Author: Roger Dodger
TWO OF US
TWO OF US
2019 | Dir Filippo Meneghetti | 99 mins | 
France | 
Belgium
A complex but delicate love story about two older women who have hidden their relationship for years until one of them becomes ill.
This remarkable feature debut tells a deceptively complex love story while presenting a rich acting showcase. Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeleine have kept their relationship secret for years – everyone thinks they are just neighbours, while in fact they come and go between their apartments across the shared landing. But their intimacy is threatened when Madeleine becomes ill and her daughter (Léa Drucker) can’t understand why the nice old lady from next door is so concerned with her mother’s welfare. Nina, however, is not going to give up on her love, whatever it takes.
French with English subtitles.
The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when purchased through links on this page.
“Surprisingly tense lesbian love story is powered by stunning performances by Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier” – Cath Clarke in The Guardian
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JUMBO
JUMBO
2020 | Dir Zoe Wittock | 93 mins | France | Belgium
Jeanne, a shy young woman, lives at home with her uninhibited bartender mother and works the graveyard shift as a cleaner at an amusement park.
Her mother wants her to meet a man, but Jeanne prefers tinkering in her bedroom with wires, light bulbs, and spare parts, creating miniature versions of theme park rides. During her late-night shifts she begins spending intimate time with the alluring new Tilt-A-Whirl ride that she decides to call Jumbo.
Finding herself seduced by “his” red lights, smooth chrome, and oily hydraulics, Jeanne concludes that the thrilling new relationship she wants to pursue is with Jumbo.
French with English subtitles.
The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when purchased via links on this page.
Distributor: Anti-Worlds – No account required.
Film run ends on Friday 10 September 2021.
“Jumbo has personality, and that’s a major feat accomplished entirely through the film’s visual language”. Carlos Aguilar – RobertEbert.com
When I was still living in the United States, I stumbled upon an article describing the incredible story of Erika Labrie, an Olympic goldwinner in archery, who got married to the Eiffel tower in 2004 and became Erika Eiffel. She was said to suffer from the “Objectum sexual” condition. It struck me as the most improbable story, but it encouraged me to think further: How did she become like that? What draws her to objects? How does she experience her love? When did she know? So I contacted her… Only to realize she was one of the most grounded people I had ever met. The contrast was fascinating.
Zoe Wittock – Director
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JUMBO EMBED
MARTIN EDEN EMBED
MARTIN EDEN
MARTIN EDEN
2019 | Dir Pietro Marcello | 129 mins | 
Italy | France
Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli), comes from Naples’ working class, but his fate is changed forever when he defends a young boy from a beating by a security guard on the docks. The boy repays him for his kindness by inviting him into his bourgeois home, and it is there that Martin meets Elena (Jessica Cressy), the daughter of an upper-crust industrial family. It is love at first sight for Eden, seduced by her education and refinement. Martin’s dream of becoming an accomplished writer is now something he hopes will elevate him to the family’s social standing and marriage with Elena. He proves himself quickly as an autodidact, but grapples with politics under the influence of a left-wing journalist, Russ Brissenden (Carlo Cecchi), who guides him deeper into socialist circles. It results not only in a political reawakening, but also to a split with Elena and her elite world.
However, his eventual success as a writer leads him into new problems.
Italian with English subtitles.
The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when purchased via links on this page.
Distributor: New Wave Films – No account required.
Martin Eden is a sad story of a sad man who lacks the capacity for happiness and who is astonished to find that artistic success is as compromised as any other kind. But there is a kind of thrill in tracing his progress from rags to riches to annihilation. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian
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DLC Projection Survey July
LADY BOSS
LADY BOSS – THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY
2021 | Dir Laura Fairrie | 96 mins | 
USA | 
UK
We take an immersive journey through the trailblazing life of Jackie Collins. Spinning together fact and fiction, this feature documentary tells the untold story of a ground-breaking author and her mission to build a one-woman literary empire. Narrated by a cast of Jackie’s closest friends and family, the film reveals the private struggles of a woman who became an icon of 1980s feminism whilst hiding her personal vulnerability behind a carefully crafted, powerful, public persona.
With more than 500 million copies of her 32 novels sold in 40 countries around the world, several of which were turned into popular movies and television specials, Jackie Collins rose to the very top rungs of Hollywood celebrity with her tales of glamourous lives, fabulous wealth, sensational scandals, and, always, powerful women calling the shots. Defining her own brand of feminism, and seizing the zeitgeist of 1980s success and power, Jackie defended her racy rhetoric from culture and literary critics, while carefully tending an enormous, faithful, and ardent base of fans. Her personal life was, at turns, more ordinary and sometimes darker than her fans may have expected. She was a devoted mother of three who made lunches, took her kids to school, and cared for her ailing mother. She also endured the tragic deaths of three loves, all the while discovering her own power and chronicling her amazing stories. The last chapter of her life was ‘written’ in near secret. Jackie lived with breast cancer for more than six years, sharing her terminal diagnosis only with her beloved daughters, until mere days before her death. Her final letter to fans was both a thank you for their devotion and a clarion for their vigilance about their own personal health.
Film run ends on Friday 10 September 2021.
“A lively tribute to a woman who player by her own rules. This is an engrossing, fast-moving package full of visual interest…” Hollywood Reporter
“Watchable, with some stinging rebukes for the male snobs…” Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian
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LADY BOSS EMBED
WE INTEND TO CAUSE HAVOC
WE INTEND TO CAUSE HAVOC
2019 | Dir Gio Arlotta | 88 mins | 
Czech | Italy | 
Zambia
The film follows the twenty-first century formation of WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc) Zambia’s most popular rock band of the 1970s and leaders of the ground-breaking ‘Zamrock’ movement. Lead singer, Jagari, whose name is an Africanisation
of Mick Jagger’s, guides us through the band’s awakening to the sounds of the The Rolling Stones and the British Invasion bands of the 60s, which would see Jagari and the band develop their own unique blend of heavy psychedelic rock and African rhythms taking them to the pinnacle of Zambia’s music scene.
After an arrest, prison sentence and religious conversion Jagari ends up leading the
quiet life of a countryside quartz miner until a reunion and performances in front of adoring crowds on his first ever European tour, 40 years after his last album was released.
Soundtracked by WITCH’s distinctive sound, WITCH: We Intend to Cause Havoc features band members Emmanuel ‘Jagari’ Chanda, Patrick Mwondela, Victor Kasoma and Groovy Joe Kunda, along with young contemporary psychedelic musicians Jacco Gardner and Nik Mauskoviç.
The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when purchased via links on this page.
Distributor: Modern Films – No account required.
“The history of Zamrock, Africa’s great forgotten rockers” – Steve Rose in The Guardian
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