28 Aug - 15 Oct 2026 An Annual Environmental Cinema Festival CHICHESTERCINEMA.ORG
Welcome
Welcome to this year’s A Greener Screen. With wildfires raging all over the world, the effects of climate change could not be more evident. Our selection of critically acclaimed films and short introductions will examine the considerable challenges facing our environment, but we also take time to celebrate the beauty of nature as well as the need to protect it. This year we are proud to be working with a host of local community partners, who will introduce many films and talk briefly about their restoration, sustainability and protection projects. There will also be a call to action for some projects seeking volunteers. We have also introduced new pathways - see the six emblems below - to help you navigate the films of most interest.
Théo Rogier of the Education team will give a talk on the ‘Farmer Drama’ with wonderful clips to whet your appetite and for our workshops, we are delighted to be collaborating with Small World Cinema, whose creative approach encourages children to experience cinema through all their senses. Families with younger children (under-5s) can enjoy a specially designed Cinemini session while children aged 6+ can explore the visual world of ‘Arco’ through an imaginative kaleidoscope-making workshop before the screening. We would like to thank all our partners, collaborators and supporters and especially Transition Town Chichester for their invaluable input.
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Stories celebrating the beauty of our natural world ★★★★
THE GUARDIAN
SAT 29 AUG 13:00 PLUS INTRO THU 3 SEP 13:15 PLUS INTRO
OUR LAND
PRESENTED WITH TRANSITION TOWN CHICHESTER & FRIENDS
An examination of the complex issues of access, custodianship, conservation, and the age-old beliefs about property that have shaped our relationship with the land for over a thousand years. Daring to tread where few have trespassed before, Our Land asks the timely question of who has the right to roam in the English countryside? The UK is a wild and beautiful place, but the vast majority of it is off limits to the general public, with 92% of land and 97% of all rivers in England not legally accessible. At the same time, it is a landscape shaped by centuries of inheritance and tradition, with land held and cared for by families across multiple generations. UK 2026 ORBAN WALLACE 122M Volunteers from Transition Town Chichester’s community garden and orchard will say a few words about their projects and there will be complimentary apples from the orchard to take away after the screening!
★★★★
THE NORTH
SUN 30 AUG 13:15 WED 2 SEP 20:00 PLUS INTRO
On Sept 2, before the film, Mark Hobson from Transition Town Chichester will say a few words about ‘pilgrimage’ and being connected to the land
THE GUARDIAN
Two friends, a Dutchman and a Hispanic man reunite after a decade apart on a majestic hike on Scotland’s West Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail. Chris (Bart Harder) is a modern professional about to embark on married life and a family with his girlfriend, while Lluís (Carles Pulido) is still figuring everything out, having ditched his job as a wedding videographer. He looks for creative inspiration on the planned 28-day 600km trek with his old friend. This majestic, narrative fictional feature film is as beautifully meandering as the journey they take, and we learn about their lives in just as unexpected ways as the landscape reveals itself. This is the ultimate hiking film and on the big screen it reaches uplifting altitudes that no smaller screen could ever touch. (Some subtitles) NETHERLANDS 2025 BART SCHRIJVER 130M
BOX OFFICE
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LOST FOR WORDS
This poetic journey through language and landscape explores how reconnecting with nature’s vanishing vocabulary can help us reimagine our future with hope. Based on the bestseller by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris, this extraordinary documentary explores visually rapturous UK landscapes and the connection between language, nature and the challenges of today. It is described as “a hopeful call to re-establish our own intimate connection to nature and to immerse ourselves in its dizzying riches of motifs” Its narrators include children, Alzheimer patients and environmental activists. (Some subtitles) UK 2025 HANNAH PAPACEK HARPER 92M
