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BlacKkKlansman special screening + Live satellite Q&A with Spike Lee
From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It’s the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. Teaming up with seasoned colleague Flip Zimmerman (Driver), the young detective goes undercover to take down the extremist hate group from the inside.
Overworked and disillusioned with adult life, Christopher Robin (McGregor) is a world away from his idyllic childhood spent with a simple-minded, honey-loving stuffed bear and his friends. But a chance encounter with Winnie the Pooh (Cummings), now tattered after years of hugs and play, reminds him of the days of wonder and make-believe that defined his youth. After a mishap with Christopher Robin’s briefcase, Pooh and the rest of the gang, including Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger, step out of the Hundred Acre Wood and into London to return a few crucial possessions to their old friend – and help him enjoy life again.
What Veda wants, her mother Mildred Pierce provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage, climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything," Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder?
Chela and Chiquita, two women from wealthy Asunción families, have been together for over 30 years. Facing financial hardship, they sell some of their inherited possessions. But when Chiquita is imprisoned for fraud, the passive Chela is left on her own. Using her old Daimler, she begins to provide a local taxi service for wealthy elderly ladies. In her new life as a chauffeur, Chela meets a younger, free-spirited woman who helps her rediscover her own desires.
Marvel’s smallest hero is back, and he’s brought backup. Not long after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Rudd) grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a superhero and a father. While he struggles to balance home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, Hope van Dyne (Lilly) and Dr Hank Pym (Douglas) confront him with an urgent new mission. Donning the suit once more, he must learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the pair work together to uncover secrets from their past.
Contains moderate violence.
Tara (Arterton) appears to have everything – a loving husband, young children and an opulent home. “You’ve got it made,” declares her single, working-class mother, seeing only her daughter’s upwardly mobile lifestyle. But as Tara does the household chores and looks after the children, she’s confused, depressed and lost. The Escape is the story of Tara’s despair and of her awakening. It's also the story of one man’s struggle to understand his wife's pain. For how can Tara possibly explain her unhappiness when she doesn’t understand it herself? The resulting tortured and tender chemistry between leads Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper is profoundly affecting, at times shattering. Thrilling in its complexity and with a powerful Bergmanesque intensity, this is a film about realising that the life you have may not be the one you want.
Simmering tensions between neighbours in an Icelandic suburb are brought to boiling point in this terse black comedy. Inga (Björgvinsdóttir) and her husband have a beautiful tree in their back garden which, for them, symbolises tradition and security. But it throws a shadow over the woman next door’s sunbathing spot and she wants it cut down. Foliage isn’t the only thing under threat. Inga’s son has moved back home having been thrown out by his wife for watching a pornographic tape of himself and a former girlfriend. His arrival only complicates the situation in his parent’s home, and family members, possessions and pets are all caught up in what escalates into a vicious conflict. A caustic and astute look at contemporary culture and the clash between old and new worlds.
Tom Cruise is back to death-defying ways in the sixth chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise. It's a race against the clock for Hunt and his IMF team (familiar faces Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) when their latest mission takes a terrible turn. Hunted by assassins and former allies, Hunt takes it upon himself to prevent a global catastrophe. Jaw-dropping set pieces, high-speed chases and crazy stunts are delivered to edge-of-your-seat effect by Jack Reacher and Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie. Rebecca Ferguson and Michelle Monaghan return to the fray, while Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby join the action and round out the star-studded cast.
A decade after Mamma Mia! The Movie, we’re heading back to the Greek island of Kalokairi for another joyful and infectious musical based on the songs of ABBA. Ten years on from the events of the first movie, Sophie (Seyfried) is pregnant and wants to learn more about her mother’s past. The film begins to flit between past and present as Sophie learns the trials Donna (Streep) went through before she was born, and how those experiences could solve her own worries. Lily James (Baby Driver, Darkest Hour) joins the fun under the sun to play Donna’s younger self, while Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner and Josh Dylan feature as young Sam, Harry and Bill respectively.
Opening to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival last year, Schrader's latest film is a richly complex, beautifully acted and stunningly shot existential thriller which follows a priest who undergoes a crisis of faith after he fails to prevent a tragedy in his parish. Featuring a career-best performance from Ethan Hawke, Schrader's latest film is a moving, thoughtful and engaging cinematic experience on a par with his best work as a writer and director.
Everyone’s favourite brood of everyday superheroes is back, fourteen years after The Incredibles first booked a special place in our hearts with a delightful mix of all-action adventure and relatable family dynamics. This time the star of the show is ‘Elastigirl’ Helen (Hunter), who leaves invincible strongman Bob (Nelson) at home with Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of ‘normal’ life. It’s a tough transition for everyone, made tougher by the fact that no one’s quite cottoned on to baby Jack-Jack’s emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (Jackson) must find a way to work together again – which is easier said than done, even when they’re all Incredible.
Book your tickets for Incredibles 2 before Monday 16 July and enter our competition to win an incredible gadget filled prize bundle worth over £1,000. Enter now3D shows
For years Will and his teenage daughter, Tom, have lived off the grid, blissfully undetected by authorities in a vast nature reserve on the edge of Portland, Oregon. When a chance encounter blows their cover, they’re removed from their camp and put in the charge of social services. Struggling to adapt to their new surroundings, Will and Tom set off on a perilous journey back to the wilderness, where they’re finally forced to confront conflicting desires – a longing for community versus a fierce need to live apart.
With Leave No Trace, Debra Granik proves once again that she’s an extraordinary filmmaker and a beacon for actors. Ben Foster is exceptional as Will, and with Tom, Granik again displays her singular knack for finding a relatively unknown actress and entrusting her with the role of a lifetime. Granik did it with Winter’s Bone (her 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner), which starred a then-unknown Jennifer Lawrence. The similarly dazzling newcomer Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie is radiant as Tom, a girl coming of age in atypical circumstances.
The Graham family starts to unravel following the death of their reclusive grandmother. Even after she’s gone, the matriarch still casts a dark shadow over the family, especially her loner teenage granddaughter, Charlie, whom she always had an unusual fascination with. As an overwhelming terror takes over their household, their peaceful existence is ripped apart, forcing their mother to explore a darker realm in order to escape the unfortunate fate they’ve inherited.
The feature-film debut of writer/director Ari Aster captivates the audience with a delicate and deliberate take on domestic turmoil, and it’s filled with haunting manifestations. Aster’s script ratchets up a feeling of delirious dread as the family members isolate themselves, only furthering their descent into madness. While consistently surprising in its twists and turns, this is a horror story firmly grounded within the desperate emotions of its compelling lead performances. Among a talented cast including Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and Ann Dowd, the real standout is the menacing performance from young Broadway actress Milly Shapiro.
Overworked and disillusioned with adult life, Christopher Robin (McGregor) is a world away from his idyllic childhood spent with a simple-minded, honey-loving stuffed bear and his friends. But a chance encounter with Winnie the Pooh (Cummings), now tattered after years of hugs and play, reminds him of the days of wonder and make-believe that defined his youth. After a mishap with Christopher Robin’s briefcase, Pooh and the rest of the gang, including Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger, step out of the Hundred Acre Wood and into London to return a few crucial possessions to their old friend – and help him enjoy life again.
What Veda wants, her mother Mildred Pierce provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage, climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything," Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder?
This intriguing documentary about the drawings and paintings of Orson Welles premiered at this year’s Cannes Festival to rave reviews. Presented by Mark Cousins, the film also features an appearance by Welles’s daughter Beatrice.
18.30Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Regular girl, Veronica (Winona Ryder), tries to survive the social jungle of high school by sticking with the three most popular girls at school who are all called Heather. As she meets a sociopath named JD (Christian Slater), her life spirals into a continuous cycle of hate and unintentional murder, as she exacts revenge on her enemies, AKA her best friends.
Dark, cynical and subversive, this cult classic gently applied a chainsaw to the conventions of the high school movie -- changing the game for teen comedies to follow.
Chela and Chiquita, two women from wealthy Asunción families, have been together for over 30 years. Facing financial hardship, they sell some of their inherited possessions. But when Chiquita is imprisoned for fraud, the passive Chela is left on her own. Using her old Daimler, she begins to provide a local taxi service for wealthy elderly ladies. In her new life as a chauffeur, Chela meets a younger, free-spirited woman who helps her rediscover her own desires.
Marvel’s smallest hero is back, and he’s brought backup. Not long after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Rudd) grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a superhero and a father. While he struggles to balance home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, Hope van Dyne (Lilly) and Dr Hank Pym (Douglas) confront him with an urgent new mission. Donning the suit once more, he must learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the pair work together to uncover secrets from their past.
Contains moderate violence.
Tara (Arterton) appears to have everything – a loving husband, young children and an opulent home. “You’ve got it made,” declares her single, working-class mother, seeing only her daughter’s upwardly mobile lifestyle. But as Tara does the household chores and looks after the children, she’s confused, depressed and lost. The Escape is the story of Tara’s despair and of her awakening. It's also the story of one man’s struggle to understand his wife's pain. For how can Tara possibly explain her unhappiness when she doesn’t understand it herself? The resulting tortured and tender chemistry between leads Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper is profoundly affecting, at times shattering. Thrilling in its complexity and with a powerful Bergmanesque intensity, this is a film about realising that the life you have may not be the one you want.
Simmering tensions between neighbours in an Icelandic suburb are brought to boiling point in this terse black comedy. Inga (Björgvinsdóttir) and her husband have a beautiful tree in their back garden which, for them, symbolises tradition and security. But it throws a shadow over the woman next door’s sunbathing spot and she wants it cut down. Foliage isn’t the only thing under threat. Inga’s son has moved back home having been thrown out by his wife for watching a pornographic tape of himself and a former girlfriend. His arrival only complicates the situation in his parent’s home, and family members, possessions and pets are all caught up in what escalates into a vicious conflict. A caustic and astute look at contemporary culture and the clash between old and new worlds.
