WELCOME TO our latest season of international films. We have sadly been unable to meet for nearly two years, and are starting our 33rd season late - in fact with a half-season beginning on January 9th 2022.
Please note, we have retained the 3F system as follows: F = female director; F = noteworthy female role(s); f = female editor.
Please note, we have retained the 3F system as follows: F = female director; F = noteworthy female role(s); f = female editor.
Programme 2022
Date / Title / Approx. Audience / Reaction:
Jan 9th - Official Secrets - 77 - 96%
Jan 23rd - Portrait of a Lady on Fire* - 71 - 71%
Feb 6th - Minari - 76 - 80%
Feb 20th - Capernaum* - 76 - 92%
Mar 6th - Parasite* - 66 - 75%
Mar 20th - Limbo - 78 - 76%
Jan 9th - Official Secrets - 77 - 96%
Jan 23rd - Portrait of a Lady on Fire* - 71 - 71%
Feb 6th - Minari - 76 - 80%
Feb 20th - Capernaum* - 76 - 92%
Mar 6th - Parasite* - 66 - 75%
Mar 20th - Limbo - 78 - 76%
* subtitled films.
9 January
OFFICIAL SECRETS
US/UK/Swi/Ch, 2018, 112m, colr, 15, F
Director: Gavin Hood
With Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Ralph Fiennes
ENGLAND, 2003. Katharine Gun (Knightley) is a linguistics expert working at GCHQ in Cheltenham. When she reads – inadvertently – a confidential email connected to the planned invasion of Iraq, her conscience dictates that, via a national newspaper, she raises public awareness. Not only does she risk her own freedom, but her husband Yasar (Adam Bakri) is a Turkish Muslim who does not have the protection of British citizenship. Knightley is excellent, Gavin Hood (Tsotsi and Eye in the Sky) has never failed us and we did rather well with a similar film called The Whistleblower (2012-2013 season, 87%).
23 January
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
France, 2019, 122m, colr, 15, s/t, FFf
Director: Céline Sciamma
With Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel
THE STORY IS a very simple one. Marianne (Merlant) teaches painting to 18th-century students in Paris. When one of them asks about ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ the narrative retreats to an isolated residence in Brittany and her relationship with young Héloïse (Haenel). The greatness (and success) of the film devolves from its artistry – the cinematography (particularly of the seascapes) is exquisite and it is a film of impeccable mood, texture and sound. For sure, it has the beating heart that Ammonite lacks and the season’s highest rating beckons.
6 February
MINARI
US, 2020, 116m, colr, 12A, part-s/t, F
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
With Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho
THE FIRST OF two films we are showing that has a Korean family at its centre, but here it is in a very different setting – Arkansas in the early 1980s. Jacob is the head of an immigrant family of four that moves from California to fulfil his dream of owning a piece of land where he will grow Korean herbs (minari) and vegetables. Minari is, for the most part, a gentle, reflective drama with able performers and a strong vein of humour running through it. Unsurprisingly, therefore, it won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
20 February
CAPERNAUM
Leb/Cyp/Qat/Mon/US/Fr, 2018, 126m, colr, 15, s/t, FFf
Director: Nadine Labaki
With Zain Al Rafeea, YordanosShifera
WHAT MIGHT SEEM like an unlikely tale will soon have you gripped (as all good stories do). Zain, although only 12-years-old, decides to sue his parents for having brought him into the world. His world is Beirut and, from an early age, his parents have forced him to miss school and work; his older brother is already in prison and his sister is then sold as a child bride. Capernaum almost passed us by here in Lyme Regis; an act verging on the criminal, as it is seriously good cinema and one of the best-reviewed films of the last two years.
6 March
PARASITE
South Korea, 2019, 132m, colr, 15, s/t, F
Director: Bong Joon Ho
With Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Cho, Woo-sik Choi
WELCOME TO SEOUL and let us introduce you to a rather ordinary family of four who live in a basement, and make ends meet with casual work and the occasional modest scam. Events seemingly take a turn for the better when each of them, in turn, becomes indispensable to a very wealthy family. Parasite is a brilliant piece of film-making, a one-off that has won numerous awards. Its audacity leaves one breathless – seemingly a low-key family drama, then social satire, then just when you think you have it pegged, it wrong-foots you again and takes the entire audience, bodily, to a place that was not on its itinerary.
