Exhibition on Screen

The spectacular sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo seem so familiar to us, but what do we really know about this Renaissance giant?

Michelangelo’s genius is evident in everything he touched. Beautiful and diverse works such as the towering statue of David, the moving Pietà in the Papal Basilica of St. Peter and his tour-de-force, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, still leave us breathless today. Spanning his 88 years, we take a cinematic journey through the print and drawing rooms of Europe through the great chapels and museums of Florence, Rome and the Vatican to seek out a deeper understanding of this legendary figure’s tempestuous life, his relationship with his contemporaries and his incredible legacy. Through expert commentary, stunning visuals and Michelangelo’s own words, this film takes a fresh look at a master artist whose life and genius are celebrated in every mark he made. Returning to cinemas in 2025 to celebrate the 550th anniversary of this iconic artist’s birth.

UK 2016 David Bickerstaff 90m

Tickets £15

One of the most eye-opening, chilling, fascinating and frightening documentaries of the year, exploring Leni Riefenstahl's artistic legacy and her complex ties to the Nazi regime.

It was at the (Mussolini-era) Venice Film Festival in 1938 that Riefenstahl scooped the top prize for ‘Olympia’, her sublime, suspect paean to the Berlin Olympics. Her career peaked, after which it plunged dramatically. Veiel’s film shows how it happened, and how she tried and failed to salvage her reputation, juxtaposing her self-portrayal with evidence suggesting awareness of the regime's atrocities. This is a captivating insight into the private estate of the filmmaker, who became world-famous with her Nazi propaganda film ‘Triumph of the Will’. (Some subtitles)

USA 2024 Andres Veiel 115m

Based on a remarkable true story, discover how the poor son of a miner became one of the greatest actors the world has ever known – Richard Burton, with the help of an unlikely mentor.

In the Welsh town of Port Talbot, 1942, Richard Jenkins (Harry Lawtey) lives as a wayward schoolboy, caught between the pressures of his struggling family, a devastating war, and his own ambitions. However, a new opportunity arises when Richard’s natural talent for drama catches the attention of his teacher, Philip Burton (Toby Jones). Taking Richard under his wing, the young man thrives under Philip’s strict tutelage and the guidance of kindly landlady, Ma Smith (Lesley Manville). However, as the acting world comes within Richard’s reach, the burden of his past risks holding him back forever.

UK 2025 Marc Evans 123m

In this critical and very funny look at who the entertainment industry excludes over time, a stranger crashes a party, sparking a comedy of errors and a reordering of life.

One night in the Hollywood Hills, Rose (Elizabeth Reaser) and Sammy (Walton Goggins) are in the thick of those agonizing final minutes before her garden party starts, the last thing Rose wants to see is a confused elderly woman, Helen (Lois Smith), pulling into her driveway insisting that the Hollywood mansion is actually her house. Rose feels an obligation to get Helen home safely, but Sammy is distracted by the onslaught of Hollywood stars rolling up to the house. Things become even more complicated when her old flame Lucien (Pedro Pascal) shows up, and as drinks flow and secrets spill, ambition and identity clash in a sharp, unhinged look at a world obsessed with youth and fame. Enough good things cannot be said of this spectacular cast who bring their characters to life with precision and intriguing fascination.

USA 2024 Nadia Conners 97m

A documentary by Sadie Frost looking at the life of the greatest it-girl of all time - UK model and cultural icon Twiggy, real name Lesley Lawson.

An intimate, star-studded dive into the birth of an icon, and everything that followed. Featuring contributions from Dustin Hoffman, Paul McCartney, Charlotte Tilbury, Joanna Lumley and many more, this is an exploration of the model's upbringing, career, relationships and everything else that has made her the woman she is today, and the first time the icon has told her story first-hand. Frost, this film’s director, is carving out a niche for docs about fashion icons. ‘Twiggy’ is her second, after the playful and very successful ‘Quant’ (2021).

UK 2025 Sadie Frost 97m

Royal Ballet & Opera

Sensuous contemporary ballet meets the energy of musical theatre in four distinctive short works.

