September Screenings
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Buster Keaton’s civil war classic returns to the Festival, this time with musically accompaniment from Harmonie Band, a three piece ensemble, with a score written especially for this film.
The film is a mix of action and comedy, with trademark stunts performed by Keaton himself. The General is acknowledged as one of silent films’ greatest classics. |
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Two out-of-work actors spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub, before taking a holiday ‘by mistake’ at the country house of Withnail’s flamboyantly gay Uncle Monty.
A cult classic and one the most quotable films ever, launching Richard E Grant’s career. Hilarious and sad in equal measure. |
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In the tiny Alabama town of Muscle Shoals a group of unassuming, yet incredibly talented, locals came together and spawned some of the greatest music of all time.
During the most incendiary periods of racial hostility, white and black folks came together to create music that would gave birth to the incomparable ‘Muscle Shoals sound.’ |
October Screenings
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In a small traditional Georgian village, Etero has chosen to remain unmarried, making her an easy subject of gossip in the village. She cherishes her freedom, as much as her cakes, and is preparing for a peaceful and comfortable retirement away from others’ opinions.
Unexpectedly, she finds herself sexually involved with a delivery man and is suddenly faced with the decision of whether to go down the traditional or independent route in pursuit of happiness. Gentle, sardonic and simply presented, the characters are real and openly presents what we all know but rarely get shown: that love and sex is not just for the shapely and young. |
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On a coach trip to Paris with her sister, Inger reveals her struggles with schizophrenia to the group, receiving both pity and discrimination. On arrival, it soon becomes clear that Inger has a hidden agenda for taking the trip, concerning a figure from her past, which ultimately involves the entire group in her hunt for answers.
A comedy-drama that gives a much more realistic view of the subject matter of neurodivergence, as it is in part based on the director’s experience. It is also brilliantly cast; Sophie Gråbøl is mesmerising and her antagonist on the trip could not be more convincing and unlikeable. It avoids the normal pitfalls of the ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ message and I expected it to be more uncomfortable watching; in the end I was charmed by it. |
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Based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling book, Wilding tells the story of a young couple that bets on the future of their failing, 400-year-old estate at Knepp, daring to place the its fate in the hands of nature.
Ripping down the fences, they set the land back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe. This is a charming, hopeful and necessary story of ecological regeneration. We are delighted that Laura Vaughan-Hirsch from the White Stork Project will join us to answer questions arising from the film. |
November Screenings
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Set in 1889 France, Dodin Bouffant is a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy but she refuses to marry him, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
Lavishly shot and beautifully acted, Juliet Binoche and Benoit Magimel manage to convey their love for each other just in the way they handle and prepare food. Definitely a film for foodies but also engrossing enough for those with a layman’s interest. I recommend you do not watch this on an empty stomach. |
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We are delighted to be collaborating with the HURSTfolk festival to screen the legendary live performance from Talking Heads, filmed in New York by Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia director, Jonathan Demme.
An evening of high energy with musicians at the top of their game, it’s still as fresh and vibrant as ever. Mesmerising performance from front man David Byrne in what is often voted the best live concert film ever made. |
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Winner of four prizes including L'Oeil d'Or (Best Documentary) at Cannes, Four Daughters is a compelling portrait of five women and the unique ties that bind mothers and daughters.
The opening scene, once we have grasped what is going on, is tense and mesmerising and the grip the film has on us never lessens. I left the screening simply not knowing what to feel about the matriarch of the family. It dips in and out of re-enactments and interviews, much as American Animals did, with confessions and reflections from the mother Olfa and her younger daughters, offering the women agency to tell their own story and capturing moments of joy, loss, violence, and heartache. A wonderful, moving film. |
December Screenings
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One Life tells the incredible, emotional true story of Nicholas 'Nicky' Winton (Johnny Flynn/Anthony Hopkins), a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938.
In a race against time, Winton persuades the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue hundreds of predominantly Jewish children before Nazi occupation closes the borders. Fifty years later, Nicky (Anthony Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of the children he wasn't able to bring to safety in England. It's not until the BBC show ‘That's Life!’ re-introduces him to some of those he helped rescue, that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he carried, whilst making him an instant national hero. |
