Hull Independent Cinema: MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

Hull Independent Cinema: MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

Hull Independent Cinema presents: MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Josie Rourke | 2018 | UK | Cert 15 | 124 mins

Synopsis
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart. Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I. Each young Queen beholds her “sister” in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth’s sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones – and change the course of history.

Starring Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan, David Tennant

Awards and Reviews
AFI Film Festival Closing Film
Whistler Film Festival Opening Film

“An epic look at the intimate frustrations of two massively powerful young women who spend most of their energy navigating between who they are and what they represent.” – IndieWire

“Rourke’s greatest achievement is the performances she’s coaxed out of her two lead actresses. They’re so good they’re like De Niro and Pacino in Heat.” – The Times

Certificate
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS is rated 15. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: THE SILVER BRANCH

Hull Independent Cinema & Leeds Int’l Film Festival presents: THE SILVER BRANCH
Katrina Costello, John Brown | 2017 | Ireland | 75 mins | Unrated – 18+ only

See the Jan – Mar 2019 Leeds Audience Favourite Season at a discounted price! See all three films and save. £15 Standard, £12 HIC Member, £9 Students and Under 25s for all three films in the season.

Synopsis
An uplifting and emotional celebration of people and place, which captures the delicacy of the natural world; the heart and soul of a peasant farmer-poet, Patrick McCormack; and the ancient rural spirit of Ireland which stands behind him. The story is centred around Patrick and the land, The Burren, Western Ireland. A wild place where Mesolithic tombs, famine villages and present-day small rocky fields are like jewels telling of our long human story on these hills. Patrick longs to farm in the quiet pace his ascendants did. But his life gains a different momentum when he’s called to battle in the Supreme courts to decide on the fate of this iconic wilderness.

Featuring Patrick McCormack, John Joe Conway

Awards & Reviews
Nominee, Best Documentary – Irish Film and Television Awards|
Toronto Hot Docs Film Festival, Belfast Film Festival, Leeds Intl Film Festival Official Selections

“The Silver Branch is an absorbing, brilliant film that should be honoured everywhere prizes are given, for delving delicately and drinking deep at the well of one man’s story, one family’s joy and heartbreak.” – Paddy Kehoe, RTÉ (Ireland)

“The film was five years in the making by director Katrina Costello and, as with the case taken by McCormack and the Burren Action Group members, it is a testament to patience, determination and love of a place.” – Film Ireland Magazine

Certificate
THE SILVER BRANCH is unrated – 18+ only will be allowed in the theatre.

Hull Independent Cinema: MONSTERS AND MEN

Hull Independent Cinema presents: MONSTERS AND MEN
Reinaldo Marcus Green | 2018 | USA | Cert 15 | 96 mins

Synopsis
One night, in front of a bodega in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighbourhood, Manny Ortega witnesses a white police officer wrongfully gun down a neighbourhood street hustler, and Manny films the incident on his phone. Now he’s faced with a dilemma: release the video and bring unwanted exposure to himself and his family, or keep the video private and be complicit in the injustice?

With a deep sense of humanity and a deft directorial hand, Reinaldo Marcus Green smartly reformulates the traditional construction of “protagonist” to magnify the power of perspective. Green tells the story of how the footage affects the lives of three upstanding men in Bed-Stuy–a young father striving to support his new family, an African American cop dealing with the fallout of his colleague’s mistake, and a star high school athlete who becomes politicized by the incident. Each man is very different, but they equally feel the urgency of the question they must all face: should I take moral action or remain safely on the sidelines? Green provokes viewers to ask themselves the same question.

Featuring John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison Jr

Awards and Reviews
Winner, Special Jury Prize – Sundance Film Festival
Toronto Intl Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival, Leeds Intl Film Festival Official Selections

“MONSTERS AND MEN offers neither unalloyed despair nor implausible hope. It’s about the way people of colour live now, moving through the streets with passion, purpose and one eye on the rear-view mirror.” – NPR

“It’s left to the actors… to keep us close, and not one of them shirks the task, injecting intellectual and emotional nuance that frequently transcends the script.”
– New York Times

Certificate
MONSTERS AND MEN is rated 15. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES

‘I am a cat. As yet, I have no name’. So begins the chronicles of Nana, a stray cat who has adopted its own master, Satoru, as he sets out to revisit friends from his past, with a request that Nana doesn’t yet understand.

