The Prince Charles Cinema

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Little Amelie or the Character of Rain
2025 78mins Belgium, France (PG) Animation
Directed by Maïlys Vallade|Liane-cho Han Starring Loïse Charpentier, Victoria Grobois, Yumi Fujimori

The world is a perplexing, peaceful mystery to Amélie until a miraculous encounter with chocolate ignites her wild sense of curiosity. As she develops a deep attachment to her family's housekeeper, Nishio-san, Amélie discovers the wonders of nature as well as the emotional truths hidden beneath the surface of her family's idyllic life as foreigners in post-war Japan.

Oscar® and BAFTA nominated, it is a tender, poignant and visually stunning story about the healing power of human connection based on Amélie Nothomb’s best-selling autobiographical novel.

The Fall - 20th Anniversary
2006 117mins India, USA (15) Adventure / Fantasy
Directed by Tarsem Singh Starring Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell

A bedridden patient in a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles befriends a fellow patient, and shares a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island with the little girl.

Akira
1988 125mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Katsuhiro Ôtomo Starring Mami Koyama, Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki

Iconic and game-changing, AKIRA is the definitive anime masterpiece! Katsuhiro Otomo's landmark cyberpunk classic obliterated the boundaries of Japanese animation and forced the world to look into the future. AKIRA's arrival shattered traditional thinking, creating space for future generations of ground-breaking movies.

July, 1988 - World War III breaks loose. Then, in 2019, in megalopolis Tokyo...As the leader of a group of young robust delinquents, Kaneda spent his nights tearing through the urban wastes, racing his motorbike against rival groups. One night while riding with his gang, his friend Tetsuo suddenly encounters a strange boy - the product of human experimentation and is injured in the ensuing crash. Shortly thereafter, a military squadron appears on the scene to take the boy and Tetsuo away to an army research facility. Determined to free Tetsuo from capture, Kaneda sneaks into the army research lab. However, a regimen of extreme experimental procedures has awakened a new power in his friend, and now he is consumed by madness..

Cure
1997 111mins Japan (15) Horror
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa Starring Kôji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki

A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances are sweeping Tokyo.

Enter The Dragon
1973 99mins Hong Kong, USA (15) Martial Arts
Directed by Robert Clouse Starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly

Sent to an exotic island by his government, a spy (Lee) competes in a deadly tournament by day and infiltrates a ruthless crime lord's illegal drug operation by night. With plot twists, exquisite cinematography and bone-crushing fight scenes choreographed by Lee himself, ENTER THE DRAGON remains cinema's most influential martial arts action film.

Chungking Express
1994 101mins Hong Kong (12) Romance/Drama
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong, Valerie Chow, Tony Leung

Every day, Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) buys a can of pineapple with an expiration date of May 1, symbolizing the day he'll get over his lost love. He's also got his eye on a mysterious woman in a blond wig (Brigitte Lin), oblivious of the fact she's a drug dealer. Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is distraught with heartbreak over a breakup. But when his ex drops a spare set of his keys at a local cafe, a waitress (Faye Wong) lets herself into his apartment and spruces up his life.

Paprika
2006 90mins Japan (15) Adventure / Drama
Directed by Satoshi Kon| Toshi Starring Megumi Hayashibara, Tôru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori

When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.

Amelie - 25th Anniversary
2001 123mins France (15) Romance/Comedy
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet Starring Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus

23-year-old Amélie is lonely. After an isolating childhood, she moves to Paris and becomes a waitress at the Café des Deux Moulins, a bar restaurant filled with a colourful cast of diners and employees. One night, Amélie happens across a box of treasures hidden in her apartment, left by a little boy in the Fifties, that changes the course of her life. Henceforth, she dedicates herself to giving back to her community, tracking down the owner of these keepsakes, consoling a widowed neighbour and befriending a reclusive artist. When completing these good deeds, she crosses paths with Nino, a photobooth collagist who shares her oddball sensibilities. She quickly falls in love with him.  

The Colour of Pomegranates [Sayat Nova]
1969 80mins Soviet Union (PG) Drama
Directed by Sergei Parajanov Starring Sofiko Chiaureli, Melkon Alekyan, Vilen Galstyan

Sergei Parajanov's celebrated masterpiece paints an astonishing portrait of the 18th century Armenian poet Sayat Nova, the 'King of Song'. Parajanov's aim was not a conventional biography but a cinematic expression of his work, resulting in an extraordinary visual poem. Key moments in his subject's life are illustrated through a series of exquisitely orchestrated tableaux filled with rich colour and stunning iconography, each scene a celluloid painting alive with stylised movement.

Taipei Story
1985 119mins Taiwan (18) Drama
Directed by Edward Yang Starring Chin Tsai, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wu Nien-jen

Edward Yang's second feature is a mournful anatomy of a city caught between the past and the present. Made in collaboration with Yang's fellow New Taiwan Cinema master Hou Hsiao-hsien, TAIPEI STORY chronicles the growing estrangement between a washed-up baseball player (Hou, in a rare on-screen performance) working in his family's textile business and his girlfriend (Tsai Chin), who clings to the upward mobility of her career in property development. As the couple's dreams of marriage and emigration begin to unravel, Yang's gaze illuminates the precariousness of domestic life and the desperation of Taiwan's globalised modernity.

Bullet in the Head
1990 131mins Hong Kong (18) Action / Crime
Directed by John Woo Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau, Waise Lee Chi-Hung

Three childhood friends from the slums of Hong Kong flee to war-time Saigon after accidentally murdering a gang leader, but their troubles only escalate.

In The Mood For Love
2000 98mins Hong Kong (PG) Romance
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Rebecca Pan, Lai Chen, Paulyn Sun

In 1962 Hong Kong, neighbors Su Li-zhen (Mrs. Chan) and Chow Mo-wan (Mr. Chow) discover their spouses are having an affair. As they spend time together, they develop feelings for each other, but their relationship remains chaste and unspoken, reflecting societal constraints and their own moral compass.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn
2003 83mins Taiwan (PG) Comedy / Drama
Directed by Ming-liang Tsai Starring Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi, Kiyonobu Mitamura

On a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".

