Films Archives - Page 6 of 14 - The David Lean Cinema

SOFIA

N/C 15+ SOFIA
2018 | Dir Meryem Benm’Barek-Aloïsi | 80 mins | Belgium | Morocco

The breaking of her waters at a family gathering mean that 20-yr-old Sofia, daughter of a well-to-do Casablanca family, can no longer deny, to herself or anyone else, that she is pregnant. This will usher in serious consequences in a country – Morocco – where sex out of wedlock is an imprisonable offence. Whisked away from the party by her cousin, she gives birth in a hospital which admits her on condition that she produce her husband within 24 hours or face the consequences.
Arabic and French with English subtitles.

“It’s rare to leave the cinema wishing a 90-minute film was longer, but Meryem Benm’Barek’s Sofia shows enough promise to demand a more substantial story… Benm’Barek is brilliant at capturing the unspoken body language that communicates so much…” Tom Bond – One Room With A View

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 ends on 23 May 2021.

“Meryem Benm’Barek’s smart debut lays bare the scandalous consequences for a Casablanca woman who finds herself single and pregnant.” – Cath Clarke in The Guardian

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS
2020 | Dir Lisa Rovner | 84 mins | UK

Think of early electronic music and you’ll likely see men pushing buttons, knobs, and boundaries. While electronic music is often perceived as a boys club, the truth is from the very beginning women have been integral in inventing the devices, techniques and tropes that would define the shape of sound for years to come.
The history of women has been a history of silence. Recent protests calling for greater recognition of women’s achievements have swept across politics, business, even Hollywood. The world of music is no exception.
The remarkable world of electronic music has been constantly evolving since its inception in the early 20th century. From the unlimited possibilities of digital synthesisers, to the recent analog recording revival; from the impossibly perfect pitch of Auto-Tune, to the democratisation of music-making for a generation of ‘bedroom’ producers – each of these extraordinary developments is directly connected to the work and artistry of the women featured in “Sisters with Transistors.”

The David Lean Cinema shares a proportion of the ticket price with the distributor when purchased through the link on this page.
Available to watch for 48 hours after purchase.
Distributor: Modern Films – no account required.

Edith Bowman chats to director Lisa Rovner here.
Anita Rani interviews director Lisa Rovner and the musician Bishy on Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4 here.
Anna Bogutskaya reviews the film on BBC 5Live’s Film Review programme.

“The unsung trailblazers behind electronic music are paid harmonic homage in Lisa Rovner’s enchanting documentary”. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.
This film contains a sequence of flashing lights which might affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.

GROUNDSWELL

N/C 12+ GROUNDSWELL
2021 | Dir Johnny Gogan | 80 mins | Ireland

Activist and filmmaker Johnny Gogan’s Groundswell provides a uniquely personal insight into how Ireland banned the practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and how Northern Ireland still faces the prospect.
Told through the eyes of grassroots activists in County Leitrim and across the border in Fermanagh, and filmed over ten years, Gogan’s camera follows a community who are opposing the work of the company Tamboran Resources as they begin operations on one side of the border before diverting to the other.

“A lesson to communities and campaigners there and everywhere else to stay vigilant.” Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.

“A triumphant, transparent and aesthetically magnificent account of the loving relationship between people and their land, and the fight to protect it from the powerful and the greedy.” Emma Kiely, The Upcoming

“We are getting our head inside the tent. Once you get the head in, the body follows.” Mark Ruffalo.

Filmed by Johnny Gogan over a ten year period and in New York and Pennsylvania in March just before the lockdown, the film includes over forty contributions from people on both sides of the Atlantic involved in the story of how Ireland banned fracking. Steve Wickham provides a powerful score with vocals from Tara Baoth Mooney; Niall Flynn’s aerial photography captures that border landscape people were so keen to protect; Editor Patrick O’Rourke draws together a cast of hundreds and a rich and diverse range of archive covering the campaign.

“Johnny Gogan’s documentary highlights the misconceived plans of corporations that hoped to avoid protesters.” Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.

