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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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