CAT IN THE WALL

N/C 15+ CAT IN THE WALL
2019 | Dir Mina Mileva / Vesela Kazakova | 92mins | Bulgaria

CAT IN THE WALL tells the true story of how a cat, who chooses the comfy confines of a hole in a wall, changes the lives of aspirational migrants, benefit fraudsters and gentrified Brexiteers.
Life on a council estate in Brexit London – gentrification plans bring an astronomic bill for homeowners and aggravate the community. In the eye of the storm Irina, a Bulgarian single mother, tries to breakthrough as an architect and refuses to live on benefits like most of her neighbours.
She galvanizes the homeowners to appeal against the bill with the Council but the English assure her that any attempt to fight the system is doomed. Irina’s family and people living on benefits clash over the ownership of a cat. А different side of British society is revealed to her and she realises she is trapped in the walls of her property and metaphorically in her mind. She takes a drastic decision to change her life.
English and Bulgarian with English subtitles. See instructions below to activate subtitles.
As a thank you for supporting us, you will get 25% off each ticket purchase. Just enter DLYS at checkout. You will also be supporting the David Lean Cinema as we get a share of every ticket sold using this promo code.
Watch at home now for £7.49 (with promo code DLYS).
Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: YourScreen – create account or login.
An explanation of why you may need more than one account for streaming is here.
Film run ends on 31 March 2021.

“This is a terrific comedy-drama… there’s a fresh, naturalistic element to all the performances which makes it feel as though the film was improvised with non-actors, although in fact neither is the case. ” – Wendy Ide, Screen Daily.

To activate subtitles please click on the ‘CC’ button, bottom right of the playback window, and select ‘English’.

ASUNDER

N/C 12+ ASUNDER
2016 | Dir Esther Johnson | 72mins | GB

Using archive and contemporary footage and audio, Asunder collages the stories of people from Tyneside and Wearside to uncover what life was like on the home front, with bombs falling on Britain for the first time, conscientious objectors sentenced to death, and women working as doctors, tram conductors and footballers. The narrative moves from an Edwardian golden era, in which sport grew in popularity and aircraft and cars pointed to a bright new future, to a war that horrifically reversed this progress. In the Battle of the Somme, commencing on 1 July 1916, British, French and German armies fought one of the most traumatic battles in military history. Over the course of just four months, more than one million soldiers were captured, wounded or killed in a confrontation of unimaginable horror.
Available with Hard of Hearing subtitles – see below for details to activate.

As a thank you for supporting us, you will get 25% off each ticket purchase. Just enter DLYS at checkout. You will also be supporting the David Lean Cinema as we get a share of every ticket sold using this promo code.
Mia Bays (Birds Eye View Film) talks to director Esther Johnson here.

Watch at home now for £5.99 (with promo code DLYS). Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: YourScreen – create account or login.
Film run ends on 30 April 2021.

“In the plethora of events marking the centenary of the First World War and especially the Somme, ‘Asunder’ really stood out for me: its highly imaginative
concept, brilliant storytelling, geographical and cultural specificity, above all its power to move and connect with the reality of events 100 years ago. A fantastic piece of work.” – Michael Chaplin, writer.
“The footage is expertly threaded together and is complemented by Bob Stanley’s evocative and poetic words that are beautifully voiced by Kate Adie”. – Helen de Witt, BFI London Film Festival.

This film contains subtitles for those with a hearing loss. To activate please click on the ‘CC’ button, bottom right of the playback window, and select ‘English Captions’.

AN IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT

N/C 12+ AN IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT
2020 | Dir Jens Meurer | 99min | Germany | Austria

This documentary, shot (naturally) on 35mm film and ironically available in digital format for streaming platforms, follows modern-day Don Quixote, Florian “Doc” Kaps, an eccentric, enigmatic Viennese biologist who risks his career and entire fortune to take on AN IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT to save the world’s last Polaroid factory in Vienna.
Along the way Doc meets other analogue superheroes: there’s Moleskine founder Maria Sebregondi, a direct-to-vinyl recording session
in Vienna with American Idol singer Hayley Reinhart, and a fateful trip to the Südbahnhotel, a 1902 Grand Hotel in the Alps, an all-analogue
wonder that has stood empty but fully functional for 43 years and that’s set for a revival… and there’s a surprise twist in the tale.
English/German with English subtitles.

As a thank you for supporting us, you will get 25% off each ticket purchase. Just enter DLYS at checkout. You will also be supporting the David Lean Cinema as we get a share of every ticket sold using this promo code.
Watch at home now for £7.49 (using promo code DLYS). Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: YourScreen – create account or login.
Film run extended to 23 May 2021.