Fantastic Planet
1973 72mins Czechoslovakia, France (PG) Animation
Directed by René Laloux Starring Gérard Hernandez, Jean Valmont, Jennifer Drake

On the planet Ygam, the Draags, extremely technologically and spiritually advanced blue humanoids, consider the tiny Oms, human beings descendants of Terra's inhabitants, as ignorant animals. Those who live in slavery are treated as simple pets and used to entertain Draag children; those who live hidden in the hostile wilderness of the planet are periodically hunted and ruthlessly slaughtered as if they were vermin.

Perfect Days
2023 125mins Germany, Japan (PG) Drama
Directed by Wim Wenders Starring Kôji Yakusho, Aoi Yamada, Min Tanaka, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Yumi Aso

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

La Haine
1995 98mins France (15) Crime
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui

Hatred breeds hatred...

24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.

Persepolis
2007 95mins France, USA (12A) Animation
Directed by Vincent Paronnaud|Marjane Satrapi Starring Chiara Mastroianni, Danielle Darrieux, Catherine Deneuve

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

Playtime
1967 123mins France, Italy (PG) Comedy Genius
Directed by Jacques Tati Starring Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek, Rita Maiden

Clumsy Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon becomes lost. His roundabout journey parallels that of an American tourist (Barbara Dennek), and as they weave through the inventive urban environment, they intermittently meet, developing an interest in one another. They eventually get together at a chaotic restaurant, along with several other quirky characters.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg [Les parapluies de Cherbourg]
1964 91mins France, Germany, West Germany (PG) Musical / Romance
Directed by Jacques Demy Starring Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon

An angelically beautiful Catherine Deneuve was launched to stardom by this dazzling musical heart-tugger from Jacques Demy. She plays an umbrella-shop owner’s delicate daughter, glowing with first love for a handsome garage mechanic, played by Nino Castelnuovo. When the boy is shipped off to fight in Algeria, the two lovers must grow up quickly. Exquisitely designed in a kaleidoscope of colors, and told entirely through the lilting songs of the great composer Michel Legrand, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the most revered and unorthodox movie musicals of all time.

Ashes and Diamonds
1958 103mins Poland (15) Drama
Directed by Andrzej Wajda Starring Zbigniew Cybulski, Waclaw Zastrzezynski, Adam Pawlikowski

A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.

Climax
2018 97mins France (18) Psychological Drama
Directed by Gaspar Noé Starring Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub

With Climax, Gaspar Noé, enfant terrible of French cinema and director of the highly controversial Irreversible, Enter the Void and Love, returns with perhaps his most critically-acclaimed work yet.

Following a successful and visually dazzling rehearsal, a dance troupe set about celebrating with a party. But when it becomes apparent that someone has spiked the sangria, the dancers soon begin to turn on each other in an orgiastic frenzy.

Starring Sofia Boutella (The Mummy, Atomic Blonde) and featuring a pulse-pounding score by the likes of Daft Punk, Aphex Twin and Gary Numan, Gaspar Noé's latest offering shows a director at the height of his hallucinatory filmmaking powers.

Ghost in the Shell
1995 89mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Mamoru Oshii Starring Akio Ôtsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi

In this Japanese animation, cyborg federal agent Maj. Motoko Kusanagi (Mimi Woods) trails "The Puppet Master" (Abe Lasser), who illegally hacks into the computerized minds of cyborg-human hybrids. Her pursuit of a man who can modify the identity of strangers leaves Motoko pondering her own makeup and what life might be like if she had more human traits. With her partner (Richard George), she corners the hacker, but her curiosity about her identity sends the case in an unforeseen direction.

The Grandmaster (Extended Cut)
2013 130mins China, Hong Kong (15) Martial Arts
Directed by Wong Kar-wai Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen

Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.

Wong Kar-wai’s original 130-minute cut on the big screen in the UK for the first time, courtesy Janus Films

Rashomon [Rashômon]
1950 88mins Japan (12A) Drama
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Starring Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Toshi

Set in feudal Japan, this film presents an intriguing tale of violent crime in the woods, told from the perspective of four different characters -- a bandit, a woman, her husband and a woodcutter. Only two things about the incident seem to be clear -- the woman was raped and her husband is now dead. However, the other elements radically differ as the four participants and/or witnesses relate their own stories (with the dead man, eerily enough, speaking through a medium). As each account is revealed, what seemed black-and-white turns to various hues of gray, leading to surprising -- and confounding -- revelations.

Pickpocket
1959 74mins France (PG) Crime
Directed by Robert Bresson Starring Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jea Pélégri

Uncomplainingly jobless in late-50s Paris, Michel starts stealing from strangers, for reasons unclear even to himself. He spouts vague theories about exceptional individuals being above the law – but is he lost in another world, as Jeanne, a young woman he halfheartedly befriends, tells him?

Intentionally not a thriller but certainly not without suspense, Robert Bresson’s film is profoundly ambivalent about Michel’s ethics, sexuality (he seems aroused by his thefts), his capacity for compassion and his courtship of suspicion in others. His isolation, however, is undeniable. A riveting morality tale reminiscent of both Hitchcock and Dostoevsky, it’s imbued with the director’s distinctive rigour.

Perfect Blue
1997 81mins Japan (18) Anime
Directed by Satoshi Kon| Toshi Starring Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji

"THE COLOUR OF ILLUSION IS PERFECT BLUE"

A young Japanese singer is encouraged by her agent to quit singing and pursue an acting career, beginning with a role in a murder mystery TV show.

Ugetsu
1953 97mins Japan (12A) Fantasy
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi Starring Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka, Sakae Ozawa

By the time he made Ugetsu, Kenji Mizoguchi was already an elder statesman of Japanese cinema, fiercely revered by Akira Kurosawa and other directors of a younger generation. And with this exquisite ghost story, a fatalistic wartime tragedy derived from stories by Akinari Ueda and Guy de Maupassant, he created a touchstone of his art, his long takes and sweeping camera guiding the viewer through a delirious narrative about two villagers whose pursuit of fame and fortune leads them far astray from their loyal wives. Moving between the terrestrial and the otherworldly, Ugetsu reveals essential truths about the ravages of war, the plight of women, and the pride of men.

