Nattvardsgästerna

A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.

‘Winter Light’ focuses on a small group of parishioners found at the beginning of the film attending Holy Communion. The village pastor (Gunnar Björnstrand) is realising he has become an atheist since his wife's death. His faith is further tested by an offer of marriage from a schoolteacher (Ingrid Thulin) tortured with eczema, and the solace demanded by a man (Max von Sydow) suicidally depressed by the threat of nuclear war. The pastor fails on both counts and Bergman gives us an ambiguous ending back in the church service - what he himself called 'certainty unmasked'. Never a comfortable film, it's finely acted by a familiar Bergman ensemble, and the awesomely cold vistas form a perfect counterpoint to the spiritual freeze.

Sweden 1963 Ingmar Bergman 81m

The lives of two strangers are changed forever when they cross paths on the surfing adventure of a lifetime, discovering love, downshifting and four charismatic horses.

This is a stunning, intimate and unflinching series of love letters within a documentary - firstly, a love between two people, and secondly between humanity and the Earth. Ecologist Matty Hannon begins an incredible solo adventure, to surf the west coast of the Americas by motorbike, from the top of Alaska to the tip of Patagonia. But deep in the wilderness - alone with the wolves and the bears - the journeyman’s plans unexpectedly fall to pieces. After losing everything, and on the cusp of quitting, he meets the girl of his dreams, a permaculture farmer named Heather. Shot over 16 years, the result is an adventurous exposé on the more-than-human-world, offering a physical and spiritual odyssey to better understand our place in Nature. (Some subtitles)

Australia 2022 Matty Hannon 90m

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 horse trainer living in an isolated and picturesque location is dealing with a personal tragedy, when her daughter arrives at her doorstep, frightened, trembling and covered in someone else's blood.

In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, Kate (Julianne Moore) is a mother struggling to make peace with her troubled daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney) - a situation that becomes even more perilous when Claire shows up on Kate's doorstep in a hysterical state. As Kate pieces together the shocking truth of what happened, she learns just how far a mother will go to try to save her child in this gripping tale of love, sacrifice and survival from BAFTA-winning director of ‘Beast’ Michael Pearce. Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney are at different points in their careers, but they are both equally able to play complicated, emotional characters capable of holding secrets until the moment they explode to the surface.

USA 2025 Michael Pearce 83m

A compelling portrait of an artist obsessed, this documentary follows German auteur Werner Herzog as he deals with difficult actors, bad weather and getting a boat over a mountain, all in an effort to make a film.

German director Werner Herzog begins work on his 1982 epic ‘Fitzcarraldo’ (also screening this week) but soon runs into serious setbacks, from casting problems to his own stubborn refusal to use special effects. After having to reshoot much of the film because the lead actor was recast, his crew must then haul an old steamboat over a mountain using manpower alone. With a resolve bordering on insanity, Herzog struggles to realize his vision, vowing to see the film completed - even if it leads to his undoing. Critics consider this one of the best – if not the best – documentaries on the making of a film. (Subtitles)

USA/West Germany 1982 Les Blank 95m

La Dégustation

A very enjoyable wine-based romantic comedy about two awkward singles who form an unlikely couple and inadvertently find love.

Jacques (Bernard Campan) is divorced and runs a small wine shop on the verge of bankruptcy in a small French town. Hortense (Isabelle Carré) is also single, full of life and eager to find true love. One day she walks into his store looking for a good drop of wine to share with a group of homeless people that she regularly cooks for, and before too long she has signed up for a tasting workshop at Jacques’ store. The road to romance though, is not exactly smooth, especially when both of them are harbouring secrets – and nursing past hurts. Carré ('L'Enfant de Personne') and Campan ('Tous Inconnus') are both César award-winning actors and have convincing on-screen chemistry for an unlikely couple. Just like a good wine, ‘The Tasting’ has a lasting finish. (Subtitles)

France 2023 Ivan Calbérac 92m

In Liebe, Eure Hilde

A young woman falls in love with a member of an anti-Nazi group. The two spend the summer together until they get caught by the Gestapo and she is imprisoned, eight months pregnant.

Berlin, 1942: it was the most beautiful summer for Hilde Coppi (Liv Lise Fries) – madly in love with Hans (Johannes Hegeman) and joyfully pregnant. But amid the passion there is grave danger. Hans becomes involved in the anti-Nazi resistance, with a group of young people who will later be called the “Red Orchestra”. Despite the huge risks, Hilde decides to get involved herself but is arrested by the Gestapo and gives birth to her son in prison. Now in a desperate situation, Hilde develops a quiet inspirational strength, but she only has a few months left with her son. The main protagonist is mostly soft-spoken, reticent and reserved throughout, which is very refreshing, nothing like the warrior queens and Amazonian figures popular cinema loves to laud as female role models. You may remember Andreas Dresden as the director of our 2022 Chichester Film Festival Surprise film – ‘Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush’.

Germany 2024 Andreas Dresen 125m

A beautifully filmed, heartfelt adaptation of Niall Williams' best-selling novel.  Two young people are made for each other, but as fate and  power of true love pull them together, so too does life threaten to tear them apart.

Nicholas (Fionn O'Shea) and Isabel (Ann Skelly) are made for each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. Nicholas' father, William (Pierce Brosnan), comes home one day to shatter his family's modest life, when he tells them that in a moment of divine intervention, God has instructed him to dedicate his life to painting. He quits his job and sets off for the coast, leaving his shell-shocked wife and son to fend for themselves. Meanwhile Isabel and her family live a charmed existence on a small neighbouring island, their house full of music and poetry. When tragedy strikes, the music stops, and Isabel's parents (Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne) decide in their grief to send Isabel to a convent school on the mainland. The young lovers embark on their own individual journeys of heartache and misplaced love, before fate contrives to pull the threads of their lives together. Filmed in Donegal and Antrim by cinematographer Damien Elliott, certainly makes the locations glimmer. The skies and seas are azure blue, the beaches are golden, and the sun never seems to dim, lending the film a beautiful fairytale quality.

UK/Ireland 2024 Polly Steele 125m

A mother and her daughter embark on a journey to the Spanish coast to find a cure for the mother’s illness, and along the way the daughter discovers another reality far from her controlling mother.

Rose (Fiona Shaw) and her daughter Sofia (Emma Mackey) travel to the Spanish seaside town of Almería to consult with the shamanic Dr. Gómez, a physician who could possibly hold the cure to Rose's mystery illness, which has left her bound to a wheelchair. But in the sultry atmosphere of this sun-bleached town, Sofia, who has been trapped by her mother’s illness all her life, finally starts to shed her inhibitions, enticed by the persuasive charms of enigmatic traveller Ingrid (Vicky Krieps). Sofia's increased freedom becomes too much for her controlling mother and as the hot sun beats down, their relationship simmers with pent-up resentments and bitterness, threatening to tear the fragile threads that hold them together and leading them to a dramatic conclusion. Emma Mackey’s persuasive journey as Sofia is a standout and the elusive style of storytelling adds to the intrigue of the film.

UK/Greece 2025 Rebecca Lenkiewicz 92m

The Making of Movie Magic

With ‘Top Hat’ the summer musical at Chichester Festival Theatre, this talk will look back at the film careers of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Irving Berlin.

Sat 26 Jul 10:30 – In the Auditorium

As an ancient threat endangers both Vikings and dragons alike, the friendship between an inventive Viking and a Night Fury dragon becomes the key to both species forging a new future together.

On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup (Mason Thames) stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society. With the fierce and ambitious Astrid (Nico Parker) and the village's quirky blacksmith Gobber (Nick Frost) by his side, Hiccup confronts a world torn by fear and misunderstanding. As an ancient threat emerges, endangering both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup's friendship with Toothless becomes the key to forging a new future. This is the much anticipated real life version of the original 2010 animated film.

UK/USA 2025 Dean DeBlois 125m

You have seen this Summer’s Chichester Festival Theatre production, so now we give you the original screwball musical comedy, where an American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed.

The story centres on wealthy Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers), on holiday in London and Venice. She assumes that American entertainer Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is the husband of her friend Madge (Helen Broderick) – who is actually the wife of Jerry's business manager Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Glamorous and enthralling, a Depression-era diversion beautifully scored by Irving Berlin, this is the most successful and beloved picture of the prolific Rogers and Astaire partnership which saw them produce an astonishing nine musicals between 1933 and 1939. Don’t miss your chance to hear its lavish songs (including the gorgeous ‘Cheek to Cheek’) and see its effortless, masterful dance sequences on the big screen.

USA 1935 Mark Sandrich 101m

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

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an evil is waiting to welcome them back.

The dreams of rabble-rousing (and former Chicago enforcers for Al Capone) twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) come to fruition when they return to their small Mississippi hometown and successfully open a music bar in an abandoned sawmill. The place overflows with music and mysticism, and when their cousin Preacher Boy (Miles Caton) picks up his guitar and plays the Blues in front of a rowdy audience, all hell (including a rabble of vampires) breaks loose. Jack O’Connell’s co-stars as the despicably smirking villain in this rip-roaring fusion of masterful visual storytelling and outstanding toe-tapping blues. It looks phenomenal too: shot on 70mm film, the frame throbs with sultry reds and golds. Do not let any vampire film prejudice stop you from seeing this film, it is a recent stand-out of the genre.

USA 2025 Ryan Coogler 137m

Walter Francisco will be revealing the Film Festival programme on the 31 Jul, and everyone is invited. Together with Patrick Hargood from the Cinema's Education Team, they will guide you through the various strands, talks, special events and hidden gems.

Free snacks and drink will be offered.

Thu 31 Jul Aug 11:00

FREE - Tickets must be booked in advance (Get in quick!)

A young space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.

Elio Solis (Yonas Kibreab) wants nothing more than first contact. This lonely 11-year-old stargazer spends his life looking up, dreaming of distant planets and alternative lifeforms who won’t steal his lunch money. Most nights, you’ll find him asleep on the beach, wearing a colander, with ‘Aliens! Abduct Me!’ written in the sand. Well, Elio gets his wish - but far more than he bargained for. Beamed up to an inter-planetary ‘United Nations’ summit, he is mistaken for Earth’s leader, but these are tinderbox times, with warmongering Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett) rattling his sabre and ready to invade. Pixar's 29th feature film is the kind of fresh, original storytelling that they have built their brand on.

USA 2025 Adrian Molina, Madeline Sharafian & Domee Shi 90m

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

Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.

In his signature style, director James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC Universe with a singular blend of epic action, humour and heart, delivering a Superman who is driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind. David Corenswet takes on the daunting task of becoming Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane, while Lex Luther is played by Nicholas Hoult.

