon vivante) complete the cast. This is a funny, beautifully charismatic film, full of brilliant characters, gorgeous costumes and captivating production design. It is a delicious bit of feel-good French farce from master director François Ozon. (Subtitles)

France 2023 François Ozon 102m

The story of photographer Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

The film portrays a pivotal decade in the life of American war correspondent and photographer, Lee Miller (Kate Winslet). Miller's singular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century's most indelible images of war, including an iconic photo of Miller herself, posing defiantly in Hitler's private bathtub. Miller had a profound understanding and empathy for women and the voiceless victims of war. Her images display both the fragility and ferocity of the human experience. Alexander Skarsgård portrays her husband Roland Penrose, while Andy Samberg takes a dramatic turn as her partner in the field (and sometimes in the bedroom), David E. Scherman, a war correspondent for Life. Winslet shines in this biopic with a superbly powerful performance. She remains one of our most treasured actors and she brings a fierceness to this role.

USA 2023 Ellen Kuras 116m

Albert Hall

The 25th anniversary of the first public performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ was celebrated with a fully-staged, lavish production, set in the sumptuous Victorian splendour of the Royal Albert Hall.

Sun 3 Nov 12:30

In our first Film Club screening (18-25-year-olds) ………

In this chilling adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel, withdrawn and sensitive teen Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) faces taunting from classmates at school and abuse from her fanatically pious mother (Piper Laurie) at home. When strange occurrences start happening around Carrie, she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers. Invited to the prom by the empathetic Tommy Ross (William Katt), Carrie tries to let her guard down, but things eventually take a dark and violent turn. ‘Carrie’ is a horrifying look at supernatural powers, high school cruelty, and teen angst - and it brings us one of the most memorable and disturbing prom scenes in history. Director De Palma went on to direct ‘Scarface,’ ‘The Untouchables’ and even the iconic Bruce Springsteen ‘Dancing in the Dark’ video.

USA 1978 Brian De Palma 98m

Exhibition on Screen

200 years after its opening and a century after acquiring its first Van Gogh works, the National Gallery is hosting the UK’s biggest ever Van Gogh exhibition. Van Gogh is not only one of the most beloved artists of all time, but perhaps the most misunderstood.

This film is a chance to reexamine and better understand this iconic artist. Focusing on his unique creative process, we explore the artist’s years in the south of France where he revolutionised his style. Van Gogh became consumed with a passion for storytelling in his art, turning the world around him into vibrant, idealised spaces and symbolic characters. Poets and lovers filled his imagination; everything he did in the south of France served this new obsession. In part, this is what caused his notorious breakdown, but it didn’t hold back his creativity as he created masterpiece after masterpiece. Made in close collaboration with the National Gallery.

UK 2024 David Bickerstaff 90m

En Fanfare

This French spin on Mark Herman’s ‘Brassed Off’ (the British comedy-drama about colliery bands) has a beating emotional pulse of its own.

Thibaut (Benjamin Lavernhe) is an internationally renowned conductor of the Lille Symphony Orchestra who travels the world. He discovers he was adopted - then also finds out he has a younger brother, Jimmy (Pierre Lottin), who works in a school cafeteria and plays the trombone in a school marching band. While they seem to be worlds apart, their unwavering love of music unites them in difficult circumstances. The third feature film by screenwriter, actor and director Emmanuel Courcol emerges as an immensely touching and melodious work, bringing relationships and music to the fore. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Emmanuel Courcol 103m

Documentary filmmaker extraordinaire Mark Cousins examines the life and work of Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham in his latest cine-essay.

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was a painter, a visionary, an artist. She was a unique thinker. One day in May 1949, Barns-Graham, then 36 years old and an emerging figure in the modernist St. Ives group of artists, climbed the Grindelwald glacier in Switzerland. She experienced an aesthetic and spiritual epiphany which rewired her brain and transformed her art. She spent the rest of her life painting it. Through a cinematic immersion into her art and life, the film explores themes of gender, neurodiversity, climate change, and the nature of creativity from youth to old age.

UK 2024 Mark Cousins 88m

From renegade auteur Jacques Audiard (‘A Prophet,’ ‘The sisters Brothers’) comes this audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations.

In Mexico, a lawyer receives an unexpected offer to help a feared cartel boss retire from his business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he's always dreamed of being. Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self. ‘Emilia Peréz; is art, theatre, narco-thriller and social commentary, all wrapped up into one. It's an award-worthy masterpiece and easily one of the best films of the year. Paul Guilhaume’s cinematography is masterful. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Jacques Audiard 130m

Amidst World War I's chaos, a grieving father turns hero, leading villagers to safety while evading a relentless enemy driven by vengeance.

In a Belgian village during the tumultuous start of World War I, the Lambert family finds themselves thrust into the heart of the conflict. At the centre is Leonard (Iain Glen), a devoted husband and father who grapples with protecting his family amidst the chaos of war as German forces advance to their village. Amidst the war, a tender love story blossoms between Adrien Lambert (James Downie), Leonard's son, and Louise Janssen (Sasha Luss), a local villager. Their relationship serves as a beacon of hope and resilience in the face of adversity. With its compelling portrayal of familial bonds, love amidst chaos, and the indomitable human spirit, ‘The Last front’ will immerse audiences in a gripping tale of survival, love, and the enduring impact of war on both individuals and communities. Mesmerising, suspenseful and thrilling, this is a fine drama that shines a spotlight on a part of Europe that really hasn’t been covered very much in war movies.

Belgium 2024 Julien Hayet-Kerknawi 98m

Sad, Mad or Unsettlingly Independent

For the weekend of Remembrance Day, this talk, illustrated by a range of clips, will look back at the range of representations of widowhood in films from different periods and cultures.

