Film Selection List for 2019/20 Season

Please select UP TO 16 films from the list below. Your choices will be used by the Committee to help draw up a programme for next season. Send your selection (numbers) to Peter Bunyan at pfbunyan@btinternet.com or post to 3 Broome Close, CM11 1SX or hand your selection to a Committee member when attending a Film Club screening, no later than Tuesday 9 April please!

Click on the titles for more information; See below for the film trailers

  1. BlacKkKlansman (2018)  U.S.A.136 mins. dir. Spike Lee. Incredible true story of an American hero. Early 1970s and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), determined to make a name for himself, is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs police Dept.
  2. Cold War (2018)  Poland 88 mins. dir. Pawel Pawlikowski. Set against the backdrop of the 1950s Cold War in Poland, two people of differing backgrounds and temperaments begin an almost impossible romance.
  3. Dogman (2018) Italy 120 mins. dir. Matteo Garrone. A mild-mannered dog groomer and petty criminal works for Simonicino, former boxer and terror of the neighbourhood. When the terror gets out of hand, things turn nasty.
  4. Disobedience (2018) U.K. 114 mins. Dir. Sebastian Lelio. Ronit returns to the same orthodox Jewish community in London which spurned her decades earlier for her childhood attraction to another girl, Esti. Their relationship is re-ignited…
  5. Shoplifters (2018)  Japan 121 mins. Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda. On the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders is united by fierce loyalty  and a penchant for petty theft. An arrest leads to secrets exposed and a life upended.
  6. Burning (2018) South Korea 148 mins. Dir. Lee Chang-dong. Superbly shot and sensuously scored, a mystery thriller about obsessive love.
  7. Peterloo (2018)  U.K. 154 mins. Dir. Mike Leigh. Much acclaimed movie about the notorious attack on a pro-democracy rally at St. Peter’s field in Manchester in 1819.
  8. The Wild Pear Tree (2018) Turkey. 3h 9m (!!) Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Much acclaimed work from the great Ceylan. An aspiring writer returns to the village where he was born, but his father’s debts catch up with him.. Note the length of this film.
  9. Tehran Taboo (2017) Germany 96 mins. Dir. Ali Soozandeh. Another fascinating animation. Women ‘on the edge’ in Iran push against the restrictions of an oppressive society.
  10. Border (2018) Sweden 110 mins. Ddir. Ali Abbasi. Customs officer Tina is known for her extraordinary sense of smell – can she sniff out guilt on smugglers? When the suspicious-looking Vore walks past her, her abilities are challenged for the first time…
  11. Wajib (2017) Palestine – Arabic 96 mins. Dir. Annemarie Jacir. A father and his estranged son must come together to hand deliver his daughter’s wedding invitations to each guest…
  12. Capernaum (2018) Lebanon 121 mins. Dir. Nadine Labaki. While serving a five-year sentence for a violent crime, a 12 year-old boy sues his parents for bringing him into the world.
  13. Sorry To Bother You (2018) USA 111 mins. Dir. Boots Riley. In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed: an hilarious satire…
  14. A Private War (2018) UK 100 mins Dir. Matthew Heineman. Drama based on the real-life exploits of fearless journalist Marie Colvin.
  15. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) USA 119 mins. Dir. Barry Jenkins. Based on the novel by James Baldwin (I Am Not Your Negro). When her fiancé is falsely accused of a crime by a vindictive New York cop, a woman in Harlem desperately tries to to prove his innocence.
  16. The Favourite (2018) (Ireland/UK) 119 mins. Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos. Already a huge hit and critically acclaimed. 18th century period drama about the life of Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman).
  17. Out of Blue (2018)| UK 110 mins Dir. Carol Morley. Loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis. Detective Mike Hoolihan is called to investigate the shooting of a leading astrophysicist and black hole expert.
  18. The Sisters Brothers (2018) France/English language 121 mins Dir. Jacques Audiard. Another modern-day take on The Western. The brothers are assassins, boys grown to men in a savage and hostile world, journeying through the Northwest.
