This month's programme is so packed at Plymouth Arts Cinema!

As a sweet treat for the Easter holidays, bring the family to see Wonka, and join our family workshop.

Perfect Days and Monster are two more Japanese films that are just, well, perfect.

This month's programmer's pick is Disco Boy and Io Capitano, and for the football fans, COPA 71.

The cinema is screening The Artist, Wurlitza Perform: Diary of a Lost Girl and Singin' in the Rain to whet your appetite for silent cinema with Theatre Royal Plymouth, as the world premiere stage adaptation of The Artist is coming to TRP from 11–25 May.

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

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 and 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. 

            

Six Inches of Soil (PG)

Thursday 4 April, 6pm

Dir. Colin Ramsay, UK, 2023, 96 mins.

Six Inches of Soil follows the inspiring story of British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food - to heal the soil, benefit our health and provide for local communities.

The film follows the highs and lows of three new farmers on their regenerative journey: Anna Jackson, a Lincolnshire 11th generation arable and sheep farmer; Adrienne Gordon, a Cambridgeshire small-scale vegetable farmer; and Ben Thomas, who rears pasture fed beef livestock in Cornwall.

As the trio of young farmers strive to adopt regenerative practices and create viable businesses, they meet seasoned mentors who help them on their journey. They are joined by other experts providing wisdom and solutions from a growing movement of people who are dedicated to changing the trajectory for food, farming and the planet.

                   

COPA 71 (PG)

F-Rated | Programmer’s Pick

Friday 5 – Wednesday 10 April

• Fri 5, 6pm
• Sat 6, 8pm
• Tue 9, 6pm + Intro
• Wed 10, 8:30pm

Dir. James Erskine, Rachel Ramsay, UK, 2023, 90 mins. With. Elvira Aracen, Brandi Chastain, Birte Kjems.

Under 25 and Student Tickets £4.
£4 Budget Tickets also available for anyone who needs them – no questions asked.

Told by the pioneering women who participated in it and built from archives unseen for fifty years, this is the extraordinary story of the 1971 Women’s Football World Cup.

August 1971. Football teams from England, Argentina, Mexico, France, Denmark and Italy are gathering at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium. The scale of the tournament is monumental: lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage and crowds of over 100,000. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the greatest moments in international footballing history. But the players on the pitch are all women. And it’s likely you’ve never even heard of it. Dismissed by both FIFA and domestic football associations around the world, this event has been entirely written out of history - now it's time to celebrate the tournament and its players like it deserves.

                 

Perfect Days (PG)

MUBI GO

Friday 5 – Thursday 11 April

• Fri 5, 8:15pm
• Sat 6, 5:15pm
• Tue 9, 8:30pm
• Wed 10, 2:30pm and 5:45pm

Thu 11, 8:15pm

Dir. Wim Wenders, Germany/Japan, 2023, 125 mins, in Japanese with English subtitles. Cast. Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano.

A highly anticipated return to fiction feature filmmaking from Wim Wenders, Perfect Days tells a story celebrating the hidden joys and minutiae of Japanese culture. Winner of the Best Actor award at Cannes 2023, Koji Yakusho stars as Hirayama, a contemplative middle-aged man who lives a life of modesty and serenity, spending his days balancing his job as a dutiful caretaker of Tokyo’s numerous public toilets with his passion for music, literature and photography. As we join him on his structured daily routine, a series of unexpected encounters gradually begin to reveal a hidden past that lies behind his otherwise content and harmonious life.

Combining a refreshingly unstereotypical depiction of the Japanese capital with a soundtrack comprised of iconic hits from the 60s and 80s, this is a subtle, shimmering and ultimately life-affirming reflection on finding beauty in the everyday world around us. Nominated for the Best International Film award at the 96th Academy Awards.

This work contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.

                   

Wonka (PG)

Family Friendly

Saturday 6 – Thursday 11 April

• Sat 6, 2:30pm
• Wed 10, 11am
• Thu 11, 5:45pm

Dir. Paul King, US, 2023, 116 mins. Cast. Timothée Chalamet, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant.

