Pablo Larraín returns with a stirring and unconventional biopic that delves into the tumultuous life of Maria Callas, one of opera’s most iconic figures. Known for his introspective storytelling, Larraín offers an intimate look at the singer’s artistry, vulnerability and the immense pressures she faced.

Angelina Jolie stars as Maria Callas, capturing both her fierce passion on stage and her complex personal struggles off it. As Callas battles between her demanding career and longing for personal happiness, Larraín’s narrative unfolds with sensitivity, exploring her relationships, insecurities and the sacrifices she made for her art. The film juxtaposes grand, beautifully staged opera scenes with quieter moments that reveal Callas’s inner turmoil, creating a portrait that is as powerful as it is poignant. With Larraín’s nuanced direction and Jolie’s evocative performance, ‘Maria’ is both a tribute to a legendary voice and a study of artistic endurance.

USA/Chile 2024 Pablo Larraín 115m

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 the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.

For half a decade, Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, films his community of Masafer Yatta being destroyed by Israel’s occupation. He began filming the at the age of 15 in the name of evidence. That evidence put forth by the directors – Adra, Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, Palestinian filmmaker and farmer Hamdan Ballal and Israeli cinematographer and editor Rachel Szor – is straightforward, un-sensationalized and completely infuriating. 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 best documentary at the 2024 Berlin film festival and is essential viewing. (Subtitles)

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

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

To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2025, we bring back one of the best and most moving films of 2023, which sees Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn play a real 20th Century hero – Nicholas Winton.

Winton was a well-to-do stockbroker who, at the start of WWII, is so horrified by unfolding events that he heads off to Prague to do anything he can to help the terrified young refugees fleeing Hitler. Everyone thinks he is crazy – including his mother, played by Helena Bonham-Carter. But he somehow manages to organise visas and trains to get hundreds of them to safety in the UK; what has since become known as the Kindertransport. Winton was sometimes called the British Oskar Schindler, and the parallels go beyond their acts of extreme kindness: both men were completely consumed by the task they undertook and never able to focus on the people that they did save, only those that they failed to save.

UK 2023 James Hawes 110m

In the lead up to Holocaust Memorial Day (27 Jan), we present this story of mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honour their beloved grandmother.

David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) is a married Manhattan tech worker with a young son, who decides to bid the family goodbye and take a week-long road trip to Poland with his screwup cousin Benji (an off-the-charts great Kieran Culkin), whose default mode happens to be, obnoxious. Their beloved, recently deceased grandmother yearned for them to see her native Poland and understand how she grew up in a nurturing Jewish culture and escaped a Nazi death camp. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. This is a film that manages to be ruefully perceptive and laugh-out-loud funny, often at the same time: and that’s not easy.

USA/Poland 2024 Jesse Eisenberg 90m

Lahn Mah

A scheming young man quits work to care for his dying grandmother, motivated by her fortune, and scheming to win her favor before she dies.

After Grandma Amah (Usha Seamkhum) is diagnosed with cancer, lazy college dropout M. (Putthipong "Billkin" Assaratanakul) commits himself to caring for her after he fails to make a name for himself as a video game streamer. Unfortunately for him, it turns out that winning Grandma's favour is no easy feat. We are shown the apathy of the younger generation and the sardonic wit of the older one through frequent hilarious exchanges. The dialogue is biting, crisp, smart and frequently heartbreaking. The film has been a blockbuster success throughout South East Asia, and should also be very well received on our shores.

Thailand 2024 Pat Boonnitipat 125m

Robert Eggers reimagines Murnau’s silent horror classic ‘Nosferatu’ in this atmospheric, haunting adaptation. Known for his meticulous historical detail and eerie storytelling, Eggers brings a fresh intensity to this legendary vampire tale.

Set in 19th-century Europe, the film follows young real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Bill Skarsgård) who travels to a remote, eerie castle to assist Count Orlok (Willem Dafoe) with a property purchase. Hutter soon discovers that Orlok is no ordinary client but an ancient vampire intent on spreading darkness. As Hutter fights to save his beloved Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) from Orlok’s deadly influence, the story unfolds with an eerie beauty and mounting tension. Eggers’ use of shadow, historical set design and unsettling imagery brings this Gothic horror to life in vivid, spine-chilling detail, paying homage to the original film while carving out its own haunting identity. Also stars Nicholas Hoult and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

USA/Germany 2024 Robert Eggers 122m

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.

Sat 25 Jan 16:00

Mon 27 Jan 13:15 (PLUS Q&A)

Wed 29 Jan 13:15

Met Opera

American soprano Angel Blue headlines this grandest of grand operas features an epic Ancient Egyptian backdrop for what is in essence an intimate and tragic love story.

Sun 26 Jan 14:00

Thu 30 Jan 19:00

A drama-doc which tackles some challenges the world faces, through a time traveller who risks her life to change the course of history and save the future of humanity.

It's the year 2073, and the worst fears of modern life have been realized. Surveillance drones fill the burnt orange skies and militarized police roam the wrecked streets, while survivors hide away underground, struggling to remember a free and hopeful existence. In this ingenious mixture of visionary science fiction and speculative nonfiction (inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette ‘La Jetée’), Academy Award-winner Asif Kapadia (‘Amy’) transports us to a future foreshadowed by the terrifying realities of our present moment. Samantha Morton plays a survivor besieged by nightmare visions of the past - a past that happens to be our present, visualized through contemporary footage interconnecting today's global crises of authoritarianism, unchecked big tech, inequality and global climate change. ‘2073’ is an urgent, unshakable vision of a dystopic future that could very well be our own. This genre-bending film combines real archival footage and original interviews with a fictional dystopian narrative to issue a dire warning about impending global disaster.

UK 2024 Asif Kapadia 85m plus recorded Q&A (30m)