Pablo Picasso is one of the greatest artists of all time – and right up until his death in 1973 he was the most prolific of artists. Many films have dealt with these later years – the art, the affairs and the wide circle of friends. But where did this all begin? What made Picasso in the first place? Three cities play a key role: Malaga, Barcelona and Paris. “Young Picasso” visits each and explores their influence on Picasso, focusing on specific artworks from these early years.

This film thus explains how this young artist acquired his craft. Looking carefully at two key early periods – the so-called Blue Period and Rose Period – the film takes us all the way to 1907 and the creation of a critical painting in the history of art – Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. It was a painting that shocked the art world but changed it irrevocably. Picasso was only 25 years old. Working closely with all three Picasso Museums in Malaga, Barcelona and Paris this film explains how he rose to greatness.

Director: Debra Granik
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Foster, Jeffery Rifflard

A traumatised Vietnam war veteran and his teenage daughter have been living “off grid” for several years in the wilderness of America’s Pacific North West.  They are eventually discovered and forced by social services to re-enter the modern world, which the father finds intolerable.  They set off again on a harrowing journey back to their wild forest homeland, but all the while the daughter is growing and maturing and beginning to question her father’s decisions.

The acting from both the leads is wonderful.

“A flawless deeply affecting film ( 5 stars)” (Mark Kermode – The Guardian)

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Cast: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc

Beautifully shot in black and white, Cold War is the intimate and passionate love story of two people who meet in the ruins of post war Poland. They are from very different backgrounds, mismatched in many ways, but somehow destined to be together. Set in the shadow of the iron curtain in 1950’s Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris it is the tale of two star-crossed lovers separated by politics, twists of fate and their own character flaws. An impossible love story in impossible times.

“It left me speechless (5 stars)” (Mark Kermode – The Guardian)

Director: Richard Eyre
Cast: Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ben Chaplin

Emma Thompson plays the part of an eminent High Court Judge in London presiding over ethically complex cases of family law with wisdom and compassion.  At a moment of personal crisis, when her marriage is falling apart, she is asked to rule on the case of Adam, a brilliant 17-year-old boy who is refusing a life-saving blood transfusion because of his religious beliefs.  She visits the boy in hospital and their meeting has a profound emotional effect on them both.

“Emma Thompson gives a wonderful performance” (Matthew Bond - Daily Mail)