USA 2025 James Gunn 122m

Volveréis

Longtime partners self-consciously uncouple in this witty, chatty and loopy non-rom-com with echoes of Woody Allen.

Filmmaker Ale (Itsaso Arana) and her actor boyfriend of 14 years Alex (Vito Sanz) have decided mutually to call it quits after 14 years, cuing a very funny yet properly grown-up portrait of the ideal couple trying to smooth, and even to celebrate, their transition into ideal exes. It’s the celebration aspect that will prove their undoing. If ta good breakup is rare, a joyous breakup is completely mythical. With references to the Swedish master Ingmar Bergman’s fraught relationship with Liv Ullmann, and a style very reminiscent of early Woody Allen, this is a joyful film for real lovers of film. (Subtitles)

Spain 2024 Jonás Trueba 114m

Exhibition on Screen

Hopper’s work is the most recognisable art in America – popular, praised and mysterious. Countless painters, photographers, filmmakers and musicians have been influenced by his art. 

But who was he, and how did a struggling illustrator create such a bounty of notable work? This film takes a deep look into Hopper’s art, his life, and his relationships. From his early career as an illustrator; his wife giving up her own promising art career to be his manager; his critical and commercial acclaim; and in his own words – this film explores the enigmatic personality behind the brush. Combined with expert interviews, diaries and a startling visual reflection of American life, ‘Hopper’ brings to life America’s arguably most influential artist. Hopper is a rare artist whose work is accessible to both the casual and critical observer. Rothko, Banksy, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch and even ‘The Simpsons’ have all been inspired by the unique way Hopper captured American life.

UK 2022 Phil Grabsky 94m

50th Anniversary 4K Restoration

This is not only one of Stanley Kubrick’s finest and most influential films, but has been named as one of the greatest films ever made in polls including Sight & Sound. Celebrating 50 years in 2025.

In Kubrick’s own adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel about the exploits of an 18th century Irish adventurer, Ryan O’Neal stars as Redmond Barry (later Barry Lyndon) and Marisa Berenson is Lady Lyndon. Only a cinema screen can do justice to the stunning visuals of ‘Barry Lyndon’ which won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, Art Direction/Set Decoration, Music and Costume Design. Inspired by painters such as Thomas Gainsborough and William Hogarth, the film has a beautiful, painterly look, enhanced by filming in natural or historically accurate light sources, some lit only by candlelight. Pure cinema, simply unmissable.

UK/USA 1979 Stanley Kubrick 184m

In this masterpiece of dystopian science fiction on film, a blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Deckard (Harrison Ford) is forced by the police Boss (M. Emmet Walsh) to continue his old job as Replicant Hunter. His assignment: eliminate four escaped Replicants from the colonies who have returned to Earth. Before starting the job, Deckard goes to the Tyrell Corporation and he meets Rachel (Sean Young), a Replicant girl he falls in love with. The pre-CGI effects and industrial set design are somehow still fresh, the rain is incessant, the sun never shines, and the soundtrack is an eerie wave of Vangelis. This is a seminal film, building on older classics like ‘Metropolis’, but establishing a pervasive view of the future that has influenced science fiction films ever since.

USA 1982 Ridley Scott 117m

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

The life, success and troubles of Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) is a remarkably talented young Viennese composer who unwittingly finds a fierce rival in the disciplined and determined Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). Resenting Mozart for both his hedonistic lifestyle and his undeniable talent, the highly religious Salieri is gradually consumed by jealousy and becomes obsessed with Mozart's downfall, leading to a devious scheme that has dire consequences for both men. This lavish, flamboyant and ambitious production bagged 8 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Writer and Actor. Indeed Murray Abraham’s Performance as the envious Salieri, a man with more desire to produce music than God gave him talent to create, is one for the ages. Irresistable cinema.

USA 1984 Milos Forman 160m

Two Americans end up in Dakar, Senegal with bombs strapped to their chests and ten hours to find out why.

Two seemingly innocent American men (Hus Miller and Cam McHarg) wake up in the streets of Dakar, with bombs strapped to their chests. Following the orders of a mysterious voice (the unmistakable Willem Defoe) in their cell phones, they will run a desperate race against time that will set a whole country on fire and, inadvertently, plunge them into a quest for a deeper meaning to their lives. Congolese filmmaker Herbulot is a rising talent on the international action scene who blends his knowledge of his homeland with a deep appreciation of the history of action filmmaking.

USA 2024 Jean Luc Herbulot 88m

To launch the 2025 Open Air Screenings programme, we have chosen a chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis.

Johnny Cash’s (Joaquin Phoenix) early days as a boy were spent on the family farm, where he struggled under the scorn of his father (Robert Patrick). He eventually ends up in Memphis, Tennessee, with his wife Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), and breaks into the music scene after finding his trademark sound - even recording alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. While on tour, Cash meets the love of his life, singer June Carter (Reese Witherspoon), but Cash's volatile lifestyle threatens to keep them apart. The two leads are remarkable, both singing in their own voices adding an extra dimension of rawness: Phoenix is imperious no doubt, but it is Witherspoon who almost steals the show with a simply perfect performance which won her both the Bafta and the Oscar for Best Actress.

USA 2005 James Mangold 136m

Fri 8 Aug 20:00 – Priory Park

Gates open 19:00

TICKETS:

Advance Tickets £12.50 (£14.50 on the day if available)  

OPEN AIR SCREENINGS AT PRIORY PARK:

Screenings take place at Chichester's beautiful Priory Park.

Part of the prestigious Chichester International Film Festival.

Bring a Picnic Blanket or Chair, and a Picnic Basket filled with your favourite goodies.

Drinks & Snacks available.

Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time and place, disappears.

In Athina Rachel Tsangari's (‘Chevalier’, ‘Dogtooth’) tragicomic take on a Western, townsman-turned-farmer Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones)and befuddled lord of the manor Charles Kent (Harry Melling) are childhood friends about to face an invasion from the outside world: the trauma of modernity. The feral spirit of the world is gorgeously evoked throughout, with Sean Price-Williams’ cinematography a standout. Shooting on film, he embraces the organic qualities of the medium: the edge of the frame is ragged and mossy. Music is also part of the tapestry: the women sing hauntingly lovely traditional Scottish folk songs then the fiddles whip up a frenzy of boisterous bad behaviour. There is a wildness and a pagan spirit to this film’s energy.

UK/Germany/USA/France/Greece 2024 Athina Rachel Tsangari 131m

After two decades as one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, ‘Wicked’ makes its long-awaited journey to the big screen as a spectacular, generation-defining two-part cinematic event this holiday season. See it before the sequel in November.

The untold story of the witches of Oz, stars powerhouse Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning recording artist Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart. The two meet as students and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths, ultimately seeing them fulfil their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

USA 2024 John M. Chu 161m

Sat 10 Aug 16:00 – Priory Park

Gates open 15:00

TICKETS:

Special Advance Family Ticket: £28 (2 Adults & 2 Kids) (£34 on the day if available)  

Advance Tickets £12.50 (£14.50 on the day if available)  

Kids £3 (£4 on the day if available)

OPEN AIR SCREENINGS AT PRIORY PARK:

Screenings take place at Chichester's beautiful Priory Park.

Part of the prestigious Chichester International Film Festival.

Bring a Picnic Blanket or Chair, and a Picnic Basket filled with your favourite goodies.

Drinks & Snacks available

David Cronenberg’s latest sees an innovative businessman and grieving widower build a device to connect with the dead inside a burial shroud.

Karsh, played by a smirking Vincent Cassel whose face and wiry grey hair make him a dead ringer for Cronenberg, has created GraveTech, a wired cemetery that allows mourners to watch their loved ones decompose in real-time, either with an app on their phones or via the monitors affixed to the top of each headstone. Karsh believes his morbid invention will allow people to maintain a meaningful relationship with the bodies of their life partners, even in death. The film also stars Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce. Cronenberg drew on his own wife’s death for this brilliantly cerebral thriller about the physicality of grief.

France/Canada 2024 David Cronenberg 120m

Bridget Jones finally has some luck in her life; she has a great job as a screenwriter, her family and a new boyfriend; the fact that he is over twenty years younger than her isn't the only thing that is causing problems.

Bridget (Renée Zellweger) navigates life as a widow and single mom with the help of her family, friends, and former lover Daniel (Hugh Grant). Back at work and on the apps, she's pursued by a younger man and maybe - just maybe - her son's science teacher. Zellweger, Grant, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson reprise their roles as Bridget Jones, Daniel Cleaver, Mark Darcy and Doctor Rawlings, respectively, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Isla Fisher, Josette Simon, Nico Parker and Leila Farzad joining the cast.

UK 2025 Michael Morris 124m

Sat 10 Aug 20:45 – Priory Park

Gates open 19:15

TICKETS:

Advance Tickets £12.50 (£14.50 on the day if available)  

OPEN AIR SCREENINGS AT PRIORY PARK:

Screenings take place at Chichester's beautiful Priory Park.

Part of the prestigious Chichester International Film Festival.

Bring a Picnic Blanket or Chair, and a Picnic Basket filled with your favourite goodies.

Drinks & Snacks available

In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other... and him.

At the age of seventy, after years of consolidating his empire, the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides to abdicate and divide his domain amongst his three sons. Taro (Akira Terao), the eldest, will rule. Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), his second son, and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu) will take command of the Second and Third Castles but are expected to obey and support their elder brother. Saburo defies the pledge of obedience and is banished. There is not a wasted second in this film, Kurosawa took film spectacle to new heights, continuing to extend his own powers after the acclaim of ‘Rashomon’ and ‘Seven Samurai’. The film celebrates 40 years in 2025 with this new remastered release.

Japan/France 1985 Akira Kurosawa 160m

(12A)

I feel the need. The need for… well… ‘Top Gun’ under the stars at Priory Park. One of the seminal 1980’s films, it has achieved cinematic cult status and is infinitely rewatchable.

The Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School is where the best of the best train to refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot fighter pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) is sent to the school, his reckless attitude and cocky demeanour put him at odds with the other pilots, especially the cool and collected Iceman (Val Kilmer). But Maverick isn't only competing to be the top fighter pilot, he is also fighting for the attention of his beautiful flight instructor, Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis). This film has defined the modern day action blockbuster.

USA 1986 Tony Scott 119m

Sun 11 Aug 16:00 – Priory Park

Gates open 15:00

TICKETS:

Special Advance Family Ticket: £28 (2 Adults & 2 Kids)

Advance Tickets £12.50 (£14.50 on the day if available)  

Kids (Under 15) £3 (£3 on the day if available)

To close the open-air screenings weekend, let’s celebrate the life and music of legendary reggae musician Bob Marley, an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity.