Tom Cruise is back to death-defying ways in the sixth chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise. It's a race against the clock for Hunt and his IMF team (familiar faces Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) when their latest mission takes a terrible turn. Hunted by assassins and former allies, Hunt takes it upon himself to prevent a global catastrophe. Jaw-dropping set pieces, high-speed chases and crazy stunts are delivered to edge-of-your-seat effect by Jack Reacher and Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie. Rebecca Ferguson and Michelle Monaghan return to the fray, while Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby join the action and round out the star-studded cast.
A decade after Mamma Mia! The Movie, we’re heading back to the Greek island of Kalokairi for another joyful and infectious musical based on the songs of ABBA. Ten years on from the events of the first movie, Sophie (Seyfried) is pregnant and wants to learn more about her mother’s past. The film begins to flit between past and present as Sophie learns the trials Donna (Streep) went through before she was born, and how those experiences could solve her own worries. Lily James (Baby Driver, Darkest Hour) joins the fun under the sun to play Donna’s younger self, while Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner and Josh Dylan feature as young Sam, Harry and Bill respectively.
Opening to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival last year, Schrader's latest film is a richly complex, beautifully acted and stunningly shot existential thriller which follows a priest who undergoes a crisis of faith after he fails to prevent a tragedy in his parish. Featuring a career-best performance from Ethan Hawke, Schrader's latest film is a moving, thoughtful and engaging cinematic experience on a par with his best work as a writer and director.
Everyone’s favourite brood of everyday superheroes is back, fourteen years after The Incredibles first booked a special place in our hearts with a delightful mix of all-action adventure and relatable family dynamics. This time the star of the show is ‘Elastigirl’ Helen (Hunter), who leaves invincible strongman Bob (Nelson) at home with Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of ‘normal’ life. It’s a tough transition for everyone, made tougher by the fact that no one’s quite cottoned on to baby Jack-Jack’s emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (Jackson) must find a way to work together again – which is easier said than done, even when they’re all Incredible.
Book your tickets for Incredibles 2 before Monday 16 July and enter our competition to win an incredible gadget filled prize bundle worth over £1,000. Enter now3D shows
For years Will and his teenage daughter, Tom, have lived off the grid, blissfully undetected by authorities in a vast nature reserve on the edge of Portland, Oregon. When a chance encounter blows their cover, they’re removed from their camp and put in the charge of social services. Struggling to adapt to their new surroundings, Will and Tom set off on a perilous journey back to the wilderness, where they’re finally forced to confront conflicting desires – a longing for community versus a fierce need to live apart.
With Leave No Trace, Debra Granik proves once again that she’s an extraordinary filmmaker and a beacon for actors. Ben Foster is exceptional as Will, and with Tom, Granik again displays her singular knack for finding a relatively unknown actress and entrusting her with the role of a lifetime. Granik did it with Winter’s Bone (her 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner), which starred a then-unknown Jennifer Lawrence. The similarly dazzling newcomer Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie is radiant as Tom, a girl coming of age in atypical circumstances.
The Graham family starts to unravel following the death of their reclusive grandmother. Even after she’s gone, the matriarch still casts a dark shadow over the family, especially her loner teenage granddaughter, Charlie, whom she always had an unusual fascination with. As an overwhelming terror takes over their household, their peaceful existence is ripped apart, forcing their mother to explore a darker realm in order to escape the unfortunate fate they’ve inherited.
The feature-film debut of writer/director Ari Aster captivates the audience with a delicate and deliberate take on domestic turmoil, and it’s filled with haunting manifestations. Aster’s script ratchets up a feeling of delirious dread as the family members isolate themselves, only furthering their descent into madness. While consistently surprising in its twists and turns, this is a horror story firmly grounded within the desperate emotions of its compelling lead performances. Among a talented cast including Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and Ann Dowd, the real standout is the menacing performance from young Broadway actress Milly Shapiro.
Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz) looks the part of a perfect high-school girl. But after she’s caught with another girl in the back seat of a car on prom night, Cameron is quickly shipped off to a conversion therapy centre that treats teens “struggling with same-sex attraction”. At the facility, Cameron is subjected to outlandish discipline, dubious “de-gaying” methods and earnest Christian rock songs – but this unusual setting also provides her with an unlikely gay community. For the first time, she connects with peers and is able to find her place among fellow outcasts.
Writer/director Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior) and co-writer Cecilia Frugiuele sensitively adapt Emily Danforth’s acclaimed coming-of-age novel and create a refreshingly original teen movie. Balancing inherent drama with understated humour, The Miseducation Of Cameron Post looks at a teenage girl grappling with pain and loss who, at the same time, creates a family on her own terms and learns what it means to empower herself by having confidence in her own identity.
Ad and Trailer Free: No advertisements or trailers will play ahead of this screening. You are recommended to arrive promptly.
Gala Screening with Chloë Grace Moretz: Picturehouse Central warmly welcomes lead actress Chloë Grace Moretz to introduce this Gala Preview.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
Select:
19.15Ad and Trailer Free: No advertisements or trailers will play ahead of this screening. You are recommended to arrive promptly.
Gala Screening with Chloë Grace Moretz: Picturehouse Central warmly welcomes lead actress Chloë Grace Moretz to introduce this Gala Preview.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
Overworked and disillusioned with adult life, Christopher Robin (McGregor) is a world away from his idyllic childhood spent with a simple-minded, honey-loving stuffed bear and his friends. But a chance encounter with Winnie the Pooh (Cummings), now tattered after years of hugs and play, reminds him of the days of wonder and make-believe that defined his youth. After a mishap with Christopher Robin’s briefcase, Pooh and the rest of the gang, including Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger, step out of the Hundred Acre Wood and into London to return a few crucial possessions to their old friend – and help him enjoy life again.
What Veda wants, her mother Mildred Pierce provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage, climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything," Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder?
Regular girl, Veronica (Winona Ryder), tries to survive the social jungle of high school by sticking with the three most popular girls at school who are all called Heather. As she meets a sociopath named JD (Christian Slater), her life spirals into a continuous cycle of hate and unintentional murder, as she exacts revenge on her enemies, AKA her best friends.
Dark, cynical and subversive, this cult classic gently applied a chainsaw to the conventions of the high school movie -- changing the game for teen comedies to follow.
Chela and Chiquita, two women from wealthy Asunción families, have been together for over 30 years. Facing financial hardship, they sell some of their inherited possessions. But when Chiquita is imprisoned for fraud, the passive Chela is left on her own. Using her old Daimler, she begins to provide a local taxi service for wealthy elderly ladies. In her new life as a chauffeur, Chela meets a younger, free-spirited woman who helps her rediscover her own desires.
Marvel’s smallest hero is back, and he’s brought backup. Not long after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Rudd) grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a superhero and a father. While he struggles to balance home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, Hope van Dyne (Lilly) and Dr Hank Pym (Douglas) confront him with an urgent new mission. Donning the suit once more, he must learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the pair work together to uncover secrets from their past.
Contains moderate violence.
Tara (Arterton) appears to have everything – a loving husband, young children and an opulent home. “You’ve got it made,” declares her single, working-class mother, seeing only her daughter’s upwardly mobile lifestyle. But as Tara does the household chores and looks after the children, she’s confused, depressed and lost. The Escape is the story of Tara’s despair and of her awakening. It's also the story of one man’s struggle to understand his wife's pain. For how can Tara possibly explain her unhappiness when she doesn’t understand it herself? The resulting tortured and tender chemistry between leads Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper is profoundly affecting, at times shattering. Thrilling in its complexity and with a powerful Bergmanesque intensity, this is a film about realising that the life you have may not be the one you want.
Simmering tensions between neighbours in an Icelandic suburb are brought to boiling point in this terse black comedy. Inga (Björgvinsdóttir) and her husband have a beautiful tree in their back garden which, for them, symbolises tradition and security. But it throws a shadow over the woman next door’s sunbathing spot and she wants it cut down. Foliage isn’t the only thing under threat. Inga’s son has moved back home having been thrown out by his wife for watching a pornographic tape of himself and a former girlfriend. His arrival only complicates the situation in his parent’s home, and family members, possessions and pets are all caught up in what escalates into a vicious conflict. A caustic and astute look at contemporary culture and the clash between old and new worlds.
Tom Cruise is back to death-defying ways in the sixth chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise. It's a race against the clock for Hunt and his IMF team (familiar faces Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) when their latest mission takes a terrible turn. Hunted by assassins and former allies, Hunt takes it upon himself to prevent a global catastrophe. Jaw-dropping set pieces, high-speed chases and crazy stunts are delivered to edge-of-your-seat effect by Jack Reacher and Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie. Rebecca Ferguson and Michelle Monaghan return to the fray, while Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby join the action and round out the star-studded cast.
A decade after Mamma Mia! The Movie, we’re heading back to the Greek island of Kalokairi for another joyful and infectious musical based on the songs of ABBA. Ten years on from the events of the first movie, Sophie (Seyfried) is pregnant and wants to learn more about her mother’s past. The film begins to flit between past and present as Sophie learns the trials Donna (Streep) went through before she was born, and how those experiences could solve her own worries. Lily James (Baby Driver, Darkest Hour) joins the fun under the sun to play Donna’s younger self, while Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner and Josh Dylan feature as young Sam, Harry and Bill respectively.
Opening to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival last year, Schrader's latest film is a richly complex, beautifully acted and stunningly shot existential thriller which follows a priest who undergoes a crisis of faith after he fails to prevent a tragedy in his parish. Featuring a career-best performance from Ethan Hawke, Schrader's latest film is a moving, thoughtful and engaging cinematic experience on a par with his best work as a writer and director.
Everyone’s favourite brood of everyday superheroes is back, fourteen years after The Incredibles first booked a special place in our hearts with a delightful mix of all-action adventure and relatable family dynamics. This time the star of the show is ‘Elastigirl’ Helen (Hunter), who leaves invincible strongman Bob (Nelson) at home with Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of ‘normal’ life. It’s a tough transition for everyone, made tougher by the fact that no one’s quite cottoned on to baby Jack-Jack’s emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (Jackson) must find a way to work together again – which is easier said than done, even when they’re all Incredible.
