The Royal Ballet

‘Swan Lake’ remains to this day one of the best-loved works in the classical ballet canon. Tchaikovsky’s sensational score combines with the evocative imagination of choreographer Liam Scarlett and designer John Macfarlane to heighten the dramatic pathos of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s quintessential ballet classic.

Sun 28 Apr 14:45

Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai

This is the new feature – an eco parable - from the director of ‘Drive My Car’, which won the 2021 Best Foreign Film Bafta and Oscar.

Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) and his daughter Hana (Rio Nishikawa) live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi's house, offering city residents a comfortable “escape” to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency's mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the nature plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi's life deeply. This ecological parable stands on the battle lines between modern civilization and the natural world, offering a perspective that's as quietly measured as it is entrancing. (Subtitles)

Japan 2023 Ryûsuke Hamaguchi 106m

In this powerful, engrossing and poignant emotional journey, a young refugee escapes her war-torn country to a Greek island where she meets a tour guide, and the two become close as they each find hope in the other.

Jacqueline (Cynthia Erivo), a young refugee, lands alone and penniless on a Greek island, where she tries first to survive and then to cope with her past. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with a rootless tour-guide (Alia Shawkat) and together they find the resilience to forge ahead. This is an astonishingly confident and deeply moving film, an unarguable career highlight for both Erivo and Shawkat and further evidence that Chen is an important filmmaker, and one to definitely keep your eye on. (Some subtitles)

USA/Greece 2023 Anthony Chen 93m

Dock X

Starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, this new production of one of William Shakespeare‘s most iconic plays will be seen like never before. “Beautifully staged. Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma are a killer couple. Spectacular.” WhatsOnStage.

Thu 2 May 19:30

Sat 4 May 12:45

When people in Littlehampton - including conservative local Edith - begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town's women investigate.

Fiery Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) has little in common with the pious Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) aside from them being neighbours in the seaside town of Littlehampton in the 1920's. But one day, Edith starts receiving scandalous letters written with foul language as eccentric as it is obscene, and she immediately accuses Rose of being the poison pen writer behind them. As Rose stands to lose her freedom and the custody of her daughter, and outrageous letters continue to blight the town, police officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) begins to suspect something is amiss. Together with a group of resourceful women, Gladys endeavours to solve the mystery, liberate Rose, and catch the real culprit. Inspired by a real historical event from the 1920s, the charming seaside town of Littlehampton was a place where everyone knows everyone, and everyone is always on their best Christian behaviour. Filming for this thoroughly enjoyable and very funny film took place principally in Arundel throughout the Autumn of 2022. No doubt we will delight in recognizing our local surrounds on the big screen.

UK 2023 Thea Sharrock 102m

The extraordinary story of Amy Winehouse's early rise to fame and the making of her groundbreaking album, ‘Back to Black’.

Told from Amy's (Marisa Abela) perspective and inspired by her deeply personal lyrics, the film follows the remarkable woman behind the phenomenon and the tumultuous relationship at the centre of one of the most legendary albums of all time. Winehouse was touted as “the next best thing” with the voice of a Blues’ angel, but left us way too soon at the age of 27, leaving not only a huge hole in her family’s life, but a chasm in the world’s musical sphere. The perfectly chosen support cast includes Jack O'Connell as Amy’s husband Blake Fielder-Civil, plus Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville as the singer’s parents, Mitch and Cynthia. Directed by Sam Taylor Johnson, who did an outstanding job on John Lenon’s story in 2009’s ‘Nowhere Boy’. Screenplay is by Matt Greenhalgh also known for ‘Nowhere Boy’ as well as the Joy Division biopic ‘Control’.

UK 2024 Sam Taylor Johnson TimeTBC

A Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe.

In this acclaimed film which won top directing and acting prizes at the Venice Film Festival, writer-director Garrone presents a "reverse shot" of the immigration experience while unfurling an epic, cinematographically magnificent odyssey from West Africa to Italy. The story is told through the mind’s eye and experiences of two Senegalese teenagers living in Dakar who yearn for a brighter future in Europe. Yet between their dreams and reality lies a treacherous journey through a labyrinth of checkpoints, the scorched Saharan desert, a fetid North African prison and the vast waters of the Mediterranean where thousands have died packed inside vessels barely fit for passage.

Italy 2023 Matteo Garrone 122m

Portraits of Innocence and Experience

Henry James’s Women on Screen

Later this month Léa Seydoux stars in French sci-fi movie ‘The Beast’, the latest in an extraordinarily varied range of films based on the stories of Henry James, and this talk will look at how women have played a central role in nearly all of them.

Sat 4 May 10:30 (In the Auditorium)

The commandant of Auschwitz and his wife strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.

The film observes Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) as they live their happy family life right next door to the concentration camp. Shot like a casual European dramedy about a family at their summer home, the reality that surrounds them is revealed only by the barbed wire fences, small details in conversation, skies filled with smoke, bursts of sound design, and the piercing score. Friedel as Höss is frightening in his mundanity and Hüller as Hedwig gives the film its twisted humanity. The moments where Hedwig is cruel to her house staff almost feel like a relief - evil we can see even if it’s so much milder than what’s over the walls. In the novel from where this screenplay has been adapted, the lead was named Paul Doll. Glazer, best known for ‘Sexy Beast’ and ‘Under the Skin’, specifically chose to name his main character Rudolf Höss (almost identical to Rudolf Hess) to bring the weight of a well-recorded historical character living in a specific place and time. (Subtitles)

USA 2023 Jonathan Glazer 105m

Das Lehrerzimmer

Incredibly well-reviewed film where a teacher’s student is suspected of theft, so decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) starts her first job at a high school where she stands out among the new staff because of her idealism. When a series of thefts occur and one of her students is suspected, she decides to get to the bottom of the matter on her own. Between outraged parents, opinionated colleagues and aggressive students, she is relentlessly confronted with the structures of the school system. The more desperately she tries to do everything right, the more the young teacher threatens to break.

A smart and provocative modern parable with the heart of a thriller, ‘The Teachers' Lounge’ brilliantly uses its setting as the backdrop for a look at how quickly even tight-knit communities can be destabilized.

Germany 2023 Ilker Çatak 98m

To complement our talk on Frank Capra and the remastered ‘It Happened One Night’, we also present one of Capra’s best and most loved films.

Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper), a resident of small-town Vermont, leads a simple life until he inherits a vast fortune from a late uncle. Soon, unscrupulous lawyer John Cedar (Douglas Dumbrille) brings Deeds to New York City, where the unassuming heir is the object of much media attention. When wily reporter Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur) gains the trust and affection of Deeds, she uses her position to publish condescending articles about him - but are her feelings for him really that shallow? With snappy lines and stellar performances, this is an undisputed Capra classic.

USA 1936 Frank Capra 115m

ROH

Aigul Akmetshina performs the title role in the Royal Opera’s sizzling new production of Bizet’s ever-popular opera. Damiano Michieletto's sizzling new production evokes all the passion and heat of Bizet's score, which features Carmen’s sultry ‘Habanera’ and the rousing ‘Toreador’ song.

Wed 1 May 18:45 (LIVE)

Sun 5 May 14:15 (Encore)