Forest Row Film Society

The head of a Tunisian immigrant clan, living in the south of France, is sixty-something Slimane (Habib Bouferes) and he has just been made redundant. He buys a beaten up old boat, dreaming of turning it into a floating restaurant specializing in couscous — the best couscous. His extended family rally round to help spruce up the boat. It is a family that nourishes love, jealousy, discouragement, and ambition, as well as a whole lot of dining. As the big day nears, troubles begin. A film with a lot on its mind, involving personal stories and social issues. Tragic and comic flavour blend nicely in this succulent offering. Rather than observing the family you will be drawn in and feel part of it.

Winner of four César awards and several at the Venice Film Festival.

“a deeply involving tragicomedy, combining warmth with an unexpected level of complexity, and delivering a fiercely unsentimental commentary on the sexual politics of family and food.” The Guardian

Further Reading

1. Sight and Sound
2. Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
3. Roger Ebert
4. Film Comment
5. libcom.org
6. Abdellatif Kechiche: interview in Time Out

This Oscar-nominated documentary is a fascinating study of Antarctica. Herzog and just one cameraman spent five months filming during its austral summer when it never gets dark. As always, Herzog is most adventurous and shows us stunning and surreal landscapes including trips under the ice shell. In addition, we meet and listen to some of the scientists who are working in this extreme environment. It's not all serious, especially on the brief occasion when there are penguins about. A visually stunning film, strange and stimulating; you can almost feel the cold coming out of the screen.

“Seemingly off-hand, cumulatively imposing, utterly masterful.” Time Out

Further Reading

1. Roger Ebert
2. Screen International

One of Buster Keaton's most supremely inventive comedies, in which he plays a cinema projectionist with ambitions to be a detective. In love and impoverished, Keaton is framed for a theft by a rival suitor. Returning to the cinema he falls asleep and in his dreams steps into the film that is playing.

After his initial surprise at his new environment, he realises there is a crime to solve. With a bewildering array of sight gags and chases, this is a masterpiece.

With live musical accompaniment by Terry Davies.

Further Reading

1. Peter Bogdanovich, New York Observer
2. Armando Iannucci, The Guardian

A collection of Sussex-related films from Screen Archive South East, including some of the very earliest films made in Britain by filmmakers Robert Paul and James Williamson. The programme will also include Watery Trail (1938) following the course of the river Medway, film of Brighton from the 1950s, and a selection of adverts and short documentaries from the 1930s.

We'll also be showing the Pathé newsreel Mac Pays Tribute to Kennedy (1964), made when the prime minister visited Forest Row to unveil the commemorative plaque to president Kennedy.

Further Reading

1. Article on Robert Paul in Who's Who of Victorian Cinema
2. Article on James Williamson in Who's Who in Victorian Cinema
3. Information about Watery Trail

Itinerant short films on Lower Road, including Daffy Duck, Popeye and Betty Boop.

Kirikou is a tiny child, as fast as anything, and never stops talking. From the moment he is born he wants to know why his village is suffering so much. The evil and scary sorceress, Karaba, has cast a terrible spell on the place, and Kirikou resolves to set things to rights.

Beautifully animated, with a marvellous feel for the shape and colours of Africa, and a soundtrack by Youssou N'Dour, Kirikou and the Sorceress is a refreshing alternative to anodyne mainstream cartoons.

Winner of loads of awards, including the Children's Jury Award at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival in 1999.

“An unexpected treat on any level” BBC Films

Further Reading

1. British Film Institute: Teaching Resources
2. Official site for the US release
3. Film Journal International

Exploring the importance of oil in modern farming, this film has a passionate narrative centred on the director's investigation to change her small family farm to a low-energy enterprise.

Directed by filmmaker Rebecca Hosking, who spearheaded the campaign to remove plastic bags from her home town of Modbury in Devon, and which has gained national attention.

This film shown in collaboration with Transition Forest Row

Further Reading

1. Rebecca Hosking, Daily Mail
2. Transition Culture

The true story of Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralysed body; only his left eye isn't. An astonishing and deeply moving film, thanks to a beautifully written script, extraordinary direction and stunning camera work. A brilliant film, Schnabels third film is also his masterpiece.