  19. The Third Wife (2018) Vietnam 96 mins. Dir. Ash Mayfair. Remarkable directorial debut. Set in 19thC Vietnam, 14-year-old May becomes the third wife of wealthy landowner Hung and soon realises that her status can only improve if she gives birth to a male heir.
  20. Beats (2019)  UK 96 mins Dir. Brian Welsh. Set in 1994, before the release of Trainspotting, this is a snappy, exuberant, straining-at-the-leash film: cope with the Glaswegian accents and there will be rewards…
  21. Rafiki (2018) France (English/Swahili) 83 mins Dir. Wanuri Kahiu. “Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives” but Kena Ziki longs for something more. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced to choose between happiness and safety.
  22. Woman At War (2018) Iceland 101 mins Dir. Benedikt Erlingsson. A cracking eco-warrior drama/comedy movie from Of Horses and Men stable.  50 years old Halla crusades against the local aluminium industry in Iceland, then she’s permitted to adopt a girl from the Ukraine…
  23. Leave No Trace (2018) USA 119 mins Dir. Debra Granik. A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in beautiful Forest Park nature reserve in Oregon. When the authorities become aware of them, an erratic journey ensues.
  24. Happy As Lazarro (2018) Italy 130 mins Dir. Alice Rohrwacher. Lazaro, a good-hearted young peasant, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination, form a life-long bond when Tancredi asks Lazarro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping.
  25. Custody (2017) France 94 mins Dir. Xavier Legrand. In this thriller, Miriam seeks sole custody of her son to protect him from a father she claims is violent, but dad defends himself. Who is telling the truth?
  26. Island of the Hungry Ghosts (2018) Australia 98 mins Dir. Gabrielle Brady. Documentary about the life on Christmas Island, home to 50 million red crabs but also thousands of asylum seekers detained indefinitely.
  27. Destroyer (2018) USA 123 mins Dir. Karyn Kusama. Nicole Kidman delivers a remarkable performance as a one-time undercover cop with the LAPD, haunted by what happened to her in the desert. Then the gang leader turns up…
  28. An Impossible Love (2018) France 135 mins Dir. Catherine Corsini. A chronicle of the unconditional love between a mother and her daughter, from 1958 to the present day, which is endangered by an unsteady and manipulative father.
  29. Foxtrot (2017) Israel (Hebrew language) 114 mins Dir. Samuel Maoz. The mother and father of  a soldier who died in combat attempt to cope with his death, but the father’s world quickly spins out of control in this critically acclaimed, moving film.
  30. Roma (2018) Mexico/USA 135 mins Dir. Alfonso Cuaron. Academy award winning film in 2019 – the film of the year? But will it be available to cinemas and film clubs given its Netflix ownership.distribution? We shall see!
  31. Free Solo (2018) USA 100 mins Dir. Jimmy Chin/Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. Documentary about professional rock climber Alex Honnold attempting to conquer the first free solo climb of famed El Capitan 900-metre vertical rock face at Yosemite N. P.
  32. The Heiresses (2018) Paraguay 98 mins Dir. Marcelo Martinessi. Chela and Chiquita, both descended from wealthy families in Asuncion, Paraguay, have been together for 30 years. But recently their financial situation has worsened and they begin selling off their inherited possessions as well as facing fraud charges.
MONOS

Alejandro Landes
PAIN AND GLORY

Pedro Almodovar
IT MUST BE HEAVEN

Elia Suleiman
MARRIAGE STORY

Noah Baumbach
ASH IS PUREST WHITE

Zhagke Jia
SAINT MAUD

Rose Glass
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Celine Sciamma
HOPE GAP

William Nicholson
EMA

Pablo Larrain
FOR SAMA

Waad Al Kateab & Edward Watts
HONEYLAND

Tamara Kotevska & Ljubomir Stefanov
ROJO

Benjamin Naishtat
TRANSIT

Christian Petzold
AMANDA

Mikhael Hers
BY THE GRACE OF GOD

François Ozon
ONLY YOU

Harry Wootliff
IN FABRIC

Peter Strickland
THE SOUVENIR

Joanna Hogg
UNCUT GEMS

Josh & Benny Sadie
THE LIGHTHOUSE

Robert Eggers
SORRY WE MISSED YOU

Ken Loach
BAIT

Mark Jenkin
HAPPY AS LAZARRO

Alice Rohrwacher
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG

Jacques Demy

Double click on any trailer to view in full screen