Sun 4 Oct • Oddball double bill

LAKE TAHOE (12A) 1.15

(Mexico/Japan/US 2008) dir. Fernando Eimbcke 81m. Digital.
Diego Catano, Hector Herrera, Daniela Valentine, Juan Carlos Lara, Yemil Sefami.

Stranded in a remote,rural and distinctly odd Mexican town after his car breaks down, teenager Juan searches for a spare part and experiences close encounters of a very bizarre kind. A small and perfectly formed comic gem with a unique visual style from the award-winning 'poet of the incidental' Fernando Eimbcke.

+ SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (15) 3.00

(US 2008) dir. Charlie Kaufman 124m. Digital.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianna Wiest.

From Charlie Kaufman, the writer of ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, comes a new collection of imaginative idiosyncracies set in the blury world of writer Caden Cotard, a man much troubled in both his personal and professional lives. A sizable financial grant results in a replica of New York City and a mirror image of a life that will elude the cruel realities of love and death. A dream cast of independent cinema all stars, bring Kaufman's eccentricities into focus.

Sun 11 Oct • Invaders double bill

THE HURT LOCKER (15) 1.30

(US 2009) dir. Kathryn Bigelow 131m.
Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes.

Set against the arid and alien landscape of a scorched Iraq, THE HURT LOCKER is an explosive, edge-of-the-seat thriller and one of 2009's must-see movies. Three members of the US Army’s elite bomb disposal squad battle insurgents and each other as they seek out and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad. There's a star-making turn from Jeremy Renner as the Staff Sergeant whose gung-ho approach to his work raises both concerns and the tension.

+ DISTRICT 9 (15) 4.05

(South Africa/New Zealand 2009) dir. Neill Blomkamp 112m.
Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood, Mandla Gaduka, Kenneth Nkosi.

When an extraterrestrial race arrive on Earth they are given an area of land to occupy, but as human fear and hatred grows, they are forced to relocate to slum-like conditions. Events take a surprising turn when a senior office is infected by an alien virus and forced to take refuge within the alien camp. The underlying theme of alienation in all its manifestations takes the movie beyond standard sci-fi conventions.

Interval

£8/£6 Conc

Sun 18 Oct • The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival

MEN ON THE BRIDGE (15) 1.00

(Germany/Turkey/Netherlands 2009) dir. Asli Özge 87m. Subtitles.
Fikret Portakal, Murat Tokgöz, Umut Ilker.

A portrait of life in the rapidly changing sprawl of modern Istanbul that offers resonant and affecting insights in a pacy, punchy, multi-strand narrative. The bridge is the Bosphorus Bridge that spans the divide between Europe and Asia; the men are three young inhabitants of the Istanbul suburbs who use it daily. Özge's wonderfully fresh and insightful film is equally relevant to any rapidly changing metropolis in its reflections on how economics, family, the media, sex, race, tradition and globalisation affect all our lives.

£7

ST GEORGE SHOOTS THE DRAGON (15) 3.15

(Serbia/Bosnia & Herzegovina/Bulgaria 2009) dir. Srdjan Dragojevic 120m. Subtitles.
Lazar Ristovski, Natasa Janjic, Milutin Milosevic.

An epic, visionary film from Serbian director Srdjan Dragojevic that recreates the conflict, passion and jealousy of village life on the eve of World War 1. Srdjan Dragojevic's PRETTY FLAME, PRETTY VILLAGE was one of the key films of 90’s Balkan cinema. His latest, an adaptation of the stage play by Dusan Koveceviç (the writer of Kusturica's UNDERGROUND) is an exciting, atmospheric blend of Zhivago-esque historical romance and Kusturica-style rural grotesque that ends movingly and apocalyptically.

£7

Sun 25 Oct • Families double bill

MID-AUGUST LUNCH (U) 2.15

(Italy 2008) dir. Gianni Di Gregorio 76m. Subtitles. Digital.
Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis, Marina Cacciotti, Maria Cali, Grazia Cesarini Sforza, Alfonso Santagata, Luigi Marchetti.

The directorial debut of GOMORRAH screenwriter Gianni Di Gregorio unfolds over a hot August bank holiday weekend in Rome where wine-loving, middle-aged Gianni is reluctantly looking after his mother and three other elderly women. As the weekend unfolds, apprehension turns to unexpected pleasure in a charming, beautifully observed film that treats its characters with warmth and respect.

+ 35 SHOTS OF RUM (12A) 3.50

(France/Germany 2009) dir. Claire Denis 101m. Subtitles. Digital.
Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Gregoire Colin, Nicola Dogue.

In a modest apartment block in a Paris suburb, widower Lionel and his daughter Josephine live lives based on routine and trust but both know that one day things will inevitably change. the shifting relationships between father and daughter, their friends and neighbours are recorded with simplicity, sensitivity and insight in this atmospheric, beautifully directed and deeply moving film. One of the films of the year.

