South Africa/USA | 1996 | col | 118 mins | doc | dir.s Angus Gibson & Jo Menell | cert. tbc

Offering an intimate look at one of the world's most revered human rights figures from his childhood to his election as South Africa's first black president, this feature-length documentary was nominated for the 1997 Academy Award for Best Documentary. The film provides an engaging look at the courageous life, struggles and strength of Mandela the leader, whilst also revealing the charisma of Mandela the man.   

£7, conc. £5

 

 

 

France | 1996 | col | 115 mins | dir. Claude Berri, with Carole Bouquet, Daniel Auteuil, Patrice Chéreau | cert. 12A

Lyon, March, 1943. Raymond Aubrac and his wife Lucie (Carole Bouquet) are active in the Resistance movement against the Nazi occupying forces. On 21 June 1943, Raymond is arrested along with Jean Moulin. Lucie has to pose as her own husband Raymond's mistress in order to be allowed to visit in prison. Using her underground pseudonym of Aubrac, Lucie sets about organising her fellow Resistance members to rescue Raymond, risking all of their lives in the process.

 

 

 

UK/India | 1982 | col | 190 mins | dir. Richard Attenborough, with Ben Kingsley, Edward Fox, Martin Sheen | cert. PG | in English only

Richard Attenborough's Academy Award-winning epic follows the extraordinary life of  Mahatma Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British Colonial rule in India during the first half of the twentieth century. Revealing Ghandi's beginnings as a young Indian lawyer to his triumph as a revolutionary, the film captures the power of a philosophy of pacifism that was to transform a nation and inspire the world. The film won an astonishing eight Academy Awards including Best Picture.

 

 

 

UK | 1966 | col | 113 mins | dir. François Truffaut, with Julie Christie, Oskar Werner | cert. 12A | in English only
Directed by François Truffaut, Farenheit 451 is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's chilling novel. In the not-too-distant future, forbidden volumes of literature are burned regularly by the 'firemen'. Montag (Oskar Werner) is the man in charge of the burnings, but after meeting a revolutionary book-owner, school teacher Clarisse (Julie Christie), he begins to have doubts - both about his vocation and his failed marriage to pleasure-seeking Linda (also Christie). Curious about the draw of literature, Montag keeps a forbidden volume of David Copperfield for himself, and soon embarks on a clandestine affair with Clarisse.

 

 

 

USA | 1997 | col | 134 mins | dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud, with Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B.D. Wong | cert. PG | in English only
Self-absorbed, glory-seeking mountaineer Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) sets out to conquer Nanga Parbat, one of the highest peaks of the Himalayas, in the autumn of 1939. His antagonistic relationship with the expedition leader continues when they are interned in a British POW camp. After they manage to escape, they journey together towards the Tibetan city of Lhasa, where Harrer is asked to teach the young Dalai Lama about the outside world. Harrer in turn learns a few lessons in humility as he experiences a gradual spiritual awakening.

 

 

 

France | 1965 | b&w | 99 mins | dir. Jean-Luc Godard, with Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina | cert. PG
Detective Lemmy Caution finds himself in Alphaville, a city in a futuristic totalitarian state, ruled
by a computer known as Alpha 60. Science has replaced humanity and Lemmy seeks to discover who is responsible for the supression of individuality and love. When he falls in love with a woman, who has no notion about the concept of love and rendered robotic in the dystopian city, his determination to ruin the dictatorship is further strengthened.

 

 

 

France | 2007 | b&w | 95 mins | animation | dir.s Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, with the voices of Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux | cert. 12A

The wonderful animated Persepolis charts the engaging story of a rebellious young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution who outsmarts the 'social guardians' and discovers punk. Persepolis retains the distinct look of the comic strip with its stark black and white imagery and soft edges offering fascinating and amusing observations of a young woman struggling with 'existential' problems in an era of historical turnmoil. Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival 2007.

 

 

 

 

Le Cerf-volant
Lebanon/France | 2003 | col | 80 mins | dir. Randa Chahal Sabbag, with Flavia Bechara, Ziad Rahbani, Randa Asmar | cert. PG
A beautifully shot story of love and defiance as a young Lebanese woman, Lamia, living near the tense Israeli-Lebanese border, quietly fights against her arranged marriage so that she can pursue her love for a Druze soldier on the Israeli side.

 

 

 

 

 

Denmark | 2008 | col | 90 mins | doc | dir. Anders Ostergaard | cert. 12A

When the authorities in Burma, Southeast Asia, started cracking down on protesting citizens and Buddhist monks, there was worldwide outrage but reporting restrictions were tight. Luckily a small army of VJs – video journalists - were on the scene with concealed cameras to expose the brutality of the military junta running the country. The film offers a unique insight into high-risk journalism and dissidence in a police state, while at the same time providing a thorough documentation of the historical and dramatic days of September 2007.