Book your tickets for Incredibles 2 before Monday 16 July and enter our competition to win an incredible gadget filled prize bundle worth over £1,000. Enter now3D shows
Considered one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest cinematic achievements, Vertigo is a dreamlike thriller from the Master of Suspense. Set in San Francisco, the film creates a dizzying web of mistaken identity, passion and murder after an acrophobic detective (James Stewart) rescues a mysterious blonde (Kim Novak) from the bay and must unravel the secrets of the past to find the key to his future.
The Graham family starts to unravel following the death of their reclusive grandmother. Even after she’s gone, the matriarch still casts a dark shadow over the family, especially her loner teenage granddaughter, Charlie, whom she always had an unusual fascination with. As an overwhelming terror takes over their household, their peaceful existence is ripped apart, forcing their mother to explore a darker realm in order to escape the unfortunate fate they’ve inherited.
The feature-film debut of writer/director Ari Aster captivates the audience with a delicate and deliberate take on domestic turmoil, and it’s filled with haunting manifestations. Aster’s script ratchets up a feeling of delirious dread as the family members isolate themselves, only furthering their descent into madness. While consistently surprising in its twists and turns, this is a horror story firmly grounded within the desperate emotions of its compelling lead performances. Among a talented cast including Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and Ann Dowd, the real standout is the menacing performance from young Broadway actress Milly Shapiro.
YARDIE preview screening + live Idris Elba Q&A + Special Guests
On Thursday 23rd August, Idris Elba’s directorial debut YARDIE will receive a special preview screening here at Picturehouse Central. The lucky audience will get the chance to see a live performance from a surprise music act and a Q&A with Idris Elba hosted by Radio 1Xtra’s, Yasmin Evans.
On a hot night in Jamaica in 1973, a young boy, Denis, proudly watches his older brother DJ’ing at a party to broker a truce between warring gangs. Then shots ring out. His brother is dead. A decade later, Denis is the right-hand man to gang boss King Fox, who sends him on a mission to London to test his loyalty. When the job goes wrong, Denis hides out with an old flame, only to discover that his brother’s killer may be in the same city. Based on the cult novel by Victor Headley, Idris Elba’s directorial debut fuses the hard-boiled gangster genre with a coming-of-age period piece. With an evocative soundtrack and an astute eye for detail, Elba expertly captures the spirit of the times.
Overworked and disillusioned with adult life, Christopher Robin (McGregor) is a world away from his idyllic childhood spent with a simple-minded, honey-loving stuffed bear and his friends. But a chance encounter with Winnie the Pooh (Cummings), now tattered after years of hugs and play, reminds him of the days of wonder and make-believe that defined his youth. After a mishap with Christopher Robin’s briefcase, Pooh and the rest of the gang, including Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger, step out of the Hundred Acre Wood and into London to return a few crucial possessions to their old friend – and help him enjoy life again.
13.00Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Select:
15.40Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
What Veda wants, her mother Mildred Pierce provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage, climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything," Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder?
12.45Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Chela and Chiquita, two women from wealthy Asunción families, have been together for over 30 years. Facing financial hardship, they sell some of their inherited possessions. But when Chiquita is imprisoned for fraud, the passive Chela is left on her own. Using her old Daimler, she begins to provide a local taxi service for wealthy elderly ladies. In her new life as a chauffeur, Chela meets a younger, free-spirited woman who helps her rediscover her own desires.
16.55Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Marvel’s smallest hero is back, and he’s brought backup. Not long after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Rudd) grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a superhero and a father. While he struggles to balance home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, Hope van Dyne (Lilly) and Dr Hank Pym (Douglas) confront him with an urgent new mission. Donning the suit once more, he must learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the pair work together to uncover secrets from their past.
Contains moderate violence.
14.25Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Tara (Arterton) appears to have everything – a loving husband, young children and an opulent home. “You’ve got it made,” declares her single, working-class mother, seeing only her daughter’s upwardly mobile lifestyle. But as Tara does the household chores and looks after the children, she’s confused, depressed and lost. The Escape is the story of Tara’s despair and of her awakening. It's also the story of one man’s struggle to understand his wife's pain. For how can Tara possibly explain her unhappiness when she doesn’t understand it herself? The resulting tortured and tender chemistry between leads Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper is profoundly affecting, at times shattering. Thrilling in its complexity and with a powerful Bergmanesque intensity, this is a film about realising that the life you have may not be the one you want.
12.00Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Select:
13.25Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Simmering tensions between neighbours in an Icelandic suburb are brought to boiling point in this terse black comedy. Inga (Björgvinsdóttir) and her husband have a beautiful tree in their back garden which, for them, symbolises tradition and security. But it throws a shadow over the woman next door’s sunbathing spot and she wants it cut down. Foliage isn’t the only thing under threat. Inga’s son has moved back home having been thrown out by his wife for watching a pornographic tape of himself and a former girlfriend. His arrival only complicates the situation in his parent’s home, and family members, possessions and pets are all caught up in what escalates into a vicious conflict. A caustic and astute look at contemporary culture and the clash between old and new worlds.
16.25Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Tom Cruise is back to death-defying ways in the sixth chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise. It's a race against the clock for Hunt and his IMF team (familiar faces Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) when their latest mission takes a terrible turn. Hunted by assassins and former allies, Hunt takes it upon himself to prevent a global catastrophe. Jaw-dropping set pieces, high-speed chases and crazy stunts are delivered to edge-of-your-seat effect by Jack Reacher and Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie. Rebecca Ferguson and Michelle Monaghan return to the fray, while Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby join the action and round out the star-studded cast.
15.25Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
A decade after Mamma Mia! The Movie, we’re heading back to the Greek island of Kalokairi for another joyful and infectious musical based on the songs of ABBA. Ten years on from the events of the first movie, Sophie (Seyfried) is pregnant and wants to learn more about her mother’s past. The film begins to flit between past and present as Sophie learns the trials Donna (Streep) went through before she was born, and how those experiences could solve her own worries. Lily James (Baby Driver, Darkest Hour) joins the fun under the sun to play Donna’s younger self, while Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner and Josh Dylan feature as young Sam, Harry and Bill respectively.
13.45HOH Subtitled: This screening has subtitles for people with hearing loss
Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Opening to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival last year, Schrader's latest film is a richly complex, beautifully acted and stunningly shot existential thriller which follows a priest who undergoes a crisis of faith after he fails to prevent a tragedy in his parish. Featuring a career-best performance from Ethan Hawke, Schrader's latest film is a moving, thoughtful and engaging cinematic experience on a par with his best work as a writer and director.
15.50Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
Everyone’s favourite brood of everyday superheroes is back, fourteen years after The Incredibles first booked a special place in our hearts with a delightful mix of all-action adventure and relatable family dynamics. This time the star of the show is ‘Elastigirl’ Helen (Hunter), who leaves invincible strongman Bob (Nelson) at home with Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of ‘normal’ life. It’s a tough transition for everyone, made tougher by the fact that no one’s quite cottoned on to baby Jack-Jack’s emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (Jackson) must find a way to work together again – which is easier said than done, even when they’re all Incredible.
Book your tickets for Incredibles 2 before Monday 16 July and enter our competition to win an incredible gadget filled prize bundle worth over £1,000. Enter now3D shows
13.05Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
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15.45Silver Screen: Aged over 60? Join the Silver Screen Club for discounted tickets and a free tea or coffee at these shows. Usual ticket prices apply to non-Members.
The Graham family starts to unravel following the death of their reclusive grandmother. Even after she’s gone, the matriarch still casts a dark shadow over the family, especially her loner teenage granddaughter, Charlie, whom she always had an unusual fascination with. As an overwhelming terror takes over their household, their peaceful existence is ripped apart, forcing their mother to explore a darker realm in order to escape the unfortunate fate they’ve inherited.
The feature-film debut of writer/director Ari Aster captivates the audience with a delicate and deliberate take on domestic turmoil, and it’s filled with haunting manifestations. Aster’s script ratchets up a feeling of delirious dread as the family members isolate themselves, only furthering their descent into madness. While consistently surprising in its twists and turns, this is a horror story firmly grounded within the desperate emotions of its compelling lead performances. Among a talented cast including Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and Ann Dowd, the real standout is the menacing performance from young Broadway actress Milly Shapiro.
TIME TRIAL gives us an exhilarating and terrifying place in the race, providing an immersive experience as close to actually competing as you will ever see on film. David Millar, shrouded in darkness, declares an intention to rise again.
A sensory ride through the thrill and hardship of professional cycling. We are hurtled off a hillside, details blurring like watercolours. The euphoria and the fatigue, the highs and the lows. It's as if it were ourselves struggling through the bumpy roads of France. David bluntly and fearlessly narrates his last season in the saddle, intimate and immediate, along with the intricate relationships of cyclist, road crew, fellow competitors, manic fans, and the media circus surrounding it all.
In this dazzling visual essay about the rise, fall and rebirth of the Polaroid, director Willem Baptist explores the genius of Edwin H. Land, the inventor of the beloved instant camera, and introduces us to a number of enthusiasts with a special connection to the format. Among them are former Polaroid employee Stephen Herchen, who tries to unravel the secret of the lost chemical formula; German artist Stefanie Schneider, who heads out on a shoot in the desert with the last of her original Polaroid stock; and New York Magazine editor Christopher Bonanos, who wrote a book about Polaroid’s history and tries to capture his relationship with his son with his instant camera. In his or her way, each strives to keep the instant dream alive.
Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) has spent forty years sacrificing her own talent, dreams and ambitions to support her charismatic husband Joe (Jonathan Pryce) and his stellar literary career. Ignoring infidelities and excuses made in the cause of his art, she has put up with his behaviour with undiminished grace and humour. The foundations of their marriage have, however, been built upon a set of uneven compromises and Joan has reached a turning point.
