(S) = subtitles
2019
11 Sept Eighth Grade
USA, 2018, Bo Burnham
Drama/Comedy, 93 mins (15)
Universally appealing, coming-of-age film about a teenage girl voted ‘most quiet’ in class. It blends moments of comedy with feelings of isolation. ‘A note-perfect tale of a shy teenager’s struggle with our internet-obsessed culture’ – The Observer.
25 Sept Disobedience (S)
Ire/UK/USA, 2017, Sebastián Lelio,
Drama/Romance, 114 mins (15)
Based on Naomi Alderman’s 2006 novel set within an Orthodox Jewish community, a woman is shunned for her attraction to a female friend. ‘Surely the most intense and erotically charged film to have been made in Hendon’ – The Independent
09 Oct Cold War (S)
Pol/UK/Fra, 2018, P. Pawlikowski,
Drama/History/Music 89 mins (15)
Artful, heartbreaking story of a near impossible romance between two people of very different backgrounds, set in Poland in the 1950s . ‘It makes you feel thankful to be alive with human feelings, heartbreaks of the past be damned’ – RogerEbert.com
23 Oct One Cut of the Dead (S)
Japan, 2017, Shin’ichirô Ueda,
Comedy/Horror, 96mins (15)
A hack director and crew are shooting a zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility, when they are attacked by real zombies. ‘Infused with a nutty energy, a sly sense of satire and a surprising emotional undertow’ – EmpireOnLine
20 Nov Sometimes Always Never
UK, 2018, Carl Hunter
Drama/Mystery, 91 mins (12A)
Scrabble-obsessed retired tailor Alan (Bill Nighy) tirelessly searches for his absent son, amid tensions with his other son who feels second best. ‘A quietly delightful family melodrama’ – The Times
2020
15 Jan Woman at War (S)
Iceland, 2017, Benedikt Erlingsson Adv/Comedy/Drama, 101 mins (12A)
An enjoyable yet impactful film, as a woman takes on an aluminium industry. ‘This quirky dramedy about an unassuming choir conductor from Reykjavik turned notorious eco-terrorist has a prodigious go-for-broke central performance’ – The Times.
22 Jan Children of the Snow Land (S)
UK/Nepal, 2018, Balfour/Stephenson
Documentary, 97 mins (PG)
In the mountain villages of Nepal, children have to leave their families at an early age to have an education.
‘A group of teenagers educated in Nepal’s capital return to villages they left years earlier in this gently moving documentary’
– The Guardian
5 Feb American Animals
UK/USA, 2018, Bart Layton
Biog/Crime/Drama, 116 mins (15)
Four students mistake their lives for a movie in this gripping true-crime thriller about an incompetent plan to steal valuable books from a library. ‘Layton blurs the lines of memory and truth in increasingly playful ways’ – EmpireOnline
26 Feb Capernaum
Lebanon/France/USA, 2018, Nadine Labaki,
Drama, 103mins (15)
Gritty, powerful heartbreaking Lebanese drama about a 12-year-old boy who sues his parents for neglect.
‘Every so often a film comes along whose very existence can be hard to wrap your head around’ – The Telegraph
4 Mar Leave No Trace
USA/Canada 2018, Debra Granik
Drama, 109 mins (PG)
A moving portrait of a father and his thirteen-year-old daughter living off-grid in a vast public park in Portland, Oregon, when a passerby spots them and their lives are changed forever. ‘Flawless, deeply affecting’ – The Observer
18 Mar Wajib
Palestine/France 2017, A. Jacir
Drama, 121 mins (15)
A traditional family wedding puts a strain on the relationship between a father and his estranged son as they must hand-deliver invitations around the streets of Nazareth. ‘Sensitive, impressive Palestinian drama’ – TimeOut
8 April The Heiresses
Paraguay 2018, Marcelo Martinessi
Drama, 98 mins (12A)
Chela and Chiquita are descended from wealthy families but they find themselves having to sell off their inherited possessions. ‘Underneath the film’s quiet is a heaving ocean of longing, restlessness, melancholy’ – RogerEbert.com
22 April Members’ Choice
A newly–released film to be selected by members in early 2020.
6 May If Beale Street Could Talk
USA, 2018, Barry Jenkins
Drama/Romance, 119 mins (15)
A young woman, with her family’s support, seeks to clear the name of her lover and prove his innocence before the birth of their child.
Set in 1970s New York. ‘A film almost woozy with its own beauty and dignity’ – The Guardian
13 May Faces, Places
France, 2017, JR, Agnès Varda
Documentary, 94 mins (12A)
90-year-old director Agnès Varda and 35-year-old artist JR travel through France taking portraits of locals, and plaster the images on to buildings. ‘The results are utterly spectacular’ – The Guardian