SAT 23 Jan • Teatro Comunale di Bologna Opera in HD Digital

Vincenzo Bellini’s I PURITANI (PG) 1.30

Cast: Ugo Guagliardo, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Juan Diego Florez, Gabriele Viviani, Gianluca Floris, Nadia sPirazzini, Nino Machaidze.
Conductor: Michele Mariotti; Chief Chorus Master: Paolo Vero; Direction: Pier'Alli

After a long gap, we are pleased to be relaunching the Rio Opera House with a screening of Vincenzo Bellini’s I PURITANI starring the leading tenor of the moment, Juan Diego Florez. Set in England in 1690 during the English Civil War, the theme of love, mistaken identity and revenge take place between the dynamic characters. “Florez gave a very fine performance… full in tone, razorsharp in attack, with the stratospheric notes above top C well integrated within a chiseled melodic line.” (Opera News)

Running time: 175 mins (incl. one interval)

£12/£10 Concessions & Rio Friend

SUN 24 Jan • Rio AGM 11.00am

The Rio Cinema is a Registered Charity run by a voluntary Board of Directors. The AGM offers a review of the past year and gives members the opportunity to question and put forward their views to the Board about the performance of the Rio and its direction for the future. For more information please contact the company Secretary, Nick Quarrie by email to: nquarrie@riocinema.org.uk

The minutes of our last AGM are available in PDF format by clicking here.

TUE 26 Jan • Early Evening Special

KATALIN VARGA (15) 6.30

(Romania/UK/Hungary 2009) dir. Peter Strickland 85m. Subtitles. Digital.
Hilda Peter, Tibor Pálffy, Norbert Tanko, Melinda Kantor, Sebastian Marina, Roberto Giacomello.

An exciting combination of road movie, noirish revenge tale and compassionate pyschological study, independent British film maker Peter Strickland’s Transylvania set drama is a major achievement. Hilda Péter is spellbinding in the title role of a woman whose life is irrevocably altered when she reveals a violent secret from her past. Kicked out by her husband, Katalin sets out to confront her demons – an odyssey which draws her into danger, uncertainty and possible redemption.

£6.50/£5.00 Concs

SAT 30 Jan • 100 Years of Cinema in Hackney

Anniversary screening (PG) 1.30 D

Commencing a series of events to mark 100 years of cinema in Hackney, the Rio is celebrating with this collection of films from the Hackney Archive. Footage of all Hackney’s landmarks throughout the last century can be found here, enabling us all to relive Hackney’s rich and vibrant history on the big screen.

£4/£3 Concessions & Rio Friends

SAT 30 Jan • Special matinee

TULPAN (12A) 3.00

(Germany/Kazakhstan/Poland/Russia/Switzerland 2008) dir. Sergei Dvortsevoy 100m. Subtitles. Digital.
Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Samal Yeslyamova, Ondasyn Besik.

The dusty steppes of Kazakhstan are the setting for a simmering tale of romantic and familial intrigue as the delightfully blundering, untalented and big-eared Asa alights upon enigmatic local beauty Tulpan in his search for a bride. At the same time writer-director Sergei Dvortsevoy's delightful film quietly raises wider issues about a slowly disappearing way of life. Often humorous, always surprising, this is a world rarely seen on film. It all adds up to a magical and moving experience.

£6.50/£5.00 Concs

TUE 2 Feb • Early Evening Special

BIRDWATCHERS (15) 6.15

(Italy/Brazil 2008) dir. Marco Bechis 104m. Subtitles. Digital.
Claudio Santamaria, Alicélia Batista Cabreira, Chiara Caselli, Fabiane Pereira Da Silva, Abriso Da Silva Pedro.

A powerful story of the struggle for survival that is the lot of the indigenous Guarani people who eke out a harsh, nomadic living on the fringes of the the Brazilian rainforest. When a small group decide to re-inhabit the ancestral land which lies on the border of a wealthy landowner's fields, tensions escalate between the two conflicting cultures. The cast is made up of Guarani tribespeople which results in naturalistic performances that are a major contribution to a revealing and vigorous film.

£6.50/£5.00 Concs