SONG WITHOUT A NAME

SONG WITHOUT A NAME
2019 | Dir Melina León | 97 mins | Peru

Peru in 1988. The country is in the grip of a devastating political crisis. Georgina, a young woman from the Andes, has her newborn daughter stolen, after giving birth at a fake health clinic. The desperate search for her baby leads her to Pedro, a young and tenacious investigative journalist
who will stop at nothing to get to the truth. Based on a true story.

Song Without a Name, nominated for the prestigious Golden Camera at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, is a bruisingly evocative and almost unbearably moving first feature film from León. Evocatively filmed in stark black and white, it features a poignant performance from newcomer Pamela Mendoza as the beleaguered mother, with Tommy Párraga beautifully measured as the journalist hitting endless Kafkaesque
dead ends, as he burrows into the corruption and strife of a country in turmoil. Spanish with English subtitles.

Distributor: Sovereign Films. Vimeo account required.
The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price.

Peru’s Selection for the International Feature Film Award at the 2021 Academy Awards
“This is a gripping story that in a Hollywood film would be wrapped up neatly and upliftingly. It’s a tough watch but it has tragic force”. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.

VEINS OF THE WORLD

N/C 12+ VEINS OF THE WORLD
2020 | Dir Byambasuren Davaa | 96mins | Germany | Mongolia

In a province in the middle of the Mongolian steppe, 11-year old Amra lives a traditional nomad life with his mother Zaya, father Erdene and little sister Altaa. While Zaya takes care of the flock, Erdene works as a mechanic and sells Zaya’s homemade cheese at the local market. Their peaceful routine is threatened by the encroachment of international mining companies, digging for gold and devastating the natural habitat. Erdene is the leader of the last nomads opposing them, and tries to unite and convince his comrades not to accept the compensations the companies have offered. But after Amra’s father dies in a tragic car accident, his mother wants to give up the nomad life and trade the steppe for the city. But Amra refuses and tries to carry on his father’s David vs. Goliath fight with his cleverness and the tools of an 11-year-old boy. English and Mongolian 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. Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: YourScreen – create account or login.
Film run ends on 23 May 2021.

Director Byambasuren Davaa (“The Cave of the Yellow Dog”, “The Two Horses of Genghis Khan”) celebrates her fiction feature film debut with drama VEINS OF THE WORLD, which she also scripted. She was already nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary 2005 for “The Story of the Weeping Camel”, sold to over 60 territories. This is her first collaboration with BASIS BERLIN FILMPRODUKTION, who were also proud to be nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar 2019 for their film “Of Fathers and Sons”.
“Byambasuren Davaa’s gorgeous-looking drama examines the rituals and traditions of Mongolia as their very existence comes under threat.” – Phuong Le in The Guardian

A COMMON CRIME

A COMMON CRIME
2020 | Dir Francisco Marquez | 96 mins | Argentina

One night in the pouring rain, Kevin, the adolescent son of Cecilia’s housekeeper, knocks on her door. A sociology lecturer and financially secure, Cecilia lives alone with her young child. She is too afraid to let Kevin in. The next day, his body is found in a river. The neighbourhood accuses the police of having hounded the teenager and social unrest rocks this impoverished part of town. Cecilia’s concept of reality is also increasingly shaken, her moods start to fluctuate and she begins hearing and seeing things. Is she losing her mind?

In a ghostly, shimmering narrative, director Francisco Márquez articulates the injustices of Argentine society, which manifest themselves in the growing gap between rich and poor, employees and employers. His protagonist, sensitively played by Elisa Carricajo, is tormented by her guilty conscience. Like a ghost, her mounting consternation encroaches on every area of her life. Spanish with English subtitles.

The David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price. Vimeo account required. Create account or login.

Mark Kermode reviews A Common Crime on BBC 5Live here.
“Directed with stylistic canniness and empathetic insight, the film features a superb, elusive, genuinely unnerving performance by Elisa Carricajo, and it should cause ripples with outlets that follow new Latin American cinema at its most searching”. Jonathan Romney in Screen Daily.
‘A Common Crime’ screened at both the London Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival in 2020. It was also nominated for Best Argentinean Film at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in 2020.

