<img src='' title='Event Category: Film' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Event Category: Film

Acclaimed Academy-award winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (Parallel Mothers, Pain & Glory, Volver, Bad Education) returns with his first ever English language film, The Room Next Door.

Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

Guardian ★★★★ Times ★★★★ Total Film ★★★★ BBC ★★★★

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
With Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton
1hr 47 mins // SPA 2024

In 1960, sixteen newly independent African countries enter the United Nations. Congo becomes the arena in which the battle over the UN is fought. As Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at the UN-top in reaction to the neo-colonial grab of the resources of newly independent Congo, UN delegates from African Countries are blackmailed. In an incredulous twist Patrice Lumumba’s assassination unites the Afro-Asian block, demanding the UN General Assembly to vote for immediate worldwide decolonisation. In this highly explosive context, the United States government dispatches Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Nina Simone as Jazz Ambassadors around the world – as a diversion from CIA-backed coups.

“Superb study of how jazz got caught between the cold war and the CIA” ★★★★★ Observer

“Johan Grimonprez’s fascinating documentary suggests that the US used jazz legend Louis Armstrong in a ‘cool war’ offensive to assassinate Patrice Lumumba” ★★★★ Guardian

Soundtrack to a Coup d’État review: coup for cats | Sight and Sound (bfi.org.uk)

Directed by Johan Grimonprez
2hr 30 mins // BEL / FRA / NLD

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Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.

The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

“A thrillifying film adaptation” ★★★★★ Total Film

“Wicked’s phenomenal film adaptation is miles better than the stage musical” ★★★★★ Metro

★★★★ Guardian ★★★★ Empire ★★★★ Times

Directed by Jon M. Chu
With Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande
Run-time TBC | US 2024

Oscar winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as devoted father Bill Furlong in this film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Claire Keegan. While working as a coal merchant to support his family, he discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent — and uncovers truths of his own — forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.

“Cillian Murphy is astounding” The i ★★★★★

★★★★ Guardian ★★★★ Telegraph ★★★★ Times

Directed by Tim Mielants
With Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson
1hr 38 mins // UK 2024

From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Independent ★★★★ Telegraph ★★★★ Guardian ★★★★ BBC ★★★★

Directed by Ridley Scott
With Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal
2hrs 28 mins // US 2024

Sir Steve McQueen’s Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to his mom and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.

“Ranks among the greatest war films ever made” ★★★★★ Telegraph

“A monumental achievement in British cinema” ★★★★★ Independent

Directed by Steve McQueen
With Saoirse Ronan,
1hr 57 mins // UK 2024

Paddington in Peru brings Paddington’s story to Peru as he returns to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown Family in tow, a thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and up to the mountain peaks of Peru.

BBC ★★★★ Metro ★★★★ Total Film ★★★★
Telegraph ★★★ Times ★★★ Guardian ★★★

Directed by Dougal Wilson
With Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer
1hr 43 mins // UK 2024

The story of photographer Elizabeth ‘Lee’ Miller, an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

“Kate Winslet is remarkable as model turned war photographer Lee Miller” Guardian ★★★★

Directed by Ellen Kuras
With Kate Winslet
1hrs 57 mins | US 2023

Based on the best-selling memoir by Amy Liptrot, The Outrun is set in the otherworldly Orkney islands of Scotland. A brutally honest drama about addiction and recovery, strength and survival, mental health and the ability of the sea, the land and of people to restore life and renew hope.

After a decade away in London, 29-year-old Rona returns home to the Orkney Islands. Sober but lonely, she tries to suppress her memory of the events which set her on this journey of recovery. Slowly the mystical land enters her inner world and – one day at a time – Rona finds hope and strength in herself among the heavy gales and the bracingly cold sea.

“Saoirse Ronan is mesmerising in sobering addiction drama” Guardian ★★★★

Independent ★★★★ Filmhounds ★★★★

Directed by Nora Fingscheidt
With Saoirse Ronan
1hrs 57 mins | US 2023