“Haunting, searing and beautiful... It's impossible to leave this movie without seeing more clearly, and appreciating the wonder of being alive.” Film Journal International

Further Reading

1. Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
2. Roger Ebert
3. Film Journal International

Set in a South African township, U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha is a fantastic, gritty setting of Bizet's great opera. Performed by the Dimpho Di Kopane theatre company and directed by Mark Dornford-May, it was created by the same team as Son of Man, which we screened last year.

Carmen (Pauline Malefane) works in a cigarette factory, and is preparing for a local concert. After a fight, she is arrested and taken into custody. There, the policeman Jongikhaya's passion for Carmen develops, with tragic consequences.

Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin, U-Carmen is strong, self-possessed and visually very exciting.

“hugely accomplished ... a thrillingly unsentimental view of opera” Sight and Sound

“Works perfectly ... hits the bull's eye” Time Out

Further Reading

1. Interview with Mark Dornford-May
2. Filmmaker Magazine
3. New York Times

Agathe Villenova (Agnès Jaoui), a busy feminist politician, finds time to return to her rural home in the south of France to help her sister, Florence, put their recently deceased mother's affairs in order. Karim, the son of Algerian housekeeper Mimouna who has spent a lifetime with Agathe's family, is a hotel receptionist with aspirations to become a film director. He persuades Agathe to participate in a succession of interviews (including a memorable but disastrous scene up a mountain) for a documentary in a series on successful women.

Compared by critics to Woody Allen's comedies of manners, Let's Talk About the Rain is a film brimming with charm which uncovers truths in everyday relationships.

“a deeply felt comedy of middle-class French life ... and the ensemble acting is perfect” Philip French, The Observer

“Quite simply wonderful” Empire

Further Reading

1. Press pack, including interview with Jaoui [pdf]
2. Screen International

This new film gives a sense of the scale of the emerging Transition Movement with stories of communities creating their own currencies, setting up their own pubs, planting trees, growing food and more.

This film shown in collaboration with Transition Forest Row

In 1982, nineteen year old Ari Folman was among the Israeli soldiers who stood by while Lebanese Christian militiamen, wanting to avenge the murder of Bashir Gemayel, massacred Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps of west Beirut.

For more than two decades, Folman repressed all memories of the events until an old comrade recounted the awful dream plaguing him: the film's opening sequence of a hunting pack of snarling dogs. In the ensuing months he sought out and interviewed other fellow soldiers and pieced together the story of what happened.

To bring it to visual life, he decided to use animation: “There was no other way to do it, to show memories, hallucinations, dreams. War is like a really bad acid trip and this was the only way to show that.” The result is a truly startling film, as difficult to categorise as it is to forget.

“an acid-trip down memory lane ... an extraordinary film” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“Astonishing, unforgettable: you have to see it.” Empire

“A memoir, a history lesson, a combat picture, a piece of investigative journalism, and an altogether amazing film.” New York Times

Further Reading

1. Official film site
2. Gideon Levy, Haaretz
3. Robert Fisk on the massacre at Sabra and Chatila
4. Arab Media Watch

Biography of French singer Edith Piaf (Marian Cotillard), in which the street singer is discovered and rises to fame. Neglected by her mother and then by her father, a travelling acrobat. The heart, body and soul of a grief-stricken Piaf. An emotional, moving and sensational performance by Marion Cotillard, and also starring Gerard Depardieu.

“This spectacular epic portraying the life of singing legend Edith Piaf and powered by so many of her actual recordings is one of those rare cinematic happenings where every aspect of the production is done to perfection.” Film Journal International

Further Reading

1. Official UK film site
2. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

In this acclaimed French drama by Philippe Claudel, Kristin Scott Thomas plays Juliette, a broken soul who wanders aimlessly on a long path to redemption. Released from prison after a fifteen year separation she is reunited with her young sister, but is still very much a prisoner within herself. Thomas's presence in Claudel's intelligent observant debut about dislocation, fragility and the inner pain of unshakeable memories, is powerfully distinctive.

“Scott Thomas's performance, with its occasional discreet flashes of self-knowing wit, is marvellous to behold, confirming her as one of the very best” Screen International

“a deeply involving, beautifully acted and expertly constructed human drama” The Guardian

Further Reading

1. Official film site
2. The Guardian
3. Screen International

An ode to the planet's beauty and its delicate harmony. Every image shows the Earth's treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we can still preserve. Narrated by Glenn Close.

