• Friday 5 February for 1 week

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE (15)

(US 2009) dir. Lee Daniels 110m. Digital.
Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz.

Adapted from the work of one-time Harlem teacher and poet Sapphire, this is the story of Claireece "Precious" Jones, played by Gabby Sidibe in a heartbreaking, award-winning debut performance. An overweight teenager from Harlem, Precious daydreams of escaping her never-ending circle of abuse, suffering her mother Mary's (a frighteningly convincing Mo'Nique) daily routine of oppression and cruelty. Pregnant for the second time, she finds support in the form of teacher Ms Rain (Paula Patton) and social worker Mrs Weiss (Mariah Carey). This element of hope from these two women who want better for her underpins Precious's heartrending journey. A courageous and uncompromising film that looks set to sweep the board throughout the 2010 awards season.

• Friday 12 February for 2 weeks

A SINGLE MAN (12A)

(US 2009) dir. Tom Ford 101m. Digital.
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori, Ryan Simpkins, Ginnifer Goodwin.

A striking directorial debut from controversial fashion designer Tom Ford with the performance of a lifetime from Colin Firth. Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, it's the story of George Falconer (Firth), a college professor who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim. A series of events and encounters over just one day ends with a life-changing decision. Charley (Julianne Moore) is his closest friend, but she too is wrestling with her own doubts about the future. Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), a young student coming to terms with his sexuality, sees George, his teacher, as a kindred spirit. A SINGLE MAN is a haunting and romantic tale of love interrupted that captures the isolation that is so much a part of the human condition and ultimately brings home the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life.

• Friday 26 February for 2 weeks

MICMACS (12A)

(France 2009) dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet 104m. Subtitles. Digital.
Dany Boon, Andre Dussollier, Yolande Moreau, Omar Sy, Dominique Pinon.

Classic film noir and silent comedy are the starting points for a flight of visual imagination that knows no bounds as AMELIE director Jean Pierre-Jeunet brings his inimitable brand of magical realism to a comic tale of revenge. Orphaned at a tender age when his father is killed by a landmine, video store clerk Bazil (Dany Boon) himself becomes the accidental victim of a shooting. Unexpectedly surviving the incident, Bazil is determined to bring down the multinational arms manufacturers who have caused him so much misery. With some help from his friends, a band of misfits with some very strange, but useful, talents, he embarks on an over-the top series of escapades each of which is more elaborate and entertaining than the last. It's all very satirical, very topical and very, very funny.

• Friday 12 March for 2 weeks

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (18)

(Sweden/Denmark/Germany 2009) dir. Niels Arden Opley 153m. Subtitles. Digital.
Michel Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Andersson, Ingvar Hirdwall, Marika Lagercrantz.

A gripping Swedish thriller based on the first book in Stieg Larsson's worldwide bestselling Millennium trilogy. Happily, a sweeping and complex novel has made an equally fascinating and fast-moving page-turner of a movie. Disgraced investigative journalist Mikael is hired by a wealthy tycoon to investigate the forty-year old disappearance, and probable murder, of his young niece. At the same time Mikael is himself being pursued by investigative hacker Lisbeth, the wild child of the film's title and a woman full of contradictions who operates solely according to her own logic. Noomi Rapace's mesmerising performance turns her into a uncontrollable animal with her own sense of justice. Some classic noir twists and turns raise more unanswered questions until a whole Pandora's box of past fascist and religious atrocities is opened to reveal an even more shocking and disturbing crime.

• Friday 26 March for 1 week

LOURDES (U)

(Austria/France/Germany 2009) dir. Jessica Hausner 99m. Subtitles. Digital.
Sylvie Testud, Lea Seydoux, Bruno Todeschini, Elina Lowensohn, Gerhard Liebmann, Linde Prelong.

LOURDES moves in as mysterious a way as events at the iconic shrine visited by millions of cure-seeking pilgrims annually. Is Austrian director Jessica Hausner's luminous multi-award winner a subtly subversive black comedy or a deeply spiritual portrait of physical rebirth? And is what happens to wheelchair bound Christine (visiting Lourdes because it's one of the few excursions available for the handicapped) an actual miracle? With a gallery of believable characters, and beautifully filmed in Lourdes itself, this tale of change and healing is brilliantly scripted, is shot in a delightfully deadpan style and features some captivating, slyly comic performances. Just like its central character, it can be reverent, irreverent, factual or ironic – the choice is yours.