Three Hours - Sunday 5th October 5pm

We have a problem introducing the film this week; ‘Three Hours’ is a German film chosen with the help of one of our members who speaks German; we cant find any reviews in English! Sam argued that we should have more from Germany, which we were happy to agree with. The film has no distributor in this country so we getting a possibly unique showing!

The story is based on the 3 hours following the revelation by Martin at Munich airport that he loves Isabel. She is about to fly off to Africa; what should she do now? Director Boris Kunz produces an ‘off the wall’ comedy based round this, but don't expect just a ‘rom-com’; you will have to be there to see what else is on offer.

(We also struggled to find an English trailer, there is a small subtitled trailer on the distributors website)

AGM Reminder: This Sunday 4pm

A reminder for members - the club AGM will be in the Alhambra at 4.00pm on Sunday just before the film. Please come along if you can!

The Lunchbox - Sunday 28th September 5pm

This week we have The Lunchbox, "a real charmer of a film: a wry and gently comic Mumbai-set drama with a level of quiet observation that rekindles memories of Bill Forsyth in his prime", as Geoffrey McNab says in the Independent. The Dabbawallas in Mumbai deliver lunchboxes from home to work for thousands of families every day. Ila decides to try to rekindle her marriage by sending her husband a special lunchbox, but it is delivered to the wrong man, Saajan, a lonely office worker.

The film follows the notes they send each other with the lunchboxes, as the two strangers each share their problems and hopes. First-time director Ritesh Batra has received praise from film festivals around the world (including Cannes and London). With both the leading actors also getting great reviews (‘Irrfan Khan... proves here that he may be one of the greatest living actors in the world right now’ – David Jenkins, Little White Lies), we are in for a gentle but rewarding experience.

Omar - Sunday 21st September 5pm

Our second film of the season takes us, very timely, to Palestine. We join ‘Omar’ as he climbs the wall into Israel to see his lover, and to do his bit to free his country; whether he is a freedom fighter or a terrorist depends on which side of the wall he stands on.

Director Hany Abu-Assad has created a gripping thriller from this plot but he is equally interested in the effects on the characters’ normal lives as he is on the morals and politics of the situation. The resulting movie is ‘A tense, involving combination of love story and thriller’, as Allan Hunter says in the Express...Will he be caught? What would his friends and family think? What does his lover think? The film was nominated for ‘Best Foreign Film’ at the Oscars this year and should give us a thought-provoking night out.

The Past - Sunday 14th September

As the summer comes to an end, our Autumn Season is with us again, and with it the club’s 16th Year. We start the season on Sunday 14th September at 4.15 with your chance for a FREE DRINK and a chat, while you sign up for this year’s membership (STILL just £7 to get you £1 off all films you attend during the whole year!) and maybe a season ticket for all 16 films in this season for just £38).Then we get down to the film at 5.00...

‘The Past’ is the latest film from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi... Farhadi’s two previous films (‘About Elly’ and ‘A Separation’) both went down well at Keswick Festivals and ‘A Separation’ brought him an Oscar. ‘The Past’ continues this trend, with a nomination for the Cannes Palme D’Or plus Best Actress for Berenice Bejo as Maria. The plot follows Ahmad’s return to Paris from Iran to finalise his divorce from Maria and the complex relationships that arise there – ‘an intensely gripping emotional drama with a superb script and a trio of terrific central performances from Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim and Ali Mossaffa’ – Matthew Turner, View London. A French film with a great director and award-winning acting; why would you miss it?!

One Week To Go

There's only a week to go to the first film of the season! I hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are.

We start, as usual with a FREE DRINK at 4.15 on Sunday 14th September. This gives you time to sign up for membership for the year if you want to; we have managed to hold the price to £7 again, for which you get £1 off all films you see for the whole year (through to Easter 2015), which includes ALL the festival films too - great value for money! If you received a brochure in the post, it will save a lot of time if you could fill in the application form you received with (or print it from here) it and bring it with you, please.

You also have the chance to buy an Autumn season pass for £38 - which gives you entry to see all the films till Christmas - that is about £2.50 each!!

You can see the full programme here and the first film will be at 5.00 on Sunday 14th September - Asghar Farhadi's 'The Past'.