Steve Coogan stars in this poignant dramedy that follows an Englishman's personal and political awakening after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history.

Argentina’s 1976 military coup d’état, along with the sustained period of violence and forced disappearances that it ushered in, isn’t an obvious historical backdrop for a heartwarming tale of human-animal bonding. But that’s how the timing worked out for Tom Michell, an English teacher stationed at an elite Buenos Aires private school, at the time of the turmoil: With the country in chaos and many of his colleagues in crisis, he was figuring out what to do with the Magellan penguin he had accidentally adopted on a weekend jaunt to Uruguay. Director Cattaneo is best known for ‘The Full Monty’ and ‘Military Wives’, and Coogan brings his signature dry irony to proceedings, but the penguin is the real star here.

UK 2024 Peter Cattaneo 110m

A unique take on a seminal time in the lives of one of music’s most famous couples, exploring the eighteen months John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent living in Greenwich Village in the early 1970s.

1972, New York. In John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s apartment, the TV is permanently on, acting as a ‘window to the world’. Through their television this inventive documentary explores the America of that time, the Lennons’ evolving politics and their complex personal life as they search for Yoko’s estranged daughter Kyoko against the backdrop of the Nixon-McGovern election. Featuring previously unheard phone recordings and music from John’s only post-Beatles concert, it reveals the world that John and Yoko inhabited and the couple’s relevance, which still stands today. You may remember director Kevin MacDonald from his brilliant ‘Touching the Void’ (documentary) and ‘The Last King of Scotland’ (feature).

UK 2024 Kevin Macdonald & Sam Rice-Edwards 100m

Vingt Dieux

A carefree teenager’s life takes a turn when he must provide for his little sister. Seeking income, he channels his energy into producing an award-winning cheese.

After the tragic death of his father, 18-year-old Totone (Clément Faveau) is thrust into the unexpected and very adult role of looking after his younger sister Claire (Luna Garret) and their failing family farm in the Jura region of France. When he hears about the prize money that can be earned in competitions from making the local Comté cheese, he decides to go for it. He realises that good milk is a factor in success and not being able to afford it, he has the idea of stealing it from the farm where he is working, where he submits to a relationship with the sexually eager Marie-Lise (Maïwene Barthelemy). A "verité" look at the life of French agriculture, simultaneously a moving love story and above all an ode to the love of cheese. In showing the techniques of artisan cheese-making, you almost feel you know enough to do it yourself after watching it. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Louise Courvoisier 92m

Director James Mangold (‘Walk the Line’, ‘Ford v Ferrari’) takes on the enigmatic life of Bob Dylan in a fresh, unconventional biopic. Starring Timothée Chalamet as the iconic folk singer, the film explores Dylan’s transformative journey through fame, identity and reinvention during the 1960s.

Following Dylan’s rise from a Greenwich Village poet to a global music icon, we see the chaos, ambition and uncertainty of a young artist challenging himself and his audience. Chalamet embodies Dylan’s charisma and intensity, while scenes with real-life performances and legendary figures - from Joan Baez to Johnny Cash - anchor the story in music history. Mangold’s direction blends period detail with a restless energy, making this an intimate, raw look at an artist in constant evolution.

USA 2024 James Mangold 141m

A group of renegade surfers challenges the male-dominated professional surfing world for the shared goal of equality and change.

It's the 1980s and the world of professional surfing is a circus of fluoro colours, peroxide hair and radical male egos. The sport treated women like second-class athletes: competition organisers saved the best waves for the boys, often scheduling women’s heats during the lunch break. Not to mention the chauvinist-pig arrogance of many male surfers, who saw themselves as bronzed gods – and the role of women to worship at their feet. Women surfers Jodie Cooper and 1993 world champ Pauline Menczer are but two who feature, with Cooper poignantly commenting: “We never made a lot of money, but we did what we loved”. A documentary with a with a giddy, punk rock energy.

Australia 2020 Christopher Nelius 108m

Met Opera

Mozart's sparkling comedy follows clever Figaro and his fiancée Susanna as they outwit Count Almaviva's advances, navigating love, deception and forgiveness in a day of romantic chaos.

Sun 27 Apr 14:00

Wed 30 Apr 18:45 (TimeTBC)