In the summer of 2007 Apple introduced the iPhone which included the concept of having a phone with a built in camera. In the following year Polaroid, who had ruled the world of instant photography since 1923, was ready to give up and filed for bankruptcy while commencing winding down of all production. The last Polaroid factory to be prepared for closure was in Vienna which was also the home of Florian “Doc” Kaps who decided that the continuing destruction of all things “analogue” should stop and started to seek backing to buy the factory along with all the production machines and staff. This was the start of a very long battle to save many old analogue formats which, in the case of Polaroid, was not helped by the fact that the name could not be used by Doc’s factory along with the discovery that the chemical formula which made up the film itself had been irretrivably lost. Several years later and with a few successes under his belt as he travelled a very bumpy road, Doc’s wife was to refer to him as “The World’s Biggest Loser”.

“essential food for thought for anyone interested in culture and media and their development in the modern age.” – Vladan Petkovic, Cineuropa.
“Florian Kaps – Vienna’s answer to Steve Jobs – enthuses over analogue hardware and makes a persuasive case for moving beyond an online existence” – Andrew Pulver in The Guardian.

March Update

Monday 01 March 2021

An update on David Lean screenings from the chairman of the Save the David Lean Cinema CIC, Philip Howard:

Dear supporters,
I hope you are keeping well, after a difficult few months for all of us in the David Lean Cinema community.
The Prime Minister’s announcement towards the end of February brought welcome positive news about the reopening of many parts of the economy, including cinemas. We’re very pleased about this, and are working on how we can get back to showing films in the David Lean. While it’s currently too early to commit to a reopening date, we’ll be discussing options with our landlords – the London Borough of Croydon – and as time goes on we’ll be in touch with our valued volunteers too.
I hope to have further news for you once the country has progressed to Step Two of the reopening plan. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying the films in our Watch At Home programme and David’s recommendations from the TV schedules!

Back to online listings.

ASSASSINS

ASSASSINS
2020 | Dir Ryan White | 104Mins | USA

In 2017, Kim Jong-nam — the half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un — was assassinated in the bustling departures hall of Malaysia’s international airport. The spectacularly brazen murder happened in broad daylight, filmed entirely by security cameras. Footage showed two young women approaching Jong-nam from behind, covering his eyes with their hands, and pressing VX — the most lethal nerve gas on earth—into his eyes. He stumbled away and was dead within an hour. But if the murder was extreme, the story that came next was even more bizarre: The two women who killed Jong-nam claimed they had simply been hired to pull a video prank and had no idea what they were really doing. The Malaysian government scoffed, arrested and imprisoned the women and put them on trial for murder, facing execution. But was their outlandish story actually the truth? And would anyone believe them? Assassins, the latest from director Ryan White, travels from the sanctums of Pyongyang to the rice fields of Indonesia and Vietnam to the courtrooms of Kuala Lumpur to tell an extraordinary tale of manipulation and subterfuge in the age of social media. A masterful investigation that offers an unprecedented look at the real story of Kim Jong-nam’s murder, Assassins is the wildly improbable tale of a calculating dictator, a nefarious plot, a very public murder, and two women fighting for their lives.

The David Lean Cinema shares a proportion of the £9.99 ticket price with the distributor. Watch at home now.
Film run ends on 21 May 2021.

“An extraordinary story of sexism, violence, diplomatic bad faith and dishonesty on an international scale” – Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.
“This enthralling, stranger-than-fiction doc unearths the true story behind North Korea’s black ops killers” – Time Out.
Available in your account for 28 days after purchase and for 48 hours after pressing play.
Distributor: Dogwoof – create account or login.
An explanation of why you may need more than one account to stream films is here.

HITCH

Alfred Hitchcock and PSYCHO (1960)

Most readers will be able to recall that it was normal practice during the 50’s and 60’s for films in cinemas to be shown on a loop with 15 or 20 minutes of adverts and trailers in between. Audience members would arrive at any time, quite often during the middle of the film, and leave when they finally got to the point where they had come in.
I’m sure that there are few people who have not seen the film but you may not be aware that although a few short trailers for PSYCHO were produced for the film’s release in 1960, there is only one that was approved by Hitchcock himself. “Hitch” insisted that the film had to be seen from beginning to end and this introduced the previously alien concept of turning up to watch a film at a predetermined time.
The approved trailer for PSYCHO is more of a “featurette” (with a running time of 6 mins 38 secs) as Hitchcock takes us on a tour of the set pointing out locations where significant acts occur. He lifts the lid of the toilet and reveals that a clue will be found ‘down there’. PSYCHO is alleged to be the first American film to feature a visible toilet and the first to hear one flushed. He even describes the murder at the top of the stairs and the shower scene. The trailer ends with titles that read, ‘This film must be seen from the beginning or not at all for no-one will be seated after the start of PSYCHO.’
N. Bates

