A working-class Italian-American bouncer takes a job driving an educated African-American pianist on a tour of America’s Deep South. A ‘feel good’ road trip drama that is part buddy comedy, part history lesson and part social commentary on friendship and race.
Year: USA 2018
Director: Peter Farelly
Cast: Virgo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali
Language: English
Duration: 127 Mins
Cert: 12A
A hardened street-wise 12 year old boy runs away from his negligent parents and finds shelter with a refugee Ethiopian woman and her baby. The film brings home the meaning of poverty and desperation and, conversely, of love and humanity.
Year: Lebanon, France 2018
Director: Nadine Labaki
Cast: Zain Al Rafia, Yordanos Shiferaw
Language: Arabic, Amharic (English subtitles)
Duration: 126 Mins
Cert: 15
With their golden era long behind them, Hollywood’s greatest comedy double act, Laurel and Hardy, embark on a variety hall tour of Britain and Ireland. Despite the pressures of a hectic schedule and with the support of their wives, the pair’s love of performing, as well as for each other, ensures for them a place in the hearts of an adoring public.
Year: UK 2018
Director: Jon S. Baird
Cast: Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly, Shirley Henderson
Language: English
Duration: 98 Mins
Cert: PG
Following a banal incident in her local village, 8 year old girl Shula is accused of witchcraft. After a short trial she is found guilty, taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp. The Welsh/Zambian director says of her film: ‘In the end I can’t help what people get from it or take from it. I just hope they laugh and they feel the tragedy.’
Year: UK/Zambia 2017
Director: Rungano Nyoni
Cast: Benfors ‘Wee Do, Boyd Banda
Language: English
Duration: 93 Mins
Cert: 12A
Ron Stallworth, an African-American police officer from Colorado in the 1970s, successfully manages to infiltrate the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan with the help of a Jewish surrogate. The comical disorganisation of the Klan does not mask the chilling evil of its aims and Spike Lee draws out the similarities with present-day society and government.
Year: USA 2018
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver
Language: English
Duration: 135 Mins
Cert: 15
A father and his estranged son must come together to hand deliver his daughter’s wedding invitations as per local Palestinian custom. The tension between the two men, based on political and generational differences, reflects the pressures on the society around them but this coexists with terrific comedy as the wedding arrangements begin to unravel.
Year: Palestine/France 2017
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Cast: Mohammad Bakri, Saleh Bakri
Language: Arabic (English subtitles)
Duration: 96 Mins
Cert: 15
An epic musical fantasy about the uncensored human story of Sir Elton John’s breakthrough years. Centred on Elton’s inspirational yet fractious partnership with the lyricist Bernie Taupin, the colours are striking, the settings are stunning and the music is irresistible.
Year: 2019
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden
Language: English
Duration: 121 Mins
Cert: 15
Halla is a 50 something independent woman who combines her passion of leading a local choir with serious environmental activism. When the latter activity brings her into conflict with the authorities, she receives some startling news which will change her life for ever.
Year: 2019
Director: Benedict Erlingsson
Cast: Halldora Geirhardsdottir, Johann Sigurdarson
Language: Icelandic, Ukrainian (English subtitles)
Duration: 100 Mins
Cert: 12A
Chela and Chiquita are close friends who come from wealthy families in Asuncion. When their financial situation deteriorates and they are faced with a harsh reality they react in different ways which ultimately transforms their lives. The film depicts the unspoken assumptions of class and privilege and what happens when these break down.
Year: 2018
Director: Marcello Martinessi
Cast: Halldora Geirhardsdottir, Johann Sigurdarson
Language: Spanish (English subtitles)
Duration: 96 Mins
Cert: 12A
A disparate group of students at an elite American college hatch a plan to steal some extremely valuable books from the university library, both for financial gain and to inject some meaning into what they see as their failures in life. The amateurishness of their preparations does not detract from the tension of the heist itself. Based on a true story, the film depicts a generational malaise which is actually tragic.
Year: 2018
Director: Burt Layton
Cast: Evan Peters, Blake Jenner, Ann Dowd
Language: English
Duration: 117 Mins
Cert: 15
