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.

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Mia Bays (Birds Eye View Film) talks to director Esther Johnson here.

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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.
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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.

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.
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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.

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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

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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.
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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.

MISTER UNIVERSO

N/C 15+ MISTER UNIVERSO
2016 | Dir Tairo Caroli/Rainer Frimmel | 90min | Austria Italy

Young, disenchanted lion-tamer Tairo is out to recover his missing lucky talisman – a bar of iron bent into a horseshoe shape and given to him as a 5-yr-old child by ‘Mister Universo’, without which his life is bereft. Shot on Super 16mm, this fast-moving neo-realist road movie is an engaging, and unusual, hybrid of documentary and fiction, in which real-life circus folk play themselves. In a story full of colour and rough charm, Tairo’s quest reunites him with old friends and colleagues and fast becomes a whirlwind tour of Italy’s circus culture. Aided by his quiet admirer and contortionist extraordinaire Wendy, the film culminates in a feel-good ending as Tairo finally runs ‘Mister Universo’ to ground. Italian with English subtitles.

“…rich with exciting circus imagery that gives the intimate quest an expressionistic backdrop. Both emotionally accessible and cinematic, Mister Universo endows its bizarre setting with warmth” – Indiewire.

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Film run extended until 28 February February 2021.

Mister Universo won the xtraVALUE Film Award for Best Feature Film at the 2016 Viennale and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Locarno International Film Festival 2016, “For its simplicity and generosity. For its affection and warmth. For we felt better when we left the cinema. For the fact that the most beautiful stories have open endings.”

ROUNDS

N/C 15+ ROUNDS
2019| Dir Stephen Komandarev | 107mins | Bulgaria

One night – seemingly just like any other. Two police officers find the body of the well-known drug addict Lazar near railroad tracks in Sofia. That is how the night on November 9th, 2019 begins – thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the regime change in Bulgaria. Through a kaleidoscope of intertwining stories, we follow three teams of police officers, patrolling the streets of Sofia and doing their job the way they believe is right, while facing the challenges posed by the current Bulgarian reality. A story about lives saved and lives lost, about survival and failure, about the goodness that never goes unpunished and the dignity we are trying to preserve. A few hours in the life of a society that is losing its purpose, in search of the result of three decades of transition. Stories – equal parts sad and amusing, just like our way of life. Bulgarian with English subtitles.

ROUNDS is the second film in Stephan Komandarev’s trilogy in which he continues to search for a way to diagnose the crisis in Bulgaria and Europe today, focusing on themes such as inequality, loss of values and lack of moral. As a former doctor, he firmly believes that the right diagnosis is the basis of a good treatment.

Watch at home now for £7.49 (with promo code above). Stream available for 48 hours after play started. Q&A with director Stephen Kormandarev is here – recorded during the 2019 Cheltenham International Film Festival.
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Film run ends on 28 February 2021.