Suggest a film for 2019-20
What should we screen next season? As usual the committee is keen to gather ideas for film events for the season ahead. Ideally, we’d like to attract a hundred people to our screenings, which means that a film shouldn’t be too obscure and inaccessible, and should appeal to our audience, though we’re happy to include films that might be a bit challenging from time to time.
We tend not to show films that are totally mainstream, and like to have a reasonable balance from the history of world cinema, plus some comedies as well as more serious dramas
We also re-visit the suggestions from previous years as well, since there are always good ideas in those lists. You might want to have a look at them:
It would be useful if you can also add a short note about why you think we should screen it, and how long ago you last saw it.
One of the best films from last year was Lee Chang-dong’s Burning. Based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, it is a compelling and perplexing slow burn thriller, with nods to Hitchcock, and leaving the viewer exhilarated and unsettled. Actually, it was the best film I’ve seen for a very long time indeed. See piece in Sight & Sound
Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma was also one of the best films of 2018, and hasn’t had a proper theatrical release. Telling the story of a family in 1970s Mexico City through the perspective of their housekeeper, it is a gorgeous and precise insight into class, race and gender. See Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian.
After the success of the The Party, how about Sally Potter’s earlier Orlando? See Roger Ebert.
I also really loved The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2017), based on the true story of the Finnish boxer from the 1950s. See Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian.
Just had a quick look at some of the ideas from 2009 – Raise the Red Lantern to start with…
Interesting list of great European films in today’s Observer, though there are some in there I certainly don’t want to see again!
We screened Lukas Moodysson’s We are the Best! a few years ago, which went down very well, and we really should do Together, a wonderful account of a commune in Stockholm in 1975. See review in Philosophy Now, a piece about the director, and a piece in the Guardian‘s My Favourite Film series.
The trailer is awful, but conveys the idea (badly).
Antonioni’s great enigmatic film The Passenger starring Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider. Re-released recently after its original 1975 debut. Read Peter Bradshaw’s review.
Bruno Ganz just died. So maybe we could show the film again where he is an angel…
„Wings of Desire“
I left out the films Brad already suggested, here are a few more:
Synonyms, Nadav Lapid
Just won the Golden Bear in Berlin.
https://www.critic.de/film/synonyms-12637/trailer/
https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/synonyms-nadav-lapid-muddy-dreams-israeli-paris
https://www.indiewire.com/2019/02/synonyms-review-nadav-lapid-berlinale-2019-1202044142/
Transit, Christian Petzold (Yella, Barbara, Phoenix)
(After Anna Seghers’ 1944 novel about refugees)
https://youtu.be/oOTZiS2erb4
https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/transit-christian-petzold-europe-past-present-purgatorial-palimpsest
Cold War, Pawel Pawlikowski
https://youtu.be/kSYHHLk12x8
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/02/cold-war-pawel-pawlikowski-review-mark-kermode?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Thunder Road, Jim Cummings
Tragicomedy
https://youtu.be/JTjYRFZOf4I
http://filmthreat.com/reviews/thunder-road/
Grave of the Fireflies, Studio Ghibli (
Animation
https://youtu.be/4vPeTSRd580
Grave of the Fireflies: The haunting relevance of Studio Ghibli’s darkest film http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43695803
Talking about Trees, Suhaib Gasmelbari
Documentary about film club of 4 enthusiastic old men in Sudan…
Documentary prize Berlin
https://www.critic.de/film/talking-about-trees-12778/
Garnet‘s Gold, Ed Perkins
Documentary about a man who must find a treasure in Scotland…
https://youtu.be/pq_3nGkTQVE
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/15/movies/garnets-gold-review.html
One from Judith:
La Famille Belier? I saw it last night. Funny and poignant, a coming of age film with a twist. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3547740/
“The Béliers are ordinary people: Rodolphe and Gigi are married, have two children and run their farm for a living. Ordinary people? Well, almost… since three of them, Dad, Mum and their son Quentin, are deaf. Which is not the case of the boy’s big sister, Paula. And not only can she speak but her music teacher scouts her beautiful voice as well. He offers her to sit for the entrance exam of the Maîtrise de Radio France, a vocal elite choir in Paris. Her parents, who rely on her as their ears and mouth in the outside world, take the news badly. Paula, who hates the idea of betraying her parents and her brother, goes through a painful dilemma…”
This Danish thriller (The Guilty) barely had a release and is similarly claustrophobic as Locke. See reviews in the Observer and Guardian
How about Peanut Butter Falcon?
Uplifting, funny and tender. Great photography.
Great performances by the leading actors. The main actor has Downs Syndrome and is a joy to engage with in the film.