Cinema Paradiso [Nuovo Cinema Paradiso]
1988 124mins Italy (12A) Drama
Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore Starring Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili

A winner of awards across the world including Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, 5 BAFTA Awards including Best Actor, Original Screenplay and Score, the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and many more.

Giuseppe Tornatore's loving homage to the cinema tells the story of Salvatore, a successful film director, returning home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend who was the projectionist at the local cinema throughout his childhood. Soon memories of his first love affair with the beautiful Elena and all the highs and lows that shaped his life come flooding back, as Salvatore reconnects with the community he left 30 years earlier.

The Ascent
1977 111mins Soviet Union (12A) War
Directed by Larisa Shepitko Starring Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergey Yakovlev

The crowning triumph of a career cut tragically short, the final film from Larisa Shepitko won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival and went on to be hailed as one of the finest works of late Soviet cinema. In the darkest days of World War II, two partisans set out for supplies to sustain their beleaguered outfit, braving the blizzard-swept landscape of Nazi-occupied Belorussia. When they fall into the hands of German forces and come face-to-face with death, each must choose between martyrdom and betrayal, in a spiritual ordeal that lifts the film's earthy drama to the plane of religious allegory. With stark, visceral cinematography that pits blinding white snow against pitch-black despair, THE ASCENT finds poetry and transcendence in the harrowing trials of war.

Solaris (1972)
1972 167mins Soviet Union (12A) Science Fiction
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky Starring Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet

A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.

Hard Boiled
1992 128mins Hong Kong (18) Action / Crime
Directed by John Woo Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Teresa Mo Shun-Kwan

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

Please Note: We plan to have the 35mm print of Hard Boiled on site in the New Year to check on its quality, and if we find it is unsuitable for screening, we will switch to the new 4K restoration courtesy of Arrow Films!

Harakiri
1962 133mins Japan (15) Drama
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin's resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Breathless [À bout de souffle]
1960 90mins France (12A) Neo Noir
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger

Petty thug Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) considers himself a suave bad guy in the manner of Humphrey Bogart, but panics and impulsively kills a policeman while driving a stolen car. On the lam, he turns to his aspiring journalist girlfriend, Patricia (Jean Seberg), hiding out in her Paris apartment while he tries to pull together enough money to get the pair to Italy. But when Patricia learns that her boyfriend is being investigated for murder, she begins to question her loyalties.

Branded To Kill
1967 91mins Japan (18) Action / Crime
Directed by Seijun Suzuki Starring Jô Shishido, Mariko Ogawa, Annu Mari

Seijun Suzuki's delirious 1967 hit-man film has drawn comparisons with contemporaries Le Samourai and Point Blank and influenced directors such as John Woo, Jim Jarmusch and Quentin Tarantino among others.

The story of laconic yakuza Hanada, aka 'No. 3 Killer', the third rated hit-man in Japan who takes an impossible job from the mysterious, death obsessed Misako. Hanada bungles the hit and finds himself the target of his employers and a bullet ridden journey leads him to face the No. 1 Killer.

Shot in cool monochrome with beguiling visuals, Branded to Kill is an effortlessly cool crime film with a jazzy score that caused Suzuki to be fired by the studio's executives but is now rightly recognised as his masterpiece.

The Worst Person in the World
2022 128mins Denmark, Norway, Sweden (15) Romance/Comedy
Directed by Joachim Trier Starring Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum

On the verge of turning thirty, Julie is faced with a series of choices that force her to pursue new perspectives on her life in contemporary Oslo. Over the course of four years, she navigates love affairs and existential uncertainty as she starts deciding who she wants to become.

Yi Yi
2000 173mins Taiwan (15) Drama
Directed by Edward Yang Starring Wu Nien-jen, Elaine Jin, Issey Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Hsi-Sheng Chen, Su-Yun Ko, Lawrence Ko

The extraordinary, internationally embraced Yi Yi (A One and a Two . . .), directed by the late Taiwanese master Edward Yang, follows a middle-class family in Taipei over the course of one year, beginning with a wedding and ending with a funeral. Whether chronicling middle-age father NJ’s tentative flirtations with an old flame or precocious young son Yang-Yang’s attempts at capturing reality with his beloved camera, the filmmaker deftly imbues every gorgeous frame with a compassionate clarity. Warm, sprawling, and dazzling, this intimate epic is one of the undisputed masterworks of the new century.

4K digital restoration carried out by Pony Canyon Inc., with analog and digital processes provided by Imagica Entertainment Media Services, Inc.

Daisies (Sedmikrásky)
1966 76mins Czechoslovakia, Slovakia (15) Comedy
Directed by Vera Chytilová Starring Jitka Cerhová, Ivana Karbanová

After realizing that all world is spoiled, Marie and Marie are committed to be spoiled themselves. They rip off older men, feast in lavish meals and do all kinds of mischief. But what is all this leading to?

Ran
1985 160mins Japan (15) War
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu

At the age of seventy, after years of consolidating his empire, the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides to abdicate and divide his domain amongst his three sons. Taro (Akira Terao), the eldest, will rule. Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), his second son, and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu) will take command of the Second and Third Castles but are expected to obey and support their elder brother. Saburo defies the pledge of obedience and is banished.

Fallen Angels
1995 99mins Hong Kong (15) Thriller / Romance
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Leon Lai, Michele Reis, Karen Mok

An assassin goes through obstacles as he attempts to escape his violent lifestyle despite the opposition of his partner, who is secretly attracted to him.

All You Need Is Kill
2025 86mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Kenichiro Akimoto Starring Ai Mikami, Natsuki Hanae, Kana Hanazawa

Set in the year 20XX, ALL YOU NEED IS KILL follows the story of Rita, a resourceful but isolated young woman volunteering to help rebuild Japan after the mysterious appearance of a massive alien flower known as “ Darol. ” When Darol unexpectedly erupts in a deadly event, unleashing monstrous creatures that decimate the population, Rita is caught in the destruction — and killed. But then she wakes up again. And again. Caught in an endless time loop, Rita must navigate the trauma and repetition of death until she crosses paths with Keiji, a shy young man trapped in the same cycle. Together, they fight to break free from the loop and find meaning in the chaos around them.

Sentimental Value
2025 133mins Denmark, Norway, Sweden (15) Drama
Directed by Joachim Trier Starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning

Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star.

Winner Cannes Film Festival 2025 Grand Prix

Memories of Murder [Salinui chueok]
2003 132mins South Korea (15) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Bong Joon Ho Starring Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim

In 1986, Park (Song Kang-ho) and Cho (Kim Roi-ha) are two simple-minded detectives assigned to a double murder investigation in a South Korean province. But when the murderer strikes several more times with the same pattern, the detectives realize that they are chasing the country's first documented serial killer. Relying on only their basic skills and tools, Park and Jo attempt to piece together the clues and solve the case in this thriller based on true events.

Enter The Void
2009 161mins France (18) Mind F**k
Directed by Gaspar Noé Starring Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy

An American drug dealer living in Tokyo is betrayed by his best friend and killed in a drug deal. His soul, observing the repercussions of his death, seeks resurrection.

Millennium Mambo
2001 119mins Taiwan (15) Romance/Drama
Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien Starring Shu Qi, Jack Kao, Duan Chun-hao

A neon-drenched trip through nocturnal Taipei, Millennium Mambo stars Shu Qi as Vicky, a bar hostess losing interest in her dull, garrulous boyfriend, and attracted to the mysterious, sensual gangster Jack. Built as a flashback from the future, she finds herself afloat amidst a world of ecstatic nights out and an undertow of nagging emptiness, torn between the two men.

Like Edward Yang (A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi), director Hou Hsiao-Hsien emerged as one the major figures of the Taiwanese New Wave, and even collaborated with Yang as a screenwriter on Taipei Story (1985).

Misunderstood at the time by critics and audiences as a misstep in Hou’s otherwise excellent track record, it’s now reclaimed as a vital cog in his filmography. Hou’s meditative style is front-and-centre in Millennium Mambo, aided by the presence of the sublime cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bin, who at the time had just finished work on In the Mood for Love (2001).

Fitzcarraldo
1982 158mins Peru, West Germany (PG) Adventure / Drama
Directed by Werner Herzog Starring Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy

Fitzcarraldo tells the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, a fortune hunter who dreams of bringing opera to the Peruvian jungle.

One of Werner Herzog's most acclaimed films, Fitzcarraldo tells the incredible story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (played by Herzog regular Klaus Kinski), an opera-loving fortune hunter who dreams of bringing opera (specifically Caruso) to a remote trading post in the heart of the Peruvian jungle.

With the help of the beautiful madam Molly (Claudia Cardinale), his loyal crew, and an indigenous tribe, Fitzcarraldo journeys up the rivers of the Amazon hauling his steamship, the Molly Aida, over a mountain in order to access the riches of hitherto unexploited rubber territory. Evocative of the troubled circumstance of its own production, Fitzcarraldo is both a confessional self-portrait of Herzog the adventuring artist and a grandiose paean to those who dare to live out their wildest dreams.

The Killer (1989)
1989 111mins Hong Kong (18) Action / Crime
Directed by John Woo Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee Sau-Yin, Sally Yeh

Mob assassin Jeffrey is no ordinary hired gun; the best in his business, he views his chosen profession as a calling rather than simply a job. So, when beautiful nightclub chanteuse Jennie is blinded in the crossfire of his most recent hit, Jeffrey chooses to retire after one last job to pay for his unintended victim's sight-restoring operation. But when Jeffrey is double-crossed, he reluctantly joins forces with a rogue policeman to make things right.

Days
2020 126mins Taiwan (15) Drama
Directed by Tsai Ming-Liang Starring Lee Kang-sheng, Anong Houngheuangsy

Kang lives alone in a big house. Through a glass façade, he looks out onto the treetops lashed by wind and rain. He feels a strange pain of unknown origin which he can hardly bear and which grips his whole body. Non lives in a small apartment in Bangkok where he methodically prepares traditional dishes from his native village. When Kang meets Non in a hotel room, the two men share each other's loneliness.

Angel's Egg
1985 71mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Mamoru Oshii Starring Keiichi Noda, Mako Hyodo, Jinpachi Nezu

In an underwater city, a young girl takes care of a large egg she holds carefully in her arms. A boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in his dream. At first, it seems as if feelings of sympathy are developing between the two.

Forty years after the film’s original release, Anime Limited is proud to present an all-new 4K restoration of the film, supervised by director Mamoru Oshii, in cinemas nationwide for the very first time.

The film is a creative collaboration between acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), who wrote and directed the feature, and revered artist Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D). The film beautifully intertwines Oshii’s thematic reflections on philosophy and theology with Amano’s distinctive ink painting style, culminating in an arrestingly beautiful hand-drawn allegorical fantasy.

Happy Together
1997 96mins Hong Kong (15) Romance
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, Kwok-Wing

A couple take a trip to Argentina but both men find their lives drifting apart in opposite directions.

A Tale of Springtime
107mins France (U) Comedy / Romance
Directed by Éric Rohmer Starring Anne Teyssèdre, Hugues Quester, Florence Darel

In the first film of Tales of the Four Seasons, a burgeoning friendship between philosophy teacher Jeanne (Anne Teyssèdre) and pianist Natacha (Florence Darel) is strained by jealousy, suspicion, and intrigue. Natacha encourages Jeanne to pursue Igor (Hugues Quester), Natacha’s father, in order to supplant Ève (Eloïse Bennett), his young girlfriend, whom Natacha loathes. Natacha’s scheme, however, risks alienating those closest to her as well as entangling Jeanne in the very kind of romantic drama she has vowed to avoid. 

Grave of the Fireflies
1988 88mins Japan (12A) Anime
Directed by Isao Takahata Starring Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi

When an American air raid kills their mother in the final days of World War II, 14 year-old Seita and his 4 year-old sister Setsuko are left to fend for themselves in the devastated Japanese countryside. After falling out with their only living relative, Seita does his best to provide for himself and his sister by stealing food and making a home in an abandoned bomb shelter. But with food running short, the siblings can only cling to fleeting moments of happiness in their harsh reality. 

“One of the most startling and moving animated films ever”– The New York Times 

“A grim story of love, sacrifice and survival” – The Observer 

“A movie everyone should see” – Screen Rant 

“An emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation” – Roger Ebert 

Two Boxes : La cabina and El televisor + Reece Shearsmith Intro
1972 103mins Spain (18) Horror / Comedy
Directed by Antonio Mercero|Narciso Ibañez Serrador Starring José Luis López Vázquez, Agustín González, Narciso Ibáñez Menta, María Fernanda D'Ocón

Spain in the early 1970s was a country in transition, with increasing economic prosperity and the expectations of a growing middle class put in direct conflict with the dying dictatorship regime of Franco, where state surveillance, media censorship and social control was still the norm. Inspired by mystery-horror anthology series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, this unique period in history is depicted with terrifying clarity and dark humour in these two infamous television films: La cabina and El televisor.

In Antonio Mercero’s La cabina, a group of officials install a telephone box outside a block of flats. After a man enters to make a phone call, he finds himself unable to leave, attracting the attention of fascinated locals as he grows increasingly desperate to escape. A sensation upon release and a cultural touchstone in Spain to this day, La cabina also developed a huge cult following in the UK after regular screenings on late-night TV.

In El televisor, a man living a dreary suburban life has a simple dream: to possess his own television. When he finally gets his wish, the dream soon becomes a dangerous, all-consuming obsession. Originally a special episode of the hugely popular series Tales to Keep You Awake, written and directed by Narcisco Ibanez Serrandor (Who Can Kill A Child), El televisor’s escalating dread and shocking conclusion still retains its power to shock over 50 years later.

Released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK by Transmission on 22nd July, this double bill will be released into UK cinemas on June 19th to coincide with Bleak Week, and will receive its premiere screening at the Prince Charles Cinema with an intro from Reece Shearsmith (Inside No 9, The League of Gentlemen). 

Taste of Cherry
1997 99mins Iran (PG) Comedy / Drama
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami Starring Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Safar Ali Moradi

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami’s _Taste of Cherry_ is an emotionally complex meditation on life and death. Middle-aged Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) drives through the hilly outskirts of Tehran—searching for someone to rescue or bury him.

Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom
1975 117mins France, Italy (18) Arthouse Horror
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini Starring Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Uberto Paolo Quintavalle, Aldo Valletti, Caterina Boratto, Elsa De Giorgi

Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.

Audition • 4K Restoration UK Theatrical Premiere
1999 115mins Japan (18) Horror
Directed by Takashi Miike Starring Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki

UK Theatrical Premiere of new 4K Restoration, courtesy of Arrow Films

This disturbing Japanese thriller follows Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a widower who decides to start dating again. Aided by a film-producer friend (Miyuki Matsuda), Aoyama uses auditions for a fake production to function as a dating service. When Aoyama becomes intrigued by the withdrawn, gorgeous Asami (Eihi Shiina), they begin a relationship. However, he begins to realise that Asami isn't as reserved as she appears to be, leading to gradually increased tension and a harrowing climax.

The Furious - UK Premiere
2026 114mins Hong Kong (18) Action / Thriller
Directed by Kenji Tanigaki Starring Mo Tse, Joe Taslim, Yang Enyou

After the daughter of Wang Wei is kidnapped by a criminal network and he receives no help from the corrupt police, Wei sets out on a rampage to find her himself. His only ally is Navin – a relentless journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo ruthlessly fights against the kidnappers in this explosive martial arts showdown.

Satantango
1994 439mins Hungary (15) Drama
Directed by Béla Tarr Starring Mihaly Vig, János Derzsi, Erika Bók, Miklos B Szekely, Alfred Jarai, Putyi Horvath, Laszlo Lugossy, Eva Almassy Albert, Iren Sza

ALL NIGHTER : FAQs, HOUSE RULES & TIPS

Bela Tarr's seven-hour episodic film. Yes, seven hour.

Presented over three parts with 20-minute breaks between, during Bleak Week, in partnership with American Cinematheque.

The bar will close, and alcohol sales will end at midnight on 20th June 2026. 

Inhabitants of a small village in Hungary deal with the effects of the fall of Communism. The town's source of revenue, a factory, has closed, and the locals await a cash payment offered in the wake of the shuttering. A villager thought to be dead, returns and, unbeknownst to the locals, is a police informant. In a scheme, he persuades the villagers to form a commune with him.

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NO ADMISSIONS TO THE CINEMA AFTER MIDNIGHT

NO ALCOHOL PURCHASED FROM OUTSIDE IS PERMITTED IN THE BUILDING!

AGE RESTRICTIONS : For the All Night Marathon, due to the event running through the night, all attendees must be 16+.

Le Samourai
1967 105mins France, Italy (PG) Crime
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville Starring Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, Caty Rosier, Jacques Leroy, Michel Boisrond

After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.

Irreversible
2002 97mins France (18) Horror / Thriller
Directed by Gaspar Noé Starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel

A woman's lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can't be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

Man Bites Dog
1992 95mins Belgium (18) Crime/Comedy
Directed by Rémy Belvaux|André Bonze|Benoit Poelvoorde Starring Benoit Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert, Jenny Drye, Malou Madou, Willy Vandenbroeck

The activities of rampaging, indiscriminate serial killer Ben are recorded by a willingly complicit documentary team, who eventually become his accomplices and active participants. Ben provides casual commentary on the nature of his work and arbitrary musings on topics of interest to him, such as music or the conditions of low-income housing, and even goes so far as to introduce the documentary crew to his family. But their reckless indulgences soon get the better of them.

The Mother and the Whore
1973 215mins France (15) Psychological Drama
Directed by Jean Eustache Starring Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun

After the French New Wave, the sexual revolution, and May '68 came The Mother and the Whore, the legendary, autobiographical magnum opus by Jean Eustache that captured a disillusioned generation navigating the post-idealism 1970s within the microcosm of a ménage à trois. The aimless, clueless, Parisian pseudo-intellectual Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Léaud) lives with his tempestuous older girlfriend, Marie (Bernadette Lafont), and begins a dalliance with the younger, sexually liberated Veronika (Françoise Lebrun, Eustache's own former lover), leading to a volatile open relationship marked by everyday emotional violence and subtle but catastrophic shifts in power dynamics. Transmitting his own sex life to the screen with a startling immediacy, Eustache achieves an intimacy so deep it cuts.

