Keyke Mahboobe Man

A septuagenarian, solitary for many years, chooses to revive her love life. A chance encounter becomes an unforgettable evening. A lovely film that keeps up Iran’s reputation as a powerhouse of quality storytelling.

70-year-old Mahin (Lili Farhadpour) has lived alone in Tehran since her husband’s death and her daughter’s departure for Europe, until an afternoon tea with friends leads her to break her solitary routine and revitalise her love life. What begins as an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unpredictable, unforgettable evening. She meets Faramarz (Esmaeel Mehrabi), a modest, personable single man of her age, who himself is of Mahin’s independent frame of mind: he got into trouble with joyless authorities for playing a musical instrument in a wedding band. The Iranian government prevented the film’s two directors from travelling to Berlin to attend their own premiere, most probably because of a scene in which police drive self-importantly around Tehran, intimidating women who are allegedly not wearing their hijabs with enough modesty. Our 70-year-old heroine – who wistfully remembers a time when hijabs were not required at all – stands up to these uniformed bullies and rescues a woman from their clutches. Unmissable cinema.

Iran 2024 Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha 97m

How the Taliban transformed itself from an extremist militia into a mighty military regime in the wake of US troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan is the subject of this powerful new documentary.

Picking over an estimated $7bn worth of military equipment left at the former Hollywood Gate CIA base in Kabul, we meet Mawlawi Mansour, aTaliban commander overseeing the equipment’s repair and repainting the fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters.  Filmmaker Ibrahim Nash’at, born in Egypt and based in Berlin, spent 12 months trailing Mansour and his crew, loitering in the background and shooting from the sidelines. While restricted access prohibited any in-depth interviews, this fascinating, fly-on-the-wall documentary nevertheless teases back the curtain to reveal soldiers pining for the caves where they once hid, and mourning the glorious death that has been snatched from their grasp.

Germany/USA 2023 Director Ibrahim Nash’at 92m

A cantor in a crisis of faith finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher re-enters his life as his new adult Bat Mitzvah student.

Between The Temples is graced with two endearing performances from Jason Schwartzman (Ben) as the Jewish cantor suffering a crisis of faith, and Carol Kane (Carla) as the ageing Bat Mitzvah student who gives him a new lease of life. Ben has arrived at a joyless stage of his life with his wife having died a year earlier. He is living back in the upstate New York home of his two mothers when his old elementary school music teacher re-enters his life, wanting to have the Bat Mitzvah she was denied as a 13-year-old. Ben comes to recognise in Carla something of a kindred lost soul and, as they study together, they develop a warm friendship that begins to see them both open up. elevated by the chemistry between Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman.

USA 2024 Nathan Silver 112m

Beetlejuice is back! After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River.

Still haunted by Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), Lydia's (Winona Ryder) life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it's only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice's name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

USA 2024 Tim Burton 104m

Met Opera

Jacques Offenbach’s fantastical opera ‘Tales of Hoffman’ kicks off the Metropolitan Opera’s season. It will make an interesting comparison with the Royal Opera's version showing in January 2025.

Sun 6 Oct 13:00

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

When a skeleton is discovered in the desert, a lawman and son of a legendary local sheriff, begins an investigation that will have profound implications both for him personally and for all of Rio County

When Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) uncovers a skeleton in a small south-western Texas border town, it is thought to be that of Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), the infamously corrupt, cruel and racist sheriff who was driven from the town by Deeds’ father Buddy (Matthew McConnaughey). A keen observer of America’s social fabric, writer/director John Sayles uncovers the haunted past buried beneath this border town with an Oscar-nominated screenplay. This masterful 90s classic western features a brilliant ensemble cast, transitions seamlessly from past to present and has been given a 4k digital remastering, making it a must-see on the big screen.

USA 1996 John Sayles 125m

Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.

Six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) lives with her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), in a remote Delta community. Wink is a stern taskmaster, but he is preparing his young daughter for the end of the world. When Wink falls mysteriously ill, nature seems to fall ill with him. Temperatures rise, the ice caps melt and fearsome prehistoric beasts called aurochs run loose. Rising waters threaten to engulf their community, sending Hushpuppy in search of her long-lost mother. This is a fantastical and emotionally powerful journey with a strong environmental focus. Filmmaking that values imagination over money.

USA 2012 Benh Zeitlin 93m

Followed by short talk + Q&A in the studio by chalk stream expert Sarah Hughes of the Western Sussex Rivers Trust.

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

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

A detective inspector investigates a series of murders in a riverside town in rural China in the 1990s. After a swift arrest, clues push the policeman to dive deeper into the hidden behaviour of the locals.

Beleaguered police chief Ma Zhe is charged with investigating the murder of ‘Granny No 4’ in a neighbouring rural village of only 50 families and tries so hard to unravel the killing, that he almost decends into madness. Granny Four had taken in a simpleton who, throughout the movie, is known only as “the madman” (Kang Chunlei) and he becomes the natural suspect, but nothing is clear-cut… This is far from a standard police procedural; increasingly blurring the line between the real and the imagined, fact becomes fiction and dreams become nightmares. This stylish, murky and enigmatic noir is imaginative in structure with impressive production design and breathtaking cinematography. One of two very good Chinese films in this season’s programme (see also ‘Black Dog’). (Subtitles)

China 2023 Wei Shujun 101m

It’s Not Only Rock ’N’ Roll

Formed 62 years ago, The Rolling Stones are rock royalty and an institution. With the Chichester Festival Theatre examining the notorious 1967 drugs raid at Keith Richards’ West Sussex home in the play ‘Redlands’, the Chichester Cinema Education Team is looking at the Stones’ screen presence.

Sat 12 Oct 10:30

This intimate documentary reveals the story of a fierce rock 'n' roller, actress, muse and mother who rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s.

Anita Pallenberg was at many points in her life a newspaper headline: a "rock n' roll goddess," a "voodoo priestess," and an "evil seductress." She was accused of trying to break up the Rolling Stones, among other things. But those who loved her considered her an exciting cultural force, and a loving mother - and innocent of the accusations. Never-seen-before home movies and family photographs explore life with the Rolling Stones and tell a bittersweet tale of both triumph and heartbreak. From ‘Barbarella’ to the Swiss Alps, and the Lower East Side to London, Anita Pallenberg was a creative force ahead of her time. This has a perfect balance of heart, soul and humor that resonates within its core and just makes for some enjoyable and informative viewing.

USA 2023 Alexis Bloom & Svetlana Zill 110m

We are delighted to welcome Marlon Richards, son of Anita Pallenberg and Keith Richards, for a Q&A after the screening.

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

While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

USA 2024 Fede Alvarez 119m

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

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

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

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

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

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

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