An enthralling Chinese documentary about the torpedoing of a Japanese freighter carrying 1,816 British PoWs in the second world war, excavating the emotional wreckage on all sides.

Just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began their takeover of Hong Kong, at that time under English custody. Many British soldiers were captured and, as prisoners of war, packed in ships to Japanese labour camps. One such ship was the Lisbon Maru. The film reveals the long-buried truth of the 1942 sinking where 828 Allied prisoners died. Over seven years, filmmaker Fang Li's search for the wreckage and interviews with families uncovered the heartbreaking stories of Allied prisoners, Japanese brutality and heroic Chinese fishermen. (Some subtitles)

China 2023 Fang Li/Ming Fan/Lily Gong 123m

Royal Ballet & Opera

An alternative, modern-day Rome provides the backdrop for Oliver Mears’ unmissable, gripping new production of Puccini’s thriller.

Wed 1 Oct 19:00

Sun 5 Oct 14:45

4K Remaster

This unique, psychological dystopian thriller (here with a 4k remaster), is the film which brought Yorgos Lanthimos (‘The Favourite’, ‘Poor Things’) to prominence on the world stage

Three teenagers live an isolated existence, within the confines of their pristine house, blocked from society by a fence, and only allowed to go into the real world when their “dogtooth,” or canine tooth, has eventually fallen out, symbolising their official coming-of-age. The brilliance here is that, without any clues to the family's past, you easily understand what has been happening. Lanthimos skilfully drops tantalising pieces of information, keeping the viewer in a state of suspense and wonder. Yorgos Lanthimos exploded on to the world stage, winning the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes which recognises emerging talent and daring work and a Best Film in a Foreign Language Oscar nomination the next year. This uniquely unsettling scenario is open to interpretation and the film will stick around long after you are released from its grip. (Subtitles)

Greece 2009 Yorgos Lanthimos 94m

Heralded as the breakout film at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, this is a fragile comedy-drama about the enduring nature of trauma and the healing power of friendship.

Agnes (Eva Victor) is an English professor at a college in rural New England. She is thrilled when her newly married best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie), recently moved to New York, arrives for a visit. Lydie very quickly notices Agnes’ anxiety which most likely stems from a past fateful sexual encounter with her admiring advisor Preston (Louis Cancelmi). Director Victor makes very funny, ascerbic observations about society’s discomfort in showing empathy toward women who are dealing with personal suffering. ‘Sorry, Baby’ is a film about trauma but it is also an insightful exploration of friendship. With a razor-sharp script, this smartly structured and well-acted little gem with a star-making turn from Victor herself, is a black comedy that is not only nimble but consistently funny. This is a multi-talented filmmaker to keep your eye on. Lucas Hedges (‘Manchester by the Sea’) co-stars.

USA/Spain/France 2025 Eva Victor 103m

In this soul-searching, slow-burn, neo-noir mystery, a washed-up tennis pro at a hotel resort finds a personal escape when he crosses paths with an unusual and sophisticated family.

Tom (Sam Riley – ‘Control’), a one-time tennis pro, now hits countless balls over the net to tourists who come to escape their everyday lives at Fuerteventura, the largest of the Canary Islands. The usual endless directionless summer Tom usually fills with booze and brief affairs is brought to a halt with the appearance of a woman from his past (Stacy Martin – ‘The Brutalist’) and the subsequent disappearance of her husband (Jack Farthing – ‘Poldark’). With its unconventional narrative arc, this is a smart and subtle thriller with a real sting in its tale exploring themes of escape, longing, and the complexities of human relationships. The three leads are all very impressive, as is the ultra-wide Cinemascope aspect ratio which really does justice to the beautiful Atlantic locations. (Some subtitles)

Germany 2025 Jan-Ole Gerster 123m

The lives of two strangers are changed forever when they cross paths on the surfing adventure of a lifetime, discovering love, downshifting and four charismatic horses.

This is a stunning, intimate and unflinching series of love letters within a documentary - firstly, a love between two people, and secondly between humanity and the Earth. Ecologist Matty Hannon begins an incredible solo adventure, to surf the west coast of the Americas by motorbike, from the top of Alaska to the tip of Patagonia. But deep in the wilderness - alone with the wolves and the bears - the journeyman’s plans unexpectedly fall to pieces. After losing everything, and on the cusp of quitting, he meets the girl of his dreams, a permaculture farmer named Heather. Shot over 16 years, the result is an adventurous exposé on the more-than-human-world, offering a physical and spiritual odyssey to better understand our place in Nature. (Some subtitles)

Australia 2022 Matty Hannon 90m

This cult classic is a post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a unique delicacy for his oddball tenants.

Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) is a butcher who owns a run-down apartment building in post-apocalyptic France. The building is in constant need of a handyman, as this position has a history, with previous incumbents having ended up on the neighbours’ dinner tables via the butcher's block. The latest in the long line of disposable workers is Louison (Dominique Pinon), a former circus clown desperate for work and lodging. But this time Clapet's plan hits a snag when his young daughter (Marie-Laure Dougnac) falls head over heels for the lovable Louison. But as bellies begin to rumble, will love be enough to keep Louison out of la charcuterie? Directors Jeunet and Caro combe the dark humour of the Grimm's fairy tales, with the spirit of Terry Gilliam and that peculiarly French knack of putting magic into film. A treat at any time, but especially on a big screen. This is a true masterpiece of the fantastique. (Subtitles)

France 1991 Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro 99m

Dong Ji Dao

In 1942, the Japanese ship Lisbon Maru with British POWs aboard was torpedoed. Dongji fishermen risked their lives to rescue over 300 British soldiers and protected and rescued three British individuals during a large-scale search by Japanese forces.

Hailed as one of China’s most technically ambitious films to date, this epic documentary dramatises the sinking of the Lisbon Maru - a deadly, little-known disaster that claimed the lives of hundreds of British POWs. After the vessel was mistakenly struck by an American submarine off China’s Dongji Island, more than 800 survivors were rescued by Chinese fishermen in an extraordinary act of wartime bravery. (Subtitles)

China 2025 Zhenxiang Fei & Guan Hu 133m

The Old Film is Dead - We Believe in the New!  

A talk in conjunction with the Friends of Speyer looking back… looking back at Germany’s answer to the French Nouvelle Vague, accompanied by a screening of Fassbinder’s classic ‘Fear Eats the Soul.’

New German Cinema was a reaction to the stagnation of the German film industry and the broader social and political transformations occurring in post-World War Two West Germany. Heavily influenced by Italian neo-realism and the French Nouvelle Vague, a new generation of filmmakers emerged (including, most notably, Fassbinder, Herzog, Wenders, Schlondorff and von Trotta) intent on creating a new national film language and identity. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, often working with small budgets, they sought to engage with contemporary German reality by confronting and assimilating the nation's recent past. The movement saw German cinema return to international significance for the first time since the end of Weimar. Mike Jennings and John Harte of the Cinema's Education Team will give an illustrated talk which will explore the context in which it emerged, identifying important themes and showing clips from films by some of the key players.

100m inc Q&A

Tickets £8

Tue 7 Oct 18:00

Angst Essen Seele Auf

In conjunction with Friends of Speyer

A lonely widow meets a much younger Moroccan worker in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder not only directed this film, but also wrote the screenplay, designed the sets, and produced. Brigitte Mira heads the cast as a lonely German cleaning woman, who enters into an affair with equally lonely - and much younger - Moroccan mechanic Ali (El Hedi Ben Salem). They marry, despite the shocked, bigoted reactions of those around them. This thinly disguised remake of Douglas Sirk's ‘All That Heaven Allows’ won the international critic's prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Technically flawless, deceptively simple and avoiding excesses, it is about problems that are timely and timeless in implications. (Subtitles)

West Germany 1974 Rainer Werner Fassbinder 94m

Straume

Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Animation. Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences.

A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, ‘Flow’ follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet. This is a thrilling animated spectacle as well as a profound meditation on the fragility of the environment and the spirit of friendship and community. Steeped in the soaring possibilities of visual storytelling, ‘Flow’ is a feast for the senses and a treasure for the heart.

Latvia/Belgium/France 2024 Gints Zilbalodis 85m

A dark comedy about Honey O'Donahue, a small-town private investigator, who delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.