20 March
LIMBO
UK, 2020, 104m, colr, PG, part-s/t
Director: Ben Sharrock
With Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah
THE PREMISE COULD almost be the basis of a joke in the 1970s TV series The Comedians: ‘there was a Syrian, an Afghan, a Nigerian and a Ghanaian....’ although the joke, I fear, would be on us. For Omar, Farhad, Wasef and Abedi (rich and engaging characters one-and-all) are asylum seekers currently ensconced on a remote Scottish island, as their claims are processed. Bonding in adversity, they remain stoical and in good humour, challenging audience preconceptions along the way. Some critics have declared that Limbo is one of the best films ever about the refugee experience and Ben Sharrock has been praised for giving us such a moving and insightful drama.
OFFICIAL SECRETS
US/UK/Swi/Ch, 2018, 112m, colr, 15, F
Director: Gavin Hood
With Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Ralph Fiennes
ENGLAND, 2003. Katharine Gun (Knightley) is a linguistics expert working at GCHQ in Cheltenham. When she reads – inadvertently – a confidential email connected to the planned invasion of Iraq, her conscience dictates that, via a national newspaper, she raises public awareness. Not only does she risk her own freedom, but her husband Yasar (Adam Bakri) is a Turkish Muslim who does not have the protection of British citizenship. Knightley is excellent, Gavin Hood (Tsotsi and Eye in the Sky) has never failed us and we did rather well with a similar film called The Whistleblower (2012-2013 season, 87%).
23 January
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
France, 2019, 122m, colr, 15, s/t, FFf
Director: Céline Sciamma
With Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel
THE STORY IS a very simple one. Marianne (Merlant) teaches painting to 18th-century students in Paris. When one of them asks about ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ the narrative retreats to an isolated residence in Brittany and her relationship with young Héloïse (Haenel). The greatness (and success) of the film devolves from its artistry – the cinematography (particularly of the seascapes) is exquisite and it is a film of impeccable mood, texture and sound. For sure, it has the beating heart that Ammonite lacks and the season’s highest rating beckons.
6 February
MINARI
US, 2020, 116m, colr, 12A, part-s/t, F
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
With Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho
THE FIRST OF two films we are showing that has a Korean family at its centre, but here it is in a very different setting – Arkansas in the early 1980s. Jacob is the head of an immigrant family of four that moves from California to fulfil his dream of owning a piece of land where he will grow Korean herbs (minari) and vegetables. Minari is, for the most part, a gentle, reflective drama with able performers and a strong vein of humour running through it. Unsurprisingly, therefore, it won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
20 February
CAPERNAUM
Leb/Cyp/Qat/Mon/US/Fr, 2018, 126m, colr, 15, s/t, FFf
Director: Nadine Labaki
With Zain Al Rafeea, YordanosShifera
WHAT MIGHT SEEM like an unlikely tale will soon have you gripped (as all good stories do). Zain, although only 12-years-old, decides to sue his parents for having brought him into the world. His world is Beirut and, from an early age, his parents have forced him to miss school and work; his older brother is already in prison and his sister is then sold as a child bride. Capernaum almost passed us by here in Lyme Regis; an act verging on the criminal, as it is seriously good cinema and one of the best-reviewed films of the last two years.
6 March
PARASITE
South Korea, 2019, 132m, colr, 15, s/t, F
Director: Bong Joon Ho
With Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Cho, Woo-sik Choi
WELCOME TO SEOUL and let us introduce you to a rather ordinary family of four who live in a basement, and make ends meet with casual work and the occasional modest scam. Events seemingly take a turn for the better when each of them, in turn, becomes indispensable to a very wealthy family. Parasite is a brilliant piece of film-making, a one-off that has won numerous awards. Its audacity leaves one breathless – seemingly a low-key family drama, then social satire, then just when you think you have it pegged, it wrong-foots you again and takes the entire audience, bodily, to a place that was not on its itinerary.
20 March
LIMBO
UK, 2020, 104m, colr, PG, part-s/t
Director: Ben Sharrock
With Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah
THE PREMISE COULD almost be the basis of a joke in the 1970s TV series The Comedians: ‘there was a Syrian, an Afghan, a Nigerian and a Ghanaian....’ although the joke, I fear, would be on us. For Omar, Farhad, Wasef and Abedi (rich and engaging characters one-and-all) are asylum seekers currently ensconced on a remote Scottish island, as their claims are processed. Bonding in adversity, they remain stoical and in good humour, challenging audience preconceptions along the way. Some critics have declared that Limbo is one of the best films ever about the refugee experience and Ben Sharrock has been praised for giving us such a moving and insightful drama.
Tea and cakes downstairs each Sunday from 4:45pm
Film on-screen 5:30pm
Film on-screen 5:30pm