Le Procès Goldman

Chronicles the trial of Pierre Goldman, a French left-wing revolutionary who was convicted of several robberies and later mysteriously murdered.

November 1975, and a second trial begins of French leftist radical Pierre Goldman (Arieh Worthalter), who was subject to police prejudice and antisemitism, and accused of several armed robberies and the death of two chemists. As the trial proceeds, it becomes fairly evident, at least to the viewer, that the man is innocent. The question is therefore whether the French state will return a ‘not guilty’ verdict. The trial caused a media frenzy, and was attended by philosopher Régis Debray and actress Simone Signoret, elevating Goldman to cause célèbre status in the wake of May 1968 with the government, especially the criminal justice system, pitted against the left. Alongside the recent ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and ‘Saint Omer’, this continues a recent trend for quality French indie courtroom dramas. (Subtitles)

France 2023 Cédric Kahn 115m

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

Amu Darya: River to a Missing Sea

Through oral histories and tales of loss, adaptation and hope, this short film presents a memory of the Amu Darya – the Central Asian river that no longer reaches its destination. It tells how local communities are dealing with the river’s desiccation and how the USSR turned the world’s fourth largest lake – the Aral Sea – into its youngest desert. The human story of an environmental disaster.

With poem translated by Chichester poet Andrew Staniland after he visited the region and got to know the young filmmakers from the Amu Darya Project.

UK 2024 James Chapman, Annie Liddell & Oscar Fraser Turner 28m

Our Sea Forest

Narrated by Chris Packham, this moving documentary tells of the remarkable regeneration of the vast underwater kelp forest off our Sussex shores. Told through the eyes of 74-year-old Eric Smith, a free-diver of the forest since he was a child, it charts the destruction of this once-thriving ecosystem by trawling to its miraculous recovery in recent years. Teeming with sea life and hope. Filmed at Shoreham, Goring and Bognor Regis. Thanks to BBC1 and Big Wave Productions Ltd.

Introduced by Sarah Cunliffe, director of Sussex-based Big Wave Productions which made the documentary aired on the BBC.

UK 2023 Sarah Cunliffe 30m