Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain

The third Film Club (18-25’s) screening of the season is a vibrant French modern classic that sees a young lady on a quest to spread joy, leading her on a journey to true love.

Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tatou) lives in Montmartre, where she works as a waitress in an old-style café. Her life is changed forever when she discovers a box of toys in her house, and decides to try to track down the boy, now a man, and return his childhood treasures. On her quest she helps those around her and changes their lives, including quirky characters played by Dominique Pinon and Matthieu Kassovitz. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (‘Delicatessen’) invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue. This is a sheer delight and will entrance everyone who sees it. (Subtitles)

France 2001 Jean-Pierre Jeunet 122m

At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.

Full of humour, chaos and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn't, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words… "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!". This seems like a foolhardy challenge of finding sufficiently funny people to play some of TV’s most beloved - actors who could channel the frailties and insecurities of their counterparts, taking icons and making them human. Who plays Chevy Chase? Or Gilda Radner? Or John Belushi, for that matter? Reitman finds just the right ensemble to capture the lunacy from which ‘SNL’ was born.

USA 2024 Jason Reitman 109m

The masterful Steven Soderbergh gives us a thriller about a family hoping for a fresh start after a period of unease. They becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home.

A family - Rebekah (Lucy Liu), Chris (Chris Sullivan) and teen kids Chloe (a phenomenal Callina Liang) and Tyler (Eddy Maday) - arrive at their new home in the suburbs with excess baggage and tensions they hope will dissipate. Chloe, grieving the recent loss of a friend, can see a “presence”, which starts interacting with her in unexpected ways. Shot entirely from the first-person perspective of a haunting spirit, the slow-burn thriller might have collapsed in less experienced hands, but Soderbergh expertly puts a terrific ensemble through their paces. Thirty-five years after his Palme d’Or for ‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’ it is so inspiring that Soderbergh is still here making movies the way he wants to make them, playing with form in fresh and exciting ways, reminding us that he is one of film's more remarkable storytellers.

USA 2024 Steven Soderbergh 85m

Dane-ye Anjir-e Ma'abed

A mesmerisingly gripping and controlled parable-thriller in which the paranoia, misogyny and rage of the Iranian state are mapped seamlessly onto an ordinary family unit.

Iman (Missagh Zareh) is a judge who sees the benefits for his family in his career’s rapid advancement, but his student daughters (Setareh Malek and Mahsa Rostami) are suspicious of his increasing collaboration with the regime. He is warned not to confide in his wife (Soheila Golestani) as he is encouraged to wave through death sentences without considering the evidence. Iman’s divided loyalties are exposed when his government-issued handgun goes missing, and suspicion falls on the women in his home. Having debuted at Cannes following Rasoulof fleeing Iran in fears for his safety, this film was many critics’ picks for best of the festival. It combines an electrifying generational battle with real-life footage of Iran’s protest movement, and reveals the reasons why people accept toxic regimes and the courage it takes to resist them. (Subtitles)

Germany/France 2024 Mohammad Rasoulof 168m

Inugami-ke no Ichizoku

Money makes the world go around – and so it drives people to murder. This is legendary Japanese director Ichikawa Kon’s 1976 classic which holds a very special place in Japan’s long tradition of supernatural suspense.

Just after World War II, the patriarch of the affluent Inugami family dies. The families of his three direct descendants gather, eager to know how his vast assets are distributed in his will. Their anticipation turns to despair, however, when things are revealed to be less straightforward than they expected: the only way of inheriting his fortune is through the marriage of one of his three grandchildren to Tamako, who is an outsider but lives with the deceased.  Ichikawa, one of Japan’s legendary directors, made a name for himself with his skilful use of colours, and here he sets a new standard for the Japanese noir with this multi award-winning blockbuster. Starring Ishizaka Koji, Takamine Mieko, Sanjo Miki and Kusabue Mitsuko. (Subtitles)

Japan 1976 Ichikawa Kon 146m