Being a trailblazer, Bob Marley (a compelling Kingsley Ben-Adir) was involved in the development of reggae as a musical genre. Jamaican culture became more popular because of his music, which was not just about sounds, but a way of life. He preached peace, harmony and respect and was not afraid to use his music as a platform for his opinions on politics or religion. He has maintained such popularity over the years that you can find his poster hanging in modern-day student rooms, even though he hasn't produced any music since 1980. He is a true icon. That being the case, the lead actor had to be perfect. Kingsley Ben-Adir was cast as Bob, after an extensive, year-long and globe-spanning search by the studio, and he shines as the Jamaican legend.

USA 2023 Reinaldo Marcus Green 120m

Sun 11 Aug 20:00 – Priory Park

Gates open 19:00

TICKETS:

Advance Tickets £12.50 (£14.50 on the day if available)  

OPEN AIR SCREENINGS AT PRIORY PARK:

Screenings take place at Chichester's beautiful Priory Park.

Part of the prestigious Chichester International Film Festival.

Bring a Picnic Blanket or Chair, and a Picnic Basket filled with your favourite goodies.

Drinks & Snacks available

2025 Live Action Version

A hugely entertaining live-action remake of the much-loved 2002 animation, where a lonely Hawaiian girl befriends a runaway alien, helping to mend her fragmented family.

Lilo (Maia Kealoha) is an orphaned Hawaiian kid who keeps accidentally getting in trouble. Her elder sister, Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong), is trying to keep her on the straight and narrow after the death of their parents. Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders, director of the 2002 film) is a genetically engineered alien. When he is banished from his home planet, considered too dangerous to live, he escapes to Earth, envisaging a reign of destruction. Instead, he has to pose as a dog and move in with Lilo to evade the aliens tailing him. As Stitch tries to avoid capture and Lilo risks being taken away by social services, these two misfits form an unlikely bond. This has the charm of an ’80s family film such as ‘E.T.’ or ‘Gremlins’ and is one of the best of the recent live-action remakes. It will be a sure-fire hit for the family.

USA 2025 Dean Fleischer Camp 108m

We are delighted to present this Special Preview as the first film of the Festival. In Celine Songs’ follow up to ‘Past Lives’, a young, ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex.

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a professional matchmaker torn between former love John (Chris Evans) and a dazzling new possibility Henry (Pedro Pascal). Lucy is very good at her job, as we see when she cajoles a reluctant bride on her wedding day to go through with the marriage. At that wedding Lucy meets the groom's rich, handsome brother, Henry, and is served a drink by John, the ex she broke up with after five years, who is still a struggling actor working the wedding as a waiter. Should she choose her poor ex over her wealthy new suitor? Johnson, Evans and Pascal make for a starry love triangle in this rom-com… but dismiss it as typical rom-com fare at your peril. ‘Materialists’ is something far more original and captivating: a piercingly honest exploration of love and money and the inevitable connection between the two.

USA 2025 Celine Song 116m

PREVIEW FOOD (Wed only)

Step into the culinary delights of the Festival's new Special Preview Supper Party at Brasserie Blanc.

Indulge in substantial canapés and plentiful, mouth-watering platters.

Immerse yourself in the vibrant festival atmosphere as you mingle with fellow festival lovers, and get ready to kick off the evening in style.

Party: 18:00 / Film: 20:00 / £35.00

The arrival of wealthy bachelors in town causes an uproar when families with single daughters aggressively seek engagements, including the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters.

In the early 19th century in the English village of Meryton, the arrival of wealthy bachelors, most notably Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), stirs up the families with single daughters. Among those is the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters, including the spirited Elizabeth (Greer Garson) and her pretty older sister, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan). As Mrs. Bennet (Mary Boland) aggressively tries to pair off her girls, Elizabeth crosses swords with the imperious Darcy. The film’s spirit is entirely in keeping with Austen's sharp, witty portrait of rural 19th century society, together with some extravagant costumes.

USA 1940 Robert Z. Leonard 118m

Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis keep this joyous Billy Wilder comedy fizzing from start to finish. 

Two Struggling musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and are now on the run from the Mob. Jerry (Jack Lemmon) and Joe (Tony Curtis) cross-dress into an all-female band. In addition to hiding, each has his own problems; One falls for another band member (Sugar Kane - voluptuously played by Monroe), but can't tell her his gender, and the other has a rich suitor who will not take "No," for an answer. ‘Some Like It Hot’ is effortlessly fluent, joyous and buoyant: a high-concept comedy that stays as high as a kite, while other comedies flag. "Nobody's perfect" is the last line. Wilder, Lemmon, Curtis and Monroe come pretty close.

USA 1959 Billy Wilder 121m

This is a beautiful documentary that follows a revered Buddhist abbot in the remote northern region of Laos as he navigates the challenges of a sacred life under a communist regime.

An ambitious spiritual leader, Abbot Onekeo Sittivong defied convention by establishing a new school for his country's poor and undereducated children. But something else is happening at this school in a misty forest. The abbot and his fellow saffron-robed monks and young novices are working tirelessly to revitalize ancient Lao Theravada Buddhist practices and education almost lost to history. Of the many scars left by the Vietnam War, little is known in the West of the lasting revolution in the small but pivotal country of Laos, where the U.S. carried out its “Secret War”, which changed the country from a 600-year-old monarchy to a communist-run state. On the surface, this is a story of breaking the cycle of poverty and ignorance through education. The abbot, however, believes the novices’ path is about much more. ‘Saffron Robe’ follows his dream to safeguard the traditions and wisdom of a rich culture against the encroachments of a modern world by passing this heritage on to future generations. (Subtitles)

Laos/USA 2024 Jane Centofante 86m

A beautiful, heart-warming – and often funny - story that seeks to explore the fragile interplay between grief, human connection and the redemptive power of kindness.

Anne (Sarah-Jane Potts) is grieving the loss of her partner to the point of becoming mute.  She takes herself to the Canary Islands to spread his ashes, and just maybe, get her voice back, along with her place in the world. After an unwelcoming arrival, she finds herself wandering the streets until a chance encounter with another troubled traveller, Bill (David Ganly), offers an unexpected opportunity which could heal or crumble each of their lives. Potts has a magnetic screen presence, anchoring the film with a blend of vulnerability and resolve, portraying Anne as both fragile and fiercely determined to reclaim her life. It is hard to believe that this is the work of a first-time director (Millson is better known as an actor), achieving here a wonderful film with echoes of ‘Aftersun’ and ’45 Years’. Winner of Best Feature Film at the 2025 London Independent Film Festival and Berlin Indie Film Festival

"This is a magical film. It's got heart, soul and hope. And it’s laced with jeopardy." Irvine Welsh.

UK 2025 Joseph Millson 88m

L'ART D'ÊTRE HEUREUX

An unknown and unhappy painter suddenly decides to quit his job and move to a small town in Normandie, hoping to be able to create a masterpiece.

Jean-Yves Machond (Benoît Poelvoorde), a conceptual painter whose career came to an abrupt halt following a series of setbacks, decides to leave Brussels and his job as a teacher to settle in Étretat, Normandy, the ultimate embodiment of Impressionism. Here he is seeking inspiration to create his major work that, once presented to the world, will finally earn him eternal glory and recognition. The problem is, he has no idea what he wants to paint... There, between Bagnoule (Gustave Kervern), a figurative painter and bon vivant, a naive, warm-hearted individual who will draw him out of his lethargy with his bonhomie, and the 'charming' Cécile de Mauprès (Camille Cottin), gallery owner and manipulator who will disrupt his concentration, his meeting with the locals will prove decisive for the fulfilment of his plan. A funny film that includes some wonderful locations and will most likely make you want to pick up a paintbrush. (Subtitles)

Belgium/France 2024 Stefan Liberski 90m

An exquisitely textured and reflective documentary about David Lynch’s life as a visual artist, narrated by the idiosyncratic filmmaker.

Getting up close and personal with David Lynch as a visual artist. That’s what this exquisitely textured and reflective documentary offers. Narrated by the man himself, speaking into a lovely vintage microphone from his painting studio in the hills above Hollywood, he takes us on an intimate journey through his youth. He talks about his childhood in a small-town America, his family, the awkward teenage years, his anxieties and fears. Life in general really, along with the people who helped him become who he is. Lynch recounts the influence his youth had on him as an artist and his subsequent move into filmmaking. Combining home movies, stock footage, moody artworks and observations of him working on his paintings and sculptures, ‘David Lynch: The Art Life’ is both an immersive and compelling experience. He’s an entrancing storyteller, delivering a few juicy anecdotes. And the soundtrack, as you’d expect, is deliciously strange, dark and beautiful.

USA/Denmark 2016 Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, Olivia Neergaard-Holm 93m

L'HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE

A Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker named Souleymane has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency.

This is a moving, suspenseful and visceral depiction of the immigrant experience, through several significant days in the life of Souleymane (Abou Sangare), as he waits and prepares for the interview with OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees) that will determine his future. He must not only deal with those who profit from the refugee situation – asylum interview ‘coaches’ and food delivery permit ‘sharks’ to name a couple – he must also decide on whether the truth or a fabricated version of his story will suit his situation best. Great camerawork keeps the viewer on edge, allowing for a more empathetic understanding of Souleymane’s precarious existence. A film rewarded with prizes at many European Film Festivals, yet criminally unreleased in the UK. Non-professional actor Abou Sangare as Souleymane is a true revelation and a name to look out for in the next few years. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Boris Lojkine 93m

Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newborn mutant child. David Lynch's 1977 feature debut is one of those rare films that really deserves its cult status.

Henry (John Nance) resides alone in a bleak apartment surrounded by industrial gloom. When he discovers that an earlier fling with Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) left her pregnant, he marries the expectant mother and has her move in with him. Things take a decidedly strange turn when the couple's baby turns out to be a bizarre lizard-like creature that won't stop wailing. This is beautiful and strange, with its profoundly disturbing ambient sound design of industrial groaning, as if filmed inside some collapsing factory or gigantic dying organism. ‘Eraserhead’ is a singular work of the imagination, a harrowing, heartbreaking plunge into the darkest recesses of the soul.

USA 1977 David Lynch 89m

Winner of the Bafta for Best Film (2026). Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The older two daughters are the title opposites.

When Elinor Dashwood's (Emma Thompson) father dies, her family's finances are crippled. After the Dashwoods move to a cottage in Devonshire, Elinor's sister Marianne (Kate Winslet) is torn between the handsome John Willoughby (Greg Wise) and the older Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman). Meanwhile, Elinor's romantic hopes with Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) are hindered due to his prior engagement. Both Elinor and Marianne strive for love while the circumstances in their lives constantly change. One of this film’s outstanding qualities is in the way it keeps Austen's authentic voice but with fresh and witty vignettes – proof of the great partnership between screenwriter Emma Thompson – who won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for this film – and director Ang Lee who went on to make ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’ in the following decade. Besides winning the Best Film Bafta, it also won Best Actress (Thompson) and Best Supporting Actress (Winslet). A true delight.

