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Neruda
Inventive constructed biopic – part fiction, part fantasy – of the Nobel prize-winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, from director Pablo Larrain (Jackie, No, The Club). A fictional inspector played by Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal (star of previous WFC films Motorcycle Diaries and Even the Rain) is caught in a cat and mouse thriller in…
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Loving
WFC marks Black History Month with this Oscar-nominated historical drama set during the American Civil Rights era, depicting the relationship of Richard and Mildred Loving and their landmark legal challenge to the State of Virginia’s prohibition of inter-racial marriage. Much of the script is transcribed verbatim from archive material. The film was inspired by Nancy…
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The Mafia Kills Only in Summer
Putting an irreverent rom-com spin on the organized crime genre, this deceptively sunny rites-of-passage drama marks the big-screen debut of Pierfrancesco “Pif” Diliberto (b. 1972), best known in Italy as a television host and current-affairs satirist. Taking its title from one of the myths that the film’s young hero is taught to believe, The Mafia…
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The Salesman
Renowned Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi’s films depict dramas in the lives of ordinary people that present a microcosm of modern Iran and its complexities, particularly in regard to class and gender, with middle-class marriage his signature theme. As a student Farhadi arrived in Tehran hoping to study cinema in college and was instead assigned to…
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My Cousin Rachel
Based on the famous 1951 novel by Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca, The Birds, Jamaica Inn), My Cousin Rachel tells the story of a young Englishman (Hunger Games’ Sam Claflin) who becomes involved with his older cousin’s widow, played by Rachel Weisz (who won an Oscar for her role in The Constant Gardener). Shot in England…
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20th Century Women
With a superlative cast like this in the hands of Mills (Beginners, Beautiful Losers) such a sensitive nurturing director, nothing could go wrong. A five star comedy drama to relish as single mum Dorothea (Bening) has trouble raising her teenage son and engages the help of the other free-spirited women living in the house. Or…
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The Glass Key
Renowned crime novelist Dashiell Hammett’s tale of big-city political corruption The Glass Key was originally filmed in 1935, starring George Raft. This version was devised as a follow-up vehicle for its charismatic lead Alan Ladd, who had recently impressed in This Gun for Hire; and with Hammett’s stock in Hollywood high in the wake of…
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My Pure Land
British-Pakistani director Sarmad Masud’s assured debut feature tells the fascinating true story of Nazo Dharejo (Suhaee Abro), a young woman who fought to save her home in Pakistan from bandits. Masud has said that he made the film “for Pakistan – our nation is struggling to find its voice in the cinema … we need…
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A Man Called Ove
Stepping out of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel (Swedish, 2012), Ove is the quintessential neighbourhood grouch. A boisterous young family moves into his street, sparking a tale of unreliable first impressions, interacting opposites and life’s unexpected twists, all generously laced with Nordic black humour. Lead actor Lassgård, who played Wallander in the Swedish TV adaptation of…
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The Florida Project
A double entendre, the title alludes to Walt Disney’s utopian plan to build The Florida Project, an “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” – subverted after his death, with vestiges incorporated in the lucrative Walt Disney World. Today, “project” is also the American term for council estates, which often have Disney-style names that jar with their…