Under 25 and Student Tickets £4.
£4 Budget Tickets also available for anyone who needs them – no questions asked.

Based on the extraordinary character at the centre of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, Wonka is an intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humour. Starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role, this irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time—proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.

                   

Wonka Family Workshop: Fabric Sweet Garlands

Wednesday 10 April, 9:45am – 10:45am

£3.50 per child

Join us for a relaxed creative workshop before we watch Wonka! We will make sweets out of fabric scraps and string them together into colourful garlands that you can take home and use to decorate your room!

Open to all ages but we suggest age 7-12 would be most suitable for the workshop and to watch Wonka.

The workshop will take place in the Arts University Plymouth Refectory, but come and check in at the cinema Box Office/ Cafe when you arrive (turn right when you enter the main doors of AUP). Our cafe will be open at 9:30am for snacks and hot and cold drinks.

Parents are required to stay during the workshop, but you only need to book places for children. 15 places available, advance booking required.

Please book your tickets for the film screening separately.

                  

Drift (15)

Friday 12 – Wednesday 17 April

• Fri 12, 6pm
• Sat 13, 8pm
• Tue 16, 6pm
• Wed 17, 8:30pm

Dir. Anthony Chen, France/UK/Greece, 2023, 93 mins. Cast. Cynthia Erivo, Alia Shawkat, Honor Swinton Byrne.

Jacqueline, a young refugee, lands alone and penniless on a Greek island, where she tries first to survive and then to cope with her past. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with a rootless tour-guide and together they find the resilience to forge ahead.

Miraculous… Cynthia Erivo is the reason you need to see Drift - Rolling Stone

                 

Disco Boy (15)

Programmer’s Pick

Friday 12 – Thursday 18 April

• Fri 12, 8:30pm
• Sat 13, 5:30pm
• Wed 17, 2:30pm
• Thu 18, 8:30pm

Dir. Giacomo Abbruzzese, France/Italy/Belgium, 2023, 93 mins. In French, Russian, Polish, Igbo, Nigerian with English subtitles. Cast. Franz Rogowski, Morr Ndiaye, Laetitia Ky.

Aleksei, a young Belarusian, has his sights set on the nightclubs of Paris. After a painful journey through Europe, he enlists in the Foreign Legion, in pursuit of a French passport. Fate, however, takes an unexpected turn, propelling Aleksei into the heart of the Niger Delta where Jomo, a fearless and charismatic revolutionary is battling insidious oil conglomerates that threaten his community's existence. While Aleksei seeks a new family in the Legion, Jomo dreams of being a disco dancer. In the jungle, their paths converge, intertwining their destinies across borders, bodies, life and death.

Winner: Berlin Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution 2023

This work and its trailer contain flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.

                    

Vindication Swim (PG)

Saturday 13 – Wednesday 17 April

• Sat 13, 2:30pm
• Tue 16, 8:30pm
• Wed 17, 6pm

Dir. Elliott Hasler, UK, 2023, 98 mins. Cast. Kirsten Callaghan, John Locke, Victoria Summer.

The inspirational true story of Mercedes Gleitze, who in 1927 became the first British woman to swim the English Channel. Vindication Swim depicts Mercedes’ upstream struggle in overcoming both the cold waters of the English Channel and the oppressive society of 1920s England. However, after a rival comes forward claiming to have accomplished the same feat, Mercedes is forced into battle to retain her record and her legacy.

This work contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.

                      

Io Capitano (15)

Programmer’s Pick

Friday 19 – Thursday 25 April

• Fri 19, 5:45pm
• Tue 23, 8:30pm
• Wed 24, 2:30pm (Descriptive Subtitles)
• Thursday 25, 8:30pm

Dir. Matteo Garrone, Italy/Belgium/France, 2023, 121 mins. In Wolof and French with English subtitles. Cast.  Seydou Sarr as Seydou, Moustapha Fall, Issaka Sawagodo.

From Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah, Dogman, Tale of Tales) comes this searing tale of two young boys’ migration from Africa to Europe. Nominated for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards. In an odyssey from West Africa to the Mediterranean Sea, two Senegalese teenagers, Seydou (Seydou Sarr, who also contributed several songs to the film’s soundtrack) and Moussa, leave Dakar for Italy.

On a journey neither of the boys could have anticipated, they experience the dangers and the beauty of the desert, the shock of detention centres in Libya, and the perils of the sea in their pursuit of a better life. Highly emotional and honestly felt, Io Capitano is a story of epic scale, but one which doesn’t lose sight of the individual human stakes of the migrant crisis and the intensity of the suffering it propagates, aided by Sarr’s terrific performance in particular, and a script with contributions from first-hand migrant accounts.

                 

Monster (12A)

Friday 19 – Wednesday 24 April

• Fri 19, 8:15pm
• Sat 20, 2:15pm
• Tue 23, 5:45pm
• Wed 24, 8:15pm

Dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu, Japan, 2023, 127 mins. In Japanese with English subtitles. Cast. Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa.

Monster is a timely tale of family, false impressions, and hope from director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Broker, Shoplifters). Single mother Saori knows that there is something wrong when her young son Minato starts to behave strangely. Discovering that one of his teachers might be responsible, she storms into the school demanding answers but as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, shocking truths begin to emerge. Mysterious and deeply moving, Monster is a breathtaking piece of cinema featuring a sublime score from Oscar®-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

                 

Silent Cinema Season with Theatre Royal Plymouth

Wurlitza Performance

Diary of a Lost Girl

Saturday 20 April, 7pm

Dir. G. W. Pabst, Germany, 1929, 110 mins. Silent with live music accompaniment. Cast. Louise Brooks,

We are delighted to welcome the brilliant Wurlitza back to PAC as part of our silent cinema season with Theatre Royal Plymouth.

Fast moving and at times shocking, Diary of a Lost Girl traces the story of Thymian, played by the mesmerising screen idol Louise Brooks, as her life yoyos between episodes of lightness and innocence, darkness and hope. Made in Germany at a time of great artistic freedom this gripping film defies convention and confounds expectation, as joy and compassion are found in the most unlikely places. Moments of unexpected comedy include life in a reform school for fallen girls headed by a villainous nun and a modern dance lesson with an incompetent buffoon.

Wurlitza’s soundtrack took over two years to create and includes everything from Bach to Kraftwerk to Leonard Cohen.

                     

Exhibition on Screen: John Singer Sargent

Wednesday 24 – Saturday 27 April

• Wed 24, 6pm
• Sat 27, 2:30pm

Dir. David Bickerstaff, UK, 90 mins.

Step into the glittering world of fashion, scandal and shameless self- promotion that made John Singer Sargent the painter who defined an era.

Sargent is known as the greatest portrait artist of his era. Through interviews with curators, contemporary fashionistas and style influencers, Exhibition on Screen’s film will examine how Sargent’s unique practice has influenced modern art, culture and fashion. Filmed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Tate Britain, the exhibition reveals Sargent’s power to express distinctive personalities, power dynamics and gender identities during this fascinating period of cultural reinvention. Alongside 50 paintings by Sargent sit stunning items of clothing and accessories worn by his subjects, drawing the audience into the artist’s studio. The manufacture of public identity is as controversial and contested today as it was at the turn of the 20th century, but somehow Sargent’s work transcends the social noise and captures an alluring truth with each brush stroke.

                    

Silent Cinema Season with Theatre Royal Plymouth

The Artist (PG)

Thursday 25 April, 6pm

Dir. Michel Hazanavicius, France, 2011, 96 mins, with subtitles. Cast. Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller.

Whet your appetite for silent cinema with Theatre Royal Plymouth. The world premiere of The Artist, the 1920s Hollywood love story, is coming to TRP from 11–25 May. 

