THE Moviola calendar for May is dominated by two Oscar-nominated films, both thoroughly deserving of the acclaim – Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical Belfast and Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake of West Side Story. Belfast, set in the city of Branagh’s birth at the start of the Troubles, is a gentle but profoundly moving black-and-white film about an…
ALFRED Hitchcock’s The Lodger, his third feature, a silent film made in 1927, is one of the highlights of this year’s From Page To Screen Film Festival at Bridport, from Wednesday 27th April to Sunday 1st May. The festival, under curator Edith Bowman, is presenting a programme of more than 20 adaptations, historic and new,…
CINEMA Obscura, west Somerset’s adventurous film society, continues its short season of screenings in conjunction with Stogumber Cinema, on Friday 22nd April, with the Icelandic-Ukrainian film Woman at War. Halla is a 50-year-old environmental activist who crusades against the local aluminium industry in Iceland. As her actions grow bolder, her life changes in the blink…
STEVEN Spielberg’s spectacular new film version of West Side Story has a screening at Milborne St Andrew village hall on Friday 8th April at 7.30pm. The film has stellar performances from all five leading performers, and the choreography is breathtaking. For those who remember the original film, a remake didn’t seem a good idea, but…
THERE is a treat for folk and bluegrass fans at Honiton’s Beehive Centre on Saturday 9th April when Cornish band Flats and Sharps play an evening of British bluegrass. Flats and Sharps are four talented singers and musicians from Penzance who have been delighting audiences with their energetic performances for more than ten years. Their…
THE late Princess Diana continues to fascinate film-makers, writers, broadcasters, many who remember her and many who weren’t even born when she met her tragic end in 1997, so there is little surprise at the amount of interest in the latest addition to the Diana canon – Spencer will be the most screened film in the…
STREET’s Strode Theatre is hosting a book festival over two weekends starting on 2nd April, coinciding with a special evening of Ukrainian short films, to help to raise money for the Red Cross in Ukraine. The seven films, shown on Saturday 2nd April, were put together by Encounters, the UK’s leading short film, animation, and…
ALL eyes are on Ukraine, as we watch, horrified and helpless, the onslaught on an independent country and the destruction of towns, cities and lives. A film screening at the Mowlem Theatre at Swanage on Sunday 20th March is part of the British Film Institute’s support for the brave people standing up to the brutal…
THE Williams sisters dominated tennis for the best part of 20 years, together winning 30 grand slam titles. Their success was hard won, with years of rigorous training by their parents, particularly their father, Richard. His story is told in the Oscar-nominated King Richard, which stars a never-better Will Smith. King Richard is one of…
ADRENALINE junkies who are also scaredy-cats can get their kicks in celluloid as the Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour returns to theatres around our region with short films that will literally take your breath away (and leave you feeling glad you are tucked up in a comfortable seat)! This year’s crop of short films, from…