Gloria - Sunday 9th February 5pm

Our film on Sunday sees a return to Chile for Gloria, a film directed by Sebastian Lelio and produced by Pablo Larrain, whose own films have been regularly screened at KFC.

The BFi website summarises the feel of the film as follows:

“The first time the viewer sees Paulina García’s Gloria at the bar of a crowded nightclub for middle-aged singles, the sound of Frecuencia Mod’s upbeat ‘Duele, duele tu amor’ (‘Your Love Hurts’) rings out. With a glass of pisco sour in her hand and her arm positioned confidently on the bar, she casts her eye around the room and then swings purposefully across the dance floor to introduce herself to a potential new partner as Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ resonates across the room. The sonic commentary offered by the two opening numbers sets the scene for Sebastián Lelio’s perceptive and entertaining study of a feisty, free-spirited 58-year-old divorcee, putting aside the pain of past relationships in her search for passion, companionship and a partner who shares her zeal for dance.”

Wadjda & Short Term 12 - Sunday 2nd February

We have two films for the price of one for you this weekend. We start with a rerun of 'Wadjda' at 2.30, after the failed run in December. In case you have forgotten, this is the first ever film made in Saudi Arabia and by a female director too. The 10 year old Wadjda does everything she can to get the bike she wants, while the society around her tries to stop her. A gentle comedy, but one with a message about the role of women in Saudi Arabia.

We'll follow this film with free drinks to keep you happy till our second film, 'Short Term 12', starts at 5.00. A popular film at many festivals, this is again about children struggling in society. This time it comes from the USA and follows the life in a foster home for troubled teenagers. Run by 20 something year olds, with problems of their own, the film gets critical acclaim for showing us the highs and lows of their lives - 'Beautifully written and perfectly played, all of human life is here; the good, the bad, the messy and the uplifting' - Ian Freer, Empire. Another of this season's female leads also gets high praise - Brie Larson plays her socks off as Grace. With 'Nebraska' filling the gap when we last tried to show 'Wadjda', this double bill looks like a great afternoon of cinema to make up for it; I hope you can make it along for both films.

Camp 14:Total Control Zone - Sunday 26th January 5pm

Google ‘Camp 14’ and one of the first hits is the BFi website and the sub heading Film of the Week. With that recommendation Camp 14: Total Control Zone will make for compelling viewing.

The text below is taken from the review by Anton Bitel:

"I sit in the room without thoughts and without really doing anything. This quietude helps me kill time. I don’t really want to think about anything."

The speaker is Shin Donghyuk, one of very few people to have escaped a North Korean death camp, making the tale that he has lived to tell of crucial importance to the South Korean government and to human-rights organisations – and of considerable curiosity value for the world’s press.

German documentarian Marc Wiese (Das Mädchen und das Foto, Kanun – The Law of Honour) turns his subject’s quietude into a filmmaking principle. Much as Shin narrates his experiences in calm, measured tones, marking his continuing anguish not with on-camera breakdowns or emotive gestures but rather with long silences and awkward expressions of discomfort, so too Camp 14: Total Control Zone adopts a hushed approach, letting Shin’s words speak for themselves and allowing their full impact to hit in the breathing spaces of his drawn-out pauses.

Alhambra Centenary Celebrations start Wednesday 22nd January 2pm

The actual date of the Alhambra's Centenary is Wednesday 22nd January. To mark this date, you are all invited to a screening of an interview with Nick Simpson, the son of a former manager of the Alhambra, who grew up there in the 1940's and 50's. It is a fascinating record of how the cinema was run and its role in the town. Nick recalls the film 'The Clouded Yellow' being shot in Lakeland and that the crew used the Alhambra to view the rushes. Young Nick was very taken with its glamorous star, Jean Simmons! We will be showing 'The Clouded Yellow' after the interview with Nick, which will start at 2.00pm. We will also take the opportunity to announce the films to be shown from each of the decades of the Alhambra's operation over the Festival week, along with the Programme and Guests for the Film Festival. How can you resist?!

Broken Circle Breakdown - Sunday 19th January 5pm

The first thing to say about this week's film, 'Broken Circle Breakdown' is that it is short-listed for the Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars. The reason I put this first is that once I describe it you will probably be as surprised as I was.

The story follows the love affair between the lead singer and banjo player of a bluegrass band (in Belgium!) and a tattoo artist. The story could have become too 'schmultzy' and harrowing, but the film plays back and forward in time, so we learn all is not well right at the start. Expect melodrama, sweet music, politics, religion, tears and joy. 'From all this, the director Felix Van Groeningen has created something not just plausible and affecting but sharp and alert in its distress' - Anthony Lane, The New Yorker. Expect also some great acting - the two leads both come in for some great reviews, especially Verrie Baetens - Tim Robey says in The Telegraph 'She ought to be a huge star, and this is exactly where to see her born'.