Site Administrator

THE STORY OF LOOKING

THE STORY OF LOOKING
2021 | Dir Mark Cousins | 90 mins | UK | Ireland

On the day before an operation to save his eyesight, Mark explores what looking means to him, and the role our visual experience plays in our individual and collective lives. In a deeply personal meditation on the power of looking in his own life, he guides us through the riches of the visible world, through a kaleidoscope of imagery across cultures and eras, drawing on art history, biology, neuroscience, psychology, poetry and philosophy. As he goes under the surgeon’s knife, he suggests that we are in the midst of a looking revolution more powerful than any which has gone before, which has the potential to change the world – for better or for worse. At a time when we are more assailed by images than ever, when the value of looking is increasingly under question, he reveals how looking makes us who we are, lying at the heart of human experience, of empathy, discovery and thought. He shares the pleasures of seeing the world, in all its complexity and contradiction, with eyes wide open. And as the Covid-19 pandemic brings another dramatic shift of perspective, he reaches out to other lookers for their vision from lockdown. And in a startling final shift, he travels to the future to consider how his looking life will continue to develop until the very end.
Distributor: Modern Films – No account required.

The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when booked via links on this page.
Available until Monday 29 November 2021

“A rich cinematic journey into the art of seeing and how it connects us with culture, ourselves and each other” Time Out
The virtual ticket includes an exclusive pre-recorded in conversation with Mark Cousins on The Story of Looking.

Play Video

TSOL-EMBED

Contact Us

Contact us via this form and we will respond as quickly as we can.

If you wish to sign up for our newsletters, scroll further down to the second form!

Name *

Email *

Confirm Email

Phone Number

Optional but it may be easier for us to contact you this way

Subject selection *

Please select one option above

Comment or Message *

Please ensure https://www.davidleancinema.org.uk is in your safe senders list to ensure our reply does not end up in your junk folder!

GDPR *

I give my consent for this website to store my information for the purposes of replying to my message.

In accordance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) 2018, we will not use your details for the purposes of advertising or mailing our newsletter unless we already have this consent. You can subscribe to our newsletter using the form below which can also be found at the bottom of most of our pages.

Sign up for Save the David Lean Cinema Campaign Newsletter

ROGs Xmas 2021

WILDFIRE EMBED

WILDFIRE

WILDFIRE
2020 | Dir Cathy Brady | 85 mins | Ireland

Born within a year of each other, LAUREN (Nora-Jane Noone) and KELLY (Nika McGuigan) are ‘Irish twins’. You’d never see one without the other, but over the years the mystery of their mother’s death has tore them apart. Kelly, keen to escape their insular town, drifted away and disappeared a year ago. Lauren’s life has been on hold since reporting her sister missing.
Kelly’s unexpected return, sees a surge of every raw emotion between the sisters. Lauren doesn’t know whether to kiss her or hit her. But as they begin to relive memories of their mother, the sister’s become inseparable. Their bond stronger than ever and Kelly’s desire for the truth is dangerously reignited. As Kelly digs deeper, not everyone is ready. In this border town secrets are meant to stay buried and Lauren has been keeping the biggest one of all.
As the truth about their mother begins to surface, Kelly’s mood darkens. But Lauren is blinded, around Kelly she feels alive again, her marriage and job pale in comparison. The town is starting to notice, rumours about the girls strange behaviour spread like wildfire. Lauren must decide to confront their mother’s past with Kelly or risk losing her for good. Time is running out and no one can be trusted. The sisters must escape and face the truth or be consumed by the town and it’s lies.

The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when booked via links on this page.
Available until Monday 29 November 2021

During post production of Wildfire, Nika McGuigan lost her brief but brave battle with cancer.
Wildfire was developed and written for Nika and her co star Nora-Jane Noone. We collaborated over many years becoming close friends. This was Nika’s first leading feature role and showcases her tremendous talent and undeniable screen presence.
It has been incredibly difficult to finish this film without Nika, but it was such a privilege to know her and be known by her. This film is dedicated to our beautiful Nika.
Cathy Brady, Director.

Play Video

THE TOLL

THE TOLL
2021 | Dir Ryan Andrew Hooper | 83 mins | UK

Pembrokeshire – where English people come to die.
A single toll booth on a road in the middle of nowhere. A lone wolf howls in the distance. Actually, it’s probably a stray dog.
Brendan, at the age of 56 works solo shifts in the toll booth, and has done since he arrived here twenty-nine years ago. He passes the time reading American academic novels (an underrated genre) and persisting with eating cheese despite a mild lactose intolerance setting in. What none of the handful of locals know about Brendan is that he moved down this way for a reason – a reason he’s managed to hide until today.
The unassuming, slightly unfriendly and somewhat belligerent man working in the loneliest toll booth in the remotest part of west Wales has been hiding from his criminal past in a place where no-one ever thought to look. Pembrokeshire.

The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when booked via links on this page.

“Michael Smiley is the toll operator facing up to his murky past in this fusion of western and black comedy reminiscent of the Coen brothers’ finest work” Cath Clarke in The Guardian

Play Video

TOLL EMBED

BUT BEAUTIFUL

N/C PG – BUT BEAUTIFUL
2019 | Dir Erwin Wagenhofer | 116 mins | Germany | Austria

Filmmaker Ewin Wagenhofer takes us on a journey around the world to celebrate some remarkable people who dare to live differently, all sharing the common goal of a sustainable world. We meet permaculture visionaries, illiterate women building solar panels to bring clean electricity to rural villages, an Austrian forester building wooden houses that require no heating, musicians musing on the actual sound of beauty and a grinning Dali Lama with some wise words of hope for humanity. An inspiring film revealing beauty and the freedom to be happy through connectedness in nature, society and music. German, Hindi, Spanish 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. Participating in the Summer of Hope Season.
Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: YourScreen – create account or login.
Film run ends on 19 September 2021.
Give feedback to the distributor on this film here.

Play Video

UNDERGROUND

UNDERGROUND (SOUTERRAIN)
2020 | Dir Sophie Dupuis | 97 mins | Canada

Maxime works in a mine in Val d’Or. He shares his time with his girlfriend and his childhood friend, Julien, who was disabled after a car accident he caused two years earlier. Feeling guilty, Maxime wants to redeem himself. But he is held back by Mario, Julien’s father who also works at the mine and who still holds it against him. One day, an explosion resounds underground. As part of the rescue mission, Maxime descends into the cave of the mine with the firm intention to save his colleagues.
French with English subtitles.

Joakim Robillard (King Dave) is outstanding as the conflicted Maxime, with excellent support from Théodore Pellerin (Genèse), in a thought-provoking and deftly-handled examination of masculinity in crisis.

The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price when booked via links on this page.

UNDERGROUND had its world premiere screening at the 2020 Whistler Film Festival, where Dupuis won the Borsos Competition award for Best Director of a Canadian Film; and opened the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma Film Festival in April 2021.

“A mine explosion disaster film that digs deeper than most” Cath Clark in The Guardian
“It’s the plotting that shines most in this social drama about a Quebec mining community. ‘Underground’ unravels a complex web of interconnected relationships among the miners, a web we know will lead to a cataclysmic end.”
★★★★ – Alex Crisp, UK FIlm Review

Play Video