Sat 9 Nov – In the Auditorium

This is a new 4K restoration by the BFI of the classic, distinctly beautiful British animated feature film presents the characters and colours sparkling as never before.

Hoping to escape destruction by human developers and save their community, a colony of rabbits, led by Hazel and Fiver, seek out a safe place to set up a new warren. Although hard-hitting in its depiction of survival and conflict, the film is a work of great beauty with an extraordinary voice cast who elevate the work to the highest level. Some of Britain’s best-known actors including John Hurt, Richard Briers, Ralph Richardson, Denholm Elliott, Roy Kinnear and Hannah Gordon, brought the rabbits to life and made them eternally memorable. A unique opportunity to see this classic on the big screen.

UK 1978 Martin Rosen & John Hubley 91m

Toni en Famille

Toni is raising her five children alone. She also sings at bars and had a hit single 20 years ago. Today, as her two eldest prepare to go to college, Toni wonders: what will she do when all of her offspring have left home?

Antonia (Camille Cottin), affectionately known as Toni, is a single mother who tirelessly cares for her five children while juggling a demanding full-time job. Her evenings are filled with song as she performs in local bars to support her family. Toni possesses a remarkable talent, evident from a chart-topping single she recorded two decades ago. As her two eldest children prepare for university, Toni faces a poignant question: What lies ahead when her nest is empty? At 43, can she still grasp the opportunity to regain control of her life? Director Nathan Ambrosioni (‘Paper Flags’) crafts both a poignant portrait of a woman and a moving family tableau, displaying remarkable accuracy and delicacy. The film premiered at the 16th edition of Film Francophone d’Angoulême. Cast also includes Thomas Gioria, Léa Lopez and Louise Labèque. (Subtitles)

France 2023 Nathan Ambrosioni 96m

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of the best and most ambitious films of the 21st Century, we present this 4K remaster that sees a team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an attempt to ensure humanity's survival.

In Earth's future, a global crop blight and second Dust Bowl are slowly rendering the planet uninhabitable. NASA physicist Professor Brand (Michael Caine) is working on plans to save mankind by transporting Earth's population to a new home via a wormhole. But first, Brand must send former NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and a team of researchers through the wormhole and across the galaxy to find out which of three planets could be mankind's new home. Staggeringly beautiful, bafflingly complex, this is proper event cinema.

USA 2004 Christopher Nolan 169m

Je Verrai Toujours Vos Visages

Victims of violent crime and perpetrators meet up in a restorative justice group in order to have a dialogue and heal from their trauma.

Since 2014, France’s Restorative Justice programme offers a safe space for dialogue between offenders and victims – supported by professionals and volunteers. Among the participants are Chloé (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a victim of sexual assault; Grégoire (Gilles Lellouche), Nawelle (Leïla Bekhti) and Sabine (Miou-Miou), victims of burglary and snatching; while Nassim (Dali Benssalah), Issa (Birane Ba) and Thomas (Fred Testot) are offenders, convicted of violent robberies. In this emotional and difficult journey, they must overcome resentment to find solace and forgiveness, and perhaps, at the end of the road, some of them might even find healing. Adèle Exarchopoulos, won Best Supporting Actress César Award. ‘Herry is brilliant at taking hold of social issues and turning them into works of fiction… an ideal blend of intelligence and emotion.’ CineEurope. (Subtitles)

France 2023 Jeanne Herry 118m

Simply delightful in every sense of the word - a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress, and decides that she must have one of her own.

Leslie Man Mrs Harris is a warm, hard-working cleaning lady in 1950s London, doggedly going from house to house, quietly tidying up after lives far more exciting and glamorous than hers. But when she sees a Dior dress in one of her regular client’s bedrooms, she falls in love and sets her mind on travelling to Paris to get one herself. This 60-year-old story of pursuing a dream with resolute kindness could not feel more fresh in its knowing class clash. Lesley Manville is an absolute treasure, her command of comedic pathos supreme.

2022 Hungary / UK Anthony Fabian 115m

La Nuit Américaine

Filmed at Nice’s fabled Victorine Studios, François Truffaut explores the joys and strife of moviemaking in one of his most beloved films. This is a congenial tribute to the self-afflicted madness that is making a movie.

Truffaut himself appears as the harried director of a frivolous melodrama, the shooting of which is plagued by the whims of a neurotic actor (Jean-Pierre Léaud), an ageing but still forceful Italian diva (Valentina Cortese) and a British ingenue haunted by personal scandal (Jacqueline Bisset). An 18 of 20 irreverent paean to the prosaic craft of cinema as well as a delightful human comedy about the pitfalls of sex and romance, ‘Day for Night’ is buoyed by robust performances and a sparkling score by the legendary Georges Delerue. (Subtitles)

France 1973 François Truffaut 116m

A story of ambition, blackmail and desire with a dazzling anti-hero at its dark heart, all brought together by a delicious performance by Ian McKellen as a catty theatre critic in 1930s London.

Jimmy Erskine (McKellen) is the most feared and famous theatre critic in 1930s London, saving his most savage takedowns for Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), an already unsure leading lady. He takes pleasure in ritually tearing her down, a practice that has further eroded her fragile sense of confidence. As a gay man forever at the mercy of laws that prohibit his very existence, Jimmy is living life on the edge, indulging in park sex with strangers while showboating his flamboyance in writing. But when his newspaper’s proprietor dies and his son (Mark Strong) takes over, Jimmy may need to turn to Nina for help. As the three become entangled in a whodunnit wrapped in a Faustian pact, their strange triangle winds tighter and tighter to devastating effect for all those caught in the deadly web of blackmail and betrayal. McKellen makes Jimmy simultaneously despicable, understandable and wholly entertaining, whilst Arterton is also a stand-out, as she skilfully navigates how a stage actress tries to overcome personal demons and self-doubt. Supporting cast also includes Romola Garai, Claire Skinner and the always impressive Lesley Manville. This is a whodunnit wrapped in a Faustian pact which winds tighter and tighter.