Hull Independent Cinema: LIZZIE

Hull Independent Cinema presents: LIZZIE
Craig William Macneill | 2018 | USA | Cert 15 | 103 mins

Synopsis
LIZZIE is a compelling psychodrama based on the infamous 1892 axe murder of the Borden family in Fall River, Massachusetts. The film explores Lizzie Borden’s life, focusing on the period leading up to the murders and their immediate aftermath – and reveals many layers of the strange, fragile woman who stood accused of the brutal crime. As an unmarried woman of 32, and a social outcast, Lizzie lives a claustrophobic life under her father’s cold and domineering control. When Bridget Sullivan, a young maid, comes to work for the family, Lizzie finds a sympathetic, kindred spirit, and a chance intimacy that blossoms into a wicked plan, and a dark, unsettling end. Directed by Craig William Macneill and produced by Sevigny alongside Liz Destro and Naomi Despres, Lizzie is an enthralling investigation of a dark slice of history that has fascinated the world ever since – with captivating performances leading an evocative presentation of strained family relationships, an oppressive society and a secret, burgeoning romance, delivering rich slow-burn tension and emphatic, transfixing release.

Featuring Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Fiona Shaw, Denis O’Hare

Awards and Reviews
Sundance Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Cork Film Festival Official Selections

“The stylish and haunting LIZZIE paints a provocative portrait of a woman driven by passions and left with few options in a society that gave her little agency.” – The Wrap

“Fascinating and ferocious, LIZZIE takes a legend hardened by history and blows it up from the inside, forcing the viewer to pick up the pieces and recontextualize this figure in a whole new light.” – SlashFilm

Certificate
LIZZIE is rated 15. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

Hull Independent Cinema presents: THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
Lars von Trier | 2018 | Denmark/France/Germany/Sweden | Cert 18 | 153 mins

Synopsis
Lars von Trier returns to the director’s chair to present the world with his most daring and provocative work to date, THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. This time the topic of discussion is violence and art, and violence as art.

In a mesmerising career best, Matt Dillon plays failed architect turned serial killer Jack who leads us through his thought processes behind his increasingly more depraved acts of murder which he names “incidents”. As he retells his crimes to Verge as if they were all individual works of art in themselves, the audience is invited to question the nature of artistry, where its limits lie and when is far too far? And with pitch-black humour and undeniable cinematic vision, von Trier delights in taking us there. As Jack says, “The greatest cathedrals have sublime artwork hidden in the darkest of corners for only God to see.”

Featuring Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman, Siobhan Fallon Hogan

Awards and Reviews
Cannes Film Festival, CPH:PIX, Sitges Film Festival Official Selections

“Dillon might have trouble putting this one at the top of his resume if he wants to do a Disney film, but there’s no question he delivers an impactful movie monster, with darting eyes and a toothy smile that makes Jack at once seem empathetic and bonkers.” – IndieWire

“Undoubtedly a bold and stimulating film which no one but Denmark’s notorious provocateur-auteur could have made.” – BBC

Certificate
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT is rated 18. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: A PRIVATE WAR

Hull Independent Cinema presents: A PRIVATE WAR
Matthew Heineman | 2018 | UK/USA | Cert 15 | 110 mins

Synopsis
In a world where journalism is under attack, Marie Colvin (Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike) is one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the front lines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado.

After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she’s witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her — along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy — to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.

Based on the extraordinary life of Marie Colvin, A PRIVATE WAR is brought to the screen by Academy Award nominee and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Matthew Heineman in his pulse-pounding narrative feature debut.

Featuring Rosamund Pike, Jamie Dornan, Tom Hollander

Awards and Reviews
BFI London Film Festival, Toronto Intl Film Festival, Hamptons Intl Film Festival Official Selections

“Heineman and screenwriter Arash Amel remind the audience not just of the humanism that drives so many reporters, but also the extreme danger they put themselves in to bring us the truth.” – Washington Post

“A stunningly moving, yet never mawkish, dissection of Marie Colvin’s self-aware motivations, irrevocable positions, flawed interpersonal skills, and narrative ability to make people stop and care about whatever story was compelling her to risk her life.” – The Wrap

Certificate
A PRIVATE WAR is rated 15. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: GREEN BOOK

Synopsis
When Tony Lip, a bouncer from an Italian-American neighbourhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive Dr Don Shirley, a world-class Black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South, they must rely on “The Green Book” to guide them to the few establishments that were then safe for African-Americans. Confronted with racism, danger-as well as unexpected humanity and humour-they are forced to set aside differences to survive and thrive on the journey of a lifetime.