Thu 22 May 19:15 (LIVE)

Sun 25 May 14:30

When a pacifist is called to a political act that could change the course of history, a man of honour responds. This is the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who preached love while plotting the assassination of an evil tyrant.

As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler) is swept into the epicentre of a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler. With his faith and fate at stake, Bonhoeffer must choose between upholding his moral convictions or risking it all to save millions of Jews from genocide. Will his shift from preaching peace to plotting murder alter the course of history or cost him everything?

Belgium/Ireland 2024 Todd Komarnicki 132m

Four misfits are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they'll have to master this world while embarking on a quest with an unexpected, expert crafter.

Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn't just help you craft, it's essential to one's survival! Four misfits - Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison (Jason Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Eugene Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) - find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they'll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Jack Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative... the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world. You may remember Jared Hess as director of the much-loved ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ and ‘Nacho Libre’. A recipe for a lot of fun.

USA 2025 Jared Hess 101m

Julie Zwijgt

Julie is a star player at an elite tennis academy. When her coach falls under investigation and is suddenly suspended, all of the club's players are encouraged to speak up. But Julie decides to keep quiet.

Julie (Tessa van den Broeck) dedicates her life to tennis, her sport, her training and her career. When her coach is suspended, rumours start spreading and voices, other than Julie’s, are heard. Belgian director, Leonardo Van Dijl, follows her each step of the way, always keeping the right distance. “I wanted Julie to inspire. There's a uniquely emancipatory, rebellious energy in Julie's decision not to speak, as it compels the film to respect her pace and not bow to external pressures”, Van Dijl noted. Sometimes silence is louder than words. Cast includes Ruth Becquart, Koen De Bouw, Claire Bodson and Laurent Caron. ‘A tense, absorbing film of silences and absences, of difficult terrain skirted around, of subjects avoided’ - The Guardian. (Subtitles)

Sweden / Belgium 2024 Leonardo Van Dijl 97m

Ainda Estou Aqui

A mother is forced to reinvent herself when her family's life is shattered by an act of arbitrary violence during the tightening grip of a military dictatorship in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro, 1970. The Paiva family lives in a rented house near the beach which is always full of friends. They are comfortable rather than rich, but they enjoy a different kind of wealth: an intellectual freedom and curiosity that feels increasingly precious as the Brazilian military dictatorship flexes its muscle on the streets outside. One day, men with guns come to take the father, Rubens (Selton Mello), in for questioning. In his absence, his wife Eunice (Fernanda Torres) must find a way to protect her five children and reinvent herself. Walter Salles’ (‘The Motorcycle Diaries’) superb factually-based film – he was a real-life friend of the Paiva family as a teenager – is an engrossing, affecting tribute to a formidable woman and her family. Nominated for best foreign film at the Baftas and Oscars. (Subtitles)

Brazil/France 2024 Walter Salles 136m

A husband-and-wife rediscover nature’s beauty and a renewed sense of vitality in this heartstring-pulling adaptation of a true-life tale.

Fifty-somethings Ray Winn and her husband Moth (Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs) receive a bad health diagnosis and court-ordered to vacate the only home they’ve known as a family due to insurmountable circumstances. They decide to walk the South-West Coast Path – the longest (630 miles) uninterrupted footpath in England – from Minehead to Poole along the Devon, Cornwall and Dorset coast armed only with a tent, limited supplies, very few clothes and the travelogue that inspired this trek. Helene Louvart’s excellent cinematography is a real highlight with filming locations including Padstow, Clovelly, Ilfracombe and some of the most beautiful rugged coast in the country, but do see if you can spot the scenes filmed at our very own West Wittering. This portrait of loss, humanity and rebirth is adapted from Raynor Winn’s personal memoir, with Anderson and Isaacs’ intimately textured performances standing out.

UK 2024 Marianne Elliott 115m

Christian Wolff applies his brilliant mind and illegal methods to reconstruct the unsolved puzzle of a Treasury chief's murder.

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) has a talent for solving complex problems. When an old acquaintance is murdered, leaving behind a cryptic message to "find the accountant”, Wolff is compelled to solve the case. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolff recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Brax (Jon Bernthal), to help. In partnership with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.