TUE 1 SEP 18:00
MON 31 AUG 18:00 SAT 5 SEP 15:45
UNDERLAND
A lyrical, ruminative exploration of life deep beneath the Earth’s surface, uncovering some of humanity’s best kept secrets. Based on Robert Macfarlane’s book and narrated by Sandra Huller, this fascinating documentary cinematically, scientifically and poetically plunges deep into both the natural and man-made underground world. It seamlessly takes us through Las Vegas storm drains playing host to the impoverished who have been driven underground alongside the detritus from Sin City above, to the ancient, sacred caves of Yucatán in Mexico, in search of fossil traces of Maya ancestors, and a deep underground laboratory built to solve the mysteries of the Universe. This breathtaking film takes us on a voyage into worlds rarely glimpsed by human eyes and is a literal deep dive into the Earth, presenting a groundbreaking vision for rethinking our lives on this fragile surface. UK 2025 ROBERT PETIT 79M
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SAT 19 SEPT 15:45 PLUS INTRO
SUPER NATURE
A love letter to nature, created on Super8 home movie format by people connecting across the world by land, air and beneath the ocean. In this celebration of all we treasure and all we have to lose, we embark on a journey with a host of short clips of nature and wildlife captured by conservationists, biologists and activists across 25 different countries. A far cry from today’s high-def filming, each participant has used a Super8 camera, imbuing the film with a great warmth and nostalgia and not a little hope. This immersive exploration of the world covers everything from garden snails and Welsh puffins to the last remaining two white rhinos – and to cap it all, this poetic and personal meditation on the natural world comes with a rich and diverse music score. Something to savour! (Some subtitles) UK 2025 ED SAYERS 82M Paul Ayling of Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) will give a brief talk and show a short film about a swim from the source of the Thames to Parliament undertaken last year to highlight the breadth of the Sewage crisis.
TIME AND WATER
An Icelandic poet and author constructs a cinematic time capsule to document the melting of the glaciers in his homeland. A film about home, memory and epochal change, this lyrical documentary about Iceland’s vanishing glaciers is less a polemic on the effects of climate change, and more of a deeply personal braiding together of a family history, mythology and climate science to tell a meandering but mesmeric tale of dying glaciers, climate meltdown and intergenerational communication. Time and Water weaves together family archive film and newly shot footage, digital and 16mm, of Iceland’s spectacular but rapidly changing landscape. ICELAND/USA 2026 SARA DOSA 90M SUN 20 SEP 18:00 PLUS INTRO
There will be an introduction and 15m short film called ‘Bill’s Story’ presented by Louise MacCallum, Project Manager of the Solent Seascape Project before the main feature. BOX OFFICE
01243 786 650
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Stories of human connections and coexistence with animals
SUN 6 SEP 12:45 PLUS Q&A
THE SHEPHERD AND THE BEAR
An aging shepherd struggles to find a successor as bears prey on his flock in the Pyrenees. Set high in the majestic French Pyrenees, we learn of a conflict provoked by the reintroduction of brown bears amid a traditional shepherding community. 63-year-old Yves struggles to find a successor to take over his work, whilst a teenage boy becomes obsessed with tracking the bears, recently reintroduced after their disappearance in 2004. Through its breathtaking cinematography and immersive storytelling, ‘The Shepherd and the Bear’ is a modern folktale about tradition, community and humanity’s relationship with a vanishing natural world. Keegan learned to speak French fluently from scratch for the film and spent two years living in the Pyrenees with his subjects. ‘Lyrical, visually and aurally ravishing’ – Screen International. (Some subtitles) UK/FRANCE 2024 MAX KEEGAN 101M We are delighted to welcome local director Max Keegan (Fishbourne) for a Q&A following his documentary.
