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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Great artists tend to experience intense, emotional, visual recollections of earlier times in their lives, which they feed through their heightened imaginations and their heightened senses of awareness in order to forge their most powerful art. Such artists are, by definition, rare, and it is to our great collective benefit that one was recently discovered
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Chico and Rita
This is an utterly seductive animated tale of historical accuracy, set in 1940s Cuba, Las Vegas and New York. The story unfolds through flashbacks as Chico remembers a distant past when, as a young aspiring jazz pianist, he met the beautiful and exceptional singer Rita. Music and romance pull them together but, in true star-crossed
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Submarine
Coming of age comedy drama adapted from the 2008 novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne. Submarine is Ayoade’s directorial debut. Oliver Tate (Roberts) is a 15 year-old Swansea boy in 1986 who is convinced that he is an unrivalled genius who is widely loved by his classmates, when in fact he is pretentious
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Senna
The first thing to say about Senna is that you don’t have to know, or care, about driving round and round in circles very fast to enjoy this terrific film. Senna is a superbly crafted portrait of an exceptional individual who thrilled the world and inspired a nation. The film begins with Senna’s arrival into
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Le Herisson
Adapted from Muriel Barbery’s international bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, writer-director Mona Achache’s first film follows three main characters, an 11 year old girl and two eccentric characters in her building. Paloma (le Guillermic), a serious, articulate but deeply bored pre-teen has decided to kill herself on her 12th birthday, disgusted by the futility
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XXY
Based on a short story by Sergio Bizzio, Puenzo’s first feature film follows the psychological journey that 15 year old intersex Alex (Efron) makes as she struggles to find her sexual and gender identity. In a bid to protect her from the morbid curiosity and intolerance that her intersexuality would – in all likelihood –
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Las Acacias
New Argentinian cinema emerged after the Second World War with films that focused intently on the realities of Argentinian social and rural life, becoming political with the advent of social unrest in the late sixties and early seventies and succumbing temporarily to the seven years of suppression that followed military takeover in 1976. The return
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Incendies
Canadian Nawal Marwan has just passed away. The only people at the reading of her will are her twin adult children, Jeanne and Simon Marwan, and the executor, Nawal’s long-time employer and friend, notary Jean Lebel. The will contains many unusual requests, the most unusual being two sealed envelopes, one to be delivered by each
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Like Water For Chocolate
An adaptation of a novel by Laura Esquivel, ‘Como Agua Para Chocolate’ (Like Water for Chocolate) is a Latin American expression which refers to the near boiling temperature of water for use in the making of chocolate, and is, figuratively, a reference to passion. In this tale of early 20th century, pre-revolution Mexico, a family
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Fire In Babylon
There is phenomenal cricket on show, but much more than that. A skilful documentary about how the West Indian champions became a magnificent symbol of success: a ‘yes, we can’ message to black communities in Britain and worldwide. Featuring stock footage and interviews with several former players and officials, the documentary describes the ascension of










