Forest Row Film Society

Here is the latest list of films available from the British Federation of Film Societies’ Block Booking scheme. Most of them are available through to about May 2012, though check the details on the BFFS site. In addition, most of the films listed a year ago are still available through to about July/August 2011, and many of those listed back in February 2009 are available until the end of this year or next. Check the BFFS catalogue for full details.

All the films link through to further details, normally from the Movie Review Query Engine.

• 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep (Ben Hopkins, UK 2006, 85 min)
• Bako l’autre rive (J. Champreux/Cheik Doukoure, France/Senegal 1980, 110 min)
• Beaufort (Joseph Cedar, Israel 2007, 131 min)
• Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee (Shane Meadows, UK 2009, 71 min)
• The End of the Line (Rupert Murray, UK 2009, 90 min)
• Fad’jal (Safi Faye, Senegal 1979, 113 min)
• La France (Serge Bozon, France 2007, 102 min)
• Les gens de la rizière (Rithy Panh, Cam/Fra 1994, 195 min)
• Heartbeat Detector (Nicolas Klotz, France 2007, 143 min)
• The Hide (Marek Losey, UK 2008, 82 min)
• L’Île de Black Mór (Jean François Laguionie, France 2004, 85 min)
• Import/Export (Ulrich Seidl, Aus/Fra/Ger 2007, 141 min)
• Jom (Ababacar Makharam, Sen/Ger 1981, 76 min)
• Lake Tahoe (Fernando Eimbcke, Mex/Jap/USA 2008, 89 min)
• Lettre d’amour Zoulou (Ramadan Suleman, Fra/S Afr/Ger 2004, 105 min)
• Lettre Paysanne [Letter from my Village] (Safi Faye, Senegal 1973, 98 min)
• London River (Rachid Bouchareb, UK/Fra/Alg 2009, 87 min)
• Ma vie en l’air (Rémi Besançon, France 2005, 90 min)
• Machan (Uberto Pasolini, Sri Lanka/Ita/Ger 2008, 109 min)
• The Magician (Scott Ryan, Australia 2007, 86 min)
• The Market: A Tale of Trade (Ben Hopkins, Ger/Tur/UK/KZ 2008, 93 min)
• Meurtrières (Patrick Grandperret, France 2006, 107 min)
• Naked Youth (Nagisa Oshima, Japan 1960, 97 min)
• The Night of the Sunflowers (Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo, Spain 2006, 123 min)
• Opera Jawa (Garin Nugroho, Indonesia/Aus 2006, 120 min)
• Le petit lieutenant (Xavier Beauvois, France 2005, 110 min)
• Platform (Jia Zhangke, HK/Chi/Fra 2001, 155 min)
• Princess Raccoon (Seijun Suzuki, Japan 2005, 111 min)
• Puffball (Nicolas Roeg, UK/Ire/Can 2007, 119 min)
• Quo Vadis, Baby? (Gabriele Salvatores, Italy 2006, 102 min)
• Samson & Delilah (Warwick Thornton, Australia 2009, 101 min)
• Les silences du palais (Moufida Tlatli, Fra/Tun 1994, 127 min)
• The Sun’s Burial (Nagisa Oshima, Japan 1960, 87 min)
• Tales from the Golden Age (Hanno Höfer/Razvan Marculescu, Rom/Fra 2009, 146 min)
• To Get to Heaven, First You Have to Die (Djamshed Usmonov, Rus/Taj/Fra 2007, 96 min)
• Toi et Moi (Julie Lopez-Curval, France 2005, 94 min)
• U (Serge Elissalde, France 2006, 75 min)
• Under the Mud (Sol Papadopoulos, UK 2006, 85 min)
• Voisins, Voisines (Malik Chibane, France 2004, 95 min)
• Welcome (Philippe Lioret, France 2009, 110 min)
• Young@Heart (Stephen Walker, UK 2007, 107 min)

The ICO has some films available for booking, and we will be screening Bong Joon-ho’s Mother next season, which has yet to be released in the UK. Other films available are equally interesting, and there is a whole collection of other Korean films by Hong Sangsoo just available, via the Korean Cultural Centre, with an enticing piece by Tony Rayns to introduce them. Looks like they’re worth exploring, not least for our comedy film festival in March. The list below links through to the Movie Review Query Engine, though there often aren’t many items about any of the films.

• The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well
• The Power of Kangwon Province
• Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors
• The Turning Gate
• Woman is the Future of Man
• Tale of Cinema
• Woman on the Beach
• Night and Day
• Like You Know It All
• Hahaha

Just back from the committee meeting and we can confirm the films for next season. It is possible that there might be a minor alteration due to rights, but that is reasonably unlikely. Full details will be on the website as soon as we can manage:

• The Band’s Visit
• When You’re Strange
• [A Buster Keaton, probably Seven Chances]
• Metropolis [restored version with live orchestra]
• Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet
• Milk
• Ordet
• Treeless Mountain
• Wrong Rosary
• A Common Thread (Les Brodeuses)
• The Woman of the Dunes
• The Class
• The White Ribbon
• Not One Less
• Mother
• Still Walking
• The Return
• Seraphine
• The Secret in their Eyes

The Brambletye Hotel adds screening facilities as part of its refurbishment.

We often get asked about screening films in and around Forest Row, and we are always keen to work with other people and organisations to further extend the film exhibition opportunities in this part of East Sussex.

A couple of years ago we received funding for our new digital equipment, which has greatly extended the number and range of films we can show. Furthermore, if other community groups want to organise screenings, we are keen to support such activities.

We’ve done a few one-off events for other groups, and have a regular programme that we develop with Transition Forest Row. Our funding also enabled us to purchase some portable screening equipment, and we have used that for other events in Forest Row and West Hoathly over the last year or two. If you are interested in organising other film events and want to know more about the terms for using our equipment, please let us know.

Still, sometimes people approach us with an interest in screening films for which the village hall may be too large a venue. In such cases it would be nice if there was an alternative space. Well, now there is.

As part of its major refurbishment work, the Brambletye Hotel is adding in a number of smaller scale screening facilities. I’ve just been shown around, and the first, in the function room downstairs by the reception, is almost finished.

There are a couple of documentaries that have been suggested to me recently, for which this would be an ideal venue, and it is possible that we could also use it for some smaller events during the Forest Row Festival (30 September-3 October), or for our comedy film festival that are planning.

Are there any films that you fancy screening in Forest Row? Let us know. The venues are multiplying.