Comedy about an Egyptian police force band that gets lost and is stranded in a remote town in Israel. Despite their cultural differences, friendly locals open their hearts to the outsiders and take in the band members. Warm and delightful take on cross-cultural relations, addressing serious issues with a gentle touch. A real charmer of a film.

Smart-mouthed indie comedy about a 16-year-old high school girl giving her unwanted pregnancy up for adoption to yuppie couple.

Musical thriller based on the hit Broadway musical which tells the infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.

Beautiful adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s affecting, revelatory memoir.

Once a successful fashion editor and carefree womanizer, Bauby awoke one day to find himself a prisoner in his own body. He had been paralyzed by a massive stroke that rendered him powerless to move a muscle – except his left eyelid. One blink for yes, two for no. This binary code is now Bauby’s life. Though he is motionless, his sharp wit and imagination are very much alive.

Coffee Club: Thursday 20 March

A lonely young boy vows to protect the rapidly growing hatchling that emerges from a mysterious egg found on the shores of a Scottish loch.

Screen adaptation of writer Dick King-Smith’s popular children’s novel.

This scabrous, provocative work of film noir comes from one of cinema’s more intriguing masters, Sidney Lumet (now 84). Essentially a botched-heist thriller, it has one chilling, essential twist: the perpetrators of the heist are two brothers, and their parents own the suburban jewellery store they want to rob. When Mom accidentally gets plugged by a hired gun (she wasn’t supposed to be working), the boys are left with some pretty tough choices, none of them pleasant.

The performances are simply outstanding. Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman play the brothers. Hank (Hawke) is a loser way behind on his child support, while Andy (Hoffman) is a smug and thieving drug addict whose high-powered corporate career is about to crumble around him. Marisa Tomei plays Andy’s wife and Hank’s lover - oops! - while the distinguished Albert Finney electrifies the screen as the boys’ mean-spirited father out for revenge.

When brain surgeon Henry Marsh first visited a Ukraine hospital in 1992, he found the medical conditions absolutely appalling. Driven by the need to help others where he can, he has since then worked with his Ukrainian protégé Igor Petrovich to help create a viable clinic using discarded NHS equipment, and to bring hope to people where there was none. In Geoffrey Smith’s moving documentary, we follow Henry on his latest trip to yet another corridor filled with patients for whom he is their last chance. Marion is among them, determined to do something about the enormous brain tumour threatening his life, even if it means undergoing an operation he must stay awake throughout. As Henry tackles increasingly risky procedures, he is haunted by the memory of an operation which went catastrophically wrong.

This exceptional documentary is a life-affirming, unforgettable portrait of a true humanitarian as he wrestles with the dilemmas of the doctor patient relationship. Heartbreaking and uplifting, this film speaks about the struggle to do good things in a selfish and flawed world.

We welcome director Geoffrey Smith for a very special Q&A after the screening.
www.theenglishsurgeon.com

Jean Renoir’s intoxicating first colour feature – the first film to be shot entirely on location in India using local crew - is an adaptation of Rumer Godden’s autobiographical coming-of- age tale of an adolescent girl living with her English family on the banks of the Ganges during the waning years of British colonial life.

Coffee Club: Thursday 27 March

Unconventional journey into the life and times of Bob Dylan. Six actors portray Dylan as a series of shifting personae - from the public to the private to the fantastical - weaving together a rich, multi-layered portrait of this ever-elusive icon. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Wishaw are all Bob Dylan.

www.imnotthere-movie.com

Powerful adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s best-seller, telling the story of Amir who is haunted by the guilt of betraying his old friend Hassan.

Amir returns to his homeland of Afghanistan after spending years in California to find a country he no longer recognizes.