GOD OF THE PIANO

N/C 15+ GOD OF THE PIANO
2019 | Itay Tal | 80 Mins | Turkey

The daughter of a celebrated and exacting composer, Anat, expecting her first child, lives a life so inseparable from music that her waters break unnoticed as she practices a furiously difficult piece at the keyboard. Desperate that her child has the musical career – and the approval of her father – that she never had, when her son is born deaf it seems that the dream is over. However, the single-minded Anat is not going to allow a small matter such as this thwart her vicarious pursuit of musical perfection. Attracting comparisons with Michael Haneke and Lucrecia Martel, this compelling psychological thriller combines a probing script, assured direction and an extraordinary central performance to reveal a character driven by artistic obsession and haunted by a guilty secret that will just not go away. Hebrew with English subtitles.

Watch at home now for £7.49 (with promo code DLYS).
Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: YourScreen – create account or login.
An explanation of why you may need more than one account for streaming is here.
Film run ends on 21 February 2021.

“…icy family drama is a virtuoso debut” – ★★★★ Cath Clarke in The Guardian (mild spoilers).
“Rarely does a debut feature showcase a talent so fully formed. This is a remarkably potent film” – New York Times (Spoilers).
“…genuinely impressive: this is storytelling which is as enigmatic as it is compelling. Not surprisingly, the use of music throughout is superb”- Screen Daily (Spoilers).

AWAY

AWAY
2020 | Dir Gints Zilbalodis | 75 Min | Latvia

After a mysterious crash landing, a young boy wakes up alone on an exotic island. He’s being chased by a dark spirit, although it’s unclear whether the spirit means to help or harm the boy. A motorcycle appears, providing safe travel to the boy, and he makes friends with a local songbird who offers guidance. Soon they are off on their own adventure, trying to escape the dark spirit, learn more about the mysterious crash landing, and uncover the true nature of the exotic island.

Written, produced, directed, scored, and animated entirely by award winning filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis, AWAY was beautifully crafted over a period of more than three years, developed from a previous short Zilbalodis had been working on. The story, told without dialogue over a series of breathtaking backgrounds, is equally inspired by reality, dreams, and waking fantasies. The multiple award-winning film took the prestigious Contrechamp Award at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2019.

The David Lean Cinema shares a proportion of the ticket price with the distributor when purchased through the link on this page or click here.
Available to watch for 48 hours after purchase.
Distributor: Munro Films – no account required.
Film run ends on 30 April 2021.

MLK/FBI

MLK/FBI
2020 | Dir Sam Pollard | 104 Min | USA

MLK/FBI is the first film to uncover the extent of the FBI’s surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Based on newly discovered and declassified files, utilizing a trove of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and unsealed by the National Archives, as well as revelatory restored footage, the documentary explores the government’s history of targeting Black activists, and the contested meaning behind some of our most cherished ideals. Featuring interviews with key cultural figures including former FBI Director James Comey and directed by Emmy® Award-winner and Oscar®-nominee Sam Pollard, MLK/FBI tells this astonishing and tragic story with searing relevance to our current moment.

“A fascinating look at the treatment of one of history’s greatest men” – Leila Latif, Total Film

The David Lean Cinema shares a proportion of the £9.99 ticket price with the distributor. Watch at home now.
Available in your account for 28 days after purchase and for 48 hours after pressing play.
Distributor: Dogwoof – create account or login.
Film run ends on 07 May 2021.
An explanation of why you may need more than one account to stream films is here.

NOAH LAND

N/C 15+ NOAH LAND
2019 | Dir Cenk Ertürk | 109min | Turkey

Facing the end of a battle with terminal illness, Ibrahim (Haluk Bilginer) asks his son Ömer (Ali Atay) to drive him to the village in rural Turkey where he was raised. Soon after they arrive, Ömer realizes that there’s more to this request than meets the eye: Ibrahim wants to be buried beneath a tree he planted as a boy. In the aftermath of a land dispute that cast Ibrahim’s family away from the community 45 years earlier, however, the plot of land has become a holy site called the “Noah Tree,” named for the Biblical figure whom they believe first planted it after the flood. With all relevant public archives damaged, and villagers growing defensive over what seems a sacrilegious project, Ibrahim forges ahead in the name of justice; Ömer, on the other hand, grows conflicted, bearing the brunt of this battle even as he grapples with unaired grievances between himself and his dad. Turkish with English subtitles.

A thoughtful and deeply felt debut from Cenk Ertürk, Noah Land probes ethical questions about the price of victory while weighing a human tendency to react in extremes. As Ömer and Ibrahim begin to open up to each other, it also becomes a story about good faith—both in terms of trusting another’s intentions and trusting one’s own – Frederic Boyer.