Margaret Qualley (‘The Substance’) plays Honey O’Donoghue, a private detective in Bakersfield, California, who has the deep voice and steady gaze of a hard-boiled femme fatale from the 1950s, driving a vintage turquoise Chevrolet SS and batting off the attentions of a local cop (Charlie Day) by telling him, “I like girls” which indeed she does.  Her curiosity is piqued when a woman who reaches out to her for help ends up dead at the bottom of a cliff. This leads her to sniff around a local church run by the lascivious Chris Evans as Reverend Drew, a holy man who deals drugs on the side and likes to have sex with his congregation. This comedic neo-noir is the second of a trilogy of films co-written and directed by Ethan Coen (the first being ‘Drive-Away Dolls’).

UK/USA 2025 Ethan Coen 88m

Des Jours Meilleurs

This thoughtful and moving French comedy drama was chosen as the Surprise Film for the 2025 Chichester International Film Festival, and out of the 81 votes, received 34 4-star votes, and 30 5-stars.

The film sheds light on the often-taboo subject of female alcoholism in a light-hearted yet moving manner. Think of the brilliant 2020 film ‘Another Round’, focusing on women rather than men. The film opens with Suzanne (Valérie Bonneton), a single mother who is stripped of custody of her three children because of her addiction. She is determined to get herself sober so joins a group in a women’s centre where we also find Alice (Sabrina Ouazani), who, because she is young believes she is just a party girl, not an alcoholic; Diane (Michèle Laroque), an actress at the end of her career with a drinking habit; and a host of others. Their social worker Denis (the brilliant Clovis Cornillac) takes them under his wing and comes up with a wild idea to get the women bonded and on the right track - a car rally in Morocco. Between battle, female solidarity and travel, this film will move you, make you laugh and leave you with a sense of hope. (Subtitles)

France 2025 Elsa Bennett/Hippolyte Dard 101m

Through a surprising twist of fate, single strangers Sarah and David get to relive important moments from their respective pasts,

‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ features a magical realism which director Kogonada says was partly inspired by his love of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films.  What if you could open a doorway and walk through it to re-live a defining moment from your past? Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present… and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures. Phoebe Waller-Bridge co-stars.

Ireland/USA 2025 Kogonada 139m

When his punk-rock neighbour asks him to take care of his cat for a few days, New York City bartender Hank Thompson suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a motley crew of threatening gangsters who all want a piece of him.

Set in the East Village, burned out baseball player turned bartender Hank Thompson (Austen Butler) is unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival among the thugs and sociopaths of the downtown criminal underworld in 1990s New York City.  This is Aronofsky’s first film since ‘The Whale’ in 2022 and Austen leads a stellar cast which includes Zoe Kravitz as his girlfriend Yvonne, Regina King, Vincent D’Onofrio, Liev Schreiber and an almost unrecognisable Matt Smith, sporting a flame-coloured Mohican hairstyle!

USA 2025 Darren Aronofsky 109m

Two chimney sweeps living in monogamous, heterosexual marriages both end up in situations that challenge their views on sexuality and gender roles.

Sex certainly comes up early and often in this playful, intricately nuanced character study, but in consistently surprising, stereotype-averse ways. Feier (Jan Gunnar Røise) has a sexual encounter with another man, without himself experiencing it either as an expression of homosexual longings or infidelity. Avde (Thorbjørn Harr) suddenly experiences nocturnal dreams in which he is seen as a woman. This confuses and disturbs him and begins to wonder whether there are aspects of himself that he has suppressed. Haugerud’s sly comedy addresses various crises of modern masculinity with a light, humane touch, finding more curiosity than toxicity in its characters - and making a case for seemingly aberrant desires and impulses as an everyday fact of life. (Subtitles)

Norway 2024 Dag Johan Haugerud 118m

Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical

‘Love Never Dies’ is a romantic musical which continues the story of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. Filmed at the Adelphi Theatre.

Sat 11 Oct 15:45

Muriel and her husband, Lee, begin a new life together after he returns home from the Korean War. However, their newfound stability gets upended by the arrival of Lee's charismatic brother, a wayward gambler with a secret past.

Adapted from Shannon Pufahl’s 1950s-based novel, ‘On Swift Horses’ is a film driven by carnal appetites and a longing to break free of societal expectations.  Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her husband Lee (Will Poulter) are embarking on a bright new life in California when he returns from the Korean War. The unexpected arrival of Lee’s charismatic but rather wayward brother Julius (Jacob Elordi) upsets the equilibrium and a dangerous love triangle quickly forms. When Julius takes off in search of the young card cheat he's fallen for in Las Vegas, Muriel’s longing for something more propels her into a secret life of her own, gambling on racehorses and exploring same-sex desires previously unfamiliar to her. This authentic period piece explores the challenges of coming out in the 1950s with meticulously detailed sets and stunning photography.