UK/USA 2023 Anand Tucker 95m

Clint Eastwood is back in the director’s seat, telling us about a family man who while serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma.

Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is driving late at night and has potentially hit a deer that was in the road. A year later he is called for jury duty about a murder case that he realizes may have a connection to his “deer” run-in. He finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict - or free - the accused killer.  The cast also includes Toni Collette, Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (‘Whiplash’), and Kiefer Sutherland. Collette and Hoult reunite on the big screen 22 years after playing mother and son in ‘About a Boy’. This is rumoured to be Eastwood’s final film.

USA 2024 Clint Eastwood 157m

Cillian Murphy plays a father who witnesses Ireland’s church’s abusive workhouses for unwed mothers in an absorbing Dickensian story based on recent history.

Christmas 1985. Devoted father and coal merchant Bill Furlong (Murphy) discovers disturbing secrets kept by the convent in his town, along with some shocking truths of his own. The film reveals truths about Ireland's Magdalene laundries - horrific asylums run by Roman Catholic institutions from the 1820s until 1996, ostensibly to reform "fallen young women." Adapted from the Booker Prize nominated novel by Claire Keegan, Cillian Murphy's outstanding acting – as has become the norm – anchors this moving film.

Ireland/Belgium 2024 Tim Mielants 98m

We kick off our five-film Art of Action season with Buster Keaton’s classic, ‘The General’.

Keaton plays Johnny Gray, a Southern railroad engineer who loves his train engine (the General) almost as much as he loves Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack). After the opening shots of the Civil War are fired at Fort Sumter, Northern spies steal the General (and, unwittingly, Annabelle), switching the story from drama and romance, to adventure mixed with Keaton's trademark deadpan humour as he uses every means possible to catch up to the General, thwart the Yankees and rescue his darling Annabelle. As always, Keaton performs his own stunts, combining his prodigious dexterity, impeccable comic timing, and expressive body language to convey more emotion than the stars of any of the talkies that were soon to dominate cinema.

USA 1927 Buster Keaton 79m

★★★★★ Daily Mail

Barbican

Hailed as 'the ultimate Broadway musical from the golden age’, ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ is a simple love story - about two people who just can't stand each other!

Sun 17 Nov 12:30

Wed 20 Nov 17:15

Presented as a companion to the Pallant Gallery exhibition ‘Dora Carrington Beyond Bloomsbury’ and the Chichester Evening Arts Society Talk ‘Dora Carrington: The Tragic Muse of Bloomsbury’.

Painter Dora Carrington (Emma Thompson) develops an intimate but extremely complex bond with writer Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce). Though Lytton is a homosexual, he is enchanted by the mysterious Dora and they begin a lifelong friendship that has strangely romantic undertones. Eventually, Lytton and Dora decide to live together, despite the fact that the latter has fallen in love with military man Ralph Partridge (Steven Waddington), whom she plans to marry. Benefits from a gorgeous Michael Nyman (‘The Piano’) score.

UK 1995 Christopher Hampton 121m

De Nos Frères Blessés

With his second feature, writer-director Hélier Cisterne recreates the tragic true story of a young communist worker devoted to the struggle for Algerian independence.

Fernand Iveton (Vincent Lacoste) became the only Algerian of European background to be executed as a political prisoner by the French authorities during Algeria’s War of Independence. He left behind a loving wife and adoptive son. Moving smoothly between Paris and Algiers, Cisterne plunges us into the heart of a conflict that continues to resonate in contemporary France, North Africa and beyond, providing a chilling reminder of colonial tyranny, as well as a hopeful example of a man who chose humanity over politics and profit. Cast also includes Vicky Krieps and Jules Langlade. The film benefits from a very passionate script along with two main actors who exude conviction. (Subtitles)

France 2022 Hélier Cisterne 95m

Julie Zwijgt

Julie is a star player at an elite tennis academy. When her coach falls under investigation and is suddenly suspended, all of the club's players are encouraged to speak up. But Julie decides to keep quiet.

Julie (Tessa van den Broeck) dedicates her life to tennis, her sport, her training and her career. When her coach is suspended, rumours start spreading and voices, other than Julie’s, are heard. Belgian director, Leonardo Van Dijl, follows her each step of the way, always keeping the right distance. “I wanted Julie to inspire. There's a uniquely emancipatory, rebellious energy in Julie's decision not to speak, as it compels the film to respect her pace and not bow to external pressures”, Van Dijl noted. Sometimes silence is louder than words. Cast includes Ruth Becquart, Koen De Bouw, Claire Bodson and Laurent Caron. ‘A tense, absorbing film of silences and absences, of difficult terrain skirted around, of subjects avoided’ - The Guardian. (Subtitles)

Sweden / Belgium 2024 Leonardo Van Dijl 97m

Maria Schneider's rise to fame after ‘Last Tango in Paris’ and its controversial production's impact on her life and career.

As an aspiring young actress, Maria Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei) seemingly could not have asked for a better opportunity: co-starring alongside the legendary Marlon Brando (Matt Dillon) in the highly anticipated Last Tango in Paris. But the experience proved scarring: Schneider never entirely recovered from what she felt was a violation of her by both Brando and director Bernardo Bertolucci (Giuseppe Maggio). Drawing inspiration from Vanessa Schneider’s book about her cousin, Being Maria observes the star before, during and after she made Last Tango. The cast also includes Céleste Brunnquell and Yvan Attal, but it is Vartolomei that most impresses in Jessica Palud’s sensitive biopic. (Subtitles) We will screen ‘Last Tango in Paris’ as a companion piece to this film.

