Under The Tree - Sunday 16th December 5pm

Our Christmas treat for you is this comedy from Iceland - 'Under the Tree': As you sip your sherry under your Christmas tree, wondering whether to put a star or just a light on the top, spare a thought for those with larger problems in the world...like Atli here in Iceland. Forced to move back home with his parents for reasons I’ll let him explain when you see the film, he finds himself in a battleground between his parents and their neighbours; is the tree in his parents' garden beautiful as they believe, or just blocking the sun as the neighbours argue? "Can’t they just move their chairs over a bit into the sun?"

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American Animals - Sunday 9th December 5pm

Partly a true-life crime drama, partly a comedy, director Bart Layton has certainly come up with a new way to view the classic heist movie. Rotten Tomatoes describes American Animals as "The unbelievable but true story of four young men who brazenly attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in US history. Determined to live lives that are out of the ordinary, they formulate a daring plan for the perfect robbery, only to discover that the plan has taken on a life of its own".

The film starts off fairly light-heartedly but gets darker when the two would-be master criminals bring in two other friends to help. "By the time Warren’s squaring his shoulders to taser the rare-books librarian, 'American Animals' has veered from sorta-true-crime quasi-comedy into a Scorsese-inflected look at the realities of attempting a theft of this magnitude" - Sara Stewart, New York Post. 

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Shoplifters - Sunday 2nd December 5pm

Our film on Sunday, from Japan, is Shoplifters from director Hirokazu Koreeda. He has been recognized as a great director - the 'heir' to Yazujiru Ozu - since 'Nobody Knows' (2004), winning many awards around the world, but it has taken till now for him to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes with this, his latest film. I first fell in love with his work back in September 2010 when the film club showed 'Still Walking'. Since then, we have had most of his films and they have all gone down well in Keswick.

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Wajib - Sunday 25th November 5pm

In this Sunday's film Director Annemarie Jacir uses a simple road trip around Nazareth to explore the different ‘truths’ of life as seen by Palestinians in Israel. Father and son (as are the actors), are hand delivering invites to a wedding;  Abu Shadi - who has lived here all his life - and Shadi -  who now lives in Italy - argue about their different views of how to survive, about what is important; about pragmatism and idealism.

"It's easy to wear a rose coloured pair of designer Italian glasses when you are observing from a distance, whereas Shadi's father faces the compromises needed to rub along successfully in his homeland" - Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film.

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Lucky - Sunday 18th November 5pm

Our film this Sunday is Lucky, which, as Rotten Tomatoes describes, "follows the spiritual journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his off the map desert town. Having out lived and out smoked all of his contemporaries, the fiercely independent Lucky finds himself at the precipice of life, thrust into a journey of self exploration, leading towards that which is so often unattainable: enlightenment".

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Cocote - Sunday 11th November 5pm

Alberto is returning to the Republic to attend his murdered father's funeral. A fervent evangelical Christian, he is already worried by the local Christian customs which coalesce in the ecstatic hybrid rituals of the 'rezos de los nueve'. His fears are increased as he begins to realise that his family expect him to take revenge on the local criminal boss who was responsible for the murder. Cocote builds to a crescendo as Alberto tries to decide what to do…

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Marlina the Murderer In Four Acts - Sunday 4th November 5pm

In case a rare film from Indonesia is not enough to tempt you this week, we also have one of the longest, most intriguing titles I can remember! If 'Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts' is anywhere near as good as its title, it should be a good night out; with the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes average out at 97%, it looks like the critics think it is too.

So what is it about?  If you can picture Sergio Leone directing a feminist western in Indonesia you are on the way to seeing what Mouly Surya has succeeded in doing here: after being told she is going to be robbed and raped in half an hour, Marlina prepares for the ‘Robbery’, then goes on her ‘Journey’ for revenge; you will have to come and see the movie to find out what the other two acts are...

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Summer 1993 - Sunday 28th October 5pm

This Sunday we travel to the Catalan countryside in Summer 1993. 6 year-old Frida is taken to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents have died. She befriends their 3 year-old daughter, but

the summer is not as idyllic as it might seem…This is Carla Simón’s first feature film; she and the film have garnered many nominations and awards, including the Berlin Film Festival, where the film won her the Best First Feature Award. 

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Cold War - Sunday 21st October 5pm

If you loved Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar and BAFTA-winning last film ‘Ida’ as much as we did you won’t be at all surprised that we have included his new ‘Cold War’ in this season. This, too, is winning awards: at Cannes Film Festival, Pawel Pawlikowski  won the Best Director award and the film was nominated for the Palme d’Or.

The film shows the meeting between Wiktor, a travelling musician and Zula, who comes to an audition for his folk group. It then follows the two folk musicians around Cold War Europe, weaving their love and the politics of the time into "a crisply controlled saga of romantic torture, glamour, forbidden border crossings and more betrayals than you can shake a black silk stocking at"  - Stephanie Zacharek, Time.

"Wiktor and Zula have a complicated relationship over the years, which is held together by the music: ‘The music does the feeling for them  - and the music, like their relationship, changes. We have folk chorals that speak of lost loves, sweetly wounded jazz twinkling in French cafés, and the furious, overpowering charge of rock ’n’ roll" - Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice.

Which only leaves me wondering, is the ‘Cold War’ of the title about the political times of the countries they travel though; or is it more about the relationship between the two lovers..? You will have to come along and see for yourself; it won't be a wasted evening I'm sure - this could be my film of the season.

Vaughan

First Reformed - Sunday 14th October 5pm

Thanks to one of our members who suggested we showed First Reformed this Autumn.

"It's been a long journey for Paul Schrader, the screenwriter who gave us American classics such as 'Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull' and 'American Gigolo'.  Now comes 'First Reformed', which Schrader wrote and directed, and it shows a raging fire still burns deep within the 71year-old. 'First Reformed' is a passionate, unnerving and almost unbearably tense drama about faith, conviction and the rotting core of life on our planet. It's the Schrader many hoped was still alive and kicking but doubted we would ever see again. What a comeback" - Adam Graham, Detroit News. 

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Custody - Sunday 7th October 5pm

The Alhambra is the place to be at 5pm on Sunday. We are going back to France again, but this time for a very different film - Xavier Legrand's Custody. If thrillers get to you as much as they do to me, then this is for you!

It feels as though saying anything about the plot will give too much away; let’s just say we are watching a custody battle between a soon-to-be-ex-married couple. This has been done many times before, from 'Kramer v Kramer' to 'A Separation' but, as Odie Henderson says in RogerEbert.com -

"Watching 'Custody' I was reminded of one of Roger's tenets: "It’s not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it." Writer/director Xavier Legrand's feature length debut is about a bitter custody battle, but he has chosen to execute his plot as a quiet, brutally relentless psychological thriller. Custody filters the majority of its terror through Julien Besson (Thomas Gloria), the 10-year-old boy at the centre of his parents' vicious legal struggle. This device never feels exploitative, because as any child of divorce will tell you, the dissolution of one’s parental unit is traumatic even when the split is amicable. And this is not an amicable split".

I can also tell you that the film starts in court, where Antoine Besson is arguing for joint custody of Julien whilst his soon-to-be-ex-wife is arguing against. Is Antoine the innocent husband whose wife has set his kids against him, or is he the violent person she claims..?

The acting of all the cast gets great reviews, especially Thomas Gloria - "he has a very expressive face that often fills the screen in silence while his body telegraphs the sad resignation of one who feels helpless" - Odie Henderson again - whilst Xavier Legrand's direction won him the Silver Lion at Venice: he "seems precociously adept at turning the screws of suspense" - Anthony Lane, New

I can't wait!

