Plymouth Arts Cinema is the city's independent cinema for everyone. Check out what's on in March 2024, from critically acclaimed dramas and thought-provoking documentaries to enchanting animations and gripping thrillers, the programme offers something for everyone.

Programmer's Picks for this month are Icelandic black comedy Driving Mum, stunning Western The Settlers, and Origin, about the unspoken system that has shaped America.

8 March is International Women's Day and to celebrate this, Plymouth Arts Cinema are screening Frida, a magical new documentary about artist Frida Kahlo. There is also a good number of F-Rated films this month, representing women in cinema.

Wicked Little Letters, Bob Marley: One Love, and Dune: Part Two are some bigger releases that you wouldn't want to see anywhere else but PAC!

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024, exclusively featuring four new Japanese films, is also featured.

   

Where to find Plymouth Arts Cinema

You can find Plymouth Arts Cinema inside Arts University Plymouth’s main campus at Tavistock Place. Go through Arts University Plymouth’s main entrance and turn right, you will face their Box Office and Café-Bar.

  

Opening times and how to book

The Box Office and Café-bar open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 5-8.30pm; Wednesday: 1-8.30pm; Saturday: 1-8pm). You can call Box Office during these times: 01752 206114.

Standard £9.00 | Matinees £7.00 | Bringing in Baby £4 | Over 60s £7.75 | 25 & Under, Students, AUP Staff, Budget - Unwaged and low income £4 | Friends 10% discount and £6 on Tuesdays. Please bring relevant ID if you are eligible for a discount.

www.plymouthartscinema.org | 01752 206114 | info@plymouthartscinema.org

  

Exhibition on Screen - Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse

Thursday 29 February – Saturday 2 March

• Thu 29, 6pm
• Sat 2, 2.30pm

Dir. David Bickerstaff, UK, 2016, 93 mins.

For many great artists the garden has long been considered a desirable subject for the expression of colour, light and atmosphere. Claude Monet is perhaps the most well-known painter of gardens but other greats such as Van Gogh, Pissarro, Matisse and Sargent all viewed the garden as a meaningful focus for their talents. The work of these great artists, along with many others, feature in a major 2016 exhibition ‘Painting the Modern Garden’ from The Royal Academy, London.

This dazzling film takes a magical journey from the gallery to the gardens, to Giverny and Seebüll and other glorious grounds favoured by artists. Here we discover how early twentieth century artists designed and cultivated their own gardens to explore contemporary utopian ideas and motifs of colour and form. Monet said, ‘Apart from painting and gardening, I’m no good at anything’.

For lovers of art or lovers of gardens, this is an ideal film.

“A ravishing joy from start to finish.”    The Guardian

  

Your Fat Friend (15)

F-Rated | Reclaim The Frame | Documentary

Friday 1 – Thursday 7 March

• Fri 1, 6pm
• Sat 2, 8pm
• Tue 5, 6pm
• Wed 6, 8.30pm
• Thu 7, 6pm + Intro

Dir. Jeannie Finlay, UK/US, 2023, 96 mins. With. Aubrey Gordon, Michael Hobbes.

Made over 6 years, acclaimed director Jeanie Finlay charts the rise of writer and activist Aubrey Gordon from anonymous blogger to New York Times best-selling author and beloved podcaster. Her aim? A paradigm shift in the way we see fat people and the fat on our own bodies. Her life changing work has brought her an ardent, international audience but also threats to her life. One of her biggest challenges is getting her parents to listen. Your Fat Friend: a film about fatness, family, the complexities of change and the deep, messy feeling we hold about our bodies.

“Another joyously insightful, subversive and ultimately uplifting documentary from the great Jeanie Finlay.” Mark Kermode

  

The Taste of Things (12A)

Friday 1 – Wednesday 6 March

• Fri 1, 8.15pm
• Sat 2, 5pm
• Tue 5, 8.15pm
• Wed 6, 2.30pm & 5.45pm

Dir. Anh Hung Tran, France, 2023, 135 mins, in French with English subtitles. Cast. Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger.

Unrivalled cook Eugenie has worked for the famous gourmet Dodin for the last 20 years. Bonding over a passion for gastronomy and mutual admiration, their relationship develops into a romance and gives rise to delicious dishes that impress even the world's most illustrious chefs. But Eugenie is fond of her freedom and has never wanted to marry Dodin. So, he decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her. Directed by Trần Anh Hùng, The Taste of Things is a feast for the eyes and ears, marrying the themes of food and love into one romantic pot-au-feu. 

  

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024

YOKO (Age guidance: 15)

Thursday 7 March, 8.30pm

Tickets £5/ £4 concessions

Dir. KUMAKIRI Kazuyoshi, Japan, 2022, 113 mins. Cast. KIKUCHI Rinko, TAKEHARA Pistol, KUROSAWA Asuka, FUBUKI Jun, ODAGIRI Joe.  In Japanese with English subtitles.