USA 2024 Daniel Minahan 119m

The highly anticipated sequel to 1984’s seminal comedy sees the band reunite for a farewell show with appearances from Elton John, Questlove and Paul McCartney.

‘Spinal Tap II’ reunites Marty DiBergi, Nigel Tufnel, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls (played by Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) as they get together for a final concert, more than 40 years after the 1984 mockumentary that made their name. In between, Spinal Tap released the album ‘Break Like the Wind’ in 1992, appeared on ‘The Simpsons’, played the ‘Live Earth’ charity concert in 2007 and Glastonbury in 2009. U2’s the Edge said of the first film that it was so close to reality that it made him weep, while Ozzy Osbourne quipped “Seen it? I’ve lived it!”.  Enjoy the ride!

USA 2025 Rob Reiner 83m

An elderly couple’s relationship undergoes the ultimate test of love in this simple and honest depiction of old age, illness and dying.

Michael Haneke's 'Amour' is a deliberately difficult experience. Career-high performances from Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva as a genteel Parisian couple in their eighties illuminate the difficult subject matter. One day, Anne has an attack and the couple's bond of love is severely tested as she descends into physical and mental debilitation. Haneke focuses with physician-like steadiness on the test it puts on Georges' love for his wife. She feels humiliated by her condition and hates to be seen, but she can't refuse the agitated visits from their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert). In a special cameo, young classical pianist Alexandre Tharaud (who performs Schubert, Beethoven and other music in the film) appears as Anne's brilliant pupil, who has become a world-famous recording artist. A deserving winner of the 2012 Palme d'or. (Subtitles)

Austria/ France/Germany 2012 Michael Haneke 125m

A filmmaker connects with a Palestinian woman in Gaza who documents life under bombardment. After the woman was killed by an Israeli bomb, 200-plus days of digital exchanges, become even more poignant.

This documentary offers an intimate, first-hand perspective on life under siege in Gaza, captured through video calls between director Sepideh Farsi and young Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, who was tragically killed in an airstrike on her home in April 2025, just one day after the film's Cannes selection was announced. Combining raw immediacy with deep humanity, we see daily life during the conflict through the eyes of a generation caught in an endless cycle of war and living under siege. This is a powerful memorial to someone who was both ordinary and extraordinary. (Subtitles)

France/Palestine 2025 Sepideh Farsi 110m

National Theatre

A searing new play from the team behind Prima Facie

Jessica Parks is smart, compassionate, a true maverick at the top of her career as an eminent London Crown Court Judge. At work she’s changing and challenging the system one case at a time. But behind the robe, Jessica is a karaoke fiend, a loving wife and a supportive parent.

While managing the impossible juggling act faced by every working mother, an event threatens to throw her life completely off balance. Can she hold her family upright?

Rosamund Pike (Saltburn) makes her National Theatre debut as Jessica. Writer Suzie Miller and director Justin Martin reunite following their global phenomenon Prima Facie with this searing examination of modern masculinity and motherhood.

120m

Tickets £19.50

Thu 4 Sep 19:15

Sun 7 Sep 15:15

The true story of John Davidson; diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome at a young age which alienated him from his peers, he struggled with a condition few people had witnessed.

At age 15, John Davidson (Robert Aramayo) faced and overcame many hardships from adolescence and early adulthood, as a result of what was a little known and entirely misunderstood condition in 1980’s Britain. Targeted as insane by his peers, Davidson lived with a condition few had ever witnessed, as he attempted to live a ‘normal’ life against the odds. Written and directed by Kirk Jones (‘Waking Ned’, ‘Nanny McPhee’), this is a heart-warming film that will surely prove popular with filmgoers. The supporting cast includes some of Britain’s best: the always brilliant Maxine Peake (The Theory of Everything), Shirley Henderson (‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’, ‘Trainspotting’), and Cannes Best Actor Award winner & Golden Lion winner Peter Mullan (‘War Horse’).

UK 2025 Kirk Jones 120m

A beautiful, heart-warming – and often funny - story that seeks to explore the fragile interplay between grief, human connection and the redemptive power of kindness.

