British council – British films 1917 British acting elite impress in this fiercely exciting war portrayal by Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road). Oscar nominations are clearly on their way. In the bloody trenches of the First World War, two British soldiers – Schofield and Blake – are given an impossible mission. They must cross enemy lines to give warning and keep hundreds of compatriots from walking straight into death. 1917 is a film masterpiece designed as if it were shot in one take, which forcefully increases its intensity. The cinematographic fireworks are brilliant, but what makes 1917 a truly engrossing film to be compared with classics in the genre is Mendes’s ability to not lose sight of the characters in it all. George MacKay, in the role as Schofield, carries the film on his shoulders in what might well be the breakthrough of the year. Language: English Subtitles: Swedish Breaking the Waves Deeply religious Scot falls in love with an oil rig worker in von Trier’s masterpiece that brought the world to tears and became Stellan Skarsgård’s big international breakthrough. With Breaking the Waves, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson became one of film history’s most memorable loving couples. The film was awarded with the Grand Prix at Cannes and is about the shy Bess who lives in a strict religious fishing society in the far north of Scotland. She meets the Scandinavian Jan, who works on the oil platform out at sea, and even if their love seems impossible, they get married. When Jan is on the oil rig, Bess prays to God that he will return. Her prays are heard, but not at all in the way she intended. In the raw and beautiful hand-held camera shots, Watson and Skarsgård invigorate this love story with all the devotion, power and passion that makes Breaking the Waves a completely unforgettable film experience. Language: English No subtitles A Bump Along the Way A single 44-year-old mother is trying her best to raise her teenage daughter properly, but ends up with a bun in the oven herself after an impulsive one night stand in this charming rom-com from Northern Ireland. Pamela works hard to provide a good upbringing for her daughter Ally after the father left. In spite of hardships, Pamela is an incurable optimist who enjoys a night of fun. To cap a drunken night, she ends in bed with a young man whose name she quickly forgets. Ally is used to her mother embarrassing her but the unexpected pregnancy is hard to handle, and for Pamela the new situation means additional financial and moral dilemmas. In her directorial debut, Shelly Love presents a refreshing portrait of a charming mother-daugher relationship, turning the amorous entanglement into a heart-warming comedy with lots to say about conservatism in Northern Ireland. Language: English No subtitles Coup 53 The overthrow of a democratically-elected government in Iran in 1953 by American and British secret services for the benefit of their oil companies and the installation of the Shah as supreme ruler, is the subject of this compelling and unmissable documentary. Award-winning director, Taghi Amirani, transforms his passionate and meticulous decade- long search of archives, personal dairies, and other sources, into a thrilling pursuit for the missing mastermind behind the historic coup. Working with Oscar winning editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient), it becomes a gripping ‘whodunnit’ as it lays out the context for subsequent political ramifications that reverberate even today. Look out for a surprise star appearance! Language: English, Farsi Subtitles: English Days of the Bagnold Summer Sweetness exudes from all pores of this witty and charming directorial debut from the actor, Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners), in this quintessentially English coming-of-age comedy. When his father suddenly cancels an invitation to his second marriage to a much younger woman in Florida, teenage metal-head Daniel is devastated. Instead of the planned exciting, exotic summer, he is condemned to spend his time with his boring librarian mother, Sue, who touchingly tries her best to make up for his disappointment. The combination of a razor-sharp script and excellent acting from Monica Dolan (Sue) and the permanently clad in black, Earl Dave (Daniel), as well as Rob Brydon as a Lothario school teacher, make this an uplifting feel-good movie. Language: English No subtitles Fanny Lye Deliver'd Maxine Peake excels in Thomas Clay’s period drama set in 1657, when King Charles I has recently been beheaded and Oliver Cromwell is in control of the nation. Fanny Lye (Maxine Peake), her puritanical husband, John (Charles Dance), and their son, live a quiet life in the countryside, when a man and a woman arrive at their homestead looking for shelter. Soon, the libertarian ways of the new arrivals begin to horrify the upright God- fearing family. A showdown between the buttoned-up