On the eve of Joe’s Nobel Prize for Literature, the crown jewel rewarding a spectacular body of work, Joan will confront the biggest sacrifice of her life and some long-buried secrets. Based on the bestselling book by Meg Wolitzer, The Wife is a poignant, funny and emotional journey, a celebration of womanhood, self-discovery and liberation, featuring a stunning cast that also includes Max Irons, Harry Lloyd, Annie Starke, Elizabeth McGovern and Christian Slater.
18.55Preview: We're pleased to present exclusive previews of this film at Picturehouse Cinemas, prior to its general release.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
In this dazzling visual essay about the rise, fall and rebirth of the Polaroid, director Willem Baptist explores the genius of Edwin H. Land, the inventor of the beloved instant camera, and introduces us to a number of enthusiasts with a special connection to the format. Among them are former Polaroid employee Stephen Herchen, who tries to unravel the secret of the lost chemical formula; German artist Stefanie Schneider, who heads out on a shoot in the desert with the last of her original Polaroid stock; and New York Magazine editor Christopher Bonanos, who wrote a book about Polaroid’s history and tries to capture his relationship with his son with his instant camera. In his or her way, each strives to keep the instant dream alive.
Monsters, Inc. is the largest scare factory in the monster world and the top Kid-Scarer is James P. Sullivan, a huge, intimidating monster with blue fur, large purple spots and horns, known as "Sulley" to his friends. His Scare Assistant, best friend and roommate is Mike Wazowski, a lime green, opinionated, feisty monster. And visiting from the human world is Boo, a tiny girl who turns the monster world upside down and teaches Sulley and Mike that laughter is more powerful than a scream.
15.30Pixar: Off the back of this years much anticipated release of The Incredibles 2 it's the perfect time for Vinatge Sundays to look back at some of the best films from one of the most famous and celebrated studios of all time.
Vintage Sundays: Classic films back on the big screen where they belong.
Eccentric single mother Lyn and her teenage daughter Iona move to a new town hoping to make a fresh start. Their relationship treads a fine line between heartbreakingly tender and unsettlingly creepy. As Iona tries desperately to fit in with the cool clique at school, she distances herself from Lyn, whose hunchback and distinctive dress sense make her an easy target for mockery. As a rift grows between the pair, they retreat further into their respective fantasy worlds with disastrous consequences.
18.30Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
In this dazzling visual essay about the rise, fall and rebirth of the Polaroid, director Willem Baptist explores the genius of Edwin H. Land, the inventor of the beloved instant camera, and introduces us to a number of enthusiasts with a special connection to the format. Among them are former Polaroid employee Stephen Herchen, who tries to unravel the secret of the lost chemical formula; German artist Stefanie Schneider, who heads out on a shoot in the desert with the last of her original Polaroid stock; and New York Magazine editor Christopher Bonanos, who wrote a book about Polaroid’s history and tries to capture his relationship with his son with his instant camera. In his or her way, each strives to keep the instant dream alive.
Having moved to Paris for university, Leevi returns to his native Finland for the summer to help his estranged father renovate the family lake house. Tareq, a recent asylum seeker from Syria, has been hired to help with the work, and when Leevi’s father has to return to town on business, the two young men establish a connection in the heat of the Finnish summer.
A Moment in the Reeds is one of the first queer feature films made in Finland. Viewing Finland from both the perspectives of an immigrant and an emigrant, the film casts the long-marginalised voices of sexual and ethnic minorities centre-stage in a story about the search for freedom, acceptance and a place to call home.
Summer brings the scares with this found-footage roller-coaster ride that smashed the Korean box-office to become a certified horror sensation. An abandoned psychiatric hospital with a haunted history seems like the perfect setting for the creators of a ghost-hunting Youtube channel to boost their view-count. Building their own narrative from the clues they find in the building, it’s all flirty fun and GoPro games until the terrifying truth behind the stories is revealed…
21.00Ad and Trailer Free: No advertisements or trailers will play ahead of this screening. You are recommended to arrive promptly.
LKFF 2018 Teaser Screening: The London Korean Film Festival will return to Picturehouse Central in November 2018. Prior to the festival, we're pleased to present a handful of exclusive teaser screenings.
Paweł Pawlikowski follows his Oscar-winning Ida with the stunning Cold War, an epic romance set against the backdrop of Europe after World War II. Sumptuously shot in luminous black and white, it spans decades and nations to tell a love story that is as tragic as it is moving, and as transportive as it is honest.
Winner of the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, Pawlikowski melds the personal with the political to exquisite effect. Set to a soundtrack that takes you from the rustic folk songs of rural Poland to the sultry jazz of a Paris basement bar, it’s a wistful and dreamlike journey through a divided continent - and a heartbreaking portrait of ill-fated love.
James Lavelle played his first DJ set at 14, launched pioneering record label Mo'Wax at 18 and released the genre-defining UNKLE album Psyence Fiction at 22. His phenomenally rapid rise seemed limitless, but it’s only when you’re going so fast that the wheels fall off. The Man From Mo’Wax tells the remarkable story of one of the most enigmatic yet influential figures in contemporary British culture. Made from over 700 hours of footage, including an exclusive personal archive spanning three decades, the film shows a boy becoming a man in the world of music. On the other side of this no holds-barred ride into the life of an extraordinary man and an equally extraordinary era, Lavelle emerges as an innovative artist who thinks big and consistently overcomes adversity.
18.30Ad and Trailer Free: No advertisements or trailers will play ahead of this screening. You are recommended to arrive promptly.
Plus Q&A with James Lavelle.: The screening will also feature a Pitchblack Playback of an exclusive mix from UNKLE's forthcoming new album before the film.
Picturehouse Docs: Bringing you the best in new and topical documentaries covering issues around the world.
Paweł Pawlikowski follows his Oscar-winning Ida with the stunning Cold War, an epic romance set against the backdrop of Europe after World War II. Sumptuously shot in luminous black and white, it spans decades and nations to tell a love story that is as tragic as it is moving, and as transportive as it is honest.
Winner of the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, Pawlikowski melds the personal with the political to exquisite effect. Set to a soundtrack that takes you from the rustic folk songs of rural Poland to the sultry jazz of a Paris basement bar, it’s a wistful and dreamlike journey through a divided continent - and a heartbreaking portrait of ill-fated love.
Paweł Pawlikowski follows his Oscar-winning Ida with the stunning Cold War, an epic romance set against the backdrop of Europe after World War II. Sumptuously shot in luminous black and white, it spans decades and nations to tell a love story that is as tragic as it is moving, and as transportive as it is honest.
Winner of the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, Pawlikowski melds the personal with the political to exquisite effect. Set to a soundtrack that takes you from the rustic folk songs of rural Poland to the sultry jazz of a Paris basement bar, it’s a wistful and dreamlike journey through a divided continent - and a heartbreaking portrait of ill-fated love.
A computer-animated comedy-adventure about finding a very small fish in a very large ocean. Marlin is a more than slightly paranoid Clown Fish who is extremely devoted to his young son, Nemo, the only survivor after a hungry shark swallowed up Nemo's mother and her other offspring. It's not Marlin's nature to explore unfamiliar waters, but when he and Nemo are accidentally separated near the Great Barrier Reef en route to Nemo's first day at fish school, Marlin gathers his courage and sets out to find his son. What Marlin doesn't know, however, is that while Nemo was looking at a boat passing on the surface, he was caught in a net and was sold to a tropical fish dealer, eventually ending up in a dentist's aquarium. As Marlin searches for his son, he makes friends with an amiable but absent-minded Regal Blue Tang named Dory, a Great White Shark named Bruce who is trying to cut fish out of his diet, a beach-rat Sea Tortoise named Crush, and Nigel, a Pelican who can take Marlin's search from the ocean to dry land.
15.30Pixar: Off the back of this years much anticipated release of The Incredibles 2 it's the perfect time for Vinatge Sundays to look back at some of the best films from one of the most famous and celebrated studios of all time.
Vintage Sundays: Classic films back on the big screen where they belong.
Do The Right Thing almost needs no introduction. Taking place on the hottest day on the year, we follow the trials and tribulations of Mookie (Spike Lee, in arguably his best on screen performance). Most of the block residents are trying to survive the heat, but as the temperature rises, so does the tension that has been cooking under the surface. A violent act that appears in the final third of the film has lost none of its impact and is as relevant as ever.
As #MeToo and #TimesUp shine a light on the film industry's dark side, Women Over 50 Film Festival fights back. Short films that amuse, astound and agitate, celebrating the work of older women on both sides of the camera.
18.30Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
Join us for an early preview of the innovative heist thriller and festival hit American Animals, the unbelievable but entirely true story of four young men who attempt one of the most audacious art heists in US history. Determined to live lives that are out of the ordinary, a group of college-bound friends plot to steal and fence some of the world’s most valuable books. Unfolding from multiple perspectives and incorporating real-life figures into the heart of the story, American Animals takes the heist movie into bold new territory.
Director: Zhang Mengqi. China.
UK Premiere
Screening in partnership with the Chinese Visual Festival
Includes intro and Q&A with director Zhang Mengqi
The seventh film in Zhang Mengqi’s extraordinary survey of life in 47km—a rural village in Hubei Province, China named after its distance from the nearest city, Suizhou—the poetic, profound Self-Portrait: Sphinx In 47Km explores the terrible legacy of the ‘Great Leap Forward’ through the contrasting perspectives of two generations of women. An elderly woman tells the harrowing story of her son’s death; whilst a teenager paints murals imagining a brighter future. This split structure connects the memories of a disappearing generation to the hopes of a new one, making space for political and personal reflection in a country experiencing great change.
Plus short film : My Room
Director: Barbara Visser. Netherlands.