This film shown in collaboration with Transition Forest Row

Further Reading

1. Official film site

A young and gifted East German journalist determinedly fighting for freedom of speech lives with his girlfriend. Their flat has been bugged by the secret police. Suspecting something, the young woman deliberately provokes a police officer, ending up in custody. From then on, the twists and turns of this tragic, but redemptive tale leave us moved and inspired by the innate goodness of an ordinary man caught up in the political agenda of his times.

“one of the most amazing films I have ever seen” Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Further Reading

1. The Independent
2. The Guardian

Narrated by Kate Winslet, this charming follow-up to The March of the Penguins tells the story of a young girl and her friendship with a fox.

Doris Dörrie's Cherry Blossoms is both a beautifully moving tender tale of cultural crossings and a double portrait of grief, drawing on Ozu's masterpiece Tokyo Story. Trudi and Rudi, a long-married provincial German couple, must confront the other's death. Some of the moments of beauty denied to them by the timidity of their own longings, the lustreless routine of work, and family indifference may yet be savoured after the pain of loss and separation, in the undeniable epiphany during the cherry blossom season at the beginning of spring in Japan.

“a quiet, very beautiful film about the duality of love and death” Philip French, The Observer

Further Reading

1. Eye for Film
2. Interview with the director (Film Journal International)
3. Interview with the director (Der Spiegel)

Etre et Avoir charts six months in the life of a small “single class” school in rural France. Ranging in age from four to eleven, thirteen children are taught every subject by the dedicated Georges Lopez, whose enlightened methods reveal a genuine affection for his young charges. A master in quiet authority, he patiently cools down their arguments and listens to their problems. As the seasons pass from inclement winter to bucolic summer, M. Lopez prepares the children for life as he himself approaches retirement.

Offering a touching and absorbing look at the heart of a village community, Philibert's documentary was a surprise cinema hit which was warmly received by critics and won numerous awards, including a Bafta, a César and a European Film Award.

“thoroughly delightful documentary ... In its humanity and its quietly passionate idealism, this film is a tonic.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“It's one of the very finest films you're likely to see in a long time. Just beautiful.” Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Further Reading

1. Film Journal International
2. Salon Magazine
3. Guardian article on litigation by M. Lopez

With stunning cinematography, a compelling soundtrack, and dramatic stories of resistance and transformation, Fierce Light shows what is possible when human beings, faced with a world in crisis, rise to their absolute best.

This film shown in collaboration with Transition Forest Row

Further Reading

1. Official film site

A complex narrative of connections and coincidences revolving around six characters in modern Germany and Turkey, The Edge of Heaven is a beautifully acted story of love and pain, and generational and cultural dislocation.

With many thematic parallels with Babel, this much more accomplished film is a dreamlike meditation shot through with idealism, conflict and unity. Starring Hannah Schygulla, in her most compelling role since she worked with Fassbinder in the 70s.

“A story about mothers and sons, fathers and daughters — and about hope as the last refuge we have as human beings” Fatih Akin

“Bold and exhilarating film-making” The Guardian

Further Reading

1. The Guardian
2. Roger Ebert
3. Sight and Sound
4. Official film site

The wife of a British diplomat in Africa is murdered because she has uncovered an illegal and destructive trade in medicines for the local population. Her husband sets out to track down her killers, and the trail leads all the way back to the Foreign Office in London. This film is a stark reminder of how politics and politicians can undermine compassionate intentions.

A gripping thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz made by City of God director Fernando Meirelles and based on the novel by John le Carré.

“one of the year's best films” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“a romance that packs a punch to equal The English Patient” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Further Reading

1. Official film site
2. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Two guys, a girl and a Super 8 camera in a wonderful film of growing up in 1975, during the Lebanese civil war.

The debut feature by Tarantino's camerman and winner of the International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Further Reading

1. Salon magazine
2. Eye for Film
3. Film Journal International

Brand new documentary exploring the depletion of fish stocks around the world that shows that, given consumer and political action, the situation can be turned around.