All About Lily Chou-Chou
2001 146mins Japan (15) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Shunji Iwai Starring Hayato Ichihara, Yû Aoi, Shûgo Oshinari, Ayumi Ito, Takao Ohsawa, Miwako Ichikawa, Izumi Inamori, Yû Aoii

For kids around the world, music is often the only salvation when the pain and anxiety of teenage life becomes too much to bear. Yuichi (Hayato Ichihara) is in the 8th grade and he worships Lily Chou-Chou, a Bjork-like chanteuse whose epic music is lush and transcendent. Yuichi only lives for Lily Chou-Chou's big Tokyo concert, where the lies and violence can be washed away by the presence of his goddess and her powerful music. But fate has yet another obstacle in store for Lily's devoted fan.

Funeral Parade presents 'In a Year of 13 Moons'
1978 124mins West Germany (18) Drama
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Starring Volker Spengler, Ingrid Caven, Gottfried John

For Bleak Weak, Funeral Parade is proud to present In a Year of 13 Moons, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s devastating portrait of a heartbroken trans woman’s inner turmoil.

Elvira Weishaupt (Volker Spengler) is a trans woman and former slaughterhouse worker living unhappily in Frankfurt. According to her best friend Rote (Ingrid Caven), Elvira only decided to undergo gender-affirming surgery in Casablanca in order to appease a man, Anton (Gottfried John), who just abandoned her anyway. Now Elvira is trying to trace the events of her life in order mend her fractured psyche – but is it too late for her? 

Bleak even for Fassbinder, In a Year of 13 Moons is not for the faint of heart. However, if you can stomach its visceral imagery and extreme pessimism, you will be rewarded with one of the most powerful and emotionally raw films of the 1970s.

With intro from film curator Sarah Cleary.

Come and See
1985 141mins Russia (15) War / Horror
Directed by Elem Klimov Starring Aleksei Kravchenko, Olga Mironova

This widely acclaimed film from Soviet director Elem Klimov is a stunning, senses-shattering plunge into the dehumanizing horrors of war. As Nazi forces encroach on his small village in present-day Belarus, teenage Flyora (Aleksei Kravchenko, in one of the screen’s most searing depictions of anguish since Renée Falconetti’s Joan of Arc) eagerly joins the Soviet resistance. Rather than the adventure and glory he envisioned, what he finds is a waking nightmare of unimaginable carnage and cruelty—rendered with a feverish, otherworldly intensity by Klimov’s subjective camerawork and expressionistic sound design. Nearly suppressed by Soviet censors who took eight years to approve its script, Come and See is perhaps the most visceral, impossible-to-forget antiwar film ever made.

Blackboards
2000 85mins Iran (PG) Drama
Directed by Samira Makhmalbaf Starring Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari, Bahman Ghobadi

Itinerant Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, look for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. Said falls in with a group of old men looking for their bombed-out village; he offers to guide them, and takes as his wife Halaleh, the clan's lone woman, a widow with a young son. Reeboir attaches himself to a dozen pre-teen boys weighed down by contraband they carry across the border; they're mules, always on the move. Said and Reeboir try to teach as their potential students keep walking. Danger is close; armed soldiers patrol the skies, the roads, and the border. Is there a role for a teacher? Is there hope?

Christiane F.
131mins (18) Drama
Directed by Uli Edel Starring Eberhard Auriga, Natja Brunckhorst, Peggy Bussieck

This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the 'Sound', a new disco with most modern equipment. Although she's legally too young, she asks a friend to take her. There she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.

A Better Tomorrow
1986 95mins Hong Kong (18) Action / Crime
Directed by John Woo Starring Ti Lung, Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
1966 180mins Italy, Spain, USA, West Germany (18) Western
Directed by Sergio Leone Starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach

While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.

Godzilla [Gojira]
1954 96mins Japan (PG) Kaiju
Directed by Ishirô Honda Starring Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Takashi Shimura

Godzilla is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It’s also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama, made in Japan at a time when the country was reeling from nuclear attack and H-bomb testing in the Pacific. Its rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of destruction, spawning almost thirty sequels.

The Spirit of the Beehive
1973 99mins Spain (PG) Drama
Directed by Víctor Erice Starring Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent

In a small Castilian village in 1940, in the wake of Spain's devastating civil war, six-year-old Ana attends a traveling movie show of Frankenstein and becomes possessed by the memory of it. Produced as Franco's long regime was nearing its end and widely regarded as the greatest Spanish film of the 1970s, The Spirit of the Beehive is a bewitching portrait of a child's haunted inner life and one of the most visually arresting movies ever made.

Your Name [Kimi no Na wa.]
2016 106mins Japan (12A) Anime
Directed by Makoto Shinkai Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi

Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.

Evangelion: Death (True)² + The End of Evangelion : Double Feature
1998 156mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Hideaki Anno Starring Megumi Hayashibara, Megumi Ogata, Yuko Miyamura

EVANGELION: DEATH (TRUE)²: A recap of the first 24 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Fifteen years after the Second Impact, apathetic teen Shinji joins his father's group NERV to fight the Angels. But the truth may destroy them all.

THE END OF EVANGELION: Concurrent theatrical ending of the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). Seele orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can trigger Third Impact and Instrumentality under his control.

Good Morning [Ohayo]
1959 94mins Japan (U) Comedy / Drama
Directed by Yasujirō Ozu Starring Chishū Ryū, Masahiko Shimazu, Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Kuniko Miyake

A lighthearted take on director Yasujiro Ozu's perennial theme of the challenges of inter­generational relationships, Good Morning tells the story of two young boys who stop speaking in protest after their parents refuse to buy a television set. Ozu weaves a wealth of subtle gags through a family portrait as rich as those of his dramatic films, mocking the foibles of the adult world through the eyes of his child protagonists. Shot in stunning color and set in a suburb of Tokyo where housewives gossip about the neighbors' new washing machine and unemployed husbands look for work as door-to-door salesmen, this charming comedy refashions Ozu's own silent classic I Was Born, But . . . to gently satirize consumerism in postwar Japan.