USA 2025 Gavin O'Connor 124m

A gay man makes a deal with his lesbian friend: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for in vitro fertilization treatments for her. What they did not expect was Min's grandmother surprising them with a Korean wedding banquet.

This is a joyful comedy of errors about a chosen family navigating cultural identity, queerness and family expectations. Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris and running out of time, Min (Han Gi-Chan) makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) in exchange for her partner Lee's expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min's grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Korean wedding banquet. Lily Gladstone (‘Killers of the Flower moon’) co-stars in this poignant and heartfelt reminder that being part of a family means learning to both accept and forgive.

USA 2025 Andrew Ahn 102m

Disability on Film

A talk which reflects on the history of disability on screen, illustrated by a range of powerful clips.

The relationship between disability and cinema is longstanding and, in this talk, Théo Rogier of the Cinema Education Team, draws on film scholarship and lived experience as a wheelchair user to explore how disability is represented on screen. Beginning with ‘Freaks’ (1932) and concluding with ‘Untouchable’ (2011), a celebrated portrait of friendship and care across class and ability, this talk invites audiences to reconsider disability, not as marginal but as central to film’s cultural legacy.

100m inc Q&A

Tickets £7.50 (In the Auditorium)

SPECIAL OFFER:

FILM & TALK ONLY £15

Sat 31 May 10:30

Met Opera

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024–25 Live in HD season comes to a close with a transmission of Rossini’s effervescent comedy.

Sun 1 Jun 14:15

Les Intouchables

After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires Driss a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.

Paris: the aristocratic and intellectual Philippe is a quadriplegic millionaire who is interviewing candidates for the position of his carer. Driss is only applying so he can receive his benefits but Philippe challenges him, offering him a trial period of one month to gain experience helping him. Then Driss can decide whether he would like to stay with him or not. Driss accepts the challenge and moves to the mansion. An unlikely friendship develops between the two men. It delivers broad laughs and tugs at the heartstrings without delving too deep – the very definition of a crowd-pleaser. (Subtitles)

France 2011 Olivier Nakache/Éric Toledano 112m

Fa Yeung Nin Wah

Two neighbours form a strong platonic bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. 25 years on from its release, we can safely say that this film has achieved cult-status as one of the most beautiful films on the big screen – don’t miss this rare opportunity.

In 1962, journalist Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his wife move into a Hong Kong apartment, but Chow's spouse is often away on business. Before long, the lonely Chow makes the acquaintance of the alluring Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk), whose own significant other also seems preoccupied with work. As the two friends realize their respective partners are cheating on them, they begin to fall for one another; however, neither wants to stoop to the level of the unfaithful spouses. Without doubt one of the most breathtakingly gorgeous films of this century to date, dizzy with a romantic spirit that has been missing from the cinema since the 1940’s. This beautifully tailored, low key (but always dramatic) story is subtly erotic, and effortlessly cool. (Subtitles)

Hong Kong/France 2000 Wong Kar-Wai 98m

The fastest-selling production in the Young Vic’s history, Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.

Gillian Anderson (‘The Salt Path’, ‘The X Files’), Vanessa Kirby (‘The Crown’), and Ben Foster (‘Lone Survivor’, ‘Leave No Trace’) lead the cast in Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece, returning to cinemas.

Thu 5 Jun 19:30

Sun 8 Jun 14:15

Wes Anderson’s brand-new film is simply a story of a family and a family business. But if we know anything about this director is that this will be anything but simple. Expect a super- A-list cast and a colourful hyper-stylized lens.

Benicio Del Toro stars as Zsa-zsa Korda, a maverick in the fields of armaments and aviation and one of the richest men in Europe. He is working on the Korda Land and Sea Phoenician Infrastructure Scheme, but he is being thwarted by powerful forces at every turn. He has ten children, including one daughter, a nun (Mia Threapleton, who happens to be Kate Winslet’s daughter), whom he designates the sole heir to his estate. In typical Anderson fashion, the adventure is a delight to look at and the list of stars who crave to be directed is almost endless. In this case: Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeffrey Wright, Rupert Friend, Mathieu Amalric, Jason Watkins, Riz Ahmed, Michael Cera and Richard Ayoade… WOW!