UK Premiere
Includes intro and Q&A with director Barbara Visser
From the moment the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam acquired this large and primarily monochrome red painting in 1969 until today, 'Who’s Afraid of Red', 'Yellow and Blue III' is an artwork that raises questions, triggers emotions and provokes emotional reactions. A brutal attack on the piece on the first day of spring in 1986 was followed by what later proved to be a rather unconventional restoration procedure. This icon of Abstract Expressionism, once permanently on display in the main room of the renowned Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam, still has great value.
The End of Fear takes multiple perspectives on important and fascinating questions that were raised and are still present in our current relationship to contemporary art. What is the possible value of art: what makes something a work of art; who decides this; what does it mean; what is the value of art in economic, artistic, and social terms?
Plus short film: The Sleeping Fool
Newly single, always wild, Julie throws a late night party. In the kitchen Jean and Kristina clean up to the din of the partygoers upstairs. When Julie provokes a flirtation and initiates a power struggle with Jean, the night plummets into scenes of brutality and a desperate fight for survival. Fuelled by social division, Strindberg’s 1888 masterpiece, Miss Julie, remains shocking and fiercely relevant. Polly Stenham’s edgy and fresh new adaptation brings the classic masterpiece up to date with a contemporary London setting. Directed by Carrie Cracknell (Medea, Oil) with Vanessa Kirby and Eric Kofi Abrefa as Julie and Jean.
Director: Neary Adeline Hay. France. 2018
UK Premiere
Includes intro and Q&A with director Neary Adeline Hay.
Born from a forced marriage in a village of detention during the Khmer Rouge regime, Neary Adeline Hay journey’s back to Cambodia with her father, Khonsaly to meet his former Khmer Rouge persecutors. In the obscure intimacy of the village in which they lived together as prisoners for four years, Khonsaly and the inhabitants of Ta Saeng recount the workings of the cooperative villages and the sites which were the theaters for the deaths of millions of people.
In the uncanny silence of the forgotten jungle, Hay rediscovers the revolutionary madness of a regime with excessive ambitions and encounters the ghosts that still haunt the land, its people and their memories.
Plus short film: A God’s Shadow
Includes intro and director Q&As
Humanity’s imprint on the environment is pervasive and enduring – the marks we leave outlive us and distort our landscape, obscuring it with ghosts of forgotten pasts and promised futures. This selection of films documents those marks made – and the narratives we construct in their wake.
There Lived the Colliers
Nelson MacDonald | 2017 | Canada | 7′
Graven Image
Sierra Pettengill | 2018 | USA | 11′
Stone Engravings and the Three-Colored Chickenpox Tale
Luciana Mazeto & Vinícius Lopes | 2017 | Brazil | 20′
Plastic Man
Yulia Kovanova | 2017 | UK | 10′
Then a Hero Comes Along
Marlon Rouse Tavares | 2017 | UK | 20′
The Fear of Dying in Transit
Ian Purnell | 2018 | Germany, Switzerland | 29′
Director: Simon Plouffe. Canada. 2018
European Premiere
Screening in Partnership with Origins Festival
Includes intro and Q&A with director Simon Plouffe
Those Who Come, Will Hear proposes a unique meeting with the speakers of several indigenous languages of Quebec – all threatened with extinction. The film starts with the discovery of these unsung tongues through listening to the daily life of those who still speak them today. Buttressed by an exploration and creation of archives, the film allows us to better understand the musicality of these languages and reveals the cultural and human importance of these venerable oral traditions by nourishing a collective reflection on the consequences of their disappearance.
Plus short film : The Amendment
From the creative minds at Pixar comes this hilarious, action-packed animated adventure about a seemingly ordinary family with an incredible secret.
Married superheroes Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) are forced to assume mundane lives as Bob and Helen Parr after all super-powered activities have been banned by the government. While Mr. Incredible loves his wife and kids, he longs to return to a life of adventure, and he gets a chance when summoned to an island to battle an out-of-control robot. Soon, Mr. Incredible is in trouble, and it's up to his family to save him.
15.30Pixar: Off the back of this years much anticipated release of The Incredibles 2 it's the perfect time for Vinatge Sundays to look back at some of the best films from one of the most famous and celebrated studios of all time.
Vintage Sundays: Classic films back on the big screen where they belong.
Across the water on the island, four individuals experience the year in which their lives will end. Illness progresses, relationships gently shift, and we are witness to rarely seen and intensely private moments. One person shares their acceptance of death, whilst another is surrounded by a community in shock. We observe bedside care and the rhythm of breathing. In a pathology lab, microscopic biopsies in close-up show the interior of bodies, our biology. Like the ferries cyclically arriving and departing in this an enigmatic landscape, the film appears buoyant, afloat. Death is shown to be natural and everyday but also unspeakable and strange
Leaving behind their cosmopolitan London life, a couple and their three young children travel the ends of the earth searching for a new perspective on life. In their five-year journey across six continents, they live with some of the oldest indigenous communities on the planet. They gain access to tribal sages never filmed or interviewed before, without a crew or schedule, just one backpack and one camera each. And the curiosity to listen. The film reveals the deep wisdom the family discover in their conversations with these 'Earth Keepers' and its power to transform lives. Having lived in hiding for centuries, the Earth Keepers see that now is the time to step forward and share their insights with those who are ready to listen. The film’s score is written by BAFTA & Oscar winning composer Stephen Warbeck.
This true story sees real-life rodeo rider Brady Jandreau deliver a heart-stirring performance as a bronco rider who suffers a serious head injury at a bull-riding competition. When doctors advise against his ever competing again, Brady’s left searching for a purpose in life – for what’s the use of a cowboy who can’t ride or rodeo? The film is set on the wide and windy Dakota prairie, where Brady lives in a trailer with his sister (Lilly Jandreau) and their father (Tim Jandreau), all members of a Sioux family that has seen its share of hardship. The actors are non-professional, each playing a version of their real selves. A powerful blending of fact and fiction, and one man’s search for identity in the wreckage of the American dream.
18.25Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
Down on his luck in the suburbs, John Falstaff plans to hustle his way to a comfortable retirement by seducing the wives of two wealthy men.
Unknown to him, it’s the women of Windsor who really pull the strings, orchestrating Falstaff’s comeuppance amidst a theatrical smorgasbord of petty rivalries, jealousies and over-inflated egos.
For a fat Englishman, a Welshman and a Frenchman, the only way is Windsor…
Cinema’s newest odd couple, 89-year-old Agnès Varda and young photographer JR, team up for a delightfully playful and unassumingly political road trip across France. Travelling in JR’s van, which doubles as a functioning camera, the pair interview, photograph and charm everyone they meet along the way. Varda and JR are as genuinely interested in factory workers and rural villagers as they are in artists and auteurs, and the resulting film is a wonderfully tender glimpse of humanity.
This is Varda’s first film made with a co-director but any worries about the possible dilution of her creative vision is unwarranted, as JR proves to be a stimulating and generative collaborator. The scene in which he pushes a wheelchair-bound Varda through the Louvre in a speedy homage to Godard’s Bande à Part should bring a tear to any cineaste’s eye. Godard himself makes an appearance (of sorts) at the end of the film, but it is the ordinary people and their stories which linger.
Kind, poignant and imaginative, Faces Places is a joyful riposte to the maxim that all great artists must be tortured souls. Agnès Varda - who came to the Duke of York’s during Brighton Festival 2015 - will shortly become the first female director to be awarded an honorary Oscar.
The Birds’ Eye View’s new 4 film/5-city Reclaim The Frame film influencer project is a mission to bring ever-greater audiences to films by women to build a more balanced film future. Next up is the gorgeous American feature The Rider by Chloe Zhao, released by Altitude Films.
Once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, Brady is warned that his competition days are over after a tragic riding accident. Back home, he finds himself wondering what he has to live for when he can no longer do what gives him a sense of purpose: to ride and compete. In an attempt to regain control of his fate, Brady tries to redefine his idea of what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
Back home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, he struggles with the physical and emotional complications of the accident. He is comforted by his inimitable little sister Lilly, who has Aspergers Syndrome, yet tensions between Brady and his gambling father, Wayne, is reaching a breaking point when Wayne resorts to selling Brady’s favourite horse, to keep their trailer home.
The Rider premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Art Cinema Award, and at Sundance Film Festival 2018. It was written, produced and directed by Chloé Zhao and stars a real-life Lakota Sioux Bronc rider Brady Jandreau and his actual sister Lilly Jandreau and father Tim Jandreau playing versions of themselves.
Reclaim The Frame events gather speakers from across a range of disciplines that link to the film, to host an audience conversation. This is hosted by Mia Bays, director of Birds’ Eye View and an Oscar winning film producer, and is joined by Bonnie-Kate Dewar Clinical Neuro-psychologist and Anna Smith, film critic and writer, chair of the UK Critics Circle. Two more special guests TBC
19.00Reclaim the Frame Q&A: This special preview screening of The Rider will be followed by a Q&A hosted by Bird's Eye View as part of their Reclaim the Fram initiative.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It’s the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. Teaming up with seasoned colleague Flip Zimmerman (Driver), the young detective goes undercover to take down the extremist hate group from the inside.
Across the water on the island, four individuals experience the year in which their lives will end. Illness progresses, relationships gently shift, and we are witness to rarely seen and intensely private moments. One person shares their acceptance of death, whilst another is surrounded by a community in shock. We observe bedside care and the rhythm of breathing. In a pathology lab, microscopic biopsies in close-up show the interior of bodies, our biology. Like the ferries cyclically arriving and departing in this an enigmatic landscape, the film appears buoyant, afloat. Death is shown to be natural and everyday but also unspeakable and strange
The year is 2700. WALL-E (an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class), a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon he will discover what he was truly meant for. From Academy Award-winning director Andrew Stanton (FINDING NEMO), WALL-E is the story of one robot's comic adventures as he chases his dream across the galaxy. This animated feature from Pixar (TOY STORY, RATATOUILLE) is amongst their very finest, witty, profound and beautifully realised with a faint echo of E.T.
15.30Pixar: Off the back of this years much anticipated release of The Incredibles 2 it's the perfect time for Vinatge Sundays to look back at some of the best films from one of the most famous and celebrated studios of all time.
