Award Winning Independent Cinema

Over the last few years, Japanese culture has exploded into the UK mainstream, and cinema is no exception. This year, on its 20th birthday, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2023 celebrates “the evolution of Japanese cinema”, encompassing past, present and future. Established in 1972, the Foundation aims to establish … 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 … Continue Reading

Set in the rich and vibrant Catalonian countryside, Alcarràs is the story of the collision between modernisation and tradition, and the disintegration of a close-knit family, living a seemingly idyllic lifestyle. 

Made up of a cast of non-professional actors, there is a glorious authenticity to the performances, and the … Continue Reading

With Tár screening at Plymouth Arts Cinema this week, Helen Tope takes a deep dive into classical music in cinema. 

Dramatic swathes of score, larger-than-life personalities – it’s little wonder that cinema has repeatedly turned to classical music for inspiration. While it is hard to imagine … Continue Reading

Cinema is the dark palace of dreams and imagination, a place of entertainment, escapism and enlightenment. You see the world and other worlds through different eyes.The novelist Virginia Woolf in her essay ‘The Cinema’ published in the 3 July 1926 edition of The Nation and Athenaeum, observes how cinema might … Continue Reading

There are few books with such a reputation as D.H Lawrence’s final novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. It has become a byword for literary lasciviousness: the fiercely erotic affair between aristocrat Lady Chatterley and her gamekeeper, Mellors, is firmly embedded (pun intended) into our popular culture. In a new film adaptation, … Continue Reading

Reframing the Emily Bronte story from a revisionist perspective, Frances O’Connor’s biopic steps away from the traditional adaptation and into a blend of truth and myth.

The film shapes the complex, sobering elements of the Bronte biography for a younger audience. Casting Sex Education’s Emma Mackey in the lead role, O’Connor’s … Continue Reading

A truly innovative piece of film-making, the Afro-futurist musical Neptune Frost is daring and transgressive.

Pitched in Burundi, one of the world’s poorest nations, Neptune Frost conceives an alternate reality, a few years from now. Brothers Matalusa (played by rapper Kaya Free) and Tekno (Robert Ninteretse) work in an open-pit Coltan … Continue Reading