Anne (Sarah-Jane Potts) is grieving the loss of her partner to the point of becoming mute.  She takes herself to the Canary Islands to spread his ashes, and just maybe, get her voice back, along with her place in the world. After an unwelcoming arrival, she finds herself wandering the streets until a chance encounter with another troubled traveller, Bill (David Ganly), offers an unexpected opportunity which could heal or crumble each of their lives. Potts has a magnetic screen presence, anchoring the film with a blend of vulnerability and resolve, portraying Anne as both fragile and fiercely determined to reclaim her life. It is hard to believe that this is the work of a first-time director (Millson is better known as an actor), achieving here a wonderful film with echoes of ‘Aftersun’ and ’45 Years’. Winner of Best Feature Film at the 2025 London Independent Film Festival and Berlin Indie Film Festival, "This is a magical film. It's got heart, soul and hope. And it’s laced with jeopardy." Irvine Welsh.

UK 2025 Joseph Millson 88m

When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue one of their own's daughter.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film is inspired by Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel ‘Vineland’ set in ‘a zone of blessed anarchy’ in Northern California. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a civil rights activist who joins an anti-government group to combat an “alt-right” white supremacist organisation, with Sean Penn playing the leader. Part political satire, part black comedy and part action blockbuster, the film is shot in glorious Vista Vision with breathtaking cinematography bathed in golden-hour natural light. With a cast to die for which also includes Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall, the film also marks the sixth feature film collaboration between Anderson and composer Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), whose score oscillates between high tension and playful mischief, grounding the more chaotic moments with sonic weight.

USA 2025 Paul Thomas Anderson 170m

What Do People Eat After the End of the World?

To accompany a screening of Jeunet and Caro’s delightful black comedy ‘Delicatessen’, this talk will offer a tour of post-apocalyptic palates.

Dystopian and post-apocalyptic films are often concerned with what people eat after the world has ended. Whether we are watching a group of survivors try to start a farm in ‘Five’ or exploring fears of synthetic food in ‘Silent Running’, food is a way of exploring both the possibility of restarting civilisation and our darkest fears about the future. In these films, food is much more than what people eat. It is a way of exploring our relationship to the environment, love and family. Covering nearly a century of cinema, Dr Tommy Lynch of the University of Chichester will offer a tour of post-apocalyptic palates. He will conclude by exploring the enduring appeal of cannibalistic futures, from ‘Soylent Green’ to ‘Delicatessen’.

100m inc Q&A

Tickets £8

Sat 18 Oct 10:30

In Neo Sora's narrative feature debut, the threat of natural disaster and citizen unrest provides justification for incursions into personal freedoms by the Japanese government and education authorities.

Despite being close childhood friends, as Yuta (Hayao Kurihara) and Kou (Yukito Hidaki) approach the end of school, their contrasting responses to the darkening mood around them, both at school and in the national political arena, expose differences of which neither had previously been aware. This is a delicate portrait of late adolescence, suspended between pleasurable distractions and creeping anxieties about what comes next. A careful tonal balance is struck between the bittersweet, elegiac qualities of an end-of-school drama, with compassionate observation of the approach of maturity and the volatile microcosm of an educational institution that becomes like a prison, pointing to broader political implications in the outside world. Debuting in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival, ‘Happyend’ is a first step into features for Neo Sora, who made last year’s stirring documentary tribute to his late father, Ryuichi Sakamoto (Subtitles).

Japan/USA/Singapore/UK Neo Sora 2024 113m

Met Opera

Following triumphant Met turns in ‘Roméo et Juliette’, ‘La Traviata’ and ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’, Nadine Sierra summits another peak of the soprano repertoire as Amina, who sleepwalks her way into audiences’ hearts in Bellini’s poignant tale of love lost and found.

Sun 19 Oct 14:15

Tue 21 Oct 19:30

50th Anniversary 4K Restoration

This is not only one of Stanley Kubrick’s finest and most influential films, but has been named as one of the greatest films ever made in polls including Sight & Sound. Celebrating 50 years in 2025.

In Kubrick’s own adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel about the exploits of an 18th century Irish adventurer, Ryan O’Neal stars as Redmond Barry (later Barry Lyndon) and Marisa Berenson is Lady Lyndon. Only a cinema screen can do justice to the stunning visuals of ‘Barry Lyndon’ which won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, Art Direction/Set Decoration, Music and Costume Design. Inspired by painters such as Thomas Gainsborough and William Hogarth, the film has a beautiful, painterly look, enhanced by filming in natural or historically accurate light sources, some lit only by candlelight. Pure cinema, simply unmissable.

