Hull Independent Cinema: Sing Sing

John, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by founding the Rehabilitation Through Arts theatre group. Against his better judgement, he takes drug dealer Clarence under his wing, only to find the spiky newcomer poses a challenge to his leadership and the group’s equilibrium, fragile enough in the face of the indignity of prison. With many real-life RTA members playing themselves, this is a stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

Starring Colman Domingo, Paul Raci, Clarence Maclin

AWARDS AND REVIEWS
Seattle International Film Festival: Winner, Best Film & Best Ensemble
SXSW Film Festival: Winner, Audience Award
Deauville Film Festival: Nominee, Grand Special Prize

REVIEWS
“[Domingo and Raci’s] interplay flows naturally, but is underpinned by a robust, punchy wit – imagine The Shawshank Redemption directed by Mike Leigh.” ★★★★★ Robbie Collin, The Daily Telegraph

“Colman Domingo shines in this love letter to uncaged male vulnerability.” ★★★★ Whelan Barzey, Time Out

“It is a small movie with steep odds against it, but it is also extraordinarily accomplished.” ★★★★ Caryn James, BBC

“Sing Sing is a revelation.” Fletcher Peters, The Daily Beast

Hull Independent Cinema: Kensuke’s Kingdom

A young boy and his family set off on a sailing trip of a lifetime until a violent storm erupts, sweeping Michael and his dog overboard. After washing up on a remote island, terrified, they struggle to survive and adjust to life alone. One day, Michael discovers he is not alone when he is confronted by a mysterious Japanese man who has lived there secretly since World War II, angry that Michael has arrived. However, as dangerous invaders threaten their fragile island paradise, Michael and the old man, Kensuke, join forces to save their secret world.

Starring Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins, Raffey Cassidy

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
British Animation Awards: Winner, 3 awards inc Best Feature & Best Writing
New York International Children’s Film Festival: Winner, Grand Prize Feature
Mon Premier Festival: Winner, Best Music

REVIEWS
“The unlikely friendship between Michael and Kensuke is the heart of a film that touches lightly on environmental themes, loss and history.” ★★★★ Tara Brady, The Irish Times

“There are moments of real splendour, especially in the evocations of the seascapes and the island.” ★★★★ John Bleasdale, The Times

“The film is thoughtful, tender and generally quite beguiling…” ★★★★ Tim Robey, The Daily Telegraph

“Remaining loyal to the source material, Boyle’s Kensuke’s Kingdom greets fans of the novel with a safe cinematic counterpart” Joel Oiku, Little White Lies

Hull Independent Cinema: Girls Will Be Girls

119 mins | 15 | Hindi, English

In a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira is quiet and well-behaved, the prefect and star student. The arrival of a new student, Sri, threatens her social and academic status, but also thrusts Mira into the sudden discovery of romance and desire. But Mira’s mother, who never had the chance to make this journey of self-discovery when younger, also finds herself experiencing new emotions because of Sri, and struggles to balance her new desires with her duty to care for and protect her daughter.

Awards: Berlin International Film Festival: Winner, ARTE International Prize | Sundance Film Festival: Winner, 2 awards inc Lead Acting Prize; Nominee, Grand Jury Prize | Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival: Winner, Emerging Filmmaker Award | Sofia International Film Festival: Winner, Best Director; Nominee, Grand Priz | SXSW Film Festival: Nominee, Audience Award

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Hull Independent Cinema: Only The River Flows

115 mins | 15 | Chinese

In 1990s rural southern China, police detective Ma Zhe has a lot on his plate. His wife’s pregnant, but his mind is consumed by a series of murders with no apparent motive. Brought in to lead the investigation, Ma drives himself to the brink with his determination to uncover what lies behind the killings, when his superiors are more than happy to ascribe it to randomness. As events unfold, Ma’s grasp of reality becomes increasingly uncertain in this ingenious subversion of the crime thriller genre.

Awards:Cannes Film Festival: Nominee, Un Certain Regard | Manchester International Film Festival: Nominee, Best
International Film | Asian Film Awards: Nominee, 3 awards inc Best Cinematography | China Film Critics Association Award: Winner, Top Ten Films | Pingyao International Film Festival: Winner, 2 awards inc Best Film

Descriptive Captions (HOH Subtitles / SDH)

Hull Independent Cinema: Tuesday

Tuesday is an 11-year-old girl in the grip of terminal illness. She realises her time is running out when Death shows up – in the form of a scruffy parrot. But something about Tuesday’s spirit stops Death in its tracks. As she offers Death some respite from the suffering of the world, Death lets her live a little longer. Tuesday is ready to say goodbye but her mother, Zora, isn’t ready to lose her daughter and goes to war with Death in this heart-breaking, wildly ambitious and fatalistic fairytale.

Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
London Film Festival: Nominee, First Feature Award

REVIEWS
“”… a moving and very eccentric feathered fantasy about life, death and everything in-between.”” ★★★★ John Nugent, Empire Magazine

“”… there’s no question that this is a remarkable and assured first feature.”” ★★★★ Wendy Ide, Observer (UK)

“”… a magical realist allegory, dramatising our feelings about mortality – grief, denial, acceptance, despair – and interrogating what a good death might even mean.”” Anton Bitel, Little White Lies

“”Without the power and nuance that Louis-Dreyfus brings to the role, the drama would not have nearly as much spine or impact as it does.”” Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

Hull Independent Cinema: Audience Choice – The Thing

This season’s theme for Audience Choice is BODY HORROR. 2024 Selection: THE THING

Hull Independent Cinema: Janet Planet

In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy is an unapologetic oddball who sits awkwardly on the brink of adolescence. She spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the casual magnetism of her mother, Janet, whose curse, she says, is that she can make anyone fall in love with her. As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet. Lacy struggles to understand why her mother would need anyone but her in this exquisite account of a complex mother-daughter relationship.

Starring Julianne Nicholson, Zoe Ziegler

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
Berlin International Film Festival: Nominee, Panorama Audience Award
Melbourne International Film Festival:
Bright Horizons Award

REVIEWS
“We understand every word and action here to have symbolic value, and Janet Planet is not afraid of its own artificiality.” ★★★★ Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent

“Janet Planet plays a little like a memory piece from an unknown future – the assembled past life of an adult who, as a child, grasped only a bare majority of the tensions unfolding about her.” ★★★★ Donald Clarke, Irish Times

“An exquisite and treasurable account of a complicated mother-daughter bond.” ★★★★ Wendy Ide, Observer

“Nostalgic but never naff, Janet Planet fills the screen with warmth and compassion for its charming, flawed and very human characters.” Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, AWFJ.org

Hull Independent Cinema: Swan Song

103 mins | Rating TBC | English

An immersive, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, directs the National Ballet of Canada. The film weaves together intimate scenes of the creative process, insights into the dancers’ struggles with injury and anxiety, and scenes from the personal lives of those involved to in a nuanced and fascinating film that will appeal to ballet lovers and sceptics alike.

Awards: Toronto Film Critics Association Awards: Winner Best Canadian Documentary; Nominee, 2023 Allan King Documentary Award | Calgary International Film Festival: Winner, DGC Canadian Documentary Feature | Canadian Screen Awards: Winner, Best Sound Design in a Documentary

Hull Independent Cinema: Shayda

Shayda, an Iranian woman, finds refuge from her violent and controlling husband in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter, Mona. Over Nowruz, the Persian New Year, they take solace in ritual and celebration, and Shayda rediscovers her joyful former self. There’s even the chance of a new relationship and a fresh start for them both. But neither her husband nor the more conservative elements of her community are about to forgive her for fleeing her marriage.

Starring Leah Purcell, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Lucinda Armstrong Hall

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
Sundance Film Festival: Winner, Audience Award; Nominee, Grand Jury Prize
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards: Winner, 2 awards inc Best Actress
Directors Guild of America: Nominee, Best Director of First Film
Australian Directors Guild Awards: Winner, Best Director of Feature Film

REVIEWS
“Tension is skillfully sustained throughout and the drama has a pressurising effect…” ★★★★ Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian

“This debut fiction feature from the Australian-Iranian documentary director Noora Niasari proves a worthy vehicle for the incendiary talents of Zar Amir Ebrahimi.” ★★★★ Kevin Maher, The Times

“In her first narrative feature, Niasari, who based the story in part on her own experiences, demonstrates an astounding control of pacing and mood.” Natalia Winkelman, The New York Times

“It is the director’s personal experience that ultimately allows for a thoughtful impact on audiences long past the final scene.” Madeleine Wilson, Little White Lies

Hull Independent Cinema: Didi

In California in 2008, Chris is an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy about to start high school but struggling to meet the cultural expectations of an immigrant family while at the same time trying to fit in with his new friends. In the last month of summer, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery to learn what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.