France 2024 Jessica Palud 100m

Everyone’s favourite bear Paddington returns to Peru, as he and the Browns visit his beloved Aunt Lucy. A thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon and beyond.

UK 2024 Dougal Wilson 103m

Ultimo Tango a Parigi

Bernardo Bertolucci’s landmark and controversial erotic film focuses on a young Parisian woman meeting a middle-aged American businessman, who demands their clandestine relationship be based only on sex.

Distraught following his wife's suicide, American hotelier Paul (Marlon Brando) becomes transfixed by the beautiful younger Frenchwoman Jeanne (Maria Schneider) when he meets her by chance at an apartment both are attempting to rent. The couple begin an extended but purely anonymous sexual relationship in which they do not even tell each other their names, but it soon becomes clear that the couple's deliberate level of disassociation cannot continue. This is a vivid exploration of pain, love and sex featuring a typically towering Marlon Brando performance. (Some subtitles)

Italy/France 1972 Bernardo Bertolucci 129m

Claude, Romy, Michel… and the Others

With ‘Cesar and Rosalie’, starring Yves Montand and Romy Schneider screening in this year’s French Film Festival, this talk looks back at the remarkable career of its director, Claude Sautet.

Sat 23 Nov 10:30 - In the Auditorium

NT Encore

Written and directed by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson and featuring Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale, ‘Girl From the North Country’ reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan as they’ve never been heard before.

Sat 23 Nov 13:00

Coup de Chance

Woody Allen features in the French Film Festival UK for the first time with a thriller set in the upper-class echelons of Paris society and written, acted and filmed entirely in French.

For his 50th film Allen deals with a bored wife in Paris (Lou de Laâge) who cheats on her wealthy and aloof husband (Melvile Poupaud) with an old high school friend (Niels Schneider)… which triggers fatal consequences. Allen at 88 has more than a half-century career as a writer and director of influential classics such as ‘Annie Hall’ (1977) and ‘Crimes and Misdemeanours’ (1989). He has an affection for France and his 2011 comedy ‘Midnight in Paris’ brought him his fourth Oscar, for original screenplay. Here he has coaxed superb performances from a sterling cast especially newcomer Lou de Laâge, who has distinct traces of Diane Keaton. Stunning cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. ‘Restores the masterful filmmaker to his deserved position as one of the screen’s most profound storytellers’ - The Observer. (Subtitles)

France/USA/UK 2024 Woody Allen 96m

Met Opera

In this production of Puccini's masterpiece, extraordinary soprano Lise Davidsen stars as the volatile diva Floria Tosca for her first time at the Met.

Sun 24 Nov 14:30

Thu 28 Nov 19.15

En corps

Élise is a talented ballet dancer whose life is turned upside down – first by injury and then when she catches her boyfriend cheating with her understudy.

On a path to physical and emotional recovery, she travels from Paris to Brittany, where she embraces the artistic freedom of contemporary dance. On this journey of self-discovery, she finds friendship and new ways to reinvent herself. Cédric Klapisch (Someone Somewhere, Back to Burgundy) delivers a tale of strength and resilience. Cast includes Marion Barbeau, Hofesh Shechter, Denis Podalydès, Pio Marmaï, François Civil, Muriel Robin. (Subtitles)

France/Belgium 2022 Cédric Klapisch 117m

In this psychological thriller, two young women of religion are drawn into a game of cat-and-mouse in the house of a strange man.

Hugh Grant is arguably delivering career-best work here as the sinister Mr. Reed, a theologist who engages in a riveting game of matching wits and beliefs with Sisters Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East), two Mormon missionaries, who visit his seemingly humble abode with the initial intention of converting him. ‘Heretic’ brings an incredibly sharp religious thriller script to life through a chilling and charismatic performance by Grant. Most of the movie's horror and tension is achieved through dialogue and conversations about faith and power. It's provocative, divisive and challenges the audience to question their own convictions when it comes to faith.

USA 2024 Scott Beck & Bryan Woods 110m

César et Rosalie

A man is in love with a woman. But she isn't making it easy for him, especially when her old flame enters the picture.

One of Claude Sautet's most celebrated films, this film reunited the director with his on-screen muse Romy Schneider. After her marriage ends in divorce, the beautiful Rosalie (Romy Schneider) begins dating César (Yves Montand), a wealthy playboy and businessman. But when her old flame, David (Sami Frey), unexpectedly re-enters her life, the two men simultaneously vie for her affections. This is a snapshot of the shifting sands in the Seventies sexual revolution. The cast also includes Bernard Le Coq, Eva Maria Meineke and Isabelle Huppert. We are screening this as a classic tribute to Claude Sautet in the centenary year of his birth. (Subtitles)

France 1972 Claude Sautet 111m

The boundary-pushing Ida Rubinstein selects Maurice Ravel to compose the music for her next ballet, leading to the creation of his greatest and most timeless success ever - Boléro. Closed the 2024 Chichester International Film Festival.

In the two decades between the First and Second World War, Maurice Ravel (Raphaël Personnaz) was feted as France’s greatest living composer. His work melded modernism, baroque and neoclassicism, with later compositions also embracing jazz. Ravel is best known for his 1928 composition Boléro, whose conception lies at the heart of Anne Fontaine’s elegant film. It weaves Ravel’s working process and life through his encounters with three women: the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein (Jeanne Balibar), whose commission led to the music’s creation; his patron Misia Sert (Doria Tillier), and his pianist friend Marguerite Long (Emmanuelle Devos). (Subtitles)

France/Belgium 2024 Anne Fontaine 120m

This documentary focuses on the making of the 235-minute, silent epic ‘Napoléon’ by director/writer/actor Abel Gance.