UK/USA 1979 Stanley Kubrick 184m

A Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of society in Athens gets ripped off by a smuggler and sets out to seek revenge.

Chatila and Reda are saving to pay for fake passports to get out of Athens. But when Reda loses their hard-earned cash to his dangerous drug addiction, Chatila hatches an extreme plan, which involves them posing as smugglers and taking hostages in an effort to get him and his best friend out of their hopeless environment before it is too late. This is a gripping and uncompromising film, but ultimately sympathetic at the same time… which is a tough balance to strike. The film differs from the others in this Palestinian strand, as it is the only drama, depicting the lives of Palestinian refugees outside of Palestine. (Subtitles)

Palestine 2024 Mahdi Fleifel 105m

A beautifully filmed, heartfelt adaptation of Niall Williams' best-selling novel.  Two young people are made for each other, but as fate and  power of true love pull them together, so too does life threaten to tear them apart.

Nicholas (Fionn O'Shea) and Isabel (Ann Skelly) are made for each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. Nicholas' father, William (Pierce Brosnan), comes home one day to shatter his family's modest life, when he tells them that in a moment of divine intervention, God has instructed him to dedicate his life to painting. He quits his job and sets off for the coast, leaving his shell-shocked wife and son to fend for themselves. Meanwhile Isabel and her family live a charmed existence on a small neighbouring island, their house full of music and poetry. When tragedy strikes, the music stops, and Isabel's parents (Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne) decide in their grief to send Isabel to a convent school on the mainland. The young lovers embark on their own individual journeys of heartache and misplaced love, before fate contrives to pull the threads of their lives together. Filmed in Donegal and Antrim by cinematographer Damien Elliott, certainly makes the locations glimmer. The skies and seas are azure blue, the beaches are golden, and the sun never seems to dim, lending the film a beautiful fairytale quality.

UK/Ireland 2024 Polly Steele 125m

A husband-and-wife rediscover nature’s beauty and a renewed sense of vitality in this heartstring-pulling adaptation of a true-life tale.

Fifty-somethings Ray Winn and her husband Moth (Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs) receive a bad health diagnosis and court-ordered to vacate the only home they’ve known as a family due to insurmountable circumstances. They decide to walk the South-West Coast Path – the longest (630 miles) uninterrupted footpath in England – from Minehead to Poole along the Devon, Cornwall and Dorset coast armed only with a tent, limited supplies, very few clothes and the travelogue that inspired this trek. Helene Louvart’s excellent cinematography is a real highlight with filming locations including Padstow, Clovelly, Ilfracombe and some of the most beautiful rugged coast in the country, but do see if you can spot the scenes filmed at our very own West Wittering. This portrait of loss, humanity and rebirth is adapted from Raynor Winn’s personal memoir, with Anderson and Isaacs’ intimately textured performances standing out.

UK 2024 Marianne Elliott 115m

In this 5-Star (Peter Bradshaw – The Guardian) thriller – a late addition to the Autumn Season - a lone traveller through snowbound northern Minnesota interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl.

Hit by a blizzard, a grief-stricken loner (Emma Thompson) gets lost among backroads near a Minnesotan lake and stops for help at a remote cabin in the woods. Here she discovers a young woman (Laurel Marsden) kidnapped by a desperate couple (Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca). Isolated and without phone service, this unlikely hero realizes she is the woman's only hope of survival. The film has old-school barnstorming brashness, some edge-of-the-seat tension, a streak of sentimentality, a dash of broad humour and a flourish of the macabre. Emma Thompson is once again as reliable an actress as you could have wished, thoroughly believable as the lovable Barb, a graceful grieving widow capable of heroic actions.

USA 2025 Brian Kirk 97m

Jeunes Mères

The Dardenne Brothers’ latest ensemble drama centres around a group of girls under the care of a ‘maternal assistance’ home in Liège and representing very different instances of children bringing children into the world.

