2020 Programme
February
8½
Federico Fellini | 1963
138 mins | Italy/France | PG
A troubled