★★★★
THE TIMES
★★★★
THE GUARDIAN
MON 7 SEP 18:00
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ELLIS PARK
A poignant insight into the world of The Bad Seeds musician Warren Ellis, and the Indonesian animal sanctuary he co-founded with activist Femke den Haas. Early shots in ‘Ellis Park’ incorporate lush rainforests and majestic terrain; the location of the titular animal sanctuary in Sumatra, Indonesia, that rehabilitates injured creatures and releases them back into the wild, or provides a dignified final chapter to their lives. Justin Kurzel’s first foray into documentary filmmaking is a surprisingly gentle and leisurely blended cinematic portrait of the musician Warren Ellis and the animal sanctuary that means so much to him. Here we witness the coming together of the healing power of looking after animals and the sanctuary that music can provide. The confluence of music and activism is encapsulated by a simple shot of Ellis, head bowed in concentration, feverishly playing his violin, amid, and inspired by, the untamed haven of the jungle. Warning – there are some distressing archive scenes of suffering owing to the sanctuary’s proximity to the region’s lucrative animal trafficking route. AUSTRALIA 2024 JUSTIN KURZEL 104M
★★★★
THE GUARDIAN
★★★★★
ROGER EBERT
THE TALE OF SYLIAN
A farmer’s special bond with a wounded white stork intertwines with Macedonian folklore. A story drawn from 17th century Macedonian folklore is deftly woven through this intimate portrait of a farmer, whose traditional way of life is threatened by economic pressures in modern Macedonia. Nikola’s life may be hard, his work may be back-breaking, but he is a gleeful, avuncular figure and he and his wife Jana scythe the fields together, their movements perfectly synchronised. When Nikola’s daughter and her husband relocate to Germany, Jana goes with them to provide childcare, leaving Nikola behind. He develops an almost spiritual relationship with a gangly damaged stork that he rescues which, in turn, reaffirms his bond with the land. This beautiful, gentle film explores themes of symbiosis with the natural world, disrupted balances and migration. NORTH MACEDONIA/USA/UK 2025 TAMARA KOTEVSKA 81M Alex Foster from the Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital will introduce this film with a short talk on its important work and the role of its volunteers.
THU 10 SEP 18:00 PLUS INTRO
BOX OFFICE
01243 786 650
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Stories of the change-makers and the active repair generation BALANCING THE SCALES
An exploration of the intricate relationship between reintroduced beavers and the delicate conservation needs of migratory fish populations. Our freshwater fish populations play a vital role in maintaining the health of our ecosystem, but they exist in a perilous state with over one third of species facing extinction. Narrated by Joanna Lumley, this visually stunning documentary captures hope amid environmental uncertainty. Through candid interviews with leading experts, the intricate relationship between beavers and migratory fish is unpacked – revealing the opportunities beavers create and the unique challenges they introduce in our freshwater ecosystems. U.K. 2025 NINA CONSTABLE 28M TICKETS ONLY £5.00 SAT 29 AUG 11:45
★★★★
THE GUARDIAN
MON 14 SEP 17:45 PLUS INTRO & Q& A
NIGHT MOVES
Three radical environmentalists from Oregon plan to plant a bomb to blow up a dam they believe is harming the environment. Winner of the 2013 Grand Prix at the Deauville Film Festival, this tense thriller from Kelly Reichardt does not focus so much on exploring why people do what they do, but instead examines how they deal with the consequences of their actions. With mesmerising performances from Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard, this paranoid tragedy of eco-terrorism is an unsettling thriller blending psychological intrigue with ratcheting tension. USA 2013 KELLY REICHARDT 112M West Dean Fine Art Tutor and author Dr David Stent & Film Scholar Dominic Lash will discuss their new book ‘Night Moves: 24 letters’ combined with a book signing after the film.
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TICKETS ONLY £7.50 SAT 26 SEP 15:00 PLUS Q&A
WOMAN GROWS JEANS
When an ambitious experiment between a textile activist and a celebrity clothier meets inevitable challenges, one woman is propelled into an initiation that makes British fashion history. Justine Aldersley-Williams, a Wirral-based regenerative clothing activist, botanical textile dyer and founder of the Northern England Fibreshed, along with a community of volunteers in the industrial heartland of British textiles, sets out to do something unprecedented – to grow a pair of jeans from scratch, planting flax and indigo, spinning yarn and weaving cloth. This inspiring and uplifting film is about perseverance, interconnectedness and hope, and is a must-see for anyone who cares about making truly sustainable textiles. UK 2025 JUSTINE ALDERSLEY WILLIAMS 50M Justine Aldersley-Williams will take part in an on-screen Q&A with Sue Gilson and Jacqueline Garstin of Transition Town Chichester after the film.