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne got their start making short documentaries set in working-class housing projects. They then brought that same observational approach with them to their fiction features, reflected in the long-take handheld camerawork, gritty street-level locations and casting of non-professional actors that have become their signature.  The two-time Palme d'Or winners’ new film centres upon five young women in a home for young expectant mothers, working for a better life for themselves.  Far from bleak or depressing, the uplifting script evokes a real sense of community, as the characters support one another, taking turns preparing meals, and stepping in when one of them is overwhelmed. ‘Young Mothers’ celebrates an institution where supportive yet firm social workers are available around the clock to serve as exactly the kind of role models its residents lacked in their own lives. This must-see slice of social realism received a 10-minute standing ovation in Cannes this year. (Subtitles)

France/Belgium 2025 Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne 105m

Following in the footsteps of his bumbling father, Detective Frank Drebin Jr. must solve a murder case to prevent the police department from shutting down.

This reboot of the ‘Naked Gun’ franchise is a lot of fun: amiably ridiculous, refreshingly shallow, and a true guilty pleasure! Seamlessly reviving the mile-a-minute patter of sight gags, puns and general buffoonery, it is a relentless comedy delivered with a smirk. Beth (Pamela Anderson) turns up at Det. Drebin’s (Liam Neeson) office. Her brother has been killed in the suspicious crash of an Edentech electric vehicle, with a trail that leads all the way back to the company’s CEO Richard Cane (Danny Huston). Mostly, she is a femme fatale who is even sillier than Priscilla Presley but her comic timing is impeccable, and her breathy throwaway delivery is a delight. Neeson is having a blast, sending up his hyperviolent screen persona of recent years, and his scenes with Anderson are bliss. With so much horror and despair in the world, we all need a little escapist fun and this is it!

USA 2025 Akiva Schaffer 85m

50th Anniversary Remaster

When a massive killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Long Island, it's up to the local police chief, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.

Adapted from Peter Benchley’s novel of the same name,‘Jaws’ catapulted Spielberg’s burgeoning career into the stratosphere and was the cause celebre of 1975, heralding what many believe was the first real ‘blockbuster’. It earned its place in cinema history from the very opening sequence where you see nothing, but fear everything, thanks to John Williams’ menacing score which simply alternates between two notes signally impending doom. Made for just $9 million it went on the gross $470 million worldwide. With largely non-A-listers, the shark was the star of the show but it was the performances of Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw which give the film such humanity. ‘Jaws’ was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and deservedly went on to win three of them.

1975 USA Steven Spielberg 122m

NT Live

Five-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (‘The Crown’) joins forces with her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (‘Bridgerton’) for the very first time, playing mother and daughter in Bernard Shaw’s incendiary moral classic.

Sun 26 Oct 13:00

Wed 29 Oct 13:15

Sat 1 Nov 18:00

When Mary finds herself in a public scandal and the family faces financial trouble, the household grapples with the threat of social disgrace.

The global phenomenon returns to the cinema screen for the final time as the Crawley family and their staff enter the 1930s. They must embrace change with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future. While we will surely miss the presence of the great Maggie Smith as late Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, the film nevertheless boasts a stellar cast which includes Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan and Jim Carter. They will be joined for the finale by Joely Richardson, Dominic West, Simon Russell Beale, and the magnificent Paul Giamatti. Book your seat for the final bow!

UK 2024 Simon Curtis 123m

This film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank's Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance which develops between a Palestinian activist Basel Adra and an Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham. Best Documentary Oscar Winner 2025!

For half a decade Palestinian activist Basel Adra has been filming the destruction of his community of Masafer Yatta by Israel’s occupation. He began filming at the age of 15 to gather physical evidence. For its many images of despair, the film still offers a stirring vision for what could be – Israelis and Palestinians working together in the name of justice, collaborating toward a world where both are free. ‘No Other Land’ won the Best Documentary Oscar in 2025 and Best Documentary at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival. Tragically, just last month, a consultant on the film, Awdah Hathaleen, was killed during an attack by Israeli settlers in the South Hebron hills. (Subtitles)

Palestine/Norway 2024 B. Adra, H. Ballal, Y. Abraham, R. Szor 92m

An Associated Press team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion.

This is a film about accelerating conflict and journalists under extreme duress, desperately seeking a Wi-Fi signal amid the ruins to make the world aware and about the spiritual toll that comes from bearing witness. Unflinching lenses capture the sickening collective realisation that ordinary people are being targeted. Photojournalist Mstyslav Chernov’s sobering narration describes the circumstances behind grey-faced medics attempting to resuscitate injured babies and the shattered despair of parents whose children have been shelled while playing football. The deadened manner of Chernov’s voiceover contrasts starkly with the frantic urgency of the images on screen. A harrowing, vital documentary which demands to be seen.

