Independent Cinema for Everyone

A pitch-perfect satire, celebrating the proudly insular world of musical theatre, mockumentary Theater Camp chronicles life at a kids’ performing arts retreat. The film starts at the camp’s final performance of the season, and gives us the drama with an early narrative twist. As we follow camp founder Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris), working the audience for donations, she suddenly becomes not the lead, but the background. Sitting down to enjoy a particularly jazzy, strobe-lighted performance, Joan is hospitalised by a seizure, which leaves her in a coma. Her son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is given the reins for the next ... Continue Reading

As an icon among dolls, Barbie’s rise to the top has met with little resistance. As an icon of cinema, her box office numbers are good, but she has lacked artistic cache. With Ladybird and Little Women director Greta Gerwig signed on to produce an entirely new film, much of the anticipation was centred on how Gerwig would approach the project. Camp, cool or revisionist? While there’s been plenty of reworked classics, if you’re expecting a live-action version of Barbie as Rapunzel or even the classic ... Continue Reading

A glorious, whimsical love letter, the French film Amélie sets its heart on convincing the cynics among us that romance – real, honest-to-goodness romance – is still very much alive in the 21st century.  Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Amélie is introduced to us in montage. She lives an isolated childhood with her unhappy parents, and when she leaves home, she buries herself in a waitressing job in a Parisian cafe. But Amélie (a star-making role for Audrey Tautou) is filled with curiosity: she notices everything around her. She makes a chance discovery at her flat, when she ... Continue Reading

Dubbed a “once in a lifetime” event, the Rijksmuseum’s exhibition, Vermeer, has been a huge success. It is the most comprehensive gathering of Vermeer paintings for a generation, with loans from across the world. For those of us not lucky enough to see the sold-out exhibition in person, it is now the latest subject of the Exhibition on Screen series (showing at Plymouth Arts Cinema on Thursday 27 April). Providing a crowd-free tour of the exhibition everyone is talking about, the documentary, Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition,... Continue Reading

Starting with a premise, Women Talking presents us with a single phrase: “What follows is an act of female imagination”.  Taken from the novel by Miriam Toews, director and screenwriter Sarah Polley adapts a story of an isolated religious community (they refer to themselves as a colony), with a dangerous undercurrent of abuse and violence, meted out to the women and children of the group. The phrase “female imagination” refers to the Elders’ attempts to dismiss acts of sexual abuse. The community structure is densely patriarchal; the women receive no education and subordination is expected. With the attacks, we ... Continue Reading

A searing portrait of racial inequality, Till tells the true life story of teenager, Emmett Till. The film, directed by Chinonye Chukwu, joins him at age 14. Emmett lives happily in 1950’s Chicago with his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. We are immersed in this special mother and son relationship from the outset: Mamie (played by Danielle Deadwyler) clearly dotes on her only child. Jalyn Hall, as Emmett, portrays a funny, carefree boy. In the summer of 1955, Emmett is invited to visit his cousins in Mississippi. Mamie – a former Mississippi resident – has serious misgivings, but Emmett is eager to ... Continue Reading