UK 1995 Ang Lee 136m

SAYAT NOVA

To complement our documentary on the great Soviet director Sergei Paradjanov, we present his best-known film which focuses on the life of Armenian poet Sayat-Nova: his spiritual journey, artistic endeavours and inner conflicts within the cultural and historical context of Armenia.

This is a breathtaking fusion of poetry, ethnography and cinema, Paradjanov’s masterwork overflows with unforgettable images and sounds. In a series of tableaux that blend the tactile with the abstract, ‘The Colour of Pomegranates’ revives the splendours of Armenian culture through the story of the eighteenth-century troubadour Sayat-Nova. The film’s tapestry of folklore and metaphor departed from the realism that dominated the Soviet cinema of its era, leading authorities to block its distribution, with rare underground screenings presenting it in a restructured form. This edition features the cut closest to Paradjanov’s original vision, in a restoration that brings new life to one of cinema’s most enigmatic meditations on art and beauty.

USSR 1969 Sergei Paradjanov 79m

Fri 15 Aug 11:00 – Auditorium

The legacy and inspiration of Soviet director Sergei Paradjanov is at the centre of this new documentary from director Zara Jian.

There is an impressive array of auteur directors interviewed including Atom Egoyan, Tarsem Singh and Emir Kusturica, as well as other artists such as Russian actress-in-exile Chulpan Khamatova, who discuss the impact of Paradjanov’s cinema on their lives and work. The Georgian-born Parajanov became a revolutionary force in international cinema with ‘Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors’ (1965), his first film to reject the socialist realism of officially-sanctioned Soviet cinema in favour of a more experimental, poetic visual storytelling. He was imprisoned by the Soviets and his films were suppressed, but his magical vision and his bold championing of folk tradition endure long after the fall of the USSR. (Subtitles)

Armenia 2024 Zara Jian 110m

A visually striking documentary about a young Orthodox nun who must confront her past as she faces her desires and an uncertain future.

A Belarusian convent is the setting for this unique, mainly black and white, UK-produced story of spiritual self-realisation. We encounter Vera amid the deep snow-covered Forest, where she has taken refuge in a monastery far away from her turbulent past. Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s powerful, beautifully crafted feature documentary debut lends Vera the space to tell her story of redemption, as she embarks on a spiritual journey of self-realisation and acceptance. This is a transfixingly beautiful film, and if you find yourself reminded of Tarkovsky’s ‘Andrei Rublev’, you will surely not be alone. (Subtitles)

UK 2024 Cécile Embleton/Alys Tomlinson 91m

LE ASSAGGIATRICI

Based on Margot Wölk’s extraordinary real-life account, this film sees a group of women risk their lives as Hitler’s ‘food tasters’.

Rosa Sauer (Elisa Schlott) flees her bombed-out Berlin apartment, moves in with her in-laws, all while her husband, a German soldier, is fighting in Ukraine. Not too far away in a forest surrounded by barbed wire is the "Wolf's Lair" - the Eastern Front military headquarters of Adolf Hitler. Rosa lands among a group of war-weary young women, long deprived of sufficient food, who are forcibly recruited by the SS. They are driven every day to Hitler's complex to serve as his food tasters, dining on abundant vegetarian delicacies three times a day. The only price: risking their lives with each bite as they are tasked with making sure that the food intended for Adolf Hitler has not been poisoned. The extraordinary account by then 95-year-old Margot Wölk created a sensation when it first appeared in a Berlin tabloid more than a decade ago. Her decision to break decades of silence about her wartime experiences captured the imagination of German reporters, then global media, finally inspiring a documentary, two novels and a play. (Subtitles)

Italy/Belgium/Switzerland 2025 Silvio Soldini 123m

A faded country music musician is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him.

With too many years of hazy days and boozy nights, former country-music legend Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is reduced to playing dives and bowling alleys. In town for his latest gig, Blake meets Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a sympathetic reporter who has come to do a story on him. He unexpectedly warms to her and a romance begins, then the singer finds himself at a crossroads that may threaten his last shot at happiness. A phenomenal, heart-breaking performance from Bridges, which won him the Best Actor Oscar, powers this simple but affecting redemption story.

USA 2009 Scott Cooper 112m

Heralded as the breakout film at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, this is a fragile comedy-drama that examines how a private trauma haunts a young woman long after it occurred.

Agnes (Eva Victor) is an English professor at a college in rural New England. She is thrilled when her newly married best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie), recently moved to New York, arrives for a visit. Lydie very quickly notices Agnes’ anxiety most likely stemming from a past fateful encounter with her admiring advisor Preston (Louis Cancelmi). Although ‘Sorry, Baby’ takes Agnes’ pain seriously, Victor often makes bitterly hilarious observations about society’s discomfort in showing empathy toward women who are dealing with personal suffering. Sharply written, smartly structured and well-acted, with a star-making turn from director Victor herself, this is a black comedy that is not only nimble but consistently funny, whilst dealing with a difficult subject. This is a multi-talented filmmaker to keep your eye on.

USA/Spain/France 2025 Eva Victor 103m

SABAR BONDA

A touching, beautifully observed rural drama about a city-dweller who returns to his village for his father’s funeral, observes the 10-day mourning period and associated rituals, all the while wrestling with what his family think about him.

Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), a 30-something living in Mumbai is compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India. Grief's common phases (reminiscing over old photos, sharing beloved memories) coexist with local rituals, all while Anand's hidden desires materialize in a rekindled friendship with childhood companion Balya (Suraaj Suman) who is being pushed, even more relentlessly, towards marriage. Anand’s mother Suman (Jaysri Jagtap) knows why he went away, and why he has never married, but despite her acceptance, he still feels guilt over the way that he has complicated their lives; and he struggles with being in a place where, for fear of making Suman’s life harder at this already difficult time, he cannot be honest about who he is. In giving way to her pleas that he remains to lead the ten days of funerary rights, ensuring the safe progression of his father’s soul, he commits himself to rebuilding their relationship and to once again enduring the pressures that made him miserable in the past. This is a thoughtful, lyrical ode to a disappearing way of life, full of respect for its contributions to modern, urban India. Beautifully shot, and presented on screen within a 1980’s photo style border with rounded corners, further adding to the feel of a place lost in time. (Subtitles)

India 2025 Rohan Kanawade 112m

14-year-old Elias develops feelings for his new neighbour Alexander, and soon realizes he is falling in love for the first time.

When a new family moves in across the road, Elias (Lou Goosens) feels attracted to his new neighbour Alexander (Marius de Saeger) with the interactions with friends and family only bringing more questions than answers. Confused by his burgeoning feelings, Elias tries to sort out his inner chaos to prove that he is worth Alexander's heart. Writer-director Anthony Schatteman’s assured debut boasts a standout lead performance from Goossens (watch out for this young actor in the future) and proves that to tell a heart-warming story of falling in love, you do not need to sexualize the characters. One of the most moving films of this year’s Festival. This is a must-watch for any parent or family member hoping to understand the subtleties of the heart of a young teenager discovering their sexuality. Elias’ path to understanding himself and his desires will strike chords with anyone who ever struggled with self-acceptance. (Subtitles)

Belgium 2024 Anthony Schatteman 99m

Under the burning sky on a roadside on the coast of Ceará, Motel Destino is the scene of dangerous games of desire, power and violence. One night, the arrival of young Heraldo definitively transforms the daily life of the place.

The neon-hued Motel Destino is a roadside sex hotel under the burning blue skies of the coast of Northern Brazil, run by the boorish Elias (Fábio Assunção) and his frustrated, beautiful wife Dayana (Nataly Rocha). When 21 year-old Heraldo (Iago Xavier) finds himself at the motel after messing up a hit and going on the run from both the police and the gang he let down, Dayana finds herself intrigued and lets him stay. As the two navigate a dance of power, desire and liberation, a dangerous plan for freedom emerges. In this tropical noir, loyalties and desires intertwine, revealing that destiny has its own enigmatic design. The film boasts terrific performances by its central trio, and radiates mood, rawness and a humid vibrant Brazilian atmosphere. (Subtitles)

Brazil 2024 Karim Aïnouz 115m

A Manhattan office worker tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but office politics and his own romantic hopes complicate matters.

Insurance worker C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) lends his Upper West Side apartment to company bosses to use for extramarital affairs. When his manager Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) begins using Baxter's apartment in exchange for promoting him, Baxter is disappointed to learn that Sheldrake's mistress is Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the elevator girl at work whom Baxter is interested in himself. Soon Baxter must decide between the girl he loves and the advancement of his career. Two towering central performances from Lemmon and MacLaine perfectly complement the timeless Billy Wilder script. This is the perfect rom-com, not because it is light-hearted, but because it also has a dark side.

USA 1960 Billy Wilder 125m

A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to an older man in the dusk of his life as they build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox.

Lonely housewife Ila (Nimrat Kaur) decides to try adding some spice to her stale marriage by preparing a special lunch for her neglectful husband. Unfortunately, the delivery goes astray and winds up in the hands of Saajan (Irrfan Khan), an irritable widower. Curious about her husband's lack of response, Ila adds a note to the next day's lunchbox, and thus begins an unusual friendship in which Saajan and Ila can talk about their joys and sorrows without ever meeting in person. This wry and gently comic real charmer of a film expertly captures the almost overwhelming crush and noise of contemporary India, playing cleverly and delicately with the tension of whether its two correspondents might eventually meet. Irrfan Khan is tremendous. (Subtitles)

India 2013 Ritesh Batra 104m

COUNTRY MUSIC ON SCREEN

In director Robert Altman’s centenary year and with his masterpiece ‘Nashville’ turning 50, this talk looks back at the history of country music and film.

The association between country music and film goes back a long way, stretching from hard-hitting dramas to tales of music industry hopefuls, from biopics to sentimental dramas. In a talk by Chichester Cinema Education Team’s Sandy Guthrie to mark the 50th anniversary of Robert Altman’s ‘Nashville’, he will discuss how country music is deployed in films, highlighting the conventions in the stories of real and fictional country singers, and the ways it symbolises life in a distinct region of the USA, plus its legacy in other countries. The many clips will focus on the music described in the 1950s by legendary songwriter Harlan Howard as “three chords and the truth”, with the deceptively simple structure and emotive lyrics that have flowed out of Nashville and other hubs across the Southern States for more than a century.