Yoko (KIKUCHI Rinko) is a 42-year-old recluse living in Tokyo. Having held a grudge against her father for 20 years, she is one day notified of his passing. Reluctantly, she embarks on a journey to Hirosaki in order to attend his funeral, but is accidentally stranded along the way.

  

Frida (tbc)

F-Rated | Documentary

Friday 8 – Saturday 9 March

• Fri 8, 6pm
• Sat 9, 8pm

Dir. Carla Gutierrez, Mexico/US, 2023, 87 mins, in Spanish with English subtitles.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, this is an intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Told through her own words for the very first time, drawn from her famed illustrated diary, revealing letters, essays, and candid print interviews — and brought vividly to life by lyrical animation inspired by her unforgettable artwork. 

  

Bob Marley: One Love (12A)

Friday 8 – Wednesday 13 March

• Fri 8, 8.30pm
• Sat 9, 2.30pm (Descriptive Subtitles)
• Tue 12, 6pm
• Wed 13, 8.30pm

Thu 28, 11am (Bringing in Baby)

Dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green, UK, 2023, 104 mins. Cast. Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch

Bob Marley: One Love celebrates the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. Capturing his resilient spirit, promoting the politically defiant message of peace, and his remarkable journey from surviving an attempted assassination, to releasing his ground-breaking record Exodus with his now-legendary band The Wailers.

Produced in partnership with the Marley family and featuring a transformative Kingsley Ben-Adir, this is the definitive cinematic tribute to a trailblazing cultural icon.

   

Wicked Little Letters (15)

F-Rated

Saturday 9 – Thursday 14 March

• Sat 9, 5.30pm
• Tue 12, 8.30pm
• Wed 13, 2.30pm (Descriptive Subtitles) & 6pm
• Thu 14, 8.30pm

Dir. Thea Sharrock, UK, 2023, 100 mins. Cast. Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Timothy Spall.

A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a dark and absurd scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, Wicked Little Letters follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding. When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women – led by Police Officer Gladys Moss – begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all. 

  

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024

Thousand and One Nights (Age guidance: 12A)

Thursday 14 March, 5.45pm

Tickets £5/ £4 concessions

Dir. KUBOTA Nao, Japan, 2022, 126 mins. Cast. TANAKA Yuko, ONO Machiko, ANDO Masanobu, Duncan.  In Japanese with English subtitles.

Ever since Tomiko’s (TANAKA Yuko) husband disappeared without a trace, she has drifted aimlessly through life, until she meets Nami (ONO Machiko), whose husband also vanished. The encounter changes Tomiko’s life, but can she make peace with the memories of her lost husband?

  

The Settlers (15)

Programmer’s Pick

Friday 15 – Wednesday 20 March

• Fri 15, 6pm
• Sat 16, 8pm
• Tue 19, 6pm
• Wed 20, 2.30pm & 8.30pm

Dir. Felipe Gálvez Haberle, Chile, 2023, 101 mins, in Spanish with English subtitles. Cast. Sam Spruell, Mark Stanley, Alfredo Castro.

Writer-director Felipe Gálvez asserts himself as a new cinematic voice in this take on the Western. In the late 19th century, three horsemen embark on an expedition across the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in Chile at the request of a wealthy landowner. Accompanying a reckless British lieutenant and an American mercenary is mestizo (a person of mixed European and indigenous non-European ancestry) marksman Segundo, who comes to realize their true mission is to murderously “remove” the indigenous population.

Blending historical specificity with vivid visual style, this Cannes Prize winner creates a singular immersive vision that'll stay with you long after the film has finished.

  

Driving Mum (12A)

Programmer’s Pick

Friday 15 – Thursday 21 March

• Fri 15, 8.30pm
• Sat 16, 5.30pm
• Tue 19, 8.30pm
• Wed 20, 6pm
• Thu 21, 5.45pm

Dir. Hilmar Oddsson, Iceland/Estonia, 2023, 112 mins, Icelandic with English subtitles. Cast. Leó Gunnarsson, Kristbjörg Kjeld, Hera Hilmar.

This darkly comedic road movie is a bewitching odyssey. When Jon’s mother, the single most dominant person in his life, passes away, his anchor is gone. But having left him a series of instructions to follow upon her death, Jón sets out on a journey across Iceland to honour her final wishes – including being buried in her home village. Strapping her into his Ford Cortina, and with the beloved (and scene-stealing) family dog Brezhnev in tow, Jón sets off on his strange odyssey. With his late mum still relentlessly nagging him from the back seat, he meets a variety of peculiar and charming strangers en route, and encounters some ghosts from his past too…

  

The Boy and the Heron (12A) + short film with Jeremiah’s Journey

Saturday 16 March, 2pm

All tickets £4. We have kept ticket prices low to encourage you to make a donation to Jeremiah’s Journey on the day.