Sun 1 Nov • Mesrine double bill

MESRINE: KILLER INSTINCT (15) 1.00

(France/Canada/Italy 2008) dir. Jean-François Richet 113m. Subtitles.
Vincent Cassel, Cecile De France, Gerard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche, Roy Dupuis, Elena Anaya, Florence Thomassin.

The first part of Richet's biopic of Jacques Mesrine, one of the most famous gangsters in French history. Detailing Mesrine's early years in whirlwind fashion - from Algeria to Paris, military to prison - Richet avoids glorifying his subject as he incisively records the early experiences and romantic entanglements that shaped an extraordinary life.

+ MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE (15) 3.15

(France/Canada/Italy 2008) dir. Jean-François Richet 133m. Subtitles.
Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric, Samuel Le Bihan, Gerard Lanvin, Olivier Gourmet, Georges Wilson, Anne Consigny, Laure Marsac, Alain Fromager.

Mesrine at the height of his fame: a life of clever disguises, womanizing and audacious bank robberies, jail-breaks and an ever-growing global public profile. Throughout it all, Cassel delivers an exceptional tour de force performance of snarls and swaggers that rivetingly brings the character to life.

Sun 8 Nov • 15th London Turkish Film Festival

Programme to be announced

Sun 15 Nov • Supernatural double bill

VAMPYR (PG) 2.15

(France/Germany 1932) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer 72m. Digital.
Julian West, Henriette Gerard, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz.

With its rolling fogs, ominous scythes, and foreboding echoes, VAMPYR is one of cinema’s great nightmares. A student of the occult is assailed by supernatural haunts and local evildoers in a village outside Paris. A host of stunning camera and editing tricks and densely layered sounds create a mood of dreamlike terror.

+ ANTICHRIST (18) 3.45

(Denmark/Germany/France/Sweden/Italy/Poland 2009) dir. Lars Von Trier 104m. Digital.
Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Grieving from the death of their child, a young couple retreat to their country cabin nestled deep in the woods to confront fears and sorrows head-on, no matter how painful. But nature only creates a catastrophic evil that ends in brutal horror. Teeming with ideas, moments both scary and shocking and featuring a satanically prophetic talking fox, this is Cinema at the outer limits.

Sun 22 Nov • Inspirational double bill

ALEXANDRA (PG) 2.15

(Russia/France 2007) dir. Aleksandr Sokurov 95m. Subtitles.
Galina Vishnevskaya, Vasily Shevtsov, Raisa Gichaeva.

Alexandra is an innocent abroad, an elderly woman who has come to see her beloved grandson, a young officer stationed at a remote military outpost. But innocence is short-lived as, beneath a scorching sun and with the enemy laying in wait, she wanders the barracks--acquainting herself with the routines of military life and the young soldiers protecting her homeland--before making a mysterious trip into the outlying countryside. A remarkable and moving film from one of Russia's greatest living filmmakers.

+ EVERLASTING MOMENTS (15) 4.10

(Denmark/Finland/Norway/Sweden/Germany 2008) dir. Jan Troell 111m. Subtitles.
Mikael Persbrandt, Maria Heiskanen, Jesper Christensen, Callin Ohrvall.

A deeply moving story of love and hope set in early twentieth century Sweden. Maria is the hardworking matriarch of a large working-class family. The discovery that she has a talent for photography will change her life forever, as she captures on film a country in the process of political, social and cultural change. Maria Heiskanen's magnificent performance as Maria is a portrait of human goodness and decency that is neither sanctimonious nor sentimental. A beautifully elegant triumph.

Sun 29 Nov • Varda and Demy double bill

THE BEACHES OF AGNES (18) 1.30

(France 2008) dir. Agnès Varda 113m. Digital.
Agnès Varda, Andrè Lubrano, Blaise Fournier, Vincent Fournier, Andrèe Vilar, Rosalie Varda.

Although she made some of the first films of the French New Wave, Agnes Varda is more than just a film director as this very original self-portrait reveals. Her parallel career as photographer photographer, installation artist and documentarist is vividly brought to life.This engaging wander down memory lane gives Varda the opportunity to revisit old locations and talk about many friends and collaborators as well as her life with fellow filmmaker Jacques Demy. It's a wonderful kaleidescopic collage of a life well led.

+ LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT (PG) 3.45

(France 1967) dir. Jacques Demy & Agnès Varda 126m. Subtitles.
Catherine Deneuve, George Chakiris, Francoise Dorleac, Jacques Perrin, Gene Kelly, Danielle Darrieux.

The arrival of a carnival turns a sleepy little port town into the backdrop for this all-singing, all-dancing tribute to the Golden Age of the Hollywood musical. Two of the carnival workers lose their girls to local sailors and so they ask two sisters (real-life siblings Deneuve and Dorleac) to teach them to dance to win their sweethearts back. Add Gene Kelly as a visiting American composer and you have a bittersweet candy-coloured romance that is as equally enchanting as Demy's earlier THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG.