My May Bank Holiday Cinema Picks
Indie film The Assistant, The Jewish Film Festival and a film from Watermans' first year.
On Monday we kicked off our brand new Cinema Club: No Ticket Required. With over 30 screens attending (and a lot more people!), I particularly enjoyed the different views and discussion about society in the 1950s and how it was represented in the film. At the end of the session participants voted on the next film we’ll look at, which I can announce is 2017’s The Sense of an Ending… watch this space for Jon’s video intro which I’ll be sharing next week prior to the next No Ticket Required on Monday 18 May.
Until then here are some suggestions that will help fill that void: two that Watermans would have screened this month, and a classic British film from the 80s. And last week I mentioned the Jewish Film Festival, especially the intriguing film below about the role of Jewish people in challenging Apartheid rule in South Africa.
This Week’s Film Picks
The Assistant (15)
Curzon Home Cinema, streaming now. £9.99 – Watermans customers can get 15% OFF with code CHCMAY
American Indie film that was the hot ticket at the Berlin Film Festival in February. A young woman begins to see how fragile and vulnerable her position is as a lowly assistant to a never-seen but sometimes-heard obnoxious film producer. New director Kitty Green stamps her own authority on this well-crafted drama.
Local Hero
All4. Streaming until 12 May. Free.
A film released in 1983, its popularity meant we played it in 1984 during Watermans’ first year in operation – in the days long before video let along streaming became the norm. Director Bill Forsyth creates a time and place that recalls Ealing comedies, but with a very eighties twist. Big corporation USA is after oil reserves in the Scottish Highlands as the locals batten down the hatches. Great cast with one of Burt Lancaster’s final roles and Peter Capaldi’s first, plus music composed by Dire Straights.
Jewish Film Festival: An Act of Defiance
Streaming now on festival website.
an act of defiance
Winner of the Dorfman Best Film Award at the 2017 UK Jewish Film Festival, this is a strong film set in Apartheid South Africa about a Jewish lawyer who defends Nelson Mandella among others. This powerful and captivating true story captures a seminal moment in the fight against racism and explores the little known role of South African Jews in consigning Apartheid to history.