Featuring Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini

Awards and Reviews
Winner, Audience Award – Toronto Intl Film Festival
Winner, Chairman’s Vanguard Award – Palm Springs Film Festival
Nominee, Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor – 2019 Golden Globes

“The acting is better than the dialogue, which is better than the plotting. And I have to confess that in the current, insanely divisive political climate, I enjoyed Green Book’s spoon-feeding mightily.” – Vulture

“Thanks to the dream team of Mortensen and Ali, both giving Oscar calibre performances, audiences will be rightly cheering this hilarious and heartfelt true story of a black musician and his racist driver on a 1960’s tour of the Deep South.” – Rolling Stone

Certificate
GREEN BOOK is rated 12A. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: EL ANGEL

Co-produced by Pedro Almodóvar, this stylish crime caper is based on the early years of Argentina’s most infamous serial killer, Carlos Robledo Puch, dubbed by the press as ‘The Angel of Death’ for his angelic good looks. Lorenzo Ferro gives a hypnotic performance as the teenage sociopath with movie star swagger and a penchant for stealing. After meeting delinquent Ramon, the pair embarks on a crime spree propelled by raging hormones and a palpable sexual tension, vividly brought to life by a colourful 1970’s aesthetic and a tongue-in-cheek disco soundtrack.

Starring Lorenzo Ferro, Chino Darín, Daniel Fanego

Awards & Reviews
Winner, Best Actor – Fenix Film Awards
Cannes Film Festival, San Sebastian Intl Film Festival, CPH:PIX, Leeds Intl Film Festival Official Selections

“A nonchalant, sexy “Goodfellas”; a “Bonnie & Clyde” featuring two young men in a love story of sorts, one that defies categorization or labels, and is entirely driven by the taboo thrills of criminality.” – Los Angeles Times

“Ortega has a real eye for flashy, chaotic set pieces and a real ear for excellent Latin rock needle drops on the film’s killer Scorsese-inspired soundtrack.” – Entertainment Weekly

Certificate
EL ANGEL is unrated – 18+ only will be allowed in the theatre.

Hull Independent Cinema: DISOBEDIENCE

Hull Independent Cinema presents: DISOBEDIENCE
Sebastián Lelio | 2017 | UK/Ireland/USA | Cert 15 | 115 mins

From Sebastián Lelio, writer-director of the Academy Award-winning A FANTASTIC WOMAN, DISOBEDIENCE is a timely and emotionally powerful tale set at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, of personal desires and the demands of faith. When her estranged rabbi father suddenly passes away, Ronit (played by Oscar-winner and co-producer Rachel Weisz) returns from New York to the north London Orthodox Jewish community that rejected her years previously after a scandalous transgression. Ronit’s presence immediately courts further controversy when she runs into Esti (Rachel McAdams), the wife of her strictly religious cousin Dovid (Alessandro Nivola) and the woman for whom she shared an illicit attraction in their childhood. This happy reunion soon reignites the two women’s burning, long-unrequited passions, an act of defiance that could alter the course of their lives forever.

Based on the provocative novel by bestselling author Naomi Alderman and co-written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, DISOBEDIENCE is a critically acclaimed romantic drama that explores the fraught boundaries between spiritual devotion and sexuality.

Featuring Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola, Anton Lesser

Awards and Reviews
Nominee, Best British Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay – British Independent Film Awards
Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto Intl Film Festival, Seattle Intl Film Festival Official Selections

“This is richly satisfying and powerfully acted work” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“A beautiful, fraught, and emotionally nuanced drama that wrestles with hard questions about the tension between the life we’re born into and the one we choose for ourselves” – David Ehrlich, Indiewire

Certificate: DISOBEDIENCE is rated 15. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: SHOPLIFTERS

The winner of this year’s top prize at Cannes, SHOPLIFTERS follows a small band of marginalized misfits struggling to make ends meet on the outskirts of Tokyo. Shoplifting to get by, they decide to secretly adopt a little girl foraging for scraps in the freezing cold – before an unforeseen incident begins to test their bond… It’s a welcome return by the renowned Japanese director, Kore-ada (Still Walking, Like Father Like Son) who shines a spotlight on the struggling classes with his usual insight, compassion and humour. A triumph of subtlety over spectacle, Shoplifters is sure to steal your heart.

