Hull Independent Cinema: Memoir of a Snail

Grace Pudel is a book-loving, snail-collecting misfit that falls into a series of misfortunes after being separated from her twin brother Gilbert. Despite her hardships, inspiration and hope arise when Grace begins a friendship with an eccentric elderly woman named Pinky. From Academy Award-winning writer and director Adam Elliot, Memoir of a Snail is a heartfelt and hilarious chronicle of the life of an outsider finding her confidence and silver linings amongst the clutter of everyday life.

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Hull Independent Cinema: Nickel Boys

NICKEL BOYS

Florida at the height of segregation, and two Black kids, Elwood and Turner meet at reform school Nickel Academy. Elwood has been sent there simply because the stranger he hitched a ride to school with had stolen the car. Previously optimistic about the Civil Rights movement and the prospects for Black people, Elwood is shattered by the experience, and would likely not survive Nickel Academy were it not for the friendship he strikes up with Turner, as the pair of them navigate Nickel’s abusive confines together in this stirring adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Starring Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

“This is a survivor’s coming of age: tough, disillusioned, brilliant.” ★★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“…sidles up to the narrative’s wrenching twists rather than heavily foreshadowing them, and is all the more gutting for it.” ★★★★ Tim Robey, The Daily Telegraph

“Phenomenal performances form Brandon Wilson, Ethan Herisse and the incomparable Aunjanue Eliis-Taylor.” Carla Renata, TheWrap

“As major and memorable an achievement as any American film this decade.” David Ehrlich, indieWire

Hull Independent Cinema: How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

HOW TO MAKE MILLIONS BEFORE GRANDMA DIES

In Bangkok’s Chinatown, M is a lazy college dropout who commits to caring for his grandmother, Menju, after failing to make it as a video game streamer. Menju has cancer, and M’s real motivation is to curry favour with her so that he might be in line to inherit her luxurious house. Other family members are trying the same thing, but it’s M who best manages to insinuate himself. But despite his initial selfish aims, M finds his inadvertent commitment to Menju’s wellbeing starts to give him a new perspective on life and family.

Starring Putthipong AssaratanakuI, Usha Seamkhum, Sanya Kunakorn

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Cambodia International Film Festival: Winner, 2 awards inc Best Film
New York Asian Film Festival: Winner, Audience Award
Asian World Film Festival: Nominee, Best Film

REVIEWS
“It is a sentimental journey to redemption but one that Boonnitipat grounds in understanding and empathy.” Lee Marshall, Screen Daily

“A sweet, sad and sentimental Thai end-of-life melodrama titled and set-up like a greedy-family farce.” Roger Moore, Movie Nation

“The dialogue is biting, crisp, smart, and frequently heartbreaking.” Alex Saveliev, Film Threat

“…range of feeling and the surprising depth of its feel-good reassurances.” Simon Abrams, RogerEbert.com

Hull Independent Cinema: Queer

The acclaimed latest from Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name), QUEER is a lush, sensuous adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ cult novel, featuring a deeply moving and mesmeric central performance from Daniel Craig.

1950. William Lee (Craig), an American expat in Mexico City, spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community. His encounter with Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), an expat former soldier, new to the city, shows him, for the first time, that it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody.

Written by Justin Kuritzkes (Challengers), scored by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, and realised with impeccable production design, imagery and Jonathan Anderson’s sumptuous costumes, QUEER is a sensuous 1950s romance of desire and longing.

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Hull Independent Cinema: On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

The new film from acclaimed, BAFTA-winning director Rungano Nyoni (I Am Not a Witch), On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a compelling drama about community and sisterhood.

Driving home from a party one night, Shula seems unfazed by the sight of her uncle’s dead body on the deserted road. While preparations are made for his funeral, she finds herself plunged into the hidden secrets of her family. As tensions rise, Shula and her cousin Nsansa join forces to reconcile the past for a more hopeful future.

A fierce and darkly funny portrait of one woman’s strength in the face of crisis, Nyoni’s award-winning second feature proves her to be a distinctive filmmaker blazing a unique trail.

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Hull Independent Cinema: The Contestant

The incredible true story of a man who lived for 15 months trapped inside a small room, naked, starving and alone… and completely unaware that his life was being broadcast on national TV in Japan, to over 15 million viewers a week. Before Big Brother, before The Truman Show, there was the shocking story of Nasubi.

Hull Independent Cinema: All We Imagine As Light

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT

In Mumbai, senior nurse Prabha finds her composure disturbed by an unexpected anonymous gift, possibly from her estranged husband. Her younger colleague and roommate Anu, newly arrived in the city, is caught up in the excitement of a new job and trying to find space to be alone with her equally new boyfriend. Hospital cook Pavarty, recently widowed, is fighting eviction from her home. A trip for the three of them to Pavarty’s coastal village home offer the women a chance to find some space and calm outside of the teeming city.

Starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Cannes Film Festival: Winner, Grand Jury Prize; Nominee, Palme d’Or
British Independent Film Awards: Nominee, Best International Independent Film
Gotham Awards: Nominee, 2 awards inc Best Director
Chicago International Film Festival: Winner, Jury Prize; Nominee, Best Feature
Denver Film Festival: Winner, Best Feature Film

REVIEWS
“There is a freshness and emotional clarity in Payal Kapadia’s Cannes competition selection…” ★★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“Two strong performances root the film… they modulate their performances well together, but are equally strong apart.” Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily

“…a meditative, almost spiritual evocation of the human condition at large…” ★★★★ Namrata Joshi, The New Indian Express

“… that the movie is so delicately felt and sensuously textured is cause for outright celebration.” Justin Chang, The New Yorker

Hull Independent Cinema: Layla

LAYLA

Layla is a struggling Arab drag queen from a strict Muslim family whose confident façade hides their desperate desire for love. When their performance at a belittling corporate Pride event turns into a transgressive takedown, they are surprised to catch the eye of marketing executive Max, whose attentions sweep Layla off their feet. The two start an intoxicating romance, but as Layla starts to alter who they are in order to keep Max’s interest, and Max struggles to be honest about his own identity, they both have to face uncomfortable truths.

Starring Bilal Hasna, Louis Greatorex

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Sundance Film Festival: Nominee, Grand Jury Prize

REVIEWS
“Layla has found their tribe — and it’s here that first-time director Amrou Al-Kadhi, also a drag artist, excels, capturing the sparkling, sensual spectacle of the queer club circuit.” ★★★★ Wendy Ide, The Observer

“…led by what could, and by all rights should, be a breakout role for Bilal Hasna.” William Bibbiani, TheWrap

“…sizzles in multiple ways, as a sexy celebration of queerness and as a shout-out about our need to be true to ourselves wherever we go.” Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“Uses a very enticing screen sensibility to tell a story that has depth, clearly told from a very personal point of view.” Mark Kermode, Kermode and Mayo’s Take (YouTube)

Hull Independent Cinema: Bird

BIRD

12-year-old Bailey lives with her brother Hunter and father Bug, who raises them alone in a squat in northern Kent. Bug doesn’t have time to devote to them; he’s too busy looking forward to his imminent wedding and pursuing wealth by importing hallucinogenic toads. Bailey’s confused and unhappy about her new stepmother, and her mum is struggling to deal with a chaotic new relationship. Bailey seeks adventure and attention elsewhere, and finds it when an eccentric, troubled young man called Bird turns up and asks for her help.

Starring Nykiya Adams, Franz Rogowski, Barry Keoghan

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Cannes Film Festival: Nominee, Palme d’Or & Queer Palm
British Independent Film Awards: Winner, Best Supporting Performance. Nominee, 7 awards inc Best Director
Hamburg Film Festival: Winner, Douglas Sirk Award
Montclair Film Festival: Winner, Junior Jury

REVIEWS
“A classic Andrea Arnold picture, complete with striking new talent and moving insight into life lived on the margins.” ★★★★ Sophie Butcher, Empire Magazine

“For all Keoghan’s star power and Rogowski’s diligence, Adams is the centre of the film.” ★★★★ Danny Leigh, Financial Times

“Fish Tank director Andrea Arnold returns to kitchen sink realism – and finds freedom and joy over darkness.” ★★★★ Christina Newland, iNews

“Perhaps unexpectedly, Bird calls to mind Spielberg’s seminal sci-fi E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, in which another child forms a friendship with a mysterious visitor looking for a home.” Hannah Strong, Little White Lies

Hull Independent Cinema: Burning Bridges

‘Burning Bridges’ is the story of an artist who pushed ever closer to the edges – and then went over.

On freezing cold morning at the end of January 2007, at the back of playing fields in Hull, in littered woodland close to an old boathouse by a river, a runner found an unconscious man and called an ambulance.

The man was in his pyjamas, on the ground next to him was a wooden sword.

His body was heavily bruised – the doctors suggested he could have been kicked and beaten, but that was never investigated. There were reports that he’d been given anti-freeze to drink.

After suffering hypothermia and two heart attacks Paul Burwell, aged 58, was in a coma. Less than a week later his life support was switched off.

Though dog walkers, kids and the local police had regarded him as an eccentric and a drunk, there were obituaries in the Guardian and Independent newspapers.

A new documentary from Hull based Nova Studios, ‘Burning Bridges’ traces the story of Paul Burwell’s life and work through the voices of the people who knew him best, including influential avant garde artists and musicians such as Anne Bean, Richard Wilson, David Toop, Evan Parker, Max Eastley, Steve Beresford, Sylvia Hallet, Carlyle Reedy and many others, as well as close family and friends.

‘Burning Bridges’ is the story of an artist who pushed ever closer to the edges – and then went over.

The film will be followed by a Q&A with director Matt Stephenson, executive producer Michael Barnes-Wynters and a special guest.