USA 2025 Wes Anderson

In the Norwegian wilderness, a family seeks a wild free existence, but a tragic turn of events shatters their isolation, compelling them to adapt to the demands of contemporary society.

This begins as the tale of Maria and Nik Payne, a couple who decided to quit the rat race and make a self-sustaining farm off the grid. Building a home, tilling a garden, gathering animals and eventually having children all were seeds for what seemed like an idyllic life. But life is never straight-forward. This is a lovely film about tenderness and family and living with a purpose rooted in love, but also how difficult it is in today’s economy to actually live solely off the land. It is suffused with magic, tragedy and gaining wisdom both old and new. Director Silje Jacobsen has created an incredibly well-shot film with breathtaking scenery that captures the majestic quality of nature. (Some subtitles)

Norway 2024 Silje Evensmo Jacobsen 84m

En Fanfare

This French spin on Mark Herman’s ‘Brassed Off’ (the British comedy-drama about colliery bands) has a beating emotional pulse of its own. Originally screened as a preview in our Autumn French Film Festival UK.

Thibaut (Benjamin Lavernhe) is an internationally renowned conductor of the Lille Symphony Orchestra who travels the world. He discovers he was adopted - then also finds out he has a younger brother, Jimmy (Pierre Lottin), who works in a school cafeteria and plays the trombone in a school marching band. While they seem to be worlds apart, their unwavering love of music unites them in difficult circumstances. The third feature film by screenwriter, actor and director Emmanuel Courcol emerges as an immensely touching and melodious work, bringing relationships and music to the fore. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Emmanuel Courcol 103m

Not only a cinematic journey into the mind of Eileen Gray, but a story about the power of female expression and men's desire to control it.

Delicate, white and ship-like, E1027 is a house, or rather, a work of art, which is perched above a bay on the Cote d’Azur whose wildness was, when it was finished in 1929, the opposite of the worldly charms of nearby Monte Carlo.  Behind it isn’t only the magic of an architectural body come to life, but also the complexity of a trio of brilliant minds, namely the architects Eileen Gray, Jean Badovici and Le Corbusier. Structured like a docufiction which brings together archive images, reenactments and a voice over that gently accompanies the images (mostly that of Eileen Gray speaking in the first person), the film shows moments of intimacy that we can only imagine. Rather than a historical reconstruction based on meticulous analysis the co-directors put architecture in dialogue with cinema in order to bring to life the sensibility of a woman who was a visionary yet is too rarely celebrated. (Some subtitles)

Switzerland 2024 Beatrice Minger/Christoph Schaub 89m

A crowd-pleasing warm-hearted comedy that has an eccentric lottery winner who lives alone on a remote island dreaming of getting his favourite musicians back together.

Kind and chatty Charles (Tim Key) lives alone on the remote Wallis Island. Beautiful and serene with white cliffs and rocky shores (it was shot in Wales), it is not the kind of place where there is a lot of socializing. He dreams of getting his favourite musicians, McGwyer Mortimer (Tom Basden & Carey Mulligan) back together. His fantasy turns into reality when the bandmates and former lovers accept his invitation to play a private show at his home the Island. Old tensions resurface as the artists reunite now at different phases in their lives. Mulligan and Basden are sublime together, naturally exuding the awkward chemistry of artist exes, with Key thoroughly entertaining as the adorable comedic foil. This is the sort of film that oozes mood and warmth (like the folk songs performed in the film) and is very easy to recommend to anyone.

UK 2025 James Griffiths 100m

50th Anniversary Restoration. Light the Rock n' Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame.

Set in the hardships of North England's seventies working class society and music scene, this is a fictional tale but based on true experiences and starring the band themselves as the members of Flame. We follow the rise and fall of a pop group at the end of the 1960s – from bold beginnings in seedy clubs to booze-addled endings in spectacular stadiums – this darkly cynical, warts-and-all portrait of a band in freefall amidst the music-industry suits who want a piece of the pie was not what anybody was expecting.