Featuring Kriin Kiki, Lily Franky, Sosuke Ikematsu, Sakura Ando, Moemi Katayama, Mayu Matsuoka

Awards and Reviews
Winner, Palme d’Or – Cannes Film Festival

“Hirokazu Kore-eda is now an established Cannes heavyweight and he shows why with this complex and nuanced family drama. ” ★★★★ – The Guardian

“Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or winner is a thrilling, beautiful tale of Toyko’s down-and-outs ” ★★★★★ – The Telegraph

Certificate
SHOPLIFTERS is rated 18. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Hull Independent Cinema: ASSASSINATION NATION

Hull Independent Cinema presents: ASSASSINATION NATION
Sam Levinson | 2018 | USA | Cert 18 | 108 mins

Set in modern-day Salem, high school senior Lily and her crew of besties live in a haze of texts, posts, selfies, and chats. So when a provocateur starts posting details from the private digital lives of everyone in their small town of Salem, the result is Category 5 chaos. People get angry… very angry. And Lily finds herself right in the middle.

Featuring Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Suki Waterhouse, Abra, Colman Domingo, Bill Skarsgård

Sundance Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Toronto Intl Film Festival Official Selections

“This gleefully gory exploitation film sets out to shock, but smartly dissects our online-obsessed society along the way” – The Guardian

“ASSASSINATION NATION works well both as a stylish thriller with tense, horrific moments and as a feminist parable for the modern social media age.” – Screen Rant

ASSASSINATION NATION is rated 18. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Tyrus by Pamela Tom

Tyrus is the moving, inspirational story of Tyrus Wong (1910-2016), who was, at various points in his long life, a Disney studio artist (where he worked on Bambi, 1942), a Film Production Illustrator at Warner Brothers (working on such films as Calamity Jane, 1953, Rebel Without a Cause, 1955, and The Wild Bunch, 1969), a fine art painter, a greeting card designer, a ceramics artist, and a kite designer.

But beyond his enormous contributions to Hollywood Cinema and American art, Wong’s story is also one of Chinese-American immigration during the 20th Century. Immigrating with his father to the USA in 1920 via Angel Island (the West Coast equivalent of Ellis Island), Wong had to find his way in a land where anti-Asian prejudice was rife. Yet he found love, family, and success, becoming one of the most influential Chinese-American artists in the USA. Tyrus, his life story, will be introduced by its director, writer, and producer, Pamela Tom.

Hull Independent Cinema: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

Hull Independent Cinema presents: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Boots Riley | 2018 | USA | Cert 15 | 112 mins

Synopsis
In an alternate reality of present-day Oakland, Calif., telemarketer Cassius Green finds himself in a macabre universe after he discovers a magical key that leads to material glory. As Green’s career begins to take off, his friends and co-workers organize a protest against corporate oppression. Cassius soon falls under the spell of Steve Lift, a cocaine-snorting CEO who offers him a salary beyond his wildest dreams.

Starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, Armie Hammer, David Cross

Awards and Reviews
Nominee, Best First Feature, Best Screenplay – Film Independent Spirit Awards
Sundance Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival Official Selections

“This bold new film not only shatters comedy’s cold streak but also serves as a powerful reminder of the vitality of the genre as both social commentary and shared experience.” – The Observer

“Boots Riley’s SORRY TO BOTHER YOU ambitiously pushes the envelope of the sci-fi and comedy genres for a wholly unique, refreshing and hilarious film.” – Screen Rant

Certificate
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU is rated 15. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).

Wildlife – Hull Independent Cinema – Vue

Synopsis

Sensitive 16-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry — a housewife and golf pro in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job and his sense of purpose he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves. Suddenly forced into the role of an adult, Joe witnesses his mother embark on her own adventure, as she transgresses into an affair with an older man.

Featuring Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Bill Camp

Peterloo – Hull Independent Cinema – Vue

Hull Independent Cinema presents: PETERLOO Mike Leigh | 2018 | UK | Cert 12A| 154 mins At Vue Cinema Hull: BUY TICKETS The story of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre where British forces attacked a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Manchester. PETERLOO | Mike Leigh | 2018 | UK | Cert 12A| 154 mins Synopsis An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history.