Vintage Sundays: Classic films back on the big screen where they belong.
In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett star in The House With A Clock In Its Walls, from Amblin Entertainment. The magical adventure tells the spine-tingling tale of 10-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town"s sleepy facade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.
Forty years after the death of Elvis Presley, two-time Sundance Grand Jury winner Eugene Jarecki’s new film takes the King’s 1963 Rolls Royce on a musical road trip across America. From Memphis to New York, Las Vegas, and beyond, the journey traces the rise and fall of Elvis as a metaphor for the country he left behind. The King paints a visionary portrait of the state of the American dream and takes an incisive look at how it’s made it to where it is today. A diverse cast of Americans, both famous and not, join the journey, including Alec Baldwin, Rosanne Cash, Chuck D, Emmylou Harris, Ethan Hawke, Van Jones, Mike Myers and many more.
Following 2015’s Doc/Fest Grand Jury Winner A Syrian Love Story, Sean McAllister returns to his hometown, Hull, as curator of its’ UK City of Culture opening. Back living with his 90-year-old parents and reflecting on changes to a city hit by cuts in public spending and divided by Brexit, Sean is drawn to the fringes of town where he encounters Steve – a struggling warehouse worker with a dream.
18.30Discover Tuesdays: Discover stunning cinema. Whether it's a cult classic, an art-house gem or a riveting documentary, there will always be a chance to see something different and brilliant in our weekly slot.
Picturehouse Docs: Bringing you the best in new and topical documentaries covering issues around the world.
Across the water on the island, four individuals experience the year in which their lives will end. Illness progresses, relationships gently shift, and we are witness to rarely seen and intensely private moments. One person shares their acceptance of death, whilst another is surrounded by a community in shock. We observe bedside care and the rhythm of breathing. In a pathology lab, microscopic biopsies in close-up show the interior of bodies, our biology. Like the ferries cyclically arriving and departing in this an enigmatic landscape, the film appears buoyant, afloat. Death is shown to be natural and everyday but also unspeakable and strange
Irresistibly frothy and lavishly theatrical, The Merry Widow has enough tangled affairs, narrow misses and jealous lovers to fuel a French farce. Based on the beloved operetta, this lively tale is set in the ballrooms and salons of Belle Époque Paris and is dressed magnificently in velvets, silks, spangles and feathers. Created especially for The Australian Ballet, The Merry Widow is a laugh-along favourite with hum-along melodies and its heart on its sleeve.
Steve Loveridge steps behind famed music videos ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’ to paint a dynamic portrait of British-Sri Lankan rapper-songwriter M.I.A. (Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam). Splicing raw footage, Loveridge attempts to capture the pop star’s ‘middle finger up’ political attitudes as he traces her remarkable journey from youth to stardom. Clips from her bold music videos, intimate interviews and candid, on-the-fly footage offer a glimpse into M.I.A’s songwriting process and her uncompromising character. “How do you manage an artist who’s unmanageable?” one advisor asks. How do you tame a star whose border-bashing tracks make uncontrollable waves on the political scene? Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. spans the years to get to the heart of what it means to be a star with purpose.
Steve Loveridge steps behind famed music videos ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’ to paint a dynamic portrait of British-Sri Lankan rapper-songwriter M.I.A. (Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam). Splicing raw footage, Loveridge attempts to capture the pop star’s ‘middle finger up’ political attitudes as he traces her remarkable journey from youth to stardom. Clips from her bold music videos, intimate interviews and candid, on-the-fly footage offer a glimpse into M.I.A’s songwriting process and her uncompromising character. “How do you manage an artist who’s unmanageable?” one advisor asks. How do you tame a star whose border-bashing tracks make uncontrollable waves on the political scene? Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. spans the years to get to the heart of what it means to be a star with purpose.
Steve Loveridge steps behind famed music videos ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’ to paint a dynamic portrait of British-Sri Lankan rapper-songwriter M.I.A. (Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam). Splicing raw footage, Loveridge attempts to capture the pop star’s ‘middle finger up’ political attitudes as he traces her remarkable journey from youth to stardom. Clips from her bold music videos, intimate interviews and candid, on-the-fly footage offer a glimpse into M.I.A’s songwriting process and her uncompromising character. “How do you manage an artist who’s unmanageable?” one advisor asks. How do you tame a star whose border-bashing tracks make uncontrollable waves on the political scene? Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. spans the years to get to the heart of what it means to be a star with purpose.
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest super-hero in the original 1978 Superman story. Starring Christopher Reeve and including the legendary actors Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Terence Stamp, this much loved film charts the origins of Superman; his escape from the doomed planet Krypton to his first encounter with the villainous Lex Luther.
Following the screening, its producer, Pierre Spengler (also producer of Superman II and Superman III) will be interviewed on stage about his key part in the making of Superman: the Movie.
Please note that the film will be screened from an original 35 mm print, so there may be occasional scratches.
Carl Fredricksen, a 78-year-old balloon salesman, is about to fulfill a lifelong dream. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, he flies away to the South American wilderness. But curmudgeonly Carl's worst nightmare comes true when he discovers a little boy named Russell is a stowaway aboard the balloon-powered house.
15.30Pixar: Off the back of this years much anticipated release of The Incredibles 2 it's the perfect time for Vinatge Sundays to look back at some of the best films from one of the most famous and celebrated studios of all time.
Vintage Sundays: Classic films back on the big screen where they belong.
Steve Loveridge steps behind famed music videos ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’ to paint a dynamic portrait of British-Sri Lankan rapper-songwriter M.I.A. (Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam). Splicing raw footage, Loveridge attempts to capture the pop star’s ‘middle finger up’ political attitudes as he traces her remarkable journey from youth to stardom. Clips from her bold music videos, intimate interviews and candid, on-the-fly footage offer a glimpse into M.I.A’s songwriting process and her uncompromising character. “How do you manage an artist who’s unmanageable?” one advisor asks. How do you tame a star whose border-bashing tracks make uncontrollable waves on the political scene? Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. spans the years to get to the heart of what it means to be a star with purpose.
'The Dude', Jeff Lebowski is unemployed and as laid-back as they come. That is until he becomes a victim of mistaken identity, and two thugs break into his apartment with the errant belief that they're strong-arming Jeff Lebowski - the Pasadena millionaire. In the hope of getting a replacement for his soiled carpet, 'the Dude' pays a visit to his wealthy namesake...
Steve Loveridge steps behind famed music videos ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’ to paint a dynamic portrait of British-Sri Lankan rapper-songwriter M.I.A. (Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam). Splicing raw footage, Loveridge attempts to capture the pop star’s ‘middle finger up’ political attitudes as he traces her remarkable journey from youth to stardom. Clips from her bold music videos, intimate interviews and candid, on-the-fly footage offer a glimpse into M.I.A’s songwriting process and her uncompromising character. “How do you manage an artist who’s unmanageable?” one advisor asks. How do you tame a star whose border-bashing tracks make uncontrollable waves on the political scene? Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. spans the years to get to the heart of what it means to be a star with purpose.
Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) has spent forty years sacrificing her own talent, dreams and ambitions to support her charismatic husband Joe (Jonathan Pryce) and his stellar literary career. Ignoring infidelities and excuses made in the cause of his art, she has put up with his behaviour with undiminished grace and humour. The foundations of their marriage have, however, been built upon a set of uneven compromises and Joan has reached a turning point.
On the eve of Joe’s Nobel Prize for Literature, the crown jewel rewarding a spectacular body of work, Joan will confront the biggest sacrifice of her life and some long-buried secrets. Based on the bestselling book by Meg Wolitzer, The Wife is a poignant, funny and emotional journey, a celebration of womanhood, self-discovery and liberation, featuring a stunning cast that also includes Max Irons, Harry Lloyd, Annie Starke, Elizabeth McGovern and Christian Slater.
19.00Preview: We're pleased to present exclusive previews of this film at Picturehouse Cinemas, prior to its general release.
Women's Work: A season of essential films that sees visionary women write, direct or take the lead.
Steve Loveridge steps behind famed music videos ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’ to paint a dynamic portrait of British-Sri Lankan rapper-songwriter M.I.A. (Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam). Splicing raw footage, Loveridge attempts to capture the pop star’s ‘middle finger up’ political attitudes as he traces her remarkable journey from youth to stardom. Clips from her bold music videos, intimate interviews and candid, on-the-fly footage offer a glimpse into M.I.A’s songwriting process and her uncompromising character. “How do you manage an artist who’s unmanageable?” one advisor asks. How do you tame a star whose border-bashing tracks make uncontrollable waves on the political scene? Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. spans the years to get to the heart of what it means to be a star with purpose.
Shakespeare’s tender, violent, moving and shocking play, King Lear sees two ageing fathers – one a King, one his courtier – reject the children who truly love them. This screening of Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2017 production stars Ian McKellen in the role of Lear, his intimate, intricate and conversational performance hailed as a triumph. The play received five-star reviews for its sell-out run and afterwards transferred to the West End for 100 performances only. This contemporary retelling of the great tragedy is directed by Jonathan Munby. Also starring are Sinéad Cusack as Kent and Kirsty Bushell as Regan. Not to be missed.
Steve Loveridge steps behind famed music videos ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’ to paint a dynamic portrait of British-Sri Lankan rapper-songwriter M.I.A. (Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam). Splicing raw footage, Loveridge attempts to capture the pop star’s ‘middle finger up’ political attitudes as he traces her remarkable journey from youth to stardom. Clips from her bold music videos, intimate interviews and candid, on-the-fly footage offer a glimpse into M.I.A’s songwriting process and her uncompromising character. “How do you manage an artist who’s unmanageable?” one advisor asks. How do you tame a star whose border-bashing tracks make uncontrollable waves on the political scene? Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. spans the years to get to the heart of what it means to be a star with purpose.