family and the hedonistic couple, foreshadows a further violent bust-up between the law and blasphemy. A wonderful and uplifting film about political/patriarchal repression and sexual/spiritual freedom, it has links with the Quaker movement. Language: English No subtitles I Am (Not) A Monster With creativity and critical reflections as tools, Ben Hayoun’s outstanding I’m (Not) A Monster wants to create global action and a more equal world. Based on Hannah Arendt’s philosophical works, Nelly Ben Hayoun – director, researcher, feminist and founder of The University of the Underground – throws herself into an unconventional and inspiring trip around the world. The aim is to find the source of knowledge. She brings us to conversations with Noam Chomsky, Pussy Riot’s Nadja Tolokonnikova as well as Arendt’s old student, the anthropologist Arjun Appadurai among many others. An incredibly fascinating film that tries to pave the way to the source of knowledge, but which does not provide a simple answer, but points out the importance of always asking questions. Language: English No subtitles Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story A fascinating story in the vein of Searching for Sugarman about the renaissance of musician and trans activist Beverly Glenn-Copeland amongst Japanese record collectors. In 1986, a sci-fi obsessed woman named Beverly Glenn-Copeland recorded a cassette featuring seven songs using an Atari studio in her Ontario home. She named her quaint folk electronica album ”Keyboard Fantasies” and released it herself. And that was pretty much that. Until three decades later, when Glenn-Copeland – now a man – started to receive emails from all the world, thanking him for his music. It turned out that the album had found an audience thanks to a Japanese record collector. A political and captivating tale about great societal changes and the unpredictability of life. Language: English No subtitles The Kindness of Strangers A meeting between strangers leads to surprising consequences in festival favorite Lone Scherfig’s enthusiastic and deeply humane drama. Clara (Zoe Kazan) flees to New York together with both her sons to hide from her violent husband. When their car is impounded they are left to a hard life on the streets and are forced to rely on strangers to get by. An established Russian restaurant in Manhattan, where the owner Timofej (Bill Nighy) is always infallible in his comic timing, becomes a temporary sanctuary. With Tahar Rahim and Andrea Riseborough in the other main roles, Lone Scherfig focuses on highlighting mankind’s generosity and the individual’s ability to do good. Language: English No subtitles Krabi, 2562 Position-seeking film worker meets a caveman in a playful hybrid film about globalization and the collisions of time in a Thai tourist paradise. According to the Buddhist calendar, 2562 corresponds to 2019, but contemporary Thailand’s restaurants, stop lights and advertisement recording sessions are mixed with prehistoric elements in this low-key, experimental collaboration between British Ben Rivers (Spell to War off the Darkness, GFF 2014) and Thai Anocha Suwichakornpong (By the Time It Gets Dark, GFF 2017). The duo has previously made short films and video installations together. Their first joint feature-film is a fascinating film rendition of the commerce of tourist destinations, history, and picturesque landscapes. Language: Thai, English Subtitles: English Little Joe A botanist sci-fi thriller in a laboratory setting. Master director Jessica Hausner’s (Lourdes) makes an impressive English-language debut. At a company which produces new plant forms, Alice (Emily Beecham) has developed a flower with new qualities. Through its very scent, it can make its owner happy. Just before the flowers are to leave the laboratory to be put on the market, Alice starts to suspect that her creation is anything but benign. Little Joe is an existential thriller – whose dystopian mood, and Ben Whishaw bit part, brings The Lobster to mind. But Hausner’s subdued humour and hyper-aestheticism are easily recognisable. Costumes, set design and deadpan acting – all top notch. Beecham claimed the Best Actress award at the Cannes film festival. Language:nEnglish No subtitles Make Up Renowned short film-maker Claire Oakley’s debut feature about sexual awakening takes the form of a psycho-thriller set on a bleak windswept coast. 18-year-old Ruth travels to a caravan park by the seaside to be with her boyfriend who works there. It is off-season, and there are just a few staff members and no holidaymakers. As she wanders through the empty caravans, helping to clean them out for the next holiday season, strange happenings force her to delve into the deepest recesses of her psyche and buried sexual desires. Language: English No subtitles Military Wives Kristin Scott Thomas shines as an officer’s wife with singing ambitions in a wonderful choir- team comedy with a serious sounding board.