★★★★ IMDB
HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE
With deep-sea mining looming, marine biologists race to collect and document littleknown ocean species in one of Earth’s last largely unexplored ecosystems. With ultra-HD footage, the quiet majesty of the ocean’s floor takes centre-stage here. Marine biologists discover extraordinary, unnamed sea creatures at the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean, up to 6,000 meters deep at some points, but the imminent mining of the ocean ‘midnight zone’ to extract the very elements needed for ‘green energy’ technology also threatens these remarkable organisms altering their habitat through the use of heavy machinery, unfamiliar light and noise. This remarkable and balanced documentary contests the pros and cons of disrupting one environment to preserve another. U.K. 2025 ELEANOR MORTIMER 100M
SAT 3 OCT 12:15 WED 7 OCT 15:45
BOX OFFICE
01243 786 650
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The effects of the human footprint
FRI 11 SEP 18:00
JO IN THE WATER
A passionate sea swimmer takes on one of the U.K.’s biggest water companies in a David & Goliath battle to protect our waters from devastating sewage pollution. Exmouth-based Jo Bateman became a reluctant activist when her daily swims were being interrupted by sewage spills which she had to monitor by using the Surfers Against Sewage app. Court action was her last resort. We have all read the papers and seen the TV drama and the dire consequences not just for marine life, but for public health, and for the communities who simply wish to reclaim our right to a clean and thriving natural world. Jo’s story is not just about her legal fight but also about a connection to nature, to a sense of place and the importance of being able to safely experience and respond to our natural world. UK 2025 PIP PIPER 77M
TRADE SECRET
Three unlikely allies uncover the polar bear fur trade, following how conservation, politics, and commercial interests collide in ways the public was never meant to see. What begins as an effort to protect one of the world’s most iconic species, soon reveals a far more unsettling reality: those charged with safeguarding polar bears may themselves be entangled in their ongoing commercial exploitation and the international regulatory system designed to protect wildlife may be enabling its destruction. This clear-eyed, gripping documentary, meticulously researched and investigated over six years and across nine countries, raises urgent questions about how we protect vulnerable species in a world where the lines between protection and profit have become dangerously blurred. AUSTRALIA/ UK 2025 ABRAHAM JOFFE 98M MON 28 SEP 18:00
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THU 8 OCT 15:00
FOOD FOR PROFIT
A powerful exposé of the meat industry’s ties to the political corridors of power and the extensive malpractice within the European Agrifood sector. With a cinematic approach, this at times very tough-to-watch investigative documentary takes us on a revealing journey across Europe, confronting farmers, corporations and politicians, uncovering the connections between the meat industry, lobbying and political influence. The film explores the billions of euros funnelled into intensive factory farming rather than supporting sustainable practices and delves into the realities of that intensive farming (using hidden cameras) and the complex issues it raises; water pollution and biodiversity loss, the exploitation of migrants and the flagrant flouting of the rules around animal welfare within the powerful Agrifood sector. (Subtitles) ITALY 2024 GIULIA INNOCENZI & PABLO D’AMBROSI 90M
BOX OFFICE
01243 786 650
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Stories of playful animals and leafy escapades ★★★★ EMPIRE
★★★★
THE TIMES
SAT 12 SEP 12:30 FILM (CHILD £3.50) WORKSHOP £5.00
FRI 2 OCT 13:15 & 18:00 PLUS INTRO SAT 3 OCT 14:45 SUN 4 OCT 11:30 MON 5 OCT 15:15
ARCO
This wonderful, colourful first feature animation from Ugo Bienvenu and produced by Natalie Portman, follows two children affected by climate catastrophes. The title character Arco is a little 10-year-old boy from far in the future, who longs to travel back in time like his big sister and parents. The older family members have to don a special rainbowcoloured cloak in order to visit the dinosaurs or to gather resources because in the future the Earth is a drowned planet and people live on man-made platforms that are stacked up to the sky. The film is styled in Japanese animé-style but children will love the super-saturated palette that swirls rainbows all over everything! And we are left with a tiny note of optimism at the end. FRANCE 2025 UGO BIENVENU 89M Children of 6years+ are invited to attend the wonderful Arco Kaleidoscope-making workshop in the Old Dojo afterwards at 3pm.