‘Napoléon’ showcased Gance's talents with the camera, his use of multiple images (like a split screen), and his handling of crowded action scenes – all brought to the fore in this documentary by Nelly Kaplan, who became his assistant. Kaplan used vintage footage, such as Gance filming the famous snowball fight at the Brienne military school and still photographs and excerpts from Gance's production diaries. ‘Napoléon’ (the first part) was restored most recently for screening at this year’s 77th Cannes Film Festival and the “new” version is showing in its entirety in various summer festivals with music by 250 musicians from Radio France. Keep an eye out for a possible 2025 screening at Chichester Cinema. (Subtitles)

France 1984 Nelly Kaplan 60m

Our Fund Raising Film Quiz is back!

After a year's hiatus, our popular annual film quiz A Mind for Movies returns. This fund-raiser will help with our on-going recovery post-Covid and a very challenging summer at the box office.

The Quiz will be hosted by Walter Francisco (Head of Programming) and Patrick Hargood (Education Officer).

Get a group of 6 together, bring your quiz partner, or come by yourself and make some new friends -  everyone is welcome!  It's a fun-night of multiple choice, great film clips and lots of laughs! Cheese and biscuits platters will be provided as before.

There will be a raffle and a trophy for the winning team

Thu 28 Nov

Doors open at 18:30 for a 19:00 start

Assembly Rooms (North St, Chichester)

Tickets £24

Book at table of 6 for £144.00

Steve McQueen’s new film follows the story of a group of Londoners during the bombings of the British capital in World War II.

Nine-year-old George (Elliott Heffernan) is evacuated to the countryside by his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan), to escape the bombings. Defiant and determined to return to his family, George embarks on a journey back home as Rita searches for him. His adventures see him leap from a moving train before finding charity and bigotry, air-raid wardens and criminals (the always wonderful Kathy Burke and Stephen Graham). McQueen does a great job of showing an overview of the Blitz through a series of often powerful and moving moments, somehow making the subject matter feel monumental, even though we have seen documented, honoured and reinterpreted on screen many times before.

UK 2024 Steve McQueen 120m

Follows the lives of the Charles family as they deal with themes of family legacy and more, in deciding what to do with an heirloom, the family piano.

Mississippi 4 July 1911. As the white landowners are outdoors enjoying thunderous Independence Day fireworks, young Black men, led by Boy Charles (Stephan James), break into one of their antebellum homes to take a piano with intricate carvings etching his family’s history from slavery to its wood panels. There is conflict from Boy Willie (John David Washington) who is keen to sell the heirloom, and Uncle Doaker (Samuel L Jackson) is a highlight as he takes a comically neutral - but not informed - stance to arguments over the piano and the ghosts shackled to it. This is the third film, after ‘Fences’ and ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’, that Denzel Washington has produced from playwright August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle. It’s also the finest.

USA 2024 Malcolm Washington 127m

Iris et les Hommes

Iris, a woman who has everything: a wonderful husband, two perfect daughters, a successful business - but no sex life. Perhaps the time has come to find a lover.

"They're not". This is how Iris (Laure Calamy) answers her doctor when she is asked how things are going with her husband (Vincent Elbaz). The words slip from her mouth like a brutal realization: how long has it been since they last made love? Yet everything else is great: her partner loves her, they have two happy daughters, she runs a successful medical practice, lives in a beautiful apartment and has the best friends one could hope for. But soon Iris will be turning 50. It is a stranger who whispers the seed of an idea: "Take a lover". So, she dares open Pandora's box, and hesitantly registers herself on a dating app. Immediately, men start to appear, as if it were raining...

France 2023 Caroline Vignal 98m

Andrea Arnold’s latest film premiered in Cannes and stars probably the most impressive British actor of current times – Barry Keoghan.

Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives with her brother Hunter (Jason Buda) and her father Bug (Keoghan), who raises them alone in a squat in northern Kent. Bug doesn't have much time to devote to them, so Bailey looks for attention and adventure elsewhere, including with a mysterious man named Bird (a riveting Franz Rogowski). Keoghan is superbly attuned to Arnold’s naturalistic style, and in turn, Arnold brings out the best of his softness and charisma. Arnold’s filmmaking is typically robust, buoyed by another great soundtrack of course, and she leaves us with the sentiment that the kids, regardless of life’s trivial circumstances, are going to be all right.

UK 2024 Andrea Arnold 119m

Le Procès du Chien

A young lawyer goes to great lengths to save her client, a repeat-offender dog, from capital punishment. This dog helps Avril accept her own human complexity.

Feisty, feminist lawyer Avril (Laetitia Dosch), who specialises in the defence of animals, is prepared to do anything to save her client, Cosmos, a dog that has been convicted of biting three people. She has no choice but to win the case, as otherwise her unusual client risks being put down. Avril begins to question her belief in justice and discovers the contempt some humans show for animals. Perhaps it is this dog (played by four-legged star Kodi and recipient of the Palm Dog award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival) who will help Avril accept her inner demons. Marking the directorial debut of Swiss-French actress and writer Laetitia Dosch the film (based on several real cases) mixes both comedy and drama while raising questions about our relationships with animals. This is a film that will make you laugh, think… and just hang out with Cosmos the dog.

Switzerland/France 2024 Laetitia Dosch 80m

In 1960, sixteen newly independent African countries enter the United Nations. To the rhythms of a jazz soundtrack, Congo becomes the arena in which the battle over the UN is fought.

As Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at the UN in reaction to the neo-colonial grab of the resources of newly independent Congo, UN delegates from African Countries are blackmailed. In an incredulous twist Patrice Lumumba’s assassination unites the Afro-Asian block, demanding the UN General Assembly to vote for immediate worldwide decolonisation. In this highly explosive context, the United States government dispatches Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone as Jazz Ambassadors around the world – as a diversion from CIA-backed coups. Cutting between home movies, official texts, historical footage and Patrice Lumumba’s speeches, the film uses an endless rhythm of rumba and jazz to unravel colonial machinations of power in 1960. ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat’ is a huge achievement, one that intertwines the history of jazz and colonisation. (Some subtitles)

Belgium/France 2024 Johan Grimonprez 150m

Shichinin no samurai

New 4K restoration. A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves in Kurosawa’s influential classic.