100m inc Q&A

In what is most likely the best looking film of the Film Festival, a young indigenous Bolivian girl embarks on a rollercoaster journey to take her mother out of a life of hardship and into eternal paradise.

Santa (Fernanda Gutiérrez Aranda) embarks on a mission across barren landscapes to fulfil a promise to her mother. Along the way she encounters a shady priest, a group of wild female wrestlers and, initially, her nemesis: a gruff policeman (Fernando Arze Echalar) who arrests Santa before coming to suspect that she has miraculous powers. There is a magical realism to this film that will leave you gasping with wonder and joy, along with the odd jolt of sharp reality. Filmed across the high-altitude Altiplano and Yungas regions of Bolivia, near the capital of La Paz, we are treated to the most stunning cinematography of any film in this year’s Festival… and we are lucky to have the UK-based director Alberto Sciamma and cinematographer Alex Metcalfe with us for a Q&A where we can ask them about their craft. (Subtitles)

UK/Bolivia 2025 Alberto Sciamma 107m

Plus Q&A with the director Alberto Sciamma and cinematographer Alex Metcalfe.

‘Nashville’ follows a host of colourful characters – musicians, agents, fans, journalists, politicians, locals – during the city’s three-day country music festival in Robert Altman’s magnum opus.

A milestone in American cinema and of the key films of the 1970s, Robert Altman's ‘Nashville’ is one of the most influential and dazzling films ever made. Weaving together the stories and interactions of twenty-four major characters with astonishing fluidity, this audacious, epic vision of America circa 1975 has lost none of its freshness or excitement. Taking place over five days in the nation's music capital Nashville, Tennessee, the film follows two-dozen characters struggling for fulfilment, both personal and professional, amongst a backdrop of country and gospel musicians, outsider political campaigning, and the peripheries of life in between, building from one encounter at a time to create a wide-ranging tapestry of rich drama and human comedy. Featuring an exhilarating central vein of musical performances (written in character by many of the actors themselves) and a phenomenal cast including Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Shelley Duvall, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Murphy and Lily - gloriously restored in 4K.

USA 1975 Robert Altman 160m

DRØMMER

When 17-year-old Johanne writes a memoir about her passion for her teacher, the unexpected outcomes rattle three generations

Johanne's (Ella Øverbye) intimate writings about her first love stir friction within her family, prompting her mother (Ane Dahl Torp) and grandmother (Anne Marit Jacobsen) to reexamine their own realities and dreams. Johanne falls in love for the first time, with her teacher (Selome Emnetu). To preserve her feelings, she documents her emotions and experiences in writing. When her mother and grandmother read what she has written, they are initially shocked by its intimate content but soon see that it has literary potential. As they debate whether to publish it, Johanne navigates the gap between her romantic fantasy and reality, and all three women confront their differing views on love, sexuality and self-discovery. We hear much of Johanne’s writings in voice-over, which in another director’s hands may have been ruined, but here, we hang on to every word. Our hero navigates romantic ideals versus reality, exploring emotions of self-discovery, love and sexuality, all delivered with elegant style by a tightly matched central acting quartet. (Subtitles)

Norway 2024 Dag Johan Haugerud 110m

STERBEN

A conductor embarking on a major orchestral project has his professional status threatened by family turmoil behind the scenes.

Tom (Lars Eidinger) is emotionally withdrawn and a member of the Lunies family, who haven't been a family for a long time. Tom is about to embark on the most serious project of his career, a performance of ‘Sterben’ (‘Dying’), a piece composed by a testy and depressive friend (Robert Gwisdeck) who is always butting in during rehearsals, undermining Tom, insulting the musicians and angrily unable to decide if his work is valuable or worthless kitsch. Lissy (Corinna Harfouch) is quietly happy about her husband Gerd (Hans-Uwe Bauer) slowly wasting away in a home, but her new freedom is short-lived when she receives her own bad news. And sister Ellen (Lilith Stangenberg) starts an affair with the married Sebastian (Ronald Zehrfeld), with whom she shares a love for alcohol. As Death finally turns up on the doorstep, the estranged family members finally meet again. This extremely well-made film manages to be exceedingly funny, often in some of its darkest moments. The ingenious structuring of the narrative, coupled with the disarming gravitas that the actors bring to their roles, results in one of the most visceral portraits of the nuclear family as a botched project. (Subtitles)

Germany 2024 Matthias Glasner 180m

A New Yorker newly separated from his wife moves in with his best friend, a divorced sportswriter, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day. 

When fussy Felix (Jack Lemmon) becomes suicidal over his impending divorce, he accepts an offer to move in with his best friend, messy Oscar (Walter Matthau). Felix drives Oscar crazy with his obsession over his soon-to-be ex. Oscar tries to get him out of his funk by arranging a double date with two wacky British neighbours, Cecily (Monica Evans) and Gwendolyn (Carole Shelley). When the plan backfires and Felix grows even more despondent, his friendship with Oscar is put to the test. Playwright-screenwriter Neil Simon has made the most of every best line in his original play to provide the two film leads with first-rate material to drool over. Still funny and still fresh nearly 60 years after its original release.

USA 1968 Gene Saks 105m

In 1930s Paris, rebellious British painter Leonora Carrington joins surrealists Breton and Dalí. Her romance with Max Ernst forces her to face her inner struggles.

The 1930s-set film follows Carrington (Olivia Vinall) as she rebels against society’s expectations, mingles with iconic figures including André Breton (Denis Eiriey) and Salvador Dalí (Cat Jugavru) in Paris and has a whirlwind love affair with Max Ernst (Alexander Scheer) before fleeing to Mexico during WWII. Today Leonora Carrington is one of the highest selling female painters worldwide, next to Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe. Directed by filmmaking duo Lena Vurma and Thor Klein, the film is based on Elena Poniatowska’s best-selling book ‘Leonora’ and also stars Mercedes Bahleda as Peggy Guggenheim, Cassandra Ciangherotti as Remedios Varo and Ryan Gage as Edward James. (Some Subtitles)

Germany/Mexico/UK 2025 Thor Klein & Lena Vurma 103m

We are delighted to welcome directors Thor Klein and Lena Vurma, plus some cast members, for a Q&A following the Saturday screening.

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.

Dr. Frederic Treves (Anthony Hopkins) discovers Joseph (John) Merrick (John Hurt) in a sideshow. Born with a congenital disorder, Merrick uses his disfigurement to earn a living as the "Elephant Man." Treves brings Merrick into his home, discovering that his rough exterior hides a refined soul, and that Merrick can teach the stodgy British upper class of the time a lesson about dignity. Merrick becomes the toast of London before charming a caring actress (Anne Bancroft). The film’s arc moves the viewer from repulsion and fear to empathy and tenderness – that is the very movement of the story itself. Hurt's Merrick is extremely powerful, and this brooding David Lynch take on a real-life tale is a work of true potency.

USA/UK 1980 David Lynch 124m

The Life and Times of Athol Fugard 

TONY PALMER’S film portrait of Athol Fugard called ‘Falls the Shadow’ won the Gold Medal at the New York Film & TV Festival in 2013

Athol Fugard is the most performed playwright, besides Shakespeare, in the world. His thirty or so plays are performed everywhere. In Poland, in Brazil, Australia and Japan. In the United States, even Iran. The story’s very clear. Man’s inhumanity to man. Totally understandable wherever it is played. And audiences are shocked to have it presented so raw and shocked to often find themselves in tears.

His contribution has been huge. It’s been almost incomparable, and in a South African context of course, the best playwright South Africa has produced. He has been pioneering and, like the greatest of artists, he was still pioneering, still trying out new things. He had incredible energy, new ideas, new images, you know one just staggers back in front of this fount of creative energy.  

It’s given to very few playwrights to create a new voice in drama. Beckett does, Pinter does.  And Fugard does.  An absolutely unique voice that is Athol Fugard. Any playwright who speaks in a new voice makes you sit up and I think that’s why the world sat up and listened to Athol Fugard because he was speaking in a new way.  

"The South African government confirmed Fugard's death and said the country 'has lost one of its greatest literary and theatrical icons, whose work shaped the cultural and social landscape of our nation'" (Mark Kennedy and Gerald Imray, The Independent, 10 March 2025, click here).

"Fugard defined the essence of what he called "pure theater" as nothing more "than the actor and the stage, the actor in space and silence." As an artist he resisted labels, but he conceded that if his work is to be categorized "then it must be as 'actors' theatre.' Humanity was always at the core of Fugard's art" (Mark Kennedy and Gerald Imray, LA Times, 10 March 2025, click here).

"Fugard brought critical, wrenching portrayals of South African society under apartheid to international stages, including Broadway, helping to generate the wave of worldwide criticism that eventually led to the end of that policy in the country, in the process gaining wider access for South African dramaturgy outside that nation" (Carmel Dagan, Variety, 10 March 2025, click here).

"His longtime friend and collaborator John Kani mourned: 'I am deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend Athol Fugard. May his soul rest in eternal peace'".

"Now he is dead, and a writer of true integrity has gone. He loved the actor who had played Miss Helen in Mecca, the great Yvonne Bryceland – his muse. He loved women; he wrote about the feral stoicism and optimism of the female animal with a warmth quite unusual in a writer – maybe excepting Ibsen. He understood fatalism, and loneliness, and had the ear of a poet for ordinary folk" (Janet Suzman, The Guardian, 9 Mar 2025)

Set against a background of majestic arid landscapes coupled with the electric colours and sounds of Tunis, this is an unmissable exploration of how far one can go to break free from their past.

Every day Aya (Fatma Sfar) takes the minibus to the international hotel in Tozeur where she works as a chambermaid, before returning home to help her parents, whose primary thought is to marry Aya off to an older divorcee. Needless to say, Aya is not happy, so when an unforeseen incident affects her, she jumps at the opportunity unexpectedly afforded to her. Aya finds herself in Tunis, with no friends or papers, and now calling herself Amira. Is this new life any better than the one she previously knew? Featuring a magnetic performance from newcomer Sfar this is a drama-drenched film which looks great and also takes in police and government corruption in a post-revolution Tunisia. (Subtitles)

Tunisia/France 2024 Mehdi Barsaoui 123m

A husband-to-be flees his fiancée on their wedding day in Rangoon, 1917. His travels replace panic with melancholy, while his fiancée trails him across Asia.

1917, colonial Burma. Edward (Gonçalo Waddington), a civil servant for the British Empire, jilts his lovestruck fiancée Molly (Crista Alfaiate) the day she arrives to be married. As he escapes into an unexpected odyssey across Asia, she quickly follows suit amused by his moves. Rendered in stunning black-and-white period visuals interspersed with modern-day documentary footage, this is a dazzling multi-city symphony that will leave you reeling with wonder. Miguel Gomes (‘Tabu’, ‘Arabian Nights’) earnt the Best Director prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival for ‘Grand Tour’, a film that blends melodrama and comedy in a cat-and-mouse chase between lovers. (Subtitles)

Portugal 2024 Miguel Gomes 129m

A delivery man in Paris faces the dangers of urban nightlife while trying to support his family in Senegal. Entangled in a smuggling ring, he must make tough choices to secure their future.