This striking and moving documentary from BAFTA nominated directors, Jacqui and David Morris, traces the extraordinary life of Rudolf Nureyev, the most famous male dancer that transcended fame in the dance world to become a pop culture icon of his time. It charts his rise from humble beginnings, to his eventual defection to the West, an event that shocked the world.
The film contextualises not just the man but also the times in which he lived, discussing the politically charged divide between Russia and the West and the critical role that Nureyev played as a cultural and global phenomena.
Blending never-before-seen footage, an original score by award-winning composer Alex Baranowski, and a spellbinding series of exclusive modern dance tableaux directed by Royal Ballet alumnus Russell Maliphant, Nureyev is a theatrical and cinematic experience like no other biopic.
Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) has spent forty years sacrificing her own talent, dreams and ambitions to support her charismatic husband Joe (Jonathan Pryce) and his stellar literary career. Ignoring infidelities and excuses made in the cause of his art, she has put up with his behaviour with undiminished grace and humour. The foundations of their marriage have, however, been built upon a set of uneven compromises and Joan has reached a turning point.
On the eve of Joe’s Nobel Prize for Literature, the crown jewel rewarding a spectacular body of work, Joan will confront the biggest sacrifice of her life and some long-buried secrets. Based on the bestselling book by Meg Wolitzer, The Wife is a poignant, funny and emotional journey, a celebration of womanhood, self-discovery and liberation, featuring a stunning cast that also includes Max Irons, Harry Lloyd, Annie Starke, Elizabeth McGovern and Christian Slater.
This striking and moving documentary from BAFTA nominated directors, Jacqui and David Morris, traces the extraordinary life of Rudolf Nureyev, the most famous male dancer that transcended fame in the dance world to become a pop culture icon of his time. It charts his rise from humble beginnings, to his eventual defection to the West, an event that shocked the world.
The film contextualises not just the man but also the times in which he lived, discussing the politically charged divide between Russia and the West and the critical role that Nureyev played as a cultural and global phenomena.
Blending never-before-seen footage, an original score by award-winning composer Alex Baranowski, and a spellbinding series of exclusive modern dance tableaux directed by Royal Ballet alumnus Russell Maliphant, Nureyev is a theatrical and cinematic experience like no other biopic.
Dangerous desires, family secrets and political intrigues twist through every moment of daring choreography in Kenneth Macmillan's ballet inspired by true events.
Mayerling is a classic of the Royal Ballet repertory, with its emotional depth, haunting imagery, and one of the most demanding roles ever created for a male dancer. Kenneth MacMillan choreographed a complex work around the psychologically tormented heir to the Habsburg Empire, Crown Prince Rudolf. From the ballet’s start, the glamour of the Austro-Hungarian court is contrasted with undercurrents of sexual and political intrigue that drive the story to its violent climax in a double suicide. The large cast allows for impressive ensembles in addition to the ballet's many solos of distinctive character and pas de deux of disturbing eroticism. This ballet, bursting with intensity, madness and passion, proves that sometimes the truth is more scandalous than fiction.
Following its record-breaking sell-out run in London’s West End and national tour, the critically acclaimed Funny Girl is coming to a cinema near you. Featuring “an unforgettable star turn” (The Times) from Sheridan Smith, Funny Girl is a semi-biographical musical based on the life and career of Broadway star, film actress and comedienne Fanny Brice (a role made famous by Barbara Streisand on Broadway and in the 1968 film adaptation), and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein.
Praised by critics for its charm, wit and warmth, Funny Girl features a host of timeless musical numbers including People, I’m The Greatest Star and Don’t Rain On My Parade.
Antonio Pappano conducts an international cast in the second opera of Richard Wagner's epicder Ring Des Nibelungen.
Wagner’s Ring cycle is one of the greatest works of all opera. Keith Warner’s production is conducted by Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera, and this final revival is cast with an outstanding international array of Wagnerian specialist singers. The full cycle's four operas journey from the beginning of a world to its destruction, with gods, heroes and monsters. This epic myth portrays every type of human emotion in music and ideas of extraordinary power. The Ring is always a special event in the operatic calendar: once experienced, never forgotten.
Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) is the second opera in the cycle, and features several of the Ring’s musical highlights – the sparkling Magic Fire Music and the electrifying Ride of the Valkyries. But among the musical fireworks and Norse mythology, at the centre of this opera are the unforgettable characters and the complex entanglements between them, including twins Siegmund and Sieglinde, and Wotan and his Valkyrie daughter, Brünnhilde.
Approximate running time: 4 hours 50 minutes, including two intervals. Sung in German with English subtitles.
When all-American couple Janet and Brad’s car breaks down outside an Old Dark House, they’re in for a night of frights and frolics at the hands of Dr Frank N. Furter and all manner of kinky Transylvanians in this cult musical comedy.
Contains moderate sex and one use of strong language.
Alan Bennett’s rousing state-of-the-nation drama set in an old fashioned cradle-to-grave NHS hospital, threatened with closure. Geriatric patients’ singalongs and Bennett’s stinging wit entertain and provoke in this sharp, funny and political new play.
In Japanese with English subtitles - One day, Kun's mother brings home a new family member. For the four year old boy, joy quickly turns to disappointment when the little sister, Mirai, replaces him as the centre of attention. Kun can't bring himself to accept her as his sister however things turn magical when, with a mysterious garden as his gateway, he encounters his mother as a little girl and his great-grandfather as a young man, and has a series of surprising adventures with his 'older' sister from the future. These experiences change how he sees the world and help him grow in to the big brother he was meant to be.
In Japanese with English subtitles - One day, Kun's mother brings home a new family member. For the four year old boy, joy quickly turns to disappointment when the little sister, Mirai, replaces him as the centre of attention. Kun can't bring himself to accept her as his sister however things turn magical when, with a mysterious garden as his gateway, he encounters his mother as a little girl and his great-grandfather as a young man, and has a series of surprising adventures with his 'older' sister from the future. These experiences change how he sees the world and help him grow in to the big brother he was meant to be.
From The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Exhibition on Screen journeys from the streets of Paris to the heart of a superb exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, whose extensive collection of Degas’ works is the most representative in Britain. With exclusive access to view rare and diverse works, this film tells a fascinating story of Degas’ pursuit for perfection through both experimentation with new techniques and lessons learnt from studying the past masters.
Sometimes frustrated by his own failings, Degas was consumed by obsessive principles and failing eye sight but his determination to capture everyday life was evident in every mark he made. Never fully satisfied, many of Degas’ drawings and sculptures were kept in private during his lifetime but, now through close examination, they can be seen as some of the most beautifully detailed and expressive works in the modern era. Using written accounts by friends and commentators, and the narration of letters written by Degas himself, this film reveals a more complex truth behind one of the most influential French artists of the late 19th-century and serves as an exploration of the complex workings of Degas’ artistic mind.
“Art is not a matter of what you see, but what you make other people see.” Edgar Degas
Natalia Makarova's production of this 19th century classic ballet brings an exotic world of temple dancers and noble warriors to life.
Marius Petipa’s fantasy, set in legendary India, tells the tale of a temple dancer and the prince who loves her but marries another. The famous, moonlit ‘white act’ – The Kingdom of the Shades – is a corps de ballet highlight, as multiple images of the prince’s lost love haunt his mind. The choreography allows two opposing ballerinas to shine, while a bronze idol comes vividly to life in a stunning solo. Throughout, the melody and moods of Minkus’s music perfectly match the fluidity and precision of the classical choreography and the drama of the storytelling.
"Lechery, lechery, still wars and lechery: nothing else holds fashion"
Troilus and Cressida swear they will always be true to one another. But in the seventh year of the siege of Troy their innocence is tested, and exposed to the savage corrupting influence of war, with tragic consequences.
Virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie collaborates with RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran to create a satirical futuristic vision of a world resounding with the rhythm of battle, broadcast live to cinemas from Shakespeare's home town.
The Greek army is encamped under the walls of Troy and, at the point at which the play begins, the war has reached stalemate. The Greeks are quarrelling amongst themselves. Achilles, their greatest champion, refuses to fight and has withdrawn to his tent with his lover, Patroclus. Equally at odds with themselves, the Trojans are debating the value of continuing the war merely for the sake of keeping Helen.
Troilus is much distracted from these military concerns by his love for Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan who has defected to the Greek camp. The young lovers are eagerly assisted by Cressida's uncle Pandarus, who acts as their go-between. However, after only one night together they are parted when Cressida is sent to join her father in the Greek camp. Almost immediately she betrays Troilus with the Greek Diomedes and, discovering this, Troilus is plunged into despair.
With the fall of Troy certain, Troilus vows revenge on Achilles.
It’s 1786 and King George III is the most powerful man in the world. But he, increasingly, succumbs to fits of lunacy, and ambitious politicians and the scheming Prince of Wales threaten to undermine the power of the Crown, and expose the fine line between King and man. Written by one of Britain’s best-loved playwrights Alan Bennett (The History Boys, The Lady In The Van), this epic play was also adapted into a BAFTA Award-winning film following its premiere on stage in 1991. The cast of this new production which is screened from Nottingham Playhouse includes Mark Gatiss and Adrian Scarborough. Directed by Adam Penford.
Director: Renny Rye.
Starring: Devin Stanfield, Robert Stephens, Patrick Troughton, Patricia Quinn.
UK 1984. 185 mins + intermission.
The wolves are running in Picturehouse cinemas this Yuletide. Open the Box of Delights and take a wondrous step back in time to Christmas 1984 with Kay Harker, the Punch and Judy Man, Herne the Hunter, Mouse, and co. for a vintage television marathon of the complete six-episode BBC children’s series. Splendiferous!
With thanks to the BFI National TV Archive.
A Christmas treat for the whole family and a classic with a special place in the hearts of ballet fans around the world.
The Nutcracker has long been one of the most delightful ways to discover the enchantment of ballet – and makes for a delicious seasonal treat for all the family.Tchaikovsky’s much-loved music is matched to a magical adventure on Christmas Eve for Clara and her Nutcracker doll. Their journey to the Land of Sweets brings with it some of the most familiar of all ballet moments, such as the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. Peter Wright’s production for The Royal Ballet keeps true to the spirit of this Russian ballet classic, with period details and dancing snowflakes. The many solo roles and ensembles put the world-class skills of the Company to the fore in this Christmas classic.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 30 minutes, including one interval.