MINARI

MINARI
2020 | Dir Lee Isaac Chung | 115mins | USA

A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home. English and Korean with English subtitles.

The David Lean Cinema shares a proportion of the £9.99 ticket price with the distributor.

Distributor: Altitude Film Entertainment – create account or login.

Academy Awards 2021 Winner Best Supporting Actress for Yuh-Jung Youn.

“Infused with a wonderful sentimentality, Lee Isaac Chung’s fictionalised account of his rural US childhood explores the growing pains of a family farm.” Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian

Minari is a warm story of the Yi family moving in the 1980s from California to Arkansas. The father, Jacob, plans a better living for his wife and two young children farming Korean vegetables and selling them to wholesalers and restaurants. His wife Monica is less convinced and eventually they bring her eccentric mother over from South Korea to help look after the farm and the children.
“Will be embraced by audiences everywhere” ★★★★★ – BBC Culture

JUSTINE

JUSTINE
2020 | Dir Jamie Patterson | 81mins | UK

Justine (Tallulah Haddon), is a young woman with a fierce intelligence but an equally strong appetite for self-destruction. Along with her only friend Peach (Xavien Russell), she finds herself suffocated within a world that makes little sense and where alcohol is the only escape from her view of a hopeless future. Her probation officer Leanne (Sian Reese-Williams) and her doctor (Steve Oram) try to guide her back into society, but Justine understands all too well what that society can offer her and she doesn’t want to play by its rules. One day, on a shoplifting spree, she meets Rachel (Sophie Reid) and the possibility of happiness, love and a future starts to emerge. But her pain goes deep and as the demons within her begin to surface, she wonders if she can allow herself to hope. Justine is a love story from writer Jeff Murphy (Hinterland, One Way To Denmark, Hidden) and director Jamie Patterson (Tucked) which looks at the search for love and belonging in a chaotic world.

David Lean Cinema receives a share of the ticket price. Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: Bulldog Distribution – Vimeo account required

SELFIE

N/C 15+ SELFIE
2019 | Dir Tristan Aurouet, Thomas Bidegain | 108mins | France

These five darkly humorous, interlinking stories explore our increasing dependence upon digital media. Cyberstalking, social media, online shopping, swipe dating, vlogging – all come under its insightful gaze. Starring Fanny Sidney from Netflix hit Call My Agent, Selfie is much cleverer proposition than most anthology or portmanteau films, with characters and plot lines recurring throughout the different stories. As the web connections grow, the film builds towards a grande finale set at a wedding on an island with no mobile phone signal – until someone finds one, leading to an hilarious showdown. French 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.
Stream available for 48 hours after play started.
Distributor: YourScreen – create account or login.
Film run ends on 23 May 2021.

Leslie Sheldon (YourScreen) talks with Fanny Sidney here.

“The stories complement each other perfectly well and sometimes respond to each other thanks to ‘connections’ between the characters in the different acts. Selfie therefore manages to fulfill its double promise by giving viewers a good time, while opening up avenues for them to think about the importance, not always happy, taken by digital technology in today’s society. A great success!”
Antoine Corte, Bulles de Culture.

STRAY

STRAY
2020 | Dir Elizabeth Lo | 73mins | USA

Through the eyes of three stray dogs wandering the streets of Istanbul, STRAY explores what it means to live as a being without status or security. As they search for food and shelter, Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society that allow us an unvarnished portrait of human life — and their own canine culture. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on solitary adventures through the city at night; Nazar, nurturing and protective, easily befriends the humans around her; while Kartal, a shy puppy living on the outskirts of a construction site, finds refuge with the security guards who care for her. The disparate lives of Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians who share the streets with them. Whether they lead us into bustling streets or decrepit ruins, the gaze of these strays act as windows into the overlooked corners of society: women in loveless marriages, protesters without arms, refugees without sanctuary. The film is a critical observation of human civilization through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing.

The David Lean Cinema shares a proportion of the £9.99 ticket price with the distributor.

“Elizabeth Lo’s sharp-eyed study of Istanbul strays is both the ultimate love letter to dogs and a multifaceted moral inquiry into humanity.” Tomris Laffly, Variety.