Another season ends, another will begin soon!

And so we come to the end of another season of films in Keswick; it seems to have gone so quickly this year. We hope you have enjoyed at least most of the films you have seen. Our most popular film this season turned out to be Capernaum which scored 90.47%, whilst the one that attracted most of you to come (166)  was Almodóvar's Pain and Glory.

The printed brochure will be available soon (and posted to members) but is already available on the website as a download  (3.95 MB) along with the full programme details.

Meanwhile, we hope you all have a great Christmas and a very happy 2020! See you all soon for a cracking French comedy, La Belle Époque, on 5 January 2020.

Photograph - Sunday 15th December 5pm

For the many of us who came to see The Lunchbox here in 2014, Photograph will be your first Christmas present this year; the latest from director Ritesh Batra treads a similar path. Instead of a misrouted lunchbox, it all starts for our potential lovers here with a photograph.

Rafi scrapes a living taking photos of tourists, one of these tourists is Miloni, a student studying accountancy, but wanting to be an actress. When Rafi learns that his grandmother is refusing to take any medicine until he finds a potential wife, what could he possibly do? Naturally, he sends her the picture he has taken of Miloni. What could possibly go wrong? You guessed it: grandmother wants to meet Miloni. There follows a string of meetings where Rafi and Miloni pretend to be dating...but will it ever become more than pretence? You probably guessed that too...

"This is a film that ends with the two characters walking out of a movie theatre, with one of them saying, 'The stories are all the same in movies these days.' It may be that the stories in movies are all the same. But it can be lovely when a movie like this one finds a different way to tell them" - Nell Minow, Roger Ebert.com.

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By the Grace of God - Sunday 8th December 5pm

By The Grace of God takes off where 'Spotlight' finished. Not content with investigating historic child abuse scandals in the Catholic church, François Ozon released this drama around the trial of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin before the actual trial was finished. The film follows the story of three semi-fictional victims of sexual abuse by the same priest, Bernard Preynat, after one of them, Alexandre, discovers he is still a serving priest many years later. He takes his case to Cardinal Barbarin who professes concern but does little about it. Once other victims hear about the case and come forward, Barbarin's position becomes harder to sustain

"Ozon spins a palpable web of strength between his characters, so that even the most fragile among them can find the superhuman resolve they need to relive their trauma" - David Ehrlich, Indiewire.

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The Bird Catcher - Sunday 1st December 5pm

Set in Norway in 1942, The Bird Catcher follows the life of a young Jewish girl, Esther, after her father has been arrested by the Nazis. Her safe, middle class life falls apart and she is forced to go on the run to survive. She ends up in the middle of nowhere on a farm owned by Johan, a Nazi sympathiser, where she tries to remain unrecognized. Her only real friend is the farmer's son, Aksel, who knows the truth. Aksel suffers from cerebral palsy and has been taught by his father that Jews are not people, but as he gets to know her he begins to identify with her; he too is not accepted for who he is...

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Permission - Sunday 24th November 5pm

Imagine if Harry Kane had been forced to miss the world cup because his wife would not let him go. Based on a true story, this is what happened to Afrooz in Iran, when her passport was refused because her husband had not given his permission.

"Permission brims with an anger that goes beyond that of Afrooz. It's less interested in tragedy than in making demands, less in pity than in emphasising how much potential is squandered when women are treated in this way. It's full of hunger for justice" - Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film.

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The Chambermaid - Sunday 17th November 5pm

The Chambermaid is a film about one woman's fight to get to the top; in this case literally as well as figuratively as promotion means cleaning the floor above in this Mexican hotel.

"This is brilliantly confident film-making. Avilés does not need to leave the building to examine class tensions and cultural misunderstandings, weaving her critique through the hotel's denizens" - Simran Hans, Guardian

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Donbass - Sunday 10th November 5pm

We had a double take when we saw the reviews of Donbass: a Ukranian black comedy? Really? Looking closer, that reaction is probably what director Sergey Loznitsa ('In the Fog') wants. His film is trying to show the sheer madness of the war in Ukraine,

"...a place where there are still memories of the second world war, tribal loyalties concerning the Russia that saved Ukraine from Nazi Germany and fascism – but also, on the other side, the Stalinist terror-famine visited on Ukraine before the war" - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian.

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The Crossing - Sunday 3rd November 5pm

The Crossing is based on the weird fact that there is a black market of iPhones going from Hong Kong to China, where they were probably made in the first place.

To make a little extra money shy 16-year-old Peipei smuggles for a gang. It begins harmlessly enough, slipping a couple of iPhones wrapped in cling film into her school bag

"Newcomer [writer-director] Bai Xue is more interested in Peipei's character than the smuggling though, concentrating her cameras on the gradual change in Peipei and her relationships as she gets more involved."- Tony Rayns, Sight & Sound.

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Woman At War - Sunday 27th October 5pm

Our next members' choice is the Icelandic Woman At War. Our hero is a middle-aged woman, Halla, who is a choir leader by day and has been trying to adopt a child for years, but we meet her walking across a vast moorland with her bow and arrows. Her target is not any animal though: she is after the electric wires held up by pylons. In a world where climate change has become the biggest issue of our time, it is not surprising that films should be made about fighting it, but you will be surprised by the way this Icelandic comedy-drama-thriller handles it.