Starring Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
Sundance Film Festival: Winner, Audience Award; Nominee, Grand Jury Prize & Ensemble Prize
SXSW Film Festival: Nominee, Audience Award
Seattle International Film Festival: Nominee, 3 awards inc Best Film

REVIEWS
“Izaac Wang’s reserved, undemonstrative performance is what sets the film’s non-sucrose tone.”
★★★★ Adrian Horton, The Guardian

“Didi, a semi-autobiographical tale… is insightful on racial self-loathing as well as bigotry.” ★★★★ Ed Potton, The Times

“It’s all the better for feeling so immediate. Dìdi is a memory with barely a scratch on it.” ★★★★ Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent

“… it’s also a period piece that understands the flattening effect the internet has on teenagers in particular.”
Shirley Li, The Atlantic

Hull Independent Cinema: Sky Peals

Adam leads and small and lonely life, working nightshifts at a motorway service station burger bar and squatting in his mother’s old house. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, and haunted by the last voicemail he received from him, Adam finds himself in search of answers. Piecing together a complicated image of a man he never knew and who never seemed to fit in, Adam starts to become convinced he descends from an alien race.

Starring Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
London Film Festival: Nominee, First Feature Competition
Venice Film Festival: Nominee, Best Film

REVIEWS
“It’s using the science fiction idea, in the way that science fiction should be used, which is to talk about things that are completely down to earth.” Mark Kermode, Kermode and Mayo’s Take (YouTube)

“Sky Peals is unsettling and effective in its story through its compelling action and stylised shots. With a runtime of 90 minutes, this quirky sci-fi film is worth investing your time in.” ★★★★ Romey Norton, Film Focus Online

“… an arresting first feature – unsettling and effective.” ★★★★ Xan Brooks, The Guardian

Unthinkable Film Screening

UNTHINKABLE is a Hull based short film festival which spans a week in October.

The film screening is the main focus, with the surrounding days packed out with music, performances, art exhibitions and talks from previous patrons, judges and local artists. These include Richie Culver, an artist and performer, and Mark Herman, director of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

The screening takes place on Fri 4 Oct, 5pm at Hull Truck Theatre in the Godber Studio. You can expect a selection of some of the most original shorts from around the UK and further afield and at the end of the evening the judging panel will select a winner.

PLEASE NOTE: Booking for this event will give you entrance into the Film Festival Screening, at Hull Truck Theatre, ONLY. If you would like to book a full Festival Pass we’ll add more information, and a link to buy those tickets, soon.

A Story of Bones + Intro

94 mins | 12A | English

St Helena is a small island in the middle of the Atlantic, reachable only by boat. When the British Government decides to build an airport, initial work reveals 325 skeletons, the remains of some of the 9,000 Africans ‘liberated’ from slavery only to be stranded on the island and eventually buried in mass unmarked graves. This film follows the efforts of local people and historians to ensure that the authorities provide for a new burial site that allows the dead to be properly memorialised.

A Story of Bones will be preceded by an intro from Dr Cassandra Gooptar, Lecturer in Legacies of Slavery at Wilberforce Institute, Principal Investigator on the Guardian Legacies of Enslavement Project and co-founder of the ECR Network for the Study of Slavery & its Legacies.

Awards: Tribeca Film Festival: Nominee, Best Documentary Feature.

UNTHINKABLE Film Festival: Local Screening

UNTHINKABLE Film Festival presents:

Local Screening
Celebrating new film from the North East and local area!

➳ DOORS – 4:30PM // 16+
➳ FILM SCREENINGS // 5:30PM – 8:30PM

UNTHINKABLE is a Hull based film festival in it’s second year. Set up as a charity with the aim of creating unique viewing opportunities for a local audience. In partnership with Hull Truck Theatre and HIC (Hull Independent Cinema). They aim to encourage local filmmaking talent in the Hull region, whilst providing a platform for ‘Unthinkable’ films from around the world!

LOCAL SCREENING
Get yourself down to Polar Bear for our first edition of local screening!

A great opportunity to admire the abundance of local talent, and meet the filmmakers first hand.

Dip in and out from screening to screaming conversation at the bar!

Paul McCartney and Wings: One Hand Clapping (Film)

Directed by David Litchfield, this film captured a moment when Paul McCartney and Wings had found and defined their signature sound. Filmed over four days at Abbey Road Studios in August 1974, the film provides an insight into the inner workings of the band as they work and play together in the studio. Including performances of tracks from Wings masterpiece Band on the Run (released in 1973), intimate footage of the band hanging out in the studio, combined with audio interview snippets, the film also includes previously unreleased full footage of a solo acoustic performance by Paul called The Backyard Sessions.

In addition to the film, this screening event includes an introduction by Paul McCartney recorded exclusively for movie theatre audiences as well as unseen Polaroids of the band.

Hull Independent Cinema: Blur – To The End

Featuring live performance alongside footage of the band in the studio and on the road, this is an intimate moment in time with Blur as they make a surprise return with their first record in eight years, ‘The Ballad of Darren’.

Contains flashing images.

UK | 2024 | 105 Min | Documentary, Music