Kambei the samurai assembles his team of reluctant warriors to participate in a probable suicide mission that will bring them neither money nor fame. The second act explores the strained relationship between villager and warrior class while the last act depicts the epic final battle when the bandits attack the village. The shoot lasted a year, but the results are there to be seen with its sublime photography and choreography. Kurosawa’s approach to historical realism was utterly committed with meticulously researched sets and costumes with masterful deployment of natural lighting and weather conditions to enhance the drama.

Japan 1954 Akira Kurosawa 206m

Spectateurs

What does it mean, to go to the movies? Why have people been going for over one hundred years? This is an unmissable film for lovers of cinema.

Arnaud Desplechin set out to celebrate cinemas and their manifold magic. He walked in the footsteps of his young alter ego Paul Dédalus, as if in a filmgoer’s coming-of-age story. Memories, fiction, discoveries come together in an irrepressible torrent of pictures. The warm, inviting tone of the film and Desplechin’s use of a stunning selection of movie clips should make this hugely appealing for cinephiles who will consider it must-see. ‘Cheerfully makes the point that we grow with cinema, and cinema with us’ – Variety.

(Subtitles)

France 2024 Arnaud Desplechin 88m

We hope to welcome French filmmaker Mathieu Almaric for a Q&A after the screening. (tbc)

International Panorama: Japan

Gojira -1.0

Termed by critics as the best Godzilla film in decades - an instant classic with terrific special effects and a really entertaining story to match. Re-released in recognition of its Oscar earlier this year.

Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.

Kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) stumbles into a Godzilla attack at the start of the film, and his cowardice costs lives. So, when the creature stirs again a few years later, Shikishima has a chance to redeem himself and save his new family, but can he face his greatest fear? A tough call, as this Godzilla is an elemental, uncaring force, a manifestation of Japan's darkest psychology.

It is the rare kaiju (giant monster genre) movie that cares this deeply about the inner lives and motivations of the people scurrying out of the way of the monster’s giant thudding feet.

An instant classic with terrific special effects and a really entertaining story to match.

Japan 2023 Takashi Yamazaki 124m

98% - Rotten Tomatoes

Winner of five Oscars, including Best Film, Director, Actor and Actress. A true classic which must be seen by all lovers of quality film.

1963. When Korean War veteran Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) gets transferred for evaluation from a prison to a mental institution, he assumes it will be a less restrictive environment. But the tyrannical Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) runs the psychiatric ward with an iron fist, keeping her patients cowed through abuse, medication and sessions of electroconvulsive therapy. The battle of wills between the rebellious McMurphy and the inflexible Ratched soon affects all the ward's patients. This nearly flawless film makes us question our judgments on who is mad and who is sane.

USA 1975 Milos Forman 133m

L'amour Ouf

Set in the 1980s in northern France, actor turned director Gilles Lellouche charts an improbable relationship between Jackie (Adèle Exarchopoulos) from an upper-middleclass family and Clotaire (François Civil) from a modest background.

They grow up in the same town and attend the same high school. Whilst she is dedicated to her studies, he plays truant and becomes involved in a gang. Their paths cross later in life in adulthood and they fall madly in love. Lellouche (who previously came to the French Film Festival with ‘Sink or Swim’), returns with an emotional rollercoaster spanning over 15 years in the lives of star-crossed lovers, leaving us questioning the nature of love or an amour fou. ‘Lellouche’s stages action sequences and tender scenes of young love with finesse and ingenuity’ – IndieWire. (Subtitles)

France/Belgium 2024 Gilles Lellouche 116m

Spot the film-making talents of tomorrow in this selection of garlanded francophone shorts, curated by Martine Pierquin. Full film details are online.

How Do I Know? / Comment Savoir …? - Best short film Cabourg Film Festival 2024. France 18m

Danavan - Apprehension about the arrival of the new next-door neighbour in Quebec. Canada 12m

Montsouris Park / Montsouris - Winner, Leitz Cine Discovery Prize, Cannes Film Festival 2024. France 14m

Sira / Langue Maternelle - Best Film in French, Dakar Court, Senegal 2023. France 24m

Pumpkin / Pupuce - Brussels Short Film Festival –Prix de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles 2024. Belgium 19m

Summer 96 / Été 96 - Animation - Winner of César for Best Animated Short Film, 2024. France 12m

Caregiver / Auxiliaire - A caregiver must break the news of his departure. France 24m

Various 123m

From legendary director Ridley Scott, ‘Gladiator II’ continues the epic saga of power, intrigue and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Be prepared for the biggest spectacle of the season.

Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal from ‘All of us Strangers’) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honour to return the glory of Rome to its people. The amazing cast includes Denzel Washington as Macrinus, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Pedro Pascal as Marcus Acacius plus Derek Jacobi, Matt Lucas and Tim McInnerny.

USA 2024 Ridley Scott 147m

Chiara Mastroianni transforms herself into her father Marcello in this self-reflexive confection from Christophe Honoré.