Ukraine/USA 2023 Mstyslav Chernov 97m

Musical

Get ready for the ultimate rock experience as ‘Bat Out of Hell’ roars onto the big screen this Halloween!

Thu 30 Oct 20:15

Special Halloween Event

This reimagining of the iconic 'Nosferatu' (1922) features the music of Radiohead’s 'Kid A' (2000) and 'Amnesiac' (2001) albums. This will be a Halloween to remember with one of the classics of silent cinema coupled with one of the best bands of recent times.

Fri 31 Oct 20:15

The Untold Stories from Gaza

A collection of 22 short films made in Gaza. Initiated by Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi, the project was born to give a voice to 22 Gazan filmmakers to tell the untold stories of the current war on film.

This film is particularly important given the restrictions on news reporting in Gaza. Shortlisted for the 2025 Academy Awards, it is the latest example of a sub-genre that has boomed over the last decade – the ‘insider testimony’ feature in which people living in conflict zones record their own experience outside the formal restrictions of standard documentary and news coverage conventions. ‘No Other Land’ in this Palestinian strand is another example. Surprisingly what features markedly little here is a sense of rage, or a focus on a precise political context. For all of its bleakness, this is an extremely hopeful film. (Subtitles)

Palestine 2024 Various Directors 112m

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

Royal Ballet & Opera

65 years after its premiere, The Royal Ballet presents Frederick Ashton’s ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’, conducted by Jonathan Lo and with music by Ferdinand Hérold.

Sat 8 Nov 15:00

Met Opera

With its enchanting setting and spellbinding score, the world’s most popular opera is as timeless as it is heartbreaking. Franco Zeffirelli’s picture-perfect production brings 19th-century Paris to the Met stage as

Puccini’s young friends and lovers navigate the joy and struggle of bohemian life.

Sun 9 Nov 13:15

Tue 11 Nov 19:00

Exhibition on Screen

Mystery, intrigue, beauty, passion, murder – shine a new light on Caravaggio in this dramatic biography.

Five years in production, this is the most extensive film ever made about one of the greatest artists of all time. Featuring masterpiece after masterpiece and with first-hand testimony from the artist himself on the eve of his mysterious disappearance. Caravaggio’s masterpieces are some of art’s most instantly recognisable. No one else uses his signature blend of dramatic light, intense naturalism and bold, striking figures. His incredible paintings have captivated audiences for centuries. But there lies a deeper mystery - one that still beckons us to explore. What do these masterpieces reveal about the man behind the brush? The intriguing self-depictions within his works - sometimes disguised, sometimes in plain sight - offer a rare window into his psyche and personal struggles. Join us as we unravel the story of one of history’s most brilliant, complex and controversial figures.

UK 2025 David Bickerstaff/Phil Grabsky 100m

Tickets £15

Tue 11 Nov 14:15

Thu 13 Nov 16:00

Sun 16 nov 15:30

Mon 17 Nov 18:00

Comedy

One 85-year-old Man, five Countries, 16 Cities, 23 shows, six weeks. Will he make it home … or is this the end of the road?

Thu 13 Nov 20:30

Our Fund Raising Film Quiz!

Our popular annual film quiz A Mind for Movies returns this winter - and on a Saturday night!

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 join another table 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 biscuit platters will be provided as before.

Sat 22 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

Met Opera

Strauss’s elegant romance brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th-century Vienna to Chichester Cinema in a sumptuous production that “is as beautiful as one could hope” (The New York Times).

Sun 23 Nov 14:15

Royal Ballet & Opera

An enchanting ballet by The Royal Ballet’s Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton that will transport you into an ethereal world where a sprinkling of fairy dust makes dreams come true.

Tue 25 Nov 19:45

Sun 30 Nov 14:15

National Theatre Live

Olivier Award-winner Jack Lowden (‘Slow Horses’, ‘Dunkirk’) is joined by Emmy and BAFTA-winner Martin Freeman (‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Responder’) in the critically acclaimed and subversively funny new play by David Ireland.

Thu 27 Nov 20:15

Sat 29 Nov 15:45