TUE 6 OCT 13:15 WED 7 OCT 18:00 THU 8 OCT 13:00 & 15:45
SHAUN THE SHEEP: THE BEAST OF MOSSY BOTTOM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BARFOOTS
In the run-up to Halloween, Shaun the Sheep is back and ready for a brand-new, action-packed adventure in the pumpkin patch that is sure to be fun for all the family. In this long-awaited sequel to ‘Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon’ in 2019, the residents of Mossy Bottom Farm are looking forward to Halloween until the clumsy farmer trashes the flock’s beloved pumpkin patch. When Shaun turns mad scientist to try and fix the problem, things spiral out of control and if that wasn’t enough, a wild beast roaming the woods of Mossingham is heading their way! This is the latest stop-motion feature from the celebrated Aardman Animations, winners of seventeen BAFTAs and four Academy Awards. UK/FRANCE/USA 2026 STEVE COX & MATTHEW WALKER 91M Barfoots will introduce the film on Fri 2 Oct 18:00 and will provide a special something to take away afterwards!
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Eco-Inspired Workshops for Children
Saskia van Roomen of Small World Cinema introduces young audiences to classic and world cinema in a fun and interactive way, pairing screenings with creative activities that encourage families to spend time together. Each event supports visual literacy, emotional understanding and creative thinking through carefully chosen films and approaches that explore the moving image in its broadest forms.
CINEMINI WORKSHOPS
EACH SESSION WILL ACCOMMODATE UP TO 20 CHILDREN + ADULTS £5.00 PER CHILD AND PER ADULT SAT 12 SEPT 10:00 -11:15 SAT 12 SEPT 11:45 -13.00
For the 2-5s a magical first cinema experience especially created for children under five. A collection of short films inspired by the natural world will be screened in our ‘cinematic playground’ in the Old Dojo, where sounds become drawings, travellers become birds, trees change shape and a dog’s tail takes on a life of its own. Through playful transformations and unexpected connections, the programme invites us to look closely, listen carefully and discover the beauty and wonder of the world around us. After the screening, everyone can explore colour, movement, light and shadow through open-ended sensory play inspired by the films. To finish, everyone watches the films again. Young children love repetition; it helps them notice new details, make connections between what they’ve seen and what they’ve explored through play, and build confidence in the cinema environment. This is a gentle and playful introduction to the magic of cinema for our youngest audiences. Children must be accompanied by an adult/ parent/carer/guardian, all of whom are invited to participate.
RAINBOW KALEIDOSCOPE-MAKING WORKSHOP
£5.00 (NO CHARGE FOR ACCOMPANYING ADULTS) WORKSHOP - SAT 12 SEP 15:00 ‘ARCO’ - SAT 12 SEP 12:30
Suitable for ages 6+. Inspired by the animated film ARCO, this 90-minute workshop invites children to explore the magic of light, colour and moving images. Using a specially designed giant kaleidoscope, children can experiment with mirrors, patterns and prisms to discover how light transforms the world around them. They will then design and make their own rainbow kaleidoscope and colourful spinning top to take home. As they play, children will explore the beauty of colour in motion and create an endless stream of ever-changing patterns inspired by the dazzling world of ‘Arco’. We recommend watching ‘Arco’ before the workshop, but children are very welcome to take part even if they haven’t seen the film.