During a summer that sees her reality fall into disarray, Chiara decides to live as her father. She dresses like him. She speaks like him. She breathes like him. Chiara’s impersonation is so convincing that people around her begin to believe. They call her “Marcello”. For Mastroianni, it’s not just one of her best roles yet, but a way to connect with the father she lost while making sense of her own life. Honoré’s is a comedy as gently silly as it is sincerely sweet. With a delightful cast playing versions of themselves, this film is a funny look at acting, performance, and familial legacy. Cast also includes Catherine Deneuve, Benjamin Biolay, Melvil Poupaud, Nicole Garcia, Fabrice Luchini, Stefania Sandrelli and Hugh Skinner. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Christophe Honoré 120m

Anouk Aimée (1932–2024)

Enigmatic Icon of European Cinema

Following her recent passing, we celebrate the extraordinary film career of this fine actor with a talk, illustrated with a range of clips from her most memorable films.

Sat 7 Dec 10:30 - In the Auditorium

Un Homme et Une Femme

Written and directed by Claude Lelouch and starring the late Anouk Aimée and Jean Louis Trintignant this romantic classic shows a widow and widower who meet by chance at their children's boarding school and whose budding relationship is complicated by the memories of their deceased spouses.

Lush photography and a memorable musical score by Francis Lai combined to make it one of the most successful French films of all time and launch Aimée’s career on the international arena as well as giving Lelouch his first Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966 and an Oscar for best foreign film. Screened in honour of Aimée who died earlier this year with a filmed tribute by Claude Lelouch. The beautiful French star Anouk Aimée is appropriately mysterious and glamorous. We present an illustrated talk on Anouk Aimee - ‘Enigmatic Icon of French Cinema’ as a companion piece to this classic. (Subtitles)

France 1966 Claude Lelouch 102m

2024 Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear winner. The journey of plundered treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey exhibited in Paris, now being returned to Benin.

From acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (‘Atlantics’), this is a poetic and immersive work of art that delves into real perspectives on far-reaching issues surrounding appropriation, self-determination and restitution. Set in November 2021, the documentary charts 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey that are due to leave Paris and return to their country of origin: the present-day Republic of Benin. Using multiple perspectives Diop questions how these artifacts should be received in a country that has reinvented itself in their absence. Winner of the coveted Golden Bear prize at the 2024 Berlinale, this is an affecting though altogether singular conversation piece that is as spellbinding as it is essential.

France/Senegal/Benin 2024 Mati Diop 68m

Bernadette

Legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve plays Bernadette Chirac in this uproarious comedy based on actual events. A wonderful film to close this year’s French Film Festival.

In 1995 Jacques Chirac (Michel Vuillermoz) is elected President of the French Republic. When Bernadette Chirac (Catherine Deneuve) steps into the Elysée, she is ready for the recognition she’s earned, having always worked in his shadow and tirelessly supported her husband’s journey to the presidency. Instead, she finds herself set aside and brushed off as old fashioned, cold and sour-tempered. With the help of her chief of staff, Bernard Niquet (Denis Podalydès) Bernadette embarks on a campaign to restore her reputation and assert her role as first lady by becoming a major media figure. Léa Domenach’s directorial debut skilfully blurs the lines between fact and fiction. A tale of female 'empowerment', ‘Bernadette’ is a chronicle of the Chirac years, with delightful gags and bright colours. (Subtitles)

France 2023 Léa Domenach 95m

Royal Ballet

This Christmas, be transported into an ethereal world where a sprinkling of fairy dust makes dreams come true.

Tue 10 Dec 19:15

Sun 15 Dec 14:30

When a Cardinal is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he finds himself at the centre of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of The Church.

Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church. This is a skilfully crafted film with stunning cinematography and a beautiful score that takes many surprising turns, culminating in a climactic reveal that will leave audiences astonished. The A-list cast also includes Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini.

UK/USA 2024 Edward Berger 120m

2024 Palme d’Or Winner! A young sex worker from Brooklyn meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch, but once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Anora (Mikey Madison) is a New York escort and table dancer. One night, her club manager announces that a high roller is in the house, asking for a dancer who can speak Russian. Ani, who is from an Uzbek background, volunteers. The man is the sweet-faced but otherwise appalling and entitled son of an oligarch, and he quickly takes her back to his luxurious apartment and proposes a Vegas marriage. When Vanya’s less-than-delighted father hears the news, he sends some goons round to sort out the situation with his boneheaded son. Scene-stealing leading lady Madison is surely destined for stardom thanks to her role in this high-energy panic comedy that offers a more realistic take than ‘Pretty Woman’.

USA 2024 Sean Baker 139m

Come and join us at Chichester Cinema to celebrate the Christmas period with like-minded folk, and one of the best festive films ever made, remastered in 4K.

Singers Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) join sister act Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera-Ellen) to perform a Christmas show in rural Vermont. There, they run into General Waverly (Dean Jagger), the boys' commander in World War II, who, they learn, is having financial difficulties; his quaint country inn is failing. So, what's the foursome to do but plan a yuletide miracle: a fun-filled musical extravaganza that's sure to put Waverly and his business in the black! This is a genuine classic, filled with some great songs, unquestionable star power, and some very funny and unforgettable scenes.

USA 1954 Michael Curtiz 120m

The true story of a French railway inspector who goes up against the Nazis to prevent a trainload of France's most treasured paintings from being stolen… or damaged.

As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) is desperate to take all of France’s greatest paintings to Germany. The French resistance however wants to stop him from stealing their national treasures but have received orders from London that they are not to be destroyed. The station master, Labiche (Burt Lancaster), is tasked with scheduling the train and making sure everything runs smoothly, but he is also part of a dwindling group of resistance fighters tasked with preventing the theft. He and others stage an elaborate ruse to keep the train from ever leaving French territory. This film from John Frankenheimer (‘The Manchurian Candidate’) is a marvel of old-fashioned action craft.

USA 1964 John Frankenheimer 133m

On Christmas Eve, a family gathers for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with her friends to claim the wintry suburb for her own.