The silent film that captured the imaginations of a modern cinema audience, The Artist is a crowd-pleasing tribute to the magic of silent cinema. Clever, joyous and with visual style to spare, the film is set in Hollywood, 1927, as silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion until he pairs up with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.

The Artist has mesmerised film audiences across the world for over a decade, winning five Academy Awards, seven BAFTAs and three Golden Globe Awards. Now the beguiling love story is reinvented for the stage in a dazzling celebration of silent cinema that blends cutting-edge theatre-making with iconic music of the period – Theatre Royal Plymouth.

                       

Back to Black (15)

F-Rated

Friday 26 April – Thursday 2 May

• Fri 26, 6pm
• Sat 27, 8pm
• Tue 30, 6pm
• Wed 1, 2:30pm (Descriptive Subtitles) & 8.30pm
• Thu 2, 8:30pm

Dir. Sam Taylor-Johnson, UK, 2023, 122 mins. Cast. Maris Abela, Lesley Manville, Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan.

A celebration of the most iconic, and much missed, homegrown star of the 21st century, Back to Black tells the extraordinary tale of Amy Winehouse. Painting a vivid, vibrant picture of the Camden streets she called home and capturing the struggles of global fame, the film honours Amy’s artistry, wit, and honesty, as well as trying to understand her demons. An unflinching look at the modern celebrity machine and a powerful tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent.

                           

The Teachers’ Lounge (12A)

Friday 26 April – Wednesday 1 May

• Fri 26, 8:30pm
• Sat 27, 5:30pm
• Tue 30, 8:30pm
• Wed 1, 6pm

Dir. Ilker Çatak, Germany, 2023, 98 mins, in German with English subtitles. Cast. Leonie Benesch, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachoviak.

Oscar-nominated The Teachers’ Lounge plays out like a thriller. Carla is a dedicated and idealistic new high-school teacher who has connected with her Year 8 students, who are engaged and eager to learn in her maths class.

When a Turkish boy in her class is suspected of theft, not convinced of his guilt, she takes matters into her own hands and things spiral out of control. As she tries to mediate between students, parents and opinionated colleagues, she is relentlessly confronted with the structures of the school system and the school becomes a proxy for the cultural and ethical clashes of modern society. Catak’s film is an incisive study in power dynamics that demonstrates how individuals are worn down by opposing beliefs, and as the adage goes, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’.

                      

Silent Cinema Season with Theatre Royal Plymouth

Singin’ in the Rain (U)

Thursday 2 May, 6pm

Dir. Gene Kelly, US, 1952, 103 mins. Cast. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Cyd Charisse.

This is the final film in our Silent Cinema season in partnership with Theatre Royal Plymouth and what better place to end than with this masterpiece set at the very cusp of cinema when the silent age was being pushed out to make way for Talkies. What more is there that can be said about Singin in the Rain? This beloved musical shines a glorious and hilarious light on the perils of stardom, the price of fame and the unsurpassed genius of Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Jean Hagan who just about steals the film from under everyone’s noses.

                    

The Trust Fall (15)

Saturday 11 – Thursday 16 May

• Sat 11, 2pm + Intro and Q&A with Sarah Saunders
• Wed 15, 8:15pm
• Thu 16, 5:45pm

Dir. Kym Statton, UK, 128 mins.

Despite being detained, silenced and hidden from public view in maximum security Belmarsh Prison, multi-award-winning Australian journalist and publisher Julian Assange has become one of the loudest voices for free speech of our times.

The disclosures of WikiLeaks and Assange from 2010 onwards ignited a firestorm of controversy. The Trust Fall examines the meaning and significance of the insights that WikiLeaks shared with the world, the resulting behaviour of the governments involved, the extraordinary personal risk taken by Assange, and the wider fundamental issues around press freedom that affect all of us and our right to know.

Filmed over two years on three continents and in ten cities, the film invites viewers to embark on a journey of understanding, where the circumstances are unprecedented, and the destination unexpected.

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