Seydou (Oumar Diaw) is a migrant delivery worker in the heart of Paris. He navigates the challenges of survival and solitude, finding unexpected moments of connection that illuminate his path. His routine is a cycle of hardship, fleeting interactions and quiet resilience. Among indifferent customers and struggling workers, he forms an unexpected bond with Albert (Albert Delpy), a lonely elderly Parisian. Their friendship offers Seydou a rare connection, reshaping his perspective on belonging. This is ultimately a meditation on faith, connection and resilience in an increasingly fragmented world. Through Seydou’s journey and his bond with Albert, the film invites viewers to see beyond labels, to find strength in unlikely places, and to recognize the shared humanity that unites us all. This is an understated film about economic migration, told in a straightforward and powerful style. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Stevan Lee Mraovitch 80m

A life-affirming, genre-bending story based on Stephen King's novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.

We begin at the end – specifically, at the end of the world. Two ex-spouses, Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Felicia (Karen Gillan), reunite to watch the Earth crumble, and the stars blink out of existence – but why are there posters everywhere celebrating the mild-mannered Charles "Chuck" Krantz (played by Tom Hiddleston as an adult and Jacob Tremblay as a boy)? Flashbacks unravel the mystery, but the less you know about the film the better. This being a Stephen King adaptation, it has some supernatural elements, but it is not a horror movie, not at all. It is more a meditation on the big questions that we do not have answers to - and whether it would matter if we did. Look out for one scene where you will not believe how well Hiddleston can dance, in what may be the best dance sequence of any film this year.

USA 2025 Mike Flanagan 111m

The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.

Raised in rural Kentucky poverty and married at the age of 13, Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek) begins writing and singing her own country songs in her early 1920s. With the tireless help of her husband Oliver "Mooney" Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones), Loretta rises from local honky-tonks and small-time record deals to national tours and hit singles, befriending her idol Patsy Cline (Beverly D'Angelo) and becoming a country music icon despite the toll stardom takes on her family and her marriage. ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ manages to dig deep, avoiding the saccharine pitfalls that surround many a musical biopic. It is a remarkable film, a slice of Americana seen through the compassionate, unprejudiced eyes of English director Michael Apted.

USA 1980 Michael Apted 124m

This is a gorgeous performance film which uncovers Geraldine Flower's collection of love letters, suggesting a potential double life as a spy.

When Geraldine Flower died in 2019, a suitcase packed with hundreds of love letters written to her by smitten men in the 60s and 70s was found in her London flat. The letters inspired a 2024 album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini (called ‘Miss Flower’) and also this intriguing, gorgeous and creative film. The letters here are read by Nick Cave, Richard Ayoade and others, yet Flower maintains her elusiveness to the end. The co-directors, artists and filmmakers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, won awards and accolades for their inspired and unconventional 2014 film about Nick Cave, ‘20,000 Days on Earth’. With their new film, unshackled from the tropes of musical biography, their creative freedom is able to truly take flight, resulting in a delight for the senses that is both deeply intimate and thrillingly cinematic. A deeply moving film.

UK 2024 Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard 73m

‘Persuasion’ was Austen’s last finished novel, written when the society she so eloquently satirised was beginning to significantly change.

As one of three daughters of the wealthy Sir Walter Elliot (Corin Redgrave), Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) is a privileged but lonely member of the English aristocracy. Unlike Elizabeth Bennet from ‘Pride and Prejudice’, Anne Elliot is not playful or witty but quiet, sensible, and regrets not having the courage of her convictions. When her father leaves on a trip, he rents out part of his estate to relatives of Anne's ex-fiancé, Capt. Frederick Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds). Though Anne demurred over the marriage because of Wentworth's poor social standing and connections, he has since become very successful, and when he visits, Anne must confront the life she left behind. Hinds plays Wentworth with a wonderful mix of dash and awkwardness. This is a film which reminds us no matter what missteps we make, there might be hope of a happy ending after all.

UK 1995 Roger Michell 103m

A Swedish TV presenter's well-ordered life unravels when she finally confronts her domineering husband about an accusation against him. Her subsequent flight precipitates a chain of lies and paranoia in this taut psychological thriller.

Maria (Mirja Turestedt) is caught in the middle of a media maelstrom after her successful academic husband Magnus (Thomas W Gabrielsson) has been accused of rape. He denies it, but in a flippant, sneering kind of way that makes his guilt plain. When Maria finally snaps in the face of his unrelenting unpleasantness, her journey takes an unexpected turn, finding herself in the wilds of Exmoor, renting an isolated country house with just her dog for company. The film shifts its focus from a broken marriage to a fracturing psyche, and what first looked like a family drama starts moving towards a clever psychological thriller. This Nordic noir debut from Caroline Ingvarsson plays out against the arresting backdrops of Sweden and South West England, adding extra atmosphere to an already mysterious film. ‘Echoes of page-turner adaptations like ‘Girl on the Train’ and ‘Woman in the Window’’ - ScreenDaily. (Some subtitles)

UK/Sweden 2023 Caroline Ingvarsson 93m

A CELEBRATION OF DAVID LYNCH

David Lynch, who died in January of this year, was one of America’s most distinctive auteurs.  At once a pop culture icon, visionary artist and popular surrealist, Lynch enthralled and provoked viewers since his cult screen debut, Eraserhead in 1977.

Lynch’s sense of the beauty and terror of the little details of human lives defines his work.  Surrealistic imagery and bold sound design combine in his films to create unsettling and immersive worlds.  Worlds where horror and humour coexist, in screen masterpieces such as Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks.

Nick Johnston-Jones of the Cinema Education Team presents an overview and discussion of this unique and greatly loved screen artist.

100m inc Q&A

When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.

After a painful breakup, Clementine (Kate Winslet) undergoes a procedure to erase memories of her former boyfriend Joel (Jim Carrey) from her mind. When Joel discovers that Clementine is going to extremes to forget their relationship, he undergoes the same procedure and slowly begins to forget the woman that he loved. Directed by former music video director Michel Gondry, the visually arresting film explores the intricacy of relationships and the pain of loss. The two leads are both quietly heartbreaking in Gondry’s ground-breaking romance, co-written by the one-of-a-kind Charlie Kaufman (‘Being John Malkovich’). It is a wildly imaginative, hugely entertaining tour de force that asks big questions about life and love and fate while never ceasing to fully engage the viewer.

USA 2004 Michel Gondry 108m

David Lynch peeks behind the picket fences of small-town America to reveal a corrupt shadow world of malevolence, sadism and madness.

From the opening shots Lynch turns the Technicolor picture postcard images of middle-class homes into a dreamy vision on the edge of nightmare. College boy Kyle MacLachlan (Jeffrey) returns home and stumbles across a severed human ear in a vacant lot. With the help of a sweetly innocent high school girl (Laura Dern), he turns junior detective and uncovers a frightening yet darkly compelling world of voyeurism and sex. Drawn deeper into the brutal world of drug dealer and blackmailer Frank, played with raving mania by an obscenity-shouting Dennis Hopper, Jeffrey loses his innocence and his moral bearings when confronted with pure, unexplainable evil. Isabella Rossellini is terrifyingly desperate as Hopper's sexual slave who becomes MacLachlan's illicit lover and Dean Stockwell purrs through his role. David Lynch delivers a nightmarish masterpiece.

USA 1986 David Lynch 120m

While matchmaking for friends and neighbours, a young 19th Century Englishwoman nearly misses her own chance at love.

In this adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, pretty socialite Emma Woodhouse (Gwyneth Paltrow) entertains herself by playing matchmaker for those around her. Her latest "project" is Harriet Smith (Toni Collette), an unpretentious debutant, while Emma herself receives the attentions of the dashing Frank Churchill (Ewan McGregor). However, Emma's attempts at matchmaking cause more problems than solutions and may ultimately jeopardize her own chance at love and happiness. Paltrow makes a resplendent Emma, gliding through the film with an elegance and patrician wit that bring the young Katharine Hepburn to mind.

USA/UK 1996 Douglas McGrath 120m

Once a year, contenders from around the globe descend on a picturesque village in the Scottish Highlands to compete for the title of World Porridge Champion. Amid intense rivalries, steaming bowls of porridge, and the lives of charming locals we see a living legacy unfold.

Dating back to neolithic times, few culinary traditions have survived as long as the hearty bowl of morning porridge. Each year the sleepy highland village of Carrbridge awakens with excitement as locals and competitors from around the globe vie for the honour of winning The Golden Spurtle in the World Porridge Making Championships. This deftly constructed crowd-pleaser is a film to nourish the soul. Its considerable charm and humour come from an appetising combination of lovably eccentric characters, a sharp-eyed camera, a playful, bustling score and the glorious Scottish countryside.  

UK/Australia 2025 Constantine Costi 75m

IN ALL THEIR COMPLEXITY

THE FILMS OF KATE WINSLET

A talk looking back at the career of one of the finest screen actors of the last thirty years.

This talk, by Professor Maggie Andrews, of the Cinema Education Team, will explore, using a range of clips, some of the independent, Hollywood, British and Australasian films which have featured in Kate Winslet’s extensive and high-profile career, of more than thirty years. Her unquestionable acting talent has seen her portray complex, contradictory and often uncompromising versions of femininity on screen. From ‘Heavenly Creatures’ to ‘Lee’ all these texts have raised questions about the limitations and possibilities of contemporary womanhood. Whilst some of Winslet’s roles have been rooted in the gently feminist sensibilities of heritage drama, such as ‘Titanic’ and ‘A Little Chaos’, others have involved thornier problems: women’s illiteracy and culpability, as an SS Guard in ‘The Reader’, or the dangers of DIY abortions in ‘Revolutionary Road’. More recently, her seemingly fearless onscreen sexuality has opened up debates about gender, age, visibility and value, in ‘The Dressmaker’ and ‘Ammonite’.

100m inc Q&A

Based on a true story. A group of renegades attack two young shepherds in the remote Tunisian hills, forcing young Achraf, 13, to return home with a disturbing message.