BOX OFFICE
01243 786 650
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Tales of resilience and risk in rural communities where every harvest carries with it the weight of hope and survival TALK: THE FARMER DRAMA FILMING FARMING, PEASANTRY AND COMMUNITY
SAT 19 SEP 10:30
To coincide with our annual season of films on environmental issues, this talk will look back at how living off the land has been portrayed on film. Vital for our existence, the backbone of entire nations, the job of a farmer can be treacherous, but how has agrarian life, its struggles and its concomitant culture been captured through the cinematic lens? Théo Rogier of the Cinema Education Team invites you to explore this question in greater depth through the themes of class, hardship and exploitation, as seen in films such as ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and ‘The Tree of Wooden Clogs’, among the many featured in this talk, illustrated by a range of clips. Urban dwellers are often ignorant of the daily and historic struggles that these men and women endure to provide the essentials, therefore, it is particularly through cinema and the farmer drama genre that our minds and imaginations may engage more thoroughly with agrarian life and its culture. 100M INC Q&A
★★★★★
THE GUARDIAN
★★★★
THE TIMES
MON 21 SEP 18:00 PLUS SHORT INTRO BY KATHRYN EVANS
WED 23 SEP 14:45 PLUS SHORT INTRO BY ARCHIE EVANS
MINARI
A tender, autobiographical film about resilience, focusing on a Korean immigrant family striving for the American Dream in 1980s Arkansas. Lee Isaac Chung’s fictionalised account of his rural US childhood explores the growing pains of a family farm. Jacob, has a big dream: he will farm the land and get rich growing real Korean vegetables for the many Korean immigrants in the US yearning for a taste of home. His wife resents her husband for uprooting the family to live in “hillbilly” country in an ugly extended trailer. Despite the harsh realities of the back-breaking work, titanic struggles with the weather and constant financial woes, the message is that family unity and love are more enduring than material success. A delight from start to finish. S. KOREA 2021 LEE ISAAC CHUNG 115M Kathryn Evans, Founder and Administrative Partner and Archie Evans, Farm Managing Partner, of On Tap collective, a local sustainable family grown fruit farm will introduce the film with a short talk on their business.
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★★★★
THE GUARDIAN
TUE 6 OCT 18:00 PLUS INTRO
ALCARRÀS
The advent of modern technology threatens to uproot a traditional Catalan farming family from their rural home, long held traditions and livelihood. Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival, Alcarràs follows the trials and tribulations of a rural Catalan farming family. Quimet is a middle-aged farmer who lives with his family in a rambling rented house, surrounded by peach trees. The supermarkets are starting to offer insultingly low prices for his produce and he faces eviction as his landowners decide to replace the trees with solar panels. We are plunged into the centre of his anxiety as he faces an abrupt end to all he holds dear. While the subtext of the advent of the modern into the traditional comes in and out of view throughout the film, this is also a sun-dappled, poignant and perceptive family drama. (Subtitles) CATALUNIA 2022 CARLA SIMON 120M Andrew Gueterbock, CEO of Tuppenny Barn will introduce the film and talk about the extraordinary work of this organic small holding and sustainable community hub. Their lovely organic jams and chutneys will be for sale in the bar before the film.
DEREK VERSUS DEREK
Two farmers with very different intentions for their respective neighbouring farms lock pitchforks in this very British and highly amusing documentary. The debate around intensive farming and wild spaces in Britain is effectively encapsulated by the friction on neighbouring Devon farms. Filmmaker James Dawson captures gentle feuding, English-style, between second generation intensive dairy and beef farmer Derek Banbury and his 400-acre farm and former sheep farmer turned rebellious Scottish conservationist Derek Gow who is rewilding his 300 acres, introducing wildlife such as beavers, storks and wild boar to restore natural habitats. Their differences are expressed more by eye-rolling and humorous takedowns than shouting and tractors at dawn in this engagingly eccentric, and very crowd-pleasing documentary. UK 2026 JAMES DAWSON 88M
SAT 10 OCT 15:15 PLUS INTRO THU 15 OCT 18:00 PLUS INTRO
There will be a short introduction by The Woodhorn Group before the feature and a little take-away afterwards.
BOX OFFICE
01243 786 650
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Chichester Cinema is the city’s only independent cinema and a registered charity. We are open for 359 days of the year and present four showings a day of films, talks and live performance events of ballet, theatre and opera. We present an alternative to the action-adventure blockbusters shown at the multiplex, presenting independent films from all over the world, many of them subtitled, as well as the big annual Awards contenders. We also present talks on cinema for adults and workshops based on the curriculum for local schools. We present an International Film Festival every summer and a number of smaller festivals throughout the year.
As a charity, we have four principle aims: To enrich the cultural life of the community and champion independent cinema To foster and support community cohesion To fight social isolation To inspire, educate and create opportunities for young people
Anne-Marie Flynn Executive Director Walter Francisco Head of Programming Roger Gibson Cinema President and Cinema Founder Debbie Ford Chair of the board of Trustees Roger Harrison Deputy Chair
BOX OFFICE 01243 786650 REGISTERED CHARITY 1099780
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