UK 1975 Richard Loncraine 91m

With a stage production of ‘Anna Karenina’ at Chichester Festival Theatre this month, this talk will look back at film adaptations of Tolstoy’s fiction.

Is it possible to make a great film from a literary masterpiece? To make the leap from page to screen, without crashing to the ground, like Vronsky in ‘Anna Karenina’? In this talk, Patrick Hargood, Cinema Education Officer, will consider the big screen versions of the work of arguably the greatest of all novelists, with a plethora of clips from Hollywood, the UK, Europe, Japan and Russia itself, in search of the consummate Tolstoy adaptation.

100m inc Q&A

Tickets £7.50 (In the Auditrorium)

SPECIAL OFFER:

FILM & TALK ONLY £15

Sat 14 Jun 10:30

The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.

This 19th-century period piece is an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel. On a trip to St. Petersburg, Anna Karenina (Greta Garbo), neglected wife of the famed Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin (Basil Rathbone), meets a handsome military officer, Count Vronsky (Freddie Bartholomew). Vronsky becomes enamoured of Anna and follows her back to Moscow to confess his feelings. Will she follow her heart to be with him, even if it destroys her family and results in public disgrace? Garbo, who also starred in the 1927 silent version (‘Love’) of the Tolstoy story, is radiant and vulnerable throughout the film, the centre of the emotional storm that engulfs her.

USA 1935 Clarence Brown 95m

Two parents enter a race against time when they receive a distressing late-night phone call from their daughter after she caused a tragic car accident.

When two distraught parents (Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys) receive a call from their teenage daughter telling them that she has just accidentally hit a pedestrian, they jump in their car, racing to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene. As they head deeper into the night, disturbing revelations threaten to tear the family apart as they soon realize they might not be the only ones driving down Hallow Road. How far will ordinary parents go to protect their offspring? This suspense thriller features high-intensity performances from Pike and Rhys in what is essentially a close-quarters two-hander set on the anxious journey, bringing comparisons to 2013’s brilliant ‘Locke’ starring Tom Hardy.

UK/Ireland 2025 Babak Anvari 80m

A sublime tale of a government pensioner by the name of Umberto Domenico Ferrari (played brilliantly by Carlo Battisti) in the post-war Italy.

One of the most poignant and moving stories ever told on film, with an unusual theme - what happens to an old man who is left destitute by circumstances (war, inflation) in post-war Italy. Terribly sad and sentimental, yet filled with the visual poetry for which De Sica ('Bicycle Thieves') is deservedly famed. A superb film - withering in its critique of uncaring capitalism - It is hard-edged - there is no solution to Umberto's plight, and the depiction of war-damaged Rome is completely convincing. (Subtitles)

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

During a weekend backpacking trip in the beautiful Catskill Mountains, 17-year-old Sam navigates the clash of egos between her father and his oldest friend.

In India Donaldson's insightful, piercing debut, 17-year-old Sam (Lily Collias) embarks on a three-day backpacking trip in the Catskills with her dad, Chris (James Le Gros) and his oldest friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy). As the two men quickly settle into a gently quarrelsome brotherly dynamic, Sam, wise beyond her years, attempts to mediate. But when lines are crossed and Sam's trust is betrayed, tensions reach a fever pitch, as Sam struggles with her dad's emotional limitations and experiences the universal moment when the parental bond is tested. Selected in both Sundance and Cannes' Directors' Fortnight, ‘Good One’ is an emotionally expansive work that probes the limits of familial trust, understanding, and ultimately, forgiveness. Out of a tight, terrific cast, it’s Collias’ performance – so potent and contained – that gets under your skin. With echoes of the stylish US Indie cinema that Kelly Reichhardt has made so brilliantly.

USA 2024 India Donaldson 89m

Italian Cinema and Neo-Realism

During and after WW2, Italy produced one of the key movements in the history of world cinema. We join the Friends of Ravenna for this special event looking back at one of the most influential movements in world cinema

120m inc Q&A

Tickets £7.50

Tue 17 Jun 18:30