As if life for 13-year-old goat herder Achraf (Ali Helali) and his older teen cousin Nizar (Yassine Samouni) isn’t precarious enough in their rural Tunisian community, a trip up the Mghila Mountain brings the added risk of potential landmines and threats from the extremists who hide out there. Yet danger seems like a far-off possibility as the teenagers play about in mountain pools and tell stories on a sunny day. Until brutal reality arrives, and they are suddenly set upon by jihadists. Childhood is short-lived in this world, Achraf having to drop out of school because his father is not around. It is also an environment in which the threat of violence is constant while the promise of hope is scarce. A visceral eye-opening film with great performances from all, especially the young Ali Helali. The story is based on the killing of 17-year-old Mabrouk Soltani amid the 2015 Tunisian unrest. (Subtitles)

Tunisia 2024 Lotfi Achour 97m

Jack Lemmon won a Best Actor Oscar for this role, which sees him as a troubled garment manufacturer who explores dark avenues to keep his small debt-ridden factory afloat.

Clothing manufacturer Harry Stoner (Jack Lemmon) mourns the loss of his youthful idealism even as he seals his fate by arranging to have an arsonist (Thayer David) torch his faltering factory for the insurance settlement. Stoner's conflicts with himself, his business partner (Jack Gilford), his distant wife (Patricia Smith) and a demanding client (Norman Burton) boil over during a nightmarish presentation at a fashion show, while a free-spirited hippie girl (Laurie Heineman) offers escape. Featuring a tour-de-force Oscar-winning performance from Lemmon, this is a meticulously painted portrait of a deeply flawed human being, and through it, finds something to say about the growing cynicism and bleak reality of 1970s America.

USA 1973 John G. Avildsen 100m

KJÆRLIGHET

A pragmatic doctor explores the possibility of spontaneous intimacy, questioning societal norms, after a chance meeting with a nurse from her work.

Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), a doctor, and Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen), a compassionate nurse, are both avoiding conventional relationships. One evening after a blind date, Marianne encounters Tor on the ferry, who often spends his nights there seeking casual encounters with men. Intrigued by his perspective on spontaneous intimacy, Marianne begins to explore whether this could also be an option for her. Satisfying, thoughtful narrative and character play, together with engagingly candid sexual discussions and performances from the ensemble makes this a promising prospect for admirers of mature, thoughtful relationship cinema – especially admirers of Eric Rohmer and the like. (Subtitles)

Norway 2024 Dag Johan Haugerud 119m

LA PETITE VADROUILLE

In this very funny French farce, a group of friends come up with a unique solution to their money problems: organise a fake romantic cruise for a wealthy investor, who is looking to seduce a woman.

Justine (Sandrine Kiberlain), her husband (Denis Podalydès), and their circle of friends find an easy solution to their money problems: they will organize a fake romantic cruise for Franck (Daniel Auteuil), a major investor, take advantage of his romanticism and naivety, and extract his funds. But before Justine can even suggest this plan to Franck, he proposes it first. The motley crew navigate through the French canals and locks, impersonating folk who actually know what they are doing, at the expense of the clueless and amorous Franck. French megastars Auteuil (‘La Belle Époque’) and Kiberlain (‘Mademoiselle Chambon’) shine in this playful farce set upon a slow-drifting houseboat from director Bruno Podalydès (‘The Sweet Escape), whose gift for depicting the foibles of daily life via absurd comedy is on display here once again. A perfect Sunday afternoon film. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Bruno Podalydès 96m

Andriy Dovzhenko demonstrate disobedience to the Soviet system, but system is trying to break him with forbidden punitive psychiatry practice. Will his system break him?

The protagonist Andrii Dovzhenko finds out a horrible truth, that has been hidden in USSR for years - most of those accused of «anti-Soviet propaganda» were never sent to prison, but to special psychiatric hospitals with a diagnosis of "slow progressive schizophrenia". Andrii finds himself in a real hell of punitive psychiatry and faces a difficult choice - to cooperate with the KGB and return to his family, or to reveal the truth about dissidents tortured in such psychiatric hospitals.

(Subtitles)

Ukraine 2024 Denys Tarasov 119m

Kaj Ti Je Deklica

A 16-year-old joins a Catholic school choir and befriends a senior. During a retreat, attractions to a restoration worker create tensions between the two and challenges their faith.

Lucija (Jara Sofija Ostan) is an introverted who is prone to drifting off into daydreams. Key among these are the vividly painted lips of Ana-Marija (Mina Svajger), a confident and popular senior who, like Lucija, sings alto in their Catholic school's all-girls choir. When the choir travels to northern Italy, Lucija finds herself attracted to a workman renovating the convent causing tension within her newly formed social circle. Slovenian director Urska Djukic digs deep into the fertile terrain of religion and adolescent hormones and finds something fresh in this coming-of-age drama. Premiered at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival launching Djukic as a new female force in the industry. The title comes from the ‘Sonic Youth’ song of the same name which plays over the closing credits, and whose lyrics perfectly encapsulate the frustrations of the film’s lead character. (Subtitles)

Slovenia 2025 Urska Djukic 89m

A rare chance to experience a cinematic masterpiece made almost a century ago. ‘Sunrise’ is a pinnacle of craft and one of the most revered films of all time, distinguished by its astonishingly fluid and inventive camera work. The live musical accompaniment mixes improvisation and composition and will be played on piano, flute, accordion and harp.

In this F.W. Murnau (‘Nosferatu’) masterpiece, a farmer (George O'Brien) with a pretty wife (Janet Gaynor) begins a downward spiral after starting an affair with a vacationing woman from the city (Margaret Livingston). She wants him to return to the city with her but when he mentions his wife, she suggests drowning her. Considered one of the greatest silent films. Indeed, in 2022's Sight and Sound poll, it was voted the 11th greatest film of all time! And yet surprisingly few people have seen it.

USA 1927 F.W. Murnau 94m

The live musical accompaniment will be performed by one of the leading silent film performers, Stephen Horne on piano, flute and accordion, alongside award-winning harpist and composer Elizabeth-Jane Baldry.

Tickets £15

The first in Satyajit Ray’s legendary ‘Apu Trilogy’ follows an impoverished priest dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, who leaves his rural Bengal village behind in search of work.

Harihar (Kanu Bannerjee) leaves his wife Sarbojaya (Karuna Bannerjee) alone, to look after rebellious daughter, Durga (Uma Das Gupta) and her young son, Apu (Subir Bannerjee), as well as Harihar's elderly aunt Indir (Chunibala Devi). The children enjoy the small pleasures of their difficult life, while their parents suffer the daily indignities heaped upon them. Specifically, this film is about India, but actually it is about everybody. The poetry of the film transcends its locality and speaks to us all. Satyajit Ray managed to deliver a classic with his debut, which features a soul-shaking sitar soundtrack by Ravi Shankar. (Subtitles)

India 1955 Satyajit Ray 126m

Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, a law student re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial. Kate Winslet deservedly won both Oscar and Bafta for Best Actress for this outstanding performance.

Michael Berg (David Kross), a teen in postwar Germany, begins a passionate but clandestine affair with Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), an older woman who enjoys having classic novels read to her. Then Hanna mysteriously disappears, leaving Michael heartbroken and confused. Years later, Michael, now a law student, gets the shock of his life when he sees Hanna on trial for Nazi war crimes. The Reader boasts some of the finest credentials on film; it is lit by two of Britain's finest cinematographers, Roger Deakins and Chris Menges; it is directed with great sensitivity by Stephen Daldry (The Hours) and with a screenplay by the incomparable David Hare it is gripping and intense, and told with immense restraint and no hint of sensationalism.

Germany/USA 2008 Stephen Daldry 124m

Plus Q&A

An in-depth investigation into the air you breathe on an aircraft and what the industry really knows.

This film took two people a total of 50 years of research and ten years of filming to create. It is made not to sensationalise but to provide audiences with enough research evidence for them to learn and better understand the issues at the heart of the film. Director Tristan Loraine is a former airline Captain who retrained at the British National Film and Television School and at Raindance Film Festival in London in 2006.

UK 2025 Tristan Lorraine 88m

JANE AUSTEN A GÂCHÉ MA VIE

A desperately single bookseller, lost in a fantasy world, finds herself forced to fulfil her dreams of becoming a writer in order to stop messing up her love life.

Agathe (Camille Rutherford), hopelessly clumsy yet charming and full of contradictions, finds herself in desperate singlehood. Her dream is to experience love akin to a Jane Austen novel and her ultimate aspiration is to become a writer. Instead, she spends her days selling books in the legendary British Bookshop, Shakespeare & Co, in Paris. Invited to the Jane Austen Writers' Residency in England, she must confront her insecurities to finally fulfil her ambition of becoming a novelist and put an end to wasting her sentimental life. Agathe, is an Elizabeth Bennet-type character in the shape of a Phoebe Waller-Bridge protagonist: she is lonely, depressed, a bit of an alcoholic and often facing an existential crisis. Full of delight and dry wit, together with a hint of the Richard Curtis rom-com, this is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Laura Piani 94m

Film, Flamenco & Food Event

LA VIDA PADRE

A famous chef is astounded at the return of his father, coinciding with the most important moment of the kitchen and the young chef’s life.

In this delicious comedy set in the world of high cuisine, young and ambitious chef Mikel (Enric Auquer) receives an unexpected visit from his father Juan (Karra Elejalde), who disappeared thirty years ago, and has returned with a case of acute amnesia – he can’t recall anything from the last three decades. At a critical moment for the future of his restaurant, Mikel must take charge of the crazy and unpredictable Juan, a verifiable hurricane, to get a third Michelin star for their family restaurant. The two leads have a wonderful chemistry, and you will most likely find yourself laughing and crying at various times in the film. (Subtitles)

Spain 2022 Joaquín Mazón 91m

We take advantage of the screening of this food-based Spanish film, to repeat (after 2024) our delicious tie-in with local Tapas restaurant El Matador, for a very special Film, Flamenco & Food event. You won’t find a deal as good as this anywhere!

Wed 20 Aug 15:45 – Lumiere (film)

Dinner at 18:00 – El Matador (PO19 7LT)

Tickets £48 (Film, Flamenco & Food)

An unconventional romantic comedy in which a young American in Paris meets a French girl with a morbid curiosity about he darker sides of the city's history.

Paul (Jeremie Galiana) and Paulette's (Marie Benati) chance encounter on a Parisian boulevard sparks an unusual friendship that grows around a dark game; reenacting scenes of notorious crimes from bygone eras at the sites they occurred. As their morbid road trip approaches the more recent past it becomes more uncomfortable, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, but finding a surprising joy in the darker corners of humanity. British-French writer/director Jethro Massey uses the unique premise as a springboard to examine the impermanence of everything - even an infatuation between two people who seem destined for one another. Including a great soundtrack, this quirky film which premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Critics Week last year, could just be a cult film in the making. (Some subtitles)

UK 2024 Jethro Massey 109m

Please join us for this special panel hosted by BFI NETWORK South East, where we’ll explore the realities of independent filmmaking and the path to securing funding.

