Previous Films

Following a banal incident in her local village, eight-year old Shula is accused of witchcraft. After a short trial she is found guilty, taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp. At the camp she takes part in an initiation ceremony where she is shown the rules surrounding her new life as a witch. Like the other residents, Shula is tied to a ribbon which is attached to a coil that perches on a large truck. She is told that should she ever cut the ribbon, she’ll be cursed and transformed into a goat.  I Am Not a Witch approaches real-life injustices with a beguiling blend of sorrow, anger and humour, marking writer-director Rungano Nyoni as an exciting new talent.

A Bollywood-style update of Jane Austen’s classic tale, in which Mrs. Bakshi is eager to find suitable husbands for her four unmarried daughters. When the rich single gentlemen Balraj and Darcy come to visit, the Bakshis have high hopes, though circumstance and boorish opinions threaten to get in the way of romance.

The blossoming romance between well-off widow (Jane Wyman) and her handsome, younger gardener (Rock Hudson) prompts the scorn of her children and country club friends. She must decide whether to pursue her own happiness or continue in a lonely, hemmed-in existence for the sake of the approval of others. With the help of master cinematographer Russell Metty, director Douglas Sirk imbues nearly every shot with a vivid and distinct emotional tenor. A profoundly felt film about class and conformity in small-town America, All That Heaven Allows is a pinnacle of expressionistic Hollywood melodrama.

Adam, the son of a fisherman, is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicentre of power of Sunni Islam. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo, the University’s highest-ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, suddenly dies and Adam becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elite over who will replace him.

In pre-First World War Paris, two friends, Jules (Austrian) and Jim (French), fall in love with the same woman, Catherine. But Catherine loves and marries Jules. When they meet again in Germany after the war, Catherine starts to love Jim – This is the story of three people in love, a love that doesn’t affect their friendship, and about how their relationship evolves with the years. Starring Jeanne Moreau, Henri Serre and Oskar Werner.

Performed by the arresting trio of Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith and Kristin Scott Thomas, each of them playing characters with demons to face up to, this film exudes Gallic charm, brocante and beaucoup du vin. Kline’s dishevelled Mathias, a failed playwright, arrives in Paris to claim an apartment left to him by his much-loathed late father. He is soon embroiled in archaic French law when he realises the opulent home he has inherited comes complete with an elderly woman, Mathilde (Smith) and her daughter (Scott Thomas), to whom he must pay a monthly fee while they remain there until the old woman dies.

The film documents how guitarist Ry Cooder, long-time friend of director Wim Wenders, brought together an ensemble of legendary Cuban musicians to record a chart-topping album and to perform sell-out concerts in Amsterdam and at Carnegie Hall, New York. Although geographically close, travel between Cuba and the United States was restricted due to the political tension between the two countries, so many of the artists were travelling to America for the first time. The film includes interviews with each of the main performers and shows their reactions to the experience and footage of the hugely popular concerts.

Léo and Rémi are two thirteen-year-old best friends, whose seemingly unbreakable bond is suddenly, tragically torn apart. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Lukas Dhont’s second film is an emotionally transformative and unforgettable portrait of the intersection of friendship and love, identity and independence, and heartbreak and healing.

A Soviet adventure fantasy film based on Rimsky-Korsakov’s eponymous opera and using much of his score. Based in the old Russian city of Novgorod, a young gusli (lute) player named Sadko brags that he can bring a sweet-voiced bird of happiness to their land. He is mocked for his bravado but Sadko sets off to travel to find the mythical bird. He is offered help by the daughter of the Ocean King – she is mesmerised by his singing and falls in love with him. Sadko visits many lands in his search of the bird, including India and Egypt but is unable to capture the bird of happiness, and returns empty handed. But on his return to Novgorod, Sadko realises that there is no better land than his homeland, and there was no need to go so far in search of happiness.

Formally playful and humorously observant, Joachim Trier’s Oscar-nominated gem embraces with open arms the messiness of life at a crossroads. It chronicles four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is. The effervescent Renate Reinsve as Julie commands the screen – and our hearts – with her ravishing vivacity. A modern comedy drama about the quest for love and meaning in contemporary Oslo. NB: Sexual content.