Hull Independent Cinema: No Other Land

For half a decade, Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, films his community of Masafer Yatta being destroyed by Israel’s occupation, as he builds an unlikely alliance with an Israeli journalist who wants to join his fight. No Other Land is an unflinching account of a community’s mass expulsion and acts as a creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path towards equality and justice.

Hull Independent Cinema: The Room Next Door

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR

Bestselling author Ingrid learns that an old friend, war reporter Martha, is dying of cancer. They’ve not seen each other for years, but they are soon warmly reunited. Then Martha asks for Ingrid’s help; to be with her while she has one last relaxing weekend before taking euthanasia medication while Ingrid waits in the room next door so she can plausibly tell police she didn’t know what Martha was doing. Concerns about ethics and legality mix with the pair’s shared history and the unearthing of hidden secrets to threaten their newly-rediscovered closeness.

Starring Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton, John Turturro

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Venice Film Festival: Winner, 2 awards inc Best Film
European Film Awards: Nominee, 4 awards inc European Actress & Screenwriter

REVIEWS
“The hot Latin lovers have been replaced by pink snow, and the homoeroticism has been dialled down, but this is Almodóvar’s America and it’s a delight.” ★★★★★ Kaleem Aftab, Time Out

“…luxuriously self-aware performances from Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.” ★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“And despite a certain propensity for melodrama, Almodóvar restrains himself, making a film that is as understated and lovely as his leading ladies’ performances.” ★★★★ Jo-Ann Titmarsh, London Evening Standard

“If Pain and Glory was a reckoning with self and Parallel Mothers a reckoning with Spain, The Room Next Door is a reckoning with the entire world.” Drew Gregory, Autostraddle

Hull Independent Cinema: Small Things Like These

Oscar winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as devoted father Bill Furlong in this film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Claire Keegan. While working as a coal merchant to support his family, he discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent — and uncovers truths of his own — forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.

Hull Independent Cinema: Anora

ANORA

Anora dances at a strip club and engages in sex work on the side. She might be tougher than she lets on but her life is a bit of a mess. So when Vanya, a wealthy Russian, offers her thousands of dollars to be his girlfriend for the weekend she jumps at the chance. When the pair impulsively get married in Las Vegas, her chance of a Cinderella story seems real. But when news reaches Russia Vanya’s oligarch father is enraged, and sets out to get the marriage annulled and destroy Anora’s fairytale ending.

Starring Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Cannes Film Festival: Winner, Palme d’Or
Toronto International Film Festival: Nominee, People’s Choice Award
British Independent Film Awards:Winner, International Independent Film Award
Gotham Awards: Nominee, 4 awards including Outstanding Lead Performance & Best Director

REVIEWS
“…at its heart this is a film about the transactional relationships between men and women and how deleterious that capitalistic spirit can be on the human soul.” ★★★★★ Christina Newland, iNews

“Each change of tone is handled with sinuous ease by Baker, one of the best independent directors, who is finally getting the props he deserves.” ★★★★★ Ed Potton, The Times

“Sean Baker’s amazing, full-throttle tragicomedy of romance, denial and betrayal.” ★★★★ Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“Madison uses her liquid eyes and wary, rubbery smile not to win us over a la Julia Roberts but to show how Ani sheds her illusions and comes to understand both her own power and the larger powerlessness of a working woman in a world run by men and boys…” Ty Burr, Washington Post

RBO: Ballet to Broadway – Wheeldon Works (Live Screening)

FOOL’S PARADISE
Luminescent and shimmering, Fool’s Paradise marked the first of Wheeldon’s many collaborations with composer Joby Talbot. It was created in 2007 for Wheeldon’s own company, Morphoses, and first performed in 2012 by The Royal Ballet.

THE TWO OF US
The wistful songs of Joni Mitchell set the scene for the UK premiere of The Two of Us, a duet of deep intimacy and yearning. It was created in 2020 for the Fall for Dance Festival in New York, and had American ballet dancers Sarah Mearns and David Hallberg in its original cast.

US (DUET)
Us is a tender duet danced by two men. It was created in 2017 for BalletBoyz and is set to Keaten Henson’s music.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (BALLET)
The Royal Ballet celebrates Wheeldon’s extraordinary success in musical theatre by performing the ballet scene from his Tony Award-winning musical An American in Paris. Set to Gershwin’s jazzy melodies, the musical is inspired by the 1951 film of the same name starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. The musical went on to win four Tony awards. The full musical depicts a blossoming romance between the American G.I. Jerry Mulligan and a French ballerina, Lise Dassin. The ballet excerpt was Wheeldon’s take on one of the most memorable scenes from the film – an extended sequence in which the two central characters dance through Paris.

RBO: Die Walküre (Live Screening)

On a stormy night, fate brings two strangers together, unleashing a love with the power to end worlds. Meanwhile, in the realm of the gods, an epic battle ensues between their ruler Wotan and his rebellious daughter, Brünnhilde.