Perfect for aspiring and emerging filmmakers and creatives, the session will open with a screening of BFI NETWORK-funded short films, followed by an in-depth discussion with the filmmakers themselves. If you're curious about how to bring your stories to life while navigating the ups and downs of independent film production, this event is not to be missed!

Join is at Fernleigh, 40 North Street, Chichester, PO19 1LX on 20 August at 16:00 – 17:30 followed by networking drinks.

£5.00 registration fee

Amidst the profound social change and political turmoil of 1960s post-war Japan, a bold generation of avant-garde artists emerged, redefining the boundaries of art.

Through underground theatre, experimental photography, surreal illustrations, and the radical dance of Butoh. Their groundbreaking creations not only captured the spirit of their time but also transformed the global art landscape forever. A new aesthetic of photography was born: “Are, Bure, Boke” (rough, dark and out of focus), pioneered by Moriyama Daidō and the Provoke magazine photographers. Master of underground theatre Terayama Shūji produced countless magical, surreal and vividly colourful films, plays and photobooks, Yokoo Tadanori and Awazu Kiyoshi revolutionised graphic design with their incandescent theatre posters, Tanaami Keiichi, Japan’s answer to Andy Warhol, developed his unique kaleidoscopic vision of Pop-Art, and Butoh founders Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo impacted modern dance forever with their dance of darkness and light. (Some subtitles)

UK/Japan/France 2025 Amélie Ravalec 100m

LE DÉLUGE

Follows the last uncertain days of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette before they were executed.

1792. Louis XVI (Guillaume Canet), his wife Marie Antoinette (Mélanie Laurent), and their children have been arrested and imprisoned in the Tour de Temple, a sinister chateau in Paris, awaiting their trial. Far from the splendour of Versailles, they are isolated and vulnerable for the first time in their lives. Drawn from the diaries of Louis XVI’s personal valet Jean-Baptiste Cléry (played by Fabrizio Rongione), the film begins in the immediate aftermath of the 1792 insurrection that saw the Tuileries Palace stormed by armed revolutionaries and the monarchy abolished. Arrested, the royal family and their entourage arrive at the Tour du Temple, a large but sparsely appointed chateau in central Paris, where they are to be confined while their fate is determined. The deposed, imprisoned monarchs are mocked by whatever finery they have held onto, looking shrunken in their dirtied robes and increasingly unkempt wigs. With empathy and stirring performances from Canet and a blistering Laurent, this is a fascinating story from which modern France was born, told with a de-frilled austerity that feels decidedly new. (Subtitles)

France 2024 Gianluca Jodice 101m

Laura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighbouring town.

In the folksy town of Deerfield, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond (Chris Isaak) inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the similarly cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Lara Palmer (Sheryl Lee) hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate. This haunting prequel to Lynch’s infamous TV hit is a moody and surreal fever dream, anchored by a career best performance by Sheryl Lee. It will linger long after the credits roll.

USA 1992 David Lynch 147m

The Short Film Showcase returns to the Chichester International Film Festival programme. Join us for a mixture of shorts ranging from the locally produced, to those made on the other side of the world.

Various Directors

Sight & Sound best films of the year (2024). The light, the lives and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated in this Cannes Grand Prize winner.

Centring on two roommates - Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) plus their coworker Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) - Kapadia's film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment. Prabha has her husband from an arranged marriage living in faraway Germany; Hindu Anu carries on a secret romance with a Muslim man; Parvaty finds herself dealing with a sudden eviction. Kapadia captures the bustle of the metropolis and the open-air tranquillity of a seaside village with equal radiance, articulated by her superb actresses and by the camera that occasionally drifts into dreamlike incandescence. (Subtitles)

India 2024 Payal Kapadia 118m

Fanny, born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle, where she will be brought up for a proper introduction to society.

Fanny (Frances O'Connor), born into a poor family, is sent away to live with her uncle Sir Thomas (Harold Pinter), his wife (Lindsay Duncan) and their four children. She is treated unfavourably by her relatives, except for her cousin Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller), whom she grows fond of. However, Fanny's life is thrown into disarray with the arrival of worldly Mary Crawford (Embeth Davidtz) and her brother Henry (Alessandro Nivola). Harold Pinter's portrayal of the decent, insensitive Sir Thomas, a man with various guilts gnawing at his soul, is a highlight of the film, alongside Patricia Rozema’s rich and tactile direction, making sure to take care of the less obvious interactions in the grander scenes.

UK/USA 1999 Patricia Rozema 112m

In a society that doesn't give a damn about people like her, a rebellious mother of three risks everything to get a piece of paradise.

In a small town on the edge of wild country, an eccentric and delinquent mother (Ophélia Kolb) has had enough of the rules. Crushed by her mistakes and by a society that doesn't give a damn - or a second chance - to people like her, she'll do anything to prove to her children, and to herself, that she still is a good person. This is a poignant story about inequality and socioeconomic challenges that single parents often face, especially as they exist in a world that makes it nearly impossible to get a leg up. This story which challenges perceptions of motherhood and morality is a triumph of expression and humanity from award-winning filmmaker Jasmin Gordon and actor Ophélia Kolb. (Subtitles)

Switzerland 2024 Jasmin Gordon 83m

THE FINE ART OF FILMING AUSTEN

As the celebrations continue for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, this talk looks back at the numerous film versions of her work.

As the millennium drew to a close, Cool Britannia gathered momentum on the wave of Britpop and the Young British Artists. Into this celebration of youth suddenly burst a plethora of screen adaptations of a Regency novelist not seen in the cinema for over fifty years. 250 years after her birth, this talk, by Cinema Education Officer Patrick Hargood, will look back at the Austen phenomenon and its aftermath, focusing on the big screen adaptations of her work. Films under discussion (including plenty of clips) will include Ang Lee and Emma Thompson’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’, along with Gwyneth Paltrow as ‘Emma’, and her modern iteration, Alicia Silverstone’s Cher, in ‘Clueless’. Thirty years on the Austen juggernaut continues its relentless path, but what does this say about British culture and identity and to what extent do the adaptations offer an authentic version of Austen’s art?

100m inc Q&A

This is the first-ever film adaptation of ‘The First Man’ - an early and rare story from the pen of Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, Eugene O'Neill. This psychological romantic drama set in 1920s Connecticut, delves into themes of obsession, grief and betrayal.

World renowned anthropologist Curtis (Vincent Andriano) is consumed by grief over his young daughters' deaths. He finds solace in immersing himself in preparations for his upcoming expedition to Mongolia, where he aims to unravel the mystery of "The First Man”. However, he must confront an undercurrent of family conflict as he battles against his relatives' unsettling suspicions that his wife Martha (Charlotte Asprey) is carrying his best friend Bigelow's (Alan Turkington) child. 100 years after it was first published, here is a chance to see this psychological romance on the big screen, in a film that also explores the struggle to have children in later life, a theme that is very relevant today and will resonate with modern audiences.

UK 2024 Hardeep Giani 140m

DOCUMENTARY & LIVE JAZZ GIG WITH GUY BARKER

Film

LISTEN UP: THE LIVES OF QUINCY JONES (PG)

A unique look at the legendary musician, arranger, composer and producer, Quincy Jones, this documentary offers a collage of memories, sounds and intimate interviews with musical greats in a rousing showcase.

The filmmakers have looked unblinkingly at both happy and sad times, and some of the most poignant moments come as Quincy’s oldest daughter, Jolie Jones, talks quietly about her father. Many others who rarely talk for documentaries, talk here: Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and even the shy Michael Jackson. Jones became the first black composer to score for mainstream films (‘In Cold Blood’) and has produced for musicians as varied as Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and rapper Kool Moe Dee. The film is constructed in a kaleidoscopic way. Instead of moving ponderously from one subject to another and following chronological order, the filmmakers organize their material more like a jazz composition. The interview subjects are like soloists improvising on a theme and occasionally stepping in to comment on someone else’s observations. The result is an original piece of work and by the end of the film, we know Quincy Jones much better than expected.

USA 1990 Ellen Weissbrod 111m

Plus

LIVE JAZZ GIG

Complementing the documentary there will be a special set of jazz by five exceptional musicians, celebrating Quincy Jones' boundary-defying influence on the musical universe.

Originating from Australia, vocalist Georgia Van Etten possesses a big, buttery voice, with which she creates retro soundscapes fusing soulful melodies with folk, jazz, rock and cinematic pop.

Joining her is the legendary Guy Barker, whose illustrious five-decade career includes being the UK’s premier jazz trumpet star, a highly sought session musician, and latterly, composer, arranger and conductor, and leader of his own jazz orchestra. His extensive international credits speak to his highest regard in the music world.

Award-winning pianist Jim Watson, a prominent figure on the UK music scene and beyond, has lent his talents to recordings and performances with acclaimed artists like Kurt Elling and Van Morrison.

Hailing from Ireland, Darren Beckett established himself in New York at 18 as a drummer of precocious talent, performing with Brandon Flowers, Van Morrison and Lee Konitz. Darren is a highly sought-after jazz and studio musician, collaborating with artists such as Ronnie Wood and Nick Cave.

Curating this special musical tribute is the superb bassist Andrew Cleyndert, who makes a welcome return to Chichester to lead this world class band.

Film & Gig - 180m

Tickets £24

Thu 21 Aug 19:00 – Auditorium

DRACULA THE MESSIAH - PART THREE, THE SEDUCER 

Following the original Bram Stoker novel very closely, this is part three of ‘The Four Gospels of Dracula the Messiah’, covering the part of the story from when Dracula arrives in England to the death and burial of Lucy Westenra.

This dramatic and moving chapter can be viewed as a stand-alone film. It shows Dracula’s (Philip Blair) effect upon Lucy Westenra (Olga Brook), her mother Mrs Westenra (Rudi Davies) and her friend Mina Harker (Charlotte Rogers); we see the bewilderment of Lucy's fiancé Arthur Holmwood (Gareth McChlery) as he struggles to keep Lucy alive. We also meet Dracula's apostle, the lunatic Renfield (Kevin McMonagle) who is in the insane asylum next door to the Westenra household. This is also the part of the story where we meet Dr. Van Helsing (played by Mick Ford) and see the continuation of the story of the prostitute Lilith (Åslög Von Roos) who has been sent in a box by Dracula to the Satanist Mr Hawkins (Simon Usher), Jonathan Harker’s employer. The development of the religious and philosophical ideas in the film, as well as its genuine descent into the underworld of lust and living death, make this film one of the most fulfilling, serious and thoughtful of all Dracula films

UK 2020 Gregory Motton 84m