PAST PRODUCTIONS 2019/20

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen

The year is 1613 and William Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest playwright of the age. But, disaster strikes when his renowned Globe Theatre in London burns to the ground. A devastated Shakespeare returns to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon to face his neglected family. He is haunted by the untimely death of his only son, Hamnet, and struggles to mend the broken relationships with his wife and daughters. In doing so he is forced to examine his own failings as a husband and a father.

“Impressively cast and beautifully filmed” (Rotten Tomatoes)

“I envy the Japanese”  Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo. In the exhibition on which this film is based – VAN GOGH & JAPAN at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam – one can see why. Though Vincent van Gogh never visited Japan it is the country that had the most profound influence on him and his art.

One cannot understand Van Gogh without understanding how Japanese art arrived in Paris in the middle of the 19th century and the profound impact it had on artists like Monet, Degas and, above all, Van Gogh. Visiting the new galleries of Japanese art in Paris – Van Gogh’s encounter with Japanese artworks gave his work a new and exciting direction.

In this little known story of Van Gogh’s art we see just how important his study of Japan was. The film travels not only to France and the Netherlands but also to Japan to further explore the remarkable heritage that so affected Van Gogh and made him the artist we know of today.

Director: Aneesh Chaganty
Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee

After David Kim’s daughter, Margot, goes missing a local investigation is opened and a detective assigned to the case. But when, after 36 hours, there are still no leads David decides to search in the one place no one has yet thought of looking – his daughter’s laptop.

This is a taut modern mystery-thriller with a powerful emotional content told via the technology that most of use every day to communicate with others. David must trace his daughter’s digital footprint if has any hope of finding her.

“An ingenious drama” (London Evening Standard)

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Cast: Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Kirin Kiki

Osamu and his family are a dysfunctional band of outsiders living ‘below the radar’ on the fringes of Japanese society, supplementing their income with some petty thieving.

After one of their shoplifting sessions Osama and his son come across a little girl, apparently abandoned, and decide to take her home to join the chaotic household.  They appear to be one big happy family living in a tiny house belonging to the grandmother, but when the son is arrested secrets are revealed testing the bonds that unite them.

Runner-up as best foreign film at 2019 Oscars.

“A satisfying and devastating gem” (Peter Bradshaw)

Leonardo da Vinci is acclaimed as the world’s favourite artist. Many television shows and feature films have showcased this extraordinary genius but often not examined closely enough is the most crucial element of all: his art. Leonardo’s peerless paintings and drawings are the focus of Leonardo: The Works, as EXHIBITION ON SCREEN presents every single attributed painting, in Ultra HD quality, never seen before on the cinema screen.

Key works include The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Lady with an Ermine, Ginevra de’ Benci, Madonna Litta, Virgin of the Rocks and more than a dozen others.

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz

It is the early 18th century and England is at war with France. A frail and overweight Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman) occupies the throne but it is her close friend and lover Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) who is really running the country while at the same time tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper.

Abigail, a young and attractive servant girl (Emma Stone) arrives at court and as Sarah becomes ever more preoccupied with matters of state the ambitious Abigail replaces her as the queen’s favourite and intimate companion.

Both Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz won Oscars for their performances.

“Savagely funny” (The Spectator)

For the first time ever the Royal Academy of Arts in London, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, has brought together Lucian Freud’s self-portraits.

The exhibition displays more than 50 paintings, prints and drawings in which this modern master of British art turned his unflinching eye firmly on himself. One of the most celebrated painters of our time, Lucian Freud is also one of very few 20th-century artists who portrayed themselves with such consistency.

Spanning nearly seven decades his self-portraits give a fascinating insight into both his psyche and his development as a painter, from his earliest portrait painted in 1939 to the final one executed 64 years later. When seen together, his portraits represent an engrossing study into the dynamic of ageing and the process of self-representation. This intensely compelling exhibition creates a unique opportunity to reveal the life’s work of a master in one show.

Director: Dexter Fletcher
Cast: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden

This musical fantasy, with a script by Lee Hall, is a biopic of the flamboyant, legendary singer song-writer Elton John. It follows the wild-ride transformation of the shy piano prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music, Reg Dwight, into the international superstar Elton John.

This inspirational story is set to Elton’s favourite songs and impressively performed by Taron Egerton, who does all his own vocals. The story of how a small-town boy from Essex became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture.

“A dazzling rock opera” (Mark Kermode- Guardian)

Director: Adrian Noble
Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Spall

This is a sympathetic portrayal, by the theatre director Adrian Noble, of the much loved British painter L.S. Lowry who lived all his life with his bitter, overbearing and bed-ridden mother, Elizabeth (superbly played by Vanessa Redgrave).

She actively tried to dissuade her rather timid bachelor son from pursuing his artistic ambitions whilst never failing to voice her opinions at what a disappointment he was to her.

Timothy Spall is marvellous as the shy, lonely, rent-collector Lowry desperately eager to please his cantankerous mother.

“An entertaining show case for two first class performers” (Peter Bradshaw – Guardian)

Leonardo da Vinci is acclaimed as the world’s favourite artist. Many television shows and feature films have showcased this extraordinary genius but often not examined closely enough is the most crucial element of all: his art. Leonardo’s peerless paintings and drawings are the focus of Leonardo: The Works, in this film which presents every single attributed painting, in Ultra HD quality, never seen before on the cinema screen.

Key works include The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Lady with an Ermine, Ginevra de’ Benci, Madonna Litta, Virgin of the Rocks and more than a dozen others.

Director: Benedikt Erlingssson
Cast: Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurðarson, Juan Camillo Roman Estrada

Halla is a fifty year old independent Icelandic woman who appears to lead a quiet life, but behind the scenes she is a passionate environmental activist.

She is waging a one-woman war on the local aluminium industry and her actions grow steadily bolder, from petty vandalism to outright industrial sabotage.

Just as she is about to mount her biggest and boldest operation she hears that her lengthy attempt to adopt a child has been successful, and she plans one final attack before becoming a mother.

Selected for the International Critics' Week at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival

“..a moving and weirdly beautiful film” (Mark Kermode - Observer)

The story of Christ’s death and resurrection has dominated western culture for the past 2000 years. It is perhaps the most significant historical event of all time, as recounted by the gospels but, equally, as depicted by the greatest artists in history.

From the triumphant to the savage, the ethereal to the tactile, some of western civilization’s greatest artworks focus on this pivotal moment. This beautifully crafted film explores the Easter story as depicted in art, from the time of the early Christians to the present day.

Shot on location in Jerusalem, United States and throughout Europe, the film explores the different ways artists have depicted the Easter story through the ages and thus depicts the history of us all.

Director: Todd Douglas Miller
Cast: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin

Featuring previously unseen footage this electrifying documentary marks 50 years since the first moon landing in 1969.

Although we all know how this mission turned out, the film generates and maintains a high level of suspense and wonder.

It is not a film about facts and statistics but how it feels to be in space and on the ground when history is being made. It captures the excitement and enormity of space exploration and somehow does not feel like something that happened 50 years ago.

“A stunning return to an incredible journey” (Peter Bradshaw – Guardian.)