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 2023, 124 mins, with English Dialogue. Cast. Luca Padovan, Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale

We are delighted to present this special screening of The Boy and the Heron in partnership with Plymouth charity, Jeremiah’s Journey.

The latest animated masterpiece from Studio Ghibli visionary Hayao Miyazaki follows the transformative journey of a young, bereaved boy as he is magically transported to a dreamlike realm by a spirited talking heron. This enchanting, semi-autobiographical animated odyssey from legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is pure Studio Ghibli magic – a thought-provoking, endlessly imaginative coming-of-age tale, which whisks us away on a deeply moving ethereal adventure.

Jeremiah’s Journey is a bereavement charity providing age-appropriate therapeutic interventions for children and young people based in Plymouth and the surrounding areas. Providing emotional and practical support for those who are pre-bereavement, and who have been bereaved, they are currently supporting over 700 children and young people a year with the wider family benefit extending to 2000 people annually.

  

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024

From the End of the World (Age guidance: 15)

Thursday 21 March, 8.15pm

Tickets £5/ £4 concessions

Dir. KIRIYA Kazuaki, Japan, 2023, 135 mins. Cast. ITO Aoi, MAIGUMA Katsuya, ASAHINA Aya, NATSUKI Mari. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Hana (ITO Aoi), a high school girl engulfed in misery and devoid of hope, is one day approached by a special agent telling her she can save the world. With its effective use of CGI and overwhelmingly human performances, this time-travelling apocalyptic sci-fi film raises the bar for the genre. Contains scenes of strong violence.

   

Banel & Adama (12A)

F-Rated

Friday 22 – Wednesday 27 March

• Fri 22, 6pm
• Sat 23, 3pm & 8.15pm
• Tue 26, 6pm
• Wed 27, 8.30pm

Dir. Ramata-Toulaye Sy, France/Senegal, 2013, 87 mins, in Pulaar with English subtitles. Cast. Khady Mane, Mamadou Diallo, Binta Racine Sy.

Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. The young couple live in a remote village in northern Senegal and, for them, nothing else in the world exists. However, their perfect everlasting love is on a collision course with their family’s traditions - as well as an oncoming drought that strikes their community. Award-winning filmmaker Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s breathtaking debut follows the fated lovers' quest to carve a life for themselves beyond the expectations of others.

  

Origin (12A)

F-Rated | Programmer’s Pick

Friday 22 – Thursday 28 March

• Fri 22, 8.15pm
• Sat 23, 5.15pm
• Tue 26, 8pm
• Wed 27, 2.30pm & 5.30pm
• Thu 28, 8.15pm

Dir. Ava Duverney, US, 2023, 141 mins. Cast. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Niecy Nash-Betts, Jon Bernthal.

From Academy Award nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Origin explores the mystery of history, the wonders of romance, and a fight for our future.

While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.

  

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024

The Zen Diary (Age guidance: PG)           

Thursday 28 March, 6pm

Tickets £5 / £4 concessions

Dir. NAKAE Yuji, Japan, 2022, 111 mins. Cast. SAWADA Kenji, MATSU Takako, NARAOKA Tomoko, DAN Fumi.  In Japanese with English subtitles.

Tsutomu (SAWADA Kenji) is a writer living in a secluded mountain cabin. Unable to confront the loss of his wife, he has instead devoted himself to farming and cooking, skills he learned as a young monk, until a series of incidents awaken new emotions inside him. Filled with cooking scenes for audiences to enjoy!

  

Dune: Part Two (12A)

Friday 29 March – Wednesday 3 April

• Fri 29, 8pm
• Sat 30, 1.30pm (Relaxed Screening + Descriptive Subtitles) & 5pm
• Tue 2, 7.45pm
• Wed 3, 5pm

Dir. Denis Villeneuve, US, 2023, 166 mins. Cast. Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Florence Pugh.

Dune: Part Two explores the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavours to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. A star-studded ensemble brings to life Denis Villeneuve’s toweringly ambitious blockbuster vision which showcases cerebral science-fiction worldbuilding on a scale seldom seem in cinema.

  

Drive Away Dolls (tbc)

Friday 29 March – Thursday 4 April

• Fri 29, 6pm
• Sat 30, 8.30pm
• Tue 2, 5.45pm
• Wed 3, 2.30pm & 8.30pm
• Thu 4, 8.30pm

Dir. Ethan Coen, US, 2024, 84 mins. Cast. Margaret Qualley, Pedro Pascal, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Matt Damon.

Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, this comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.