This film shown in collaboration with Transition Forest Row

Further Reading

1. Official film site
2. Daily Telegraph
3. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

With The Leopard, Visconti delivers one of his most ambitious and spectacular works, based on the acclaimed novel by count Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa.

Set in Sicily during the 1860s as the aristocracy found itself being suffocated by a newly democratic fervor, led by Garibaldi.

A masterpiece vividly shot, beautifully acted where time passes slowly gathering a kind of power that only a true master can conjure. One of the greatest motion pictures of all time, as well as one of the most politically profound.

Winner of the palme d'Or at the 1963 Cannes film festival, and starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon.

“Visconti's gorgeous, epic account of Lampedusa's novel... A must-see” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Further Reading

1. Roger Ebert
2. Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
3. Jonathan Jones, The Guardian
4. BFI resource on Visconti

Denis Dercourt's stylish, subtle and highly assured film is a pleasingly suspenseful psychological drama. Déborah Francois plays Mélanie, the small-town butcher's daughter whose ambitions as a pianist were dashed during a childhood audition by the thoughtless behaviour of the chairwoman of the jury. She retains the grievance when she later becomes the page turner for this same woman who thwarted her hopes. Francois's portrayal of the young woman intent on settling scores is the epitome of icy resolve.

“A treat for lovers of intelligent cinema.” The Guardian

Further Reading

1. The Guardian
2. Eye for Film

In a stunning mountain village above the sea, untouched by the modern world, life is organised around the natural rhythms of the earth and the five daily calls to Islamic prayer: the “five times” which give the film its Turkish title (Bes Vakit) and its structure, only chronologically reversed so that we start with night, followed by evening, then afternoon, noon and dawn.

This is a down-to-earth portrait of the villagers' dreams and desires which lie beneath the austerity of their working existence.

The main characters are three young friends, two boys and a girl, torn between rage and guilt as they make the delicate transition from childhood to adulthood and explore the fraught territory of love, lust and death.

Reha Erdem's fourth feature, with an extraordinary score by Arvo Part, has impressed critics while scooping up awards at festivals.

“a remarkable piece of work ... a cinematic poem, replete with fear and rapture, and one of the best films of the year.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Further Reading

1. The Times
2. Sight and Sound
3. Not Coming to a Theater Near You
4. The Independent
5. Official film site
6. The Guardian

A very funny true story that follows a couple of political activists as they infiltrate the world of big business and pull off outrageous pranks that highlight the ways that corporate greed is destroying the planet.

This film shown in collaboration with Transition Forest Row

Further Reading

1. Official film site
2. Screen International

A simple but extremely beautiful and touching film, the subject of which — the death of a mother and how subsequently the family have to face the disintegration of their beloved home — can move the hardest heart. This quietly breathtaking human drama, which moves from sadness to optimism, is masterfully carried by a remarkable cast with an unforgettable Juliette Binoche. The heartbreak is never over-sentimentalised, and one is reminded of Chekov.

The fate of the valuable artefacts left by the mother shows that being French means being torn between the heritage of a culture and the appeal of modernity, wanting to keep your roots alive and spread towards the world.

“beautifully performed, intelligently written and fluently directed” Geoff Andrew, Time Out

“deeply moving” Empire

Further Reading

1. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
2. Not Coming to a Theater Near You

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on America's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of the government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. America's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli--the bacterium that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms' Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms' Joe Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising -- and often shocking truths -- about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

This film shown in collaboration with Transition Forest Row

Further Reading

1. Official film site

By an unlikely twist of fate, reporter Phil Winter finds himself stuck with a little girl, Alice, searching the cities of Germany for her grand-mother whose name and address Alice can't remember. The only clue is a photograph of her grand-mother's front door, with no house number and no one else in the shot. In this hypnotic odyssey we follow a restless character adrift, isolated and lonely, finding companionship with an innocent child. Wim Wenders is a master at finding in the banality of life on the road, the magic that comes from granting space and time to those extended moments other films pass over. Rudiger Vogler as Phil and Yella Rottlander as Alice make a fascinating and touching partnership.

“an intriguing movie that lives in the mind for hours after the lights have come up” The Guardian

Further Reading

1. The Guardian
2. Wim Wenders' site