Film Programme 2011-12 Season

All films start at 7.30pm usually on the 2nd FRIDAY of the month.

9 September 2011 – The Illusionist (2010) Director – Sylvain Chomet, Cert (PG), French, Comedy, Drama, Oscar Nominated Animation. From an original screenplay by Jacques Tati, The Illusionist is one of a dying breed of stage entertainers, forced to accept increasingly obscure assignments in fringe theatres. When he meets a young fan on a remote Scottish island, his life is changed forever.

14 October 2011 – Another Year (2010) Director – Mike Leigh, Cert (12), UK, Comedy, Drama. Oscar Nominated for best original screenplay. A look at four seasons in the lives of a happily married middle-aged couple, and their relationships with their family and friends, who all seem to experience varying degrees of unhappiness.

11 November 2011 – The Maid (2009) Director – Sebastian Silva, Cert (PG), Chile, Drama. Nominated for Golden Globe. Won Sundance Grand Jury Prize. The story of how a maid called Raquel, who has worked for over 20 years in one affluent Chilean household, rediscovers herself. The film is a microcosm of Latin social hierarchy, but also focuses on one woman's journey to free herself from a mental servitude of her own making.

9 December 2011 – Winter’s Bone (2010) Director – Debra Granik, Cert (15), USA, Drama, Mystery, Thriller. Oscars nominated in 4 categories, including Best Motion Picture. An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.

13 January 2012 – How I Ended this Summer (2010) Director – Alexei Popogrebsky Cert (12) Russian, Drama. Won awards at Berlin and London International Film Festivals. A tale of two meteorologists spending months in complete isolation on the once strategic Arctic research base. Fear, lies and suspicions start poisoning the atmosphere in a tense allegory about modern Russia.

10 February 2012 – Of Gods and Men (2010) Director – Xavier Beauvois, Cert (PG), French, Drama/History. Won Cannes Grand Jury Prize. Under threat from fundamentalist terrorists, a group of Trappist monks must decide whether to leave or stay. This film is loosely based on the life of the Cistercian monks of Tibhirine in Algeria, during the 1990’s.

9 March 2012 – Armadillo (2010) Director – Janus Metz Pedersen, Cert (15), Denmark, Documentary, War. Won Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique at Cannes Film Festival. In February 2009 a group of Danish soldiers accompanied by documentary filmmaker Janus Metz arrived at Armadillo, an army base in Helmand province. The outcome of their work is a gripping and highly authentic war docu-drama.

13 April 2012 – In a Better World (2010)
Director – Susanne Bier, Cert (15), Sweden/Denmark, Drama, Thriller. Oscar and Golden Globes Winner for Best Foreign Language Film. The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. Loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait and the families are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness.

The Great White Silence

11 May 2012 – The Great White Silence (1924)Director – Herbert G. Ponting Cert (U), UK, Documentary. Newly restored by the BFI, a silent film accompanied by an eerie, largely electronic score by Simon Fisher Turner. A moving account of Scott’s journey south to Antarctica.

8 June 2012 – Potiche (2010) Director – Francois Ozon, Cert (15), French, Comedy. Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu star. When her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees, a trophy wife takes the reins of the family business, but personal complications arrive in the form of her ex-lover, a former union leader.