The Raid
2011 101mins Indonesia (18) Action
Directed by Gareth Huw Evans Starring Donny Alamsyah, Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Ray Sahetapy, Yayan Ruhian

A S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.

High and Low
1963 143mins Japan (12) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Starring Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyôko Kagawa

Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku), the highly influential domestic drama and police procedural from director Akira Kurosawa. Adapting Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a diabolical treatise on contemporary Japanese society.

The Human Condition - Part 1 - No Greater Love
1959 208mins Japan (15) Drama
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama

First of a trilogy of films. During the Second World War, a Japanese conscientious objector named Kaji works as a supervisor in a Manchurian prison camp. He hopes to avoid duty as a soldier, but he also hopes to be helpful to the welfare of his prisoners. An escape attempt by Chinese prisoners results in Kaji's arrest for collusion. He faces the possibility of transferral to combat--or worse.

The Handmaiden [Theatrical Cut]
2016 145mins (18) Thriller / Romance
Directed by Park Chan-Wook Starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo

In 1930s Korea, a swindler and a young woman pose as a Japanese count and a handmaiden to seduce a Japanese heiress and steal her fortune.

Stalker
1979 161mins Soviet Union (PG) Science Fiction
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky Starring Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy

In an unnamed country at an unspecified time, there is a fiercely protected post-apocalyptic wasteland known as The Zone. An illegal guide (Aleksandr Kajdanovsky), whose mutant child suggests unspeakable horrors within The Zone, leads a writer (Anatoliy Solonitsyn) and a scientist (Nikolay Grinko) into the heart of the devastation in search of a mythical place known only as The Room. Anyone who enters The Room will supposedly have any of his earthly desires immediately fulfilled.

Woman In The Dunes
1964 127mins Japan (15) Psychological Thriller
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara Starring Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida

An entomologist misses the last bus home and spends the night sharing a young widow’s desert shack, only to find the next morning that he’s unable to leave. He soon becomes psychologically and erotically entangled in her strange existence, which includes a daily ritual of shovelling away endlessly drifting sand. 

Winner of a Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1964 and nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film and Best Director, the film combines an extremely erotic drama with a terrifically gripping thriller. Adapted from Kobe Abe’s novel by acclaimed director Hiroshi Teshigahara, the film also features startling high-contrast black and white photography from Hiroshi Segawa and a superb minimalist score by Toru Takemitsu.

Santa Sangre
1989 122mins Italy (18) Horror / Fantasy
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky Starring Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless, cult leader mother, and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.

Man with a Movie Camera with Live Score
1929 68mins Soviet Union (U) Documentary
Directed by Dziga Vertov Starring Mikhail Kaufman

Presented with a Live Score by Flautist + Modular artist Miya

Voted one of the ten best films ever made in the Sight & Sound 2012 poll, and the best documentary ever in a subsequent poll in 2014, Man With A Movie Camera (Chelovek s kinoapparatom) stands as one of cinema’s most essential documents – a dazzling exploration of the possibilities of image-making as related to the everyday world around us.

The culmination of a decade of experiments to render “the chaos of visual phenomena filling the universe”, Dziga Vertov’s masterwork uses a staggering array of cinematic devices to capture the city at work and at play, as well as the machines that power it.
 



ABOUT MIYA:
Miya is an augmented flute player who fuses acoustic instruments (flute, nōkan, ryūteki) with electronic music, creating an innovative musical world that bridges classical and contemporary traditions. With her  “modular flute”, she controls modular synthesisers through her breath, using the unique qualities of both Eastern and Western flutes to produce sacred sonic spaces where audience and environment interact.

Her work has been highly acclaimed on stages both in Japan and abroad, with performances in live houses and art venues in London, Berlin, India, and Malaysia. In Japan, she has performed not only in live houses but also at major art events, including the Setouchi Triennale, BankART, and DOMMUNE. She has also contributed to commercial music and public events, emphasising interaction with space and audience in her multifaceted performances.

She is also an active recording artist, with releases including the jazz album Miya’s Book (2007), produced by Yosuke Yamashita, the live improvised conduction album Benedict/Miya+7 Maestros (2018), and the modular flute–focused album Namkang (2025).

Since 2019, Miya has fully integrated electronic approaches into her practice, establishing a performance style in which her breath controls modular synthesisers. In 2024, inspired by her collaboration with the Switzerland-based extended flute performer MELO, she co-founded the Improvisers Machine Orchestra with Kōta Arai, incorporating interactive electronic elements into orchestral improvisation with conduction, and exploring sustainable methods of musical and artistic expression.

Going forward, Miya continues to explore the liminal spaces at the boundaries of things and worlds, creating sacred sonic environments through the breath of life and the augmentation of informational embodiment. Utilising both Eastern and Western flutes and electronic augmentation, she aims to keep transcending the boundaries of classical and contemporary, East and West, and to craft new musical realms.

Tokyo Story [Tôkyô monogatari]
1953 135mins Japan (U) Drama
Directed by Yasujirō Ozu Starring Chieko Higashiyama, Chishū Ryū, Sô Yamamura

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, a doctor, and their daughter, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

Days Of Being Wild
1990 95mins Hong Kong (12) Romance/Drama
Directed by Wong Kar Wai Starring Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung, Tik-Wa Poon

Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and the truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.

The Cremator
1969 95mins Czech Republic (15) Horror / Comedy
Directed by Juraj Herz Starring Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová

Juraj Herz's film The Cremator has been described in many ways - as surrealist-inspired horror, as expressionist fantasy, as a dark and disturbing tale of terror.

This brilliantly chilling film, a mix of Dr Strangelove and Repulsion, is set in Prague during the Nazi occupation. It tells the story of Karl Kopfrkingl (Rudolf Hrušínský), a professional cremator, for whom the political climate allows free rein to his increasingly deranged impulses for the 'salvation of the world'.

