Great child acting is rare: so is great adult acting, and so is great directing of children and adults. But they all come together in this lovely, beautifully composed debut feature drenched in a subtle but urgent political meaning" – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian.
You are very poor and desperate for more money. Your father is very ill – dying - and there is nothing you can do to help his suffering. A gangster on the run comes along and offers you money to hide in your isolated house for some time, but the deal is that he replaces your father... what would you do? This might have made a great story just like that, but director/writer Carolina Markowicz has gone one further by adding humour.
"Charcoal stands as an artistic character study, honed in on the imperfections that make people fascinating." - Josiah Teal, Film Threat
“A sharp, specific thriller that also has a nice undercurrent of dark humor.” - Brian Tallerico, Rogerebert.com
A young woman attends the trial of another woman as research for her own project, but gradually comes unstuck as her own emotional chords are struck. "Documentarian Alice Diop's narrative debut 'Saint Omer' is a visually arresting courtroom set drama that explores the similarities (and distinct differences) between two young women of Senegalese descent living in France." -Marya E Gates, RogerEbert.com.
"The standard for ‘Best of 2023’ lists has already been set." - David Jenkins, Little White Lies
Holy Spider is a crime thriller, based on a real serial killer in the early 2000s who targeted female sex workers in Mashad, but the reason we thought we should show it is that is portrays how hard it is for women in Iran. With the recent murder of Mahsa Amini, and the resulting women-led protests, this becomes doubly relevant. This may be a hard-watch in places, but should give us a lot to discuss. It is also the Danish entry for the Oscars and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, where Zar Amir-Ebrahimi won best actress.
"An extraordinary directorial debut - based on actual events - in which form and content fuse to discover a new cinematic language." - Washington Post
"If you only see one film about Bolivian llama farmers this year, make it Utama." - David Hughes, Time Out
"A film of dazzling visual power and genuine poignancy." - Glenn Kenny, Rogerebert.com
This exciting new venture from the Alhambra will bring us a weekend of Chinese Films - 9 films with several UK premieres plus much more. One of them 'Virgin Blue', will be showing in our usual time slot on Sunday 5 February. You can get your tickets and passes, and full details of the films via the link on the Alhambra website, and you will get money off as a member of Keswick Film Club!
"It’s riveting stuff, aided by Vicky Krieps’s bold and brilliant turn." - Anna Smith, Time Out
"Fact and fiction, truth and lies swirl about each other in Jafar Panahi's latest. The film - in which Panahi plays a version of himself - also deals with the age-old conundrum of whether to stay or go. Panahi himself doesn't currently have the latter option, having been detained by the Iranian authorities back in July and ordered to serve six years in prison. Given that, since the filmmaker was banned from making movies in 2010 by the regime, he has made 10 features and shorts, it's unlikely this latest act of repression will succeed in silencing him either" – Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film.
Happy New Year everyone - we do hope have enjoyed your Christmas and are raring to start watching world cinema again! We are making this easy for you to start with, as we have the film voted the 'Best Film of 2022' by the BFI, which also scooped the British Independent Film Awards and has won 38 awards around the world. 'Aftersun' is the epitome of Independent Films with a first time director and a new co-star, it is a film with a story to make you think; no special effects in sight! We hope you enjoy it.