Home Alone is the beloved family comedy about a young boy named Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) who is accidentally left behind when his family takes off for a vacation in France over the holiday season. Once he realises they've left him home alone, he learns to fend for himself and, eventually has to protect his house against two bumbling burglars (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) who are planning to rob every house in Kevin's suburban Chicago neighborhood.
Broadcast live from the National Theatre, Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo play Shakespeare’s famous fated couple in his great tragedy of politics, passion and power.
Caesar and his assassins are dead. General Mark Antony now rules alongside his fellow defenders of Rome. But at the fringes of a war-torn empire the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony have fallen fiercely in love. In a tragic fight between devotion and duty, obsession becomes a catalyst for war.
Director Simon Godwin returns to National Theatre Live screens with this hotly anticipated production, following broadcasts of Twelfth Night, Man and Superman and The Beaux’ Stratagem.
DIE HARD is surely the ultimate alternative Christmas flick. New York City cop John McClane (Willis) travels to LA to spend Christmas with his estranged wife (Bedelia).
His first stop is the office Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza, where his wife works. But terrorist Hans Gruber (an impeccable performance from Rickman) turns up with some hard-core mayhem in mind, leaving McClane alone in a vest, sans shoes, to save the day.
What follows is some of the best and most iconic action cinema ever to have come out of Hollywood, and will send you off into the night with a very unique Christmassy feeling. Yippee-ki-yay, Father Christmas!
Based on Charles Dickens’s own performance adaptation, Simon Callow and director Tom Cairns have created a one-man theatrical extravaganza of festive storytelling that is both heart-warming and deeply moving. Following critically acclaimed, sold-out theatre seasons in 2011, 2012 and again in 2016, Simon Callow (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love) returns to wow audiences with this tour de force performance, reimagined especially for cinema. A Christmas must see!
Tchaikovsky's most ambitious opera contains some of his greatest music and is a powerful study of destructive obsession.
In Tchaikovsky’s intense opera of obsession and the supernatural, Gherman is caught between the woman he loves and a destructive fixation. The Queen of Spadesis based on a short story by Pushkin, and comes to the Royal Opera House in a new production that has already garnered five-star reviews in Amsterdam. The production is set in 1890, the year of the opera’s premiere. In his study, Tchaikovsky imagines the opera into life as his own story, its characters giving voice to his unfulfilled desires. Aleksandrs Antonenko and Eva-Maria Westbroek head the cast and Royal Opera Chorus, conducted by Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera. This is an engrossing portrayal of a tortured creative artist and a gripping piece of gothic storytelling.
Richard Eyre's beautiful production provides the perfect setting for Verdi's opera about a courtesan who sacrifices all for love.
From the thrill of unexpected romance to a heartbreaking reconciliation that comes too late – Verdi’s La traviata is one of the most popular of all operas. Alfredo falls in love in with the courtesan Violetta in glamorous Paris society, but underneath the surface run darker undercurrents, leading to a tragic ending. The opera’s wealth of melodies includes the famous Brindisi and the exuberant ‘Sempre libera’ – both showing the lyricism of Italian opera at its most immediately appealing. Richard Eyre’s production for The Royal Opera brings out all the emotional colour, from the giddy discovery of love, through painful confrontation to the inevitable conclusion. Lavish period sets and costumes enhance the reality of a moving story based on true life.
I’m Not Running is an explosive new play by David Hare, premiering at the National Theatre and broadcast live to cinemas.
Pauline Gibson has spent her life as a doctor, the inspiring leader of a local health campaign. When she crosses paths with her old boyfriend, a stalwart loyalist in Labour Party politics, she’s faced with an agonising decision.
What’s involved in sacrificing your private life and your piece of mind for something more than a single issue? Does she dare?
Hare was recently described by The Washington Post as ‘the premiere political dramatist writing in English’. His other work includes Pravda and Skylight, broadcast by National Theatre Live in 2014.
Pablo Picasso is one of the greatest artists of all time - and right up until his death in 1973 he was the most prolific of artists. Many films have dealt with these later years - the art, the affairs and the wide circle of friends. But where did this all begin? What made Picasso in the first place? Too long ignored, it is time to look at the early years of Picasso; the upbringing and the learning that led to his extraordinary achievements.
Three cities play a key role: Malaga, Barcelona and Paris. Young Picasso visits each and explores their influence on Picasso, focusing on specific artworks from these early years. The film thus explains how this young artist acquired his craft. Looking carefully at two key early periods - the so-called Blue Period and Rose Period - the film takes us all the way to 1907 and the creation of a critical painting in the history of art - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. It was a painting that shocked the art world but changed it irrevocably. Picasso was only 25 years old. Working closely with all three Picasso Museums in Malaga, Barcelona and Paris this film explains how he rose to great heights.
Love and friendship triumph in Carlos Acosta's vibrant production of this dazzling ballet.
Cervantes’s story of the bumbling knight Don Quixote has inspired countless artistic interpretations. Marius Petipa choreographed this sparkling ballet about the encounters of the man from La Mancha and his faithful squire Sancho Panza. At its heart are virtuoso roles for the lovers Basilio and Kitri. Carlos Acosta chose this joyful classic for his first production for The Royal Ballet. His vibrant staging brings together the whole Company in such roles as exuberant villagers, passionate gypsies and even fantasy flowers. The story follows Don Quixote’s picaresque journey to do deeds in honour of his imaginary noble lady, Dulcinea. Sunny, charming, funny and touching – Don Quixote is a ballet as full of uplifting emotion as it is of astonishing ballet technique.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 45 minutes, inclding one interval.
Christof Loy directs a star-studded cast of singers, inclusing Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tezier, in Verdi's epic opera, conducted by Antonio Pappano.
Leonora falls in love with Don Alvaro, but when her father forbids their marriage, a fatal accident triggers a drama of obsession, vengeance and tragedy. Jonas Kaufmannand Anna Netrebko star in Verdi’s epic La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny) an opera which demands the very best of singers for its powerful music and the fullest theatrical treatment for its story of bitter revenge pursued across miles and years. The production comes to The Royal Opera in a sensational staging from Amsterdam packed with colour and action. It is directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera.
From the National Gallery, London and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Every Rembrandt exhibition is eagerly anticipated but this major show hosted by London’s National Gallery and Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum was an event like no other. Given privileged access to both galleries the film documents this landmark exhibition, whilst interweaving Rembrandt’s life story, with behind-the-scenes preparations at these world famous institutions. Exploring many of the exhibition’s key works, through contributions from specially invited guests including curators and leading art historians, this Exhibition on Screen favourite makes a welcome return to the big screen marking the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt's death. For many, Rembrandt is the greatest artist that ever lived and this deeply moving film seeks to explore the truth about the man behind the legend.
Experience the decadence and elegance of 1870s Paris in David McVicar's spectacular production of Gounod's best-loved opera.
There are many versions of the story of Faust, who trades his soul with the Devil for youth and power, but Gounod’s opera remains one of the most constantly enthralling. Michael Fabiano stars as Faust, with Diana Damrau as his beloved Marguerite and Erwin Schrott as the diabolical Méphistophélès. Virtuoso leading roles, a large chorus, sensational sets, ballet and an ecstatic finale make this the epitome of theatrical spectacle – the lavish scale of French grand opera is wonderfully in evidence in this production by David McVicar, set in 1870s Paris. Above all, the music includes several of popular opera’s most recognizable numbers, performed by a cast of great international singers and the Royal Opera Chorus.
Approximate running time: 3 hours 45 minutes, including one interval. Sung in French with English subtitles.
Two recent works and one world premiere showcase the contemporary face of the Royal Ballet.
The contemporary face of The Royal Ballet is shown in works from three of today’s leading choreographers. Christopher Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour is based around seven couples separating and intermingling, to music by Vivaldi and Bosso and lit with rich colours suggested by sunset. Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern, revived for the first time, uses a large dance ensemble and Górecki’s familiar music from his Symphony of Sorrowful Songsfor a poignant and passionate reflection on migration. Between them, a new work by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, created on The Royal Ballet has its premiere to bring the contemporary truly up-to-date.
"I envy the Japanese" Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo. In the exhibition on which this film is based - VAN GOGH & JAPAN at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam - one can see why. Though Vincent van Gogh never visited Japan it is the country that had the most profound influence on him and his art. One cannot understand Van Gogh without understanding how Japanese art arrived in Paris in the middle of the 19th century and the profound impact it had on artists like Monet, Degas and, above all, Van Gogh.
Visiting the new galleries of Japanese art in Paris and then creating his own image of Japan – through in-depth research, print collecting and detailed discussions with other artists – Van Gogh’s encounter with Japanese artworks gave his work a new and exciting direction. After leaving Paris for the south of France – to what he thought of as near to a kind of Japan as he could find - the productive and yet troubled years that followed must all be seen in the context of Van Gogh bending Japanese influences to his will and defining himself as a modern artist with clear Asian precursors. In this little known story of Van Gogh’s art we see just how important his study of Japan was. The film travels not only to France and the Netherlands but also to Japan to further explore the remarkable heritage that so affected Van Gogh and made him the artist we know of today.
Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers encounter passion and tragedy in Kenneth MacMillan's 20th century ballet masterpiece.
Shakespeare’s enduring love story is known the world over. Since its 1965 premiere with The Royal Ballet, Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet has become a modern ballet classic. The choreography captures the emotions of the young couple as they fall in love, despite the barriers that finally bring about the story’s tragic end. Each revival gives opportunities for new dancers to interpret the doomed lovers. The whole Company brings the colour and action of Renaissance Verona, where a busy market all too quickly bursts into sword fighting, and a family feud leads to tragedy for both the Montagues and Capulets.