Persona
1966 85mins Sweden (15) Romance/Drama
Directed by Ingmar Bergman Starring Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook

Famed stage actress Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann) suffers a moment of blankness during a performance and the next day lapses into total silence. Advised by her doctor to take time off to recover from what appears to be an emotional breakdown, Elisabeth goes to a beach house on the Baltic Sea with only Anna (Bibi Andersson), a nurse, as company. Over the next several weeks, as Anna struggles to reach her mute patient, the two women find themselves experiencing a strange emotional convergence.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
2000 103mins Japan (15) Anime
Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri Starring Megumi Hayashibara, Kôichi Yamadera, Hideyuki Tanaka

Baron Meier Link is of a dying race, but the vampire doesn't intend to remain lonely much longer. Abducting women in the night is common for his kind, so what's one more? But Charlotte's father has plenty of money, and there's no price he won't pay to get his daughter back. That's why he hires D.

D is a Dunpeal, a breed rarer than that of the vampires - after all, he's half of one. When it comes to hunting those with fangs like his own, he's the best in the business. But that doesn't mean he's the only game in town. The Markus Brothers are on the vampire's trail as well, and they're not about to lose. It's a race, not only between the rival Hunters, but for the vampire and his bride-to-be. But it might be more than just a job to D. Is Charlotte really a captive? Or will another Dunpeal be born to this world?

Lilya 4-Ever (Lilja 4-ever)
2002 109mins Denmark, Sweden (18) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Lukas Moodysson Starring Oksana Akinshina, Elina Benenson, Pavel Ponomarjov, Lilija Sjinkarjova, Artiom Bogucharskij, Ljubov Agapova

Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt (Liliya Shinkaryova), who neglects her. Lilya hangs out with her friends, Natasha (Elina Benenson) and Volodya (Artiom Bogucharski), who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working as a prostitute, and later meets Andrei (Pavel Ponomaryov). He offers her a good job in Sweden, but when Lilya arrives her life quickly enters a downward spiral.

The Human Condition - Part 2 - Road to Eternity
1959 180mins Japan (15) Drama
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama

Second part of a trilogy. Conscientious objector Kaji, now forced to serve in the Japanese army during the Second World War, helps a friend defect to the Russians and nearly goes with him. But despite his opposition to war, Kaji does his best to serve as help and guide to the men in his charge, most of whom are doomed to fall to the relentless attack of Russian armored divisions.

The Battle of Algiers
121mins (15) War
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo Starring Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saâdi

Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu, a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There he faces Ali la Pointe, a former petty criminal who, as the leader of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directs terror strategies against the colonial French government occupation. As each side resorts to ever-increasing brutality, no violent act is too unthinkable.

Lust, Caution
2007 158mins China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA (18) Romance
Directed by Ang Lee Starring Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Joan Chen

During World War II era, a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.

Flowers of Shanghai [Hai shang hua]
1998 113mins Taiwan (15) Drama
Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Michiko Hada, Carina Lau

An intoxicating, time-bending experience bathed in the golden glow of oil lamps and wreathed in an opium haze, this gorgeous period reverie by Hou Hsiao-hsien traces the romantic intrigue, jealousies, and tensions swirling around four late-nineteenth-century Shanghai “flower houses,” where courtesans live confined to a gilded cage, ensconced in opulent splendor but forced to work to buy back their freedom. Among the regular clients is the taciturn Master Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), whose relationship with his longtime mistress (Michiko Hada) is roiled by a perceived act of betrayal. Composed in a languorous procession of entrancing long takes, Flowers of Shanghai evokes a vanished world of decadence and cruelty, an insular universe where much of the dramatic action remains tantalizingly offscreen—even as its emotional fallout registers with quiet devastation.

Zigeunerweisen
1980 144mins Japan (15) Horror / Mystery
Directed by Seijun Suzuki Starring Toshiya Fujita, Naoko Ohtani, Yoshio Harada

In a seaside village of Japan during the 1920s, married professor Aochi (Fujita Toshiya) meets up with old friend Nakasono (Yoshio Harada), who's now a drifter accused of murder. Aochi manages to fight off the suspicion surrounding his buddy, but complications arise when they meet bereaved geisha Koine (Naoko Otani). Nakasono is immediately smitten. Aochi is attracted, but wants to stay faithful to his wife. Yet, over time, the mind games between all three escalate in a violently sexual way.

A Summer's Tale [Conte d'été]
1996 113mins France (U) Romance/Comedy
Directed by Éric Rohmer Starring Amanda Langlet, Melvil Poupaud, Gwenaëlle Simon

Before beginning a new job, Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud) goes to a beach town to relax for a few weeks. He waits for Lena (Aurelia Nolin), a girl he has been casually dating for some time. When she does not arrive, he strikes up a friendship with waitress Margot (Amanda Langlet). Through her, Gaspard also meets Solene (Gwenaëlle Simon), a free spirit open to a physical relationship if he agrees to be faithful. As Gaspard spends time with each, he finds his feelings even further conflicted.

The Human Condition - Part 3 - A Soldier's Prayer
1961 190mins Japan (15) Drama
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama

Part three of a trilogy. After the Japanese defeat to the Russians in the last episode, Kaji, the Japanese soldier and humanistic protagonist, leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines.

Autumn Tale [Conte d'automne]
1998 112mins France (U) Comedy / Romance
Directed by Éric Rohmer Starring Béatrice Romand, Marie Rivière, Alain Libolt

French vineyard owner Isabelle (Marie Rivière) loves her craft and finds support in her friendships, but she hasn't been in a serious relationship since her husband died. Magali (Béatrice Romand), one of her oldest and dearest friends, decides to secretly put out a personal ad for Isabelle, which yields charming bachelor Gerald (Alain Libolt). However, Magali initially poses as Isabelle in order to meet Gerald and ensure he's the right man, which leads to multiple misunderstandings.

A Tale of Winter
114mins (15) Romance/Comedy
Directed by Éric Rohmer Starring Charlotte Véry, Frédéric van den Driessche, Michel Voletti

Felicie and Charles have a whirlwind holiday romance. Due to a mix-up on addresses they lose contact, and five years later at Christmas-time Felicie is living with her mother in a cold Paris with a daughter as a reminder of that long-ago summer. For male companionship she oscillates between hairdresser Maxence and the intellectual Loic, but seems unable to commit to either as the memory of Charles and what might have been hangs over everything.