The Balsano family are once again spending Christmas at their matriarch’s (Mary Reistetter) house in Long Island. Several generations have converged on the cramped home, among them parents Kathleen (Maria Dizzia) and Lenny (Ben Shenkman), whose teen daughter Emily (Matilda Fleming) longs to escape in order to do something more fun with her friends. Meanwhile, Kathleen and her siblings must make an important decision regarding what to do with the family home in light of their mother’s failing health. Generously mixing comedy, nostalgia, pathos and misanthropy, the film embraces its brood’s rambunctious spirit, resisting the temptation to let any character become the central protagonist. Cast also includes Michael Cera.

USA 2024 Tyler Taormina 106m

Royal Ballet

Discover the enchantment of ballet with this sparkling festive treat for the whole family.

Tue 17 Dec 19:30

Sun 22 Dec 15:00

After two decades as one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, ‘Wicked’ makes its long-awaited journey to the big screen as a spectacular, generation-defining two-part cinematic event this holiday season.

The untold story of the witches of Oz, stars powerhouse Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning recording artist Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart. The two meet as students and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths, ultimately seeing them fulfil their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

USA 2024 John M. Chu

After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she has ever faced.

USA 2024 DG Derrick Jr., J. Hand & D. Ledoux Miller

When a pacifist is called to a political act that could change the course of history, a man of honour responds. This is the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who preached love while plotting the assassination of an evil tyrant.

As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler) is swept into the epicentre of a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler. With his faith and fate at stake, Bonhoeffer must choose between upholding his moral convictions or risking it all to save millions of Jews from genocide. Will his shift from preaching peace to plotting murder alter the course of history or cost him everything?

Belgium/Ireland 2024 Todd Komarnicki 132m

The leaders of seven wealthy democracies get lost in the woods while drafting a statement on a global crisis, facing danger as they attempt to find their way out.

Ricocheting between comedy, apocalyptic thriller and swooning soap opera, ‘Rumours’ follows the seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies at the annual G7 summit. With unexpected, uproarious performances from a brilliant ensemble cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander and Charles Dance, these so-called leaders become spectacles of incompetence, contending with increasingly surreal obstacles in the misty woods as night falls and they realize they are suddenly alone. A genre-hopping satire of political ineptitude, this is a journey into the absurd heart of power and institutional failure in a slowly burning world. A wickedly funny, surreal, cerebral and ‘Buñuelian’ political satire.

USA 2024 E. Johnson, G. Johnson & G. Maddin 103m

The light, the lives and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated by writer/director Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival for her revelatory fiction feature debut.

Centring on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital - head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and recent hire Anu (Divya Prabha) - plus their coworker, cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), Kapadia's film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment. Prabha, her husband from an arranged marriage living in faraway Germany, is courted by a doctor at her hospital; Anu carries on a romance with a Muslim man, which she must keep a secret from her strict Hindu family; Parvaty finds herself dealing with a sudden eviction from her apartment. Kapadia captures the bustle of the metropolis and the open-air tranquillity of a seaside village with equal radiance, articulated by her superb actresses and by the camera with a lyrical naturalism that occasionally drifts into dreamlike incandescence. (Subtitles)

India 2024 Payal Kapadia 118m

The history of the Merchant Ivory partnership, featuring interviews with James Ivory and close collaborators detailing and celebrating their experiences of being a part of the company.

This is the first definitive feature documentary to lend new and compelling perspectives on the partnership, both professional and personal, of director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and their primary associates, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Footage from more than fifty interviews, clips, and archival material gives voice to the family of actors and technicians who helped define Merchant Ivory’s Academy Award-winning work of consummate quality and intelligence. With six Oscar winners among the notable artists participating, these close and often long-term collaborators intimately detail the transformational cinematic creativity and personal and professional drama of the wandering company that left an indelible impact on film culture.

USA 2024 Stephen Soucy 112m

A screening both to commemorate Dame Maggie Smith who lived locally and sadly passed away in late September, and a companion piece to the new Merchant Ivory documentary.

In this British drama based on the novel by E.M. Forster, Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham-Carter), a young Englishwoman, is touring Italy with her older cousin (Maggie Smith). At a hotel in Florence, Lucy meets the charming and free-spirited George Emerson (Julian Sands). Although intrigued by George, once she's back in England Lucy ponders settling down with the wealthy, staid Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day-Lewis). When George reappears in her life, Lucy must decide between him and Cecil. This is a thoroughly entertaining screen adaptation of Forster's comedy of manners, distinguished by superb ensemble acting, intelligent writing and stunning design.

UK 1985 James Ivory 117m

Soy Cuba

Four vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era. 60 years on, this is still invigorating and unmissable cinema!

A study in contrasts set in and around Havana that explores Cuba's 1959 revolution. A young woman's fascination with the excess of an American-owned casino leads to her downfall in the eyes of her street vendor boyfriend. A tenant farmer revolts the only way he knows how, attacking the land he works. University students gain first-hand knowledge of political upheaval. And, in the hills outside the city, the members of a poor peasant family are patriotically swept up into the burgeoning revolt. Visually absorbing and formally audacious, ‘Soy Cuba’ opens a long-buried time capsule that has lost none of its captivating power.

Cuba/USSR 1964 Mikhail Kalatozov 141m

Set against the gritty urban scenescape of Berlin and a pounding techno soundtrack, this is a frenetic, inventive existential thriller that explores the life-altering impact of seemingly inconsequential actions.

Beautiful, hip and young, poor Lola has but 20 minutes to locate a missing bag containing 100,000 Deutsche Marks or come up with the money some other way - if she can't, gangsters are going to kill her boyfriend. A pulse-raising race against time, the film employs a startling array of innovative techniques to present three separate scenarios, all departing from a single split-second decision Lola makes. Franka Patente, who also sings on the soundtrack, is mesmerizing as Lola. (Subtitles)

Germany 1998 Tom Twyker 78m