Award Winning Independent Cinema

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

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 Brief Encounter without the romantic swell of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2, or A Clockwork Orange without the incongruous insertion of Rossini’s William Tell Overture, where it gets really interesting is when film decides to examine the creators and interpreters of the classical world.... 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, French director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre reconfigures the novel into its historical and political context. The book begins in the last years of the First World War. Constance and Clifford Chatterley have just married before his return to the Front. Connie (played by Emma Corrin) is from a well-connected but bohemian family ... 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 screenplay focuses on the events leading up to Bronte writing her novel, Wuthering Heights. We meet the Bronte siblings as young adults: Charlotte, Emily and Anne still live at home in Haworth Parsonage, Yorkshire. Their brother, Branwell, is the great hope of the family and is sent off on various enterprises. ... 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 mine – the mineral used to power smartphones. The workers sing as they dig, but they are supervised by guards who dish out brutal punishments. Tekno – a dreamer, unsuited for this work – briefly pauses to imagine himself in another dimension. A guard whacks him with the butt of ... Continue Reading

In the year that marks the 80th anniversary of his death, the documentary Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War examines the life and legacy of the artist.  Painter, engraver and designer: Eric Ravilious has, until recently, been English Art’s best kept secret. His work has undergone a reappraisal over the past few years, with the documentary confirming Ravilious’ status as one of our most important artists. His watercolours – including Beachy Head, Westbury Horse and Tea at Furlongs – are at first glance dream-like, pastoral scenes of English life. The documentary ... Continue Reading