The Heiresses - Sunday 30th September 5pm

Winner of awards at Berlin and Seattle, The Heiresses is a beautiful look at the problems and opportunities when life changes unexpectedly as "A withdrawn, middle-aged gay woman slowly inches out of the shadows of her dissatisfaction as she's forced to navigate a life separated from her more outgoing partner of 30 years... Minor-key and subdued to a fault, the drama nonetheless builds emotional involvement by infinitesimal degrees through its acute observation of characters and social context and its ultra-naturalistic performances" - David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter.

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Lean On Pete - Sunday 23rd September 5pm

Our film this week follows on from Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years which went down well in Keswick in 2015. Lean on Pete was released just too late for us to get it last season; it gets a viewing here with thanks to one of our members who suggested it. Haigh continues his compassionate style of directing, but this time in America with a story about Charley, a 15-year-old boy and a horse.

"A performance of remarkable depth, candour and vulnerability by rising star Charlie Plummer lies at the heart of this terrifically moving fourth feature film from British writer-director Andrew Haigh." - Mark Kermode

"Haigh's new film has the substance and emotional heft to be considered a masterpiece." Kevin Maher, The Times

In The Fade - Sunday 16th September 5pm

Prepare yourself to be sad, angry and thrilled all at once with In The Fade this Sunday at 5pm. Katja is a loving wife and mother. Life is looking better and better for her family as both parents recover from drug addiction and become good citizens, when both her husband and son are killed in a bomb blast. Katja is devastated, failing to hold herself together as the crime is investigated. The police think it is drug related, but could it be something a lot worse? And how will Katja cope if those to blame are not caught and punished?..

Also don't forget it's the AGM before the film at 4pm

Projector...Lights...Action - we are back... for our Twentieth year!

After such a great summer, how can we keep enjoying ourselves over the darkening autumn evenings? Well, good news; the Film Club starts again THIS SUNDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER. We will be there from 4.15pm if you want to come along and have a free celebratory drink; TWENTY YEARS of film is surely worth celebrating! This is also a chance to renew your membership if you want - £10 will save you £1.50 for every club film you see all year so definitely worth considering.

We start the new year with a comedy/drama that should get us all in the mood again; It’s French and comes from the directors of ‘Untouchable’, the film which went down so well in 2012.

"A bitter, laconic wedding planner; his chip-on-her shoulder protege; an ego maniacal groom; a post-nervous breakdown waiter who can't stop hitting on the bride: These are but a few of the pieces that form the rollicking French farce, 'C'est la vie'. Manic and earnest, the meticulously constructed plot whips by at a breakneck pace" 

Brent McKnight, Seattle Times

Our 20th Year Programme

The committee debated long and hard whether we needed to do a special programme for our twentieth year; should we rerun films from each year, or maybe pick some of the favourites? We decided in the end that what makes our programme one of the best in the country is that we have new films that have not been seen here before, that bring that little extra to Keswick; so why change a good thing?!

So our Twentieth Year starts with another season of films from around the world, including Paraguay, Indonesia and even the Dominican Republic. We have a couple of comedies to start and finish the season - the French C’est La Vie, the latest from the director of Untouchable, starts us off on September 9th, while the Icelandic Under the Tree finishes the season.

Between the two, we go to Germany for the dramatic In the Fade, Poland for the love story (of sorts) Cold War and Spain for a beautiful tale of children Summer 1993.

We visit very unusual lands with Cocote from the Dominican Republic, Marlina from Indonesia and The Heiresses from Paraguay. Slightly more normal (for us at least), Wajib comes from Palestine Shoplifters from Japan and Custody from France, which leaves the rest of the season to the US and UK.

Two of these films were chosen by our members - Lean on Pete and First Reformed - and we thought the last film from Harry Dean Stanton - Lucky - deserved a showing. A film that went down well at the ICO previews - American Animals - finishes the programme.

We hope you enjoy them all.