"Full of heart and soul, Woman. at War is a triumphant and exciting film, and unlike anything you've seen before." - Linda Marric, Heyuguy

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n a world where climate change has become the biggest issue of our time, it is not surprising that films should be made about fighting it, but you will be surprised by the way this Icelandic comedy-drama-thriller handles it.

Our hero is a middle-aged woman, Halla, who is a choir leader by day and has been trying to adopt a child for years, but we meet her walking across a vast moorland with her bow and arrows. Her target is not any animal though: she is after the electric wires held up by pylons. 


The tension is high right from the beginning, though maybe the three-piece band playing on the moor is a little unexpected... "It's a striking introduction to one of the most original and exciting characters to emerge from recent European cinema" - Nikki Baughan, Sight and Sound.

Aniara - Sunday 20th October 5pm

We don't often show sci-fi movies but Aniara is more a philosophical look at what humans might do when threatened with disaster and looked too interesting to ignore.

"This striking first feature from Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja is a work of daunting ambition." - Wendy Ide, Screen International

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Pain and Glory - Sunday 13th October 5pm

Just about every critic has this down as the best film Almodóvar has done for some time and, as we like his films here in Keswick this should be a treat for us this Sunday at 5pm.

"A deeply personal and very moving film, anchored by the best work of Antonio Banderas' career." - Brian Tallerico, Rogerebert.com

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Last Summer + Director Q&A - Sunday 6th October 5:30pm

Another members' choice this week and we're going to be joined by the director Jon Jones to answer questions after the film. Please note we have a slightly later start time than usual of 5:30pm.

For those of you brought up in the countryside, remember those blissful, seemingly endless summers, playing games when you were young? Or for us townies, holidays away which went all too quickly... well this is the world we go back to with four young lads in remote Wales. Davy and brother Iwan run wild through the woods with their friends Rhys and Robbie, enjoying their little paradise... until a tragedy occurs.

"It captures the children's perspective on life perfectly and uses it to challenge adult assumptions about what's best for them - or for anyone dealing with trauma. The result is a cinematic gem" - Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

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Balloon - Sunday 29th September 5pm

Buckle up and prepare for adventure! The first of this season's films chosen by Members' ballot, this one should keep everyone on the edge of their seats. As the title suggests, the film is about a balloon journey, but this one follows two families trying to go from East Germany to West Germany in 1979... if they get it wrong, they risk imprisonment or even death.

"It is an engrossing mixture of adventure yarn and methodical police procedural that generates moments of pulse-racing tension" - Allan Hunter, The List

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AGM + Varda by Agnes - Sunday 22nd September

It's our AGM on Sunday at 4pm before this week's film Varda by Agnès at 5pm. If you are a member please come along to the AGM to find out more about the last year of the Club, there are more details on our website.

Agnès Varda directed 55 films in her 60 years in the industry. She presented this documentary about herself at the Berlin Film Festival this year with film notes that said "I don't want to do press, I don't want to speak about my work. After Berlin, the film will be shown instead of me speaking!" This became very prophetic when she died a month later, aged 90.

"A parting gift from one of the greatest directors who ever lived." - Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

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Ash Is Purest White - Sunday 15th September 5pm

Ash Is Purest White this Sunday is "part crime epic, part woman-seeks-justice flick, part state of the nation address. It takes the staples of the gangster flick - the mobster's moll, gang rivalries, violent shoot outs - as a jumping off point for both a granular character study of a woman's resolve, and a macro portrait of China at the turn of the century where modernity is quickly outstripping tradition. Either way, it's a riveting picture driven by a fantastic performance by Zhao Tao as a wronged woman whose laser focus makes Kill Bill's The Bride look lackadaisical in comparison" - Ian Freer, Empire.

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Capernaum - Sunday 8th September 5pm

Summers go so quickly, but at least that means we can start sharing films again! This coming Sunday 8 September you have the chance to get a free drink, sign up for membership and an Autumn Pass (if you want) and have a chat with people you may not have seen since March, before sitting down and enjoying 'Capernaum' which we're told by everyone who has seen it is a superb film.

So we will be at the Alhambra from 4.15pm for those drinks, chats and membership cards and the film will start at 5.00pm as usual.

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Autumn Season Starts on 8 September

We hope you have had a great summer (despite the weather), but you may have noticed that the evenings are getting shorter...sadly Autumn is approaching. The good news is that means the Film Club will start up again soon! The films are booked, the brochure is being printed; all we need is YOU!

Our first film will be on Sunday 8 September at 5.00pm - but be there for 4.15 to get your FREE drink and, maybe, sign up as a member: for only £10 you get £1.50 off every club film (and £1.00 off every Festival film you see). As the Americans say, 'you do the math'! You also get a chance to influence the programme; seven of the films this season were voted for in a members' ballot.
So what is coming up? We have already announced this to last year's members and now full details of all the films can be found on the Club Website. You can also view the brochure which will be available shortly, we'll post it to all members (another reason to join) otherwise you can pick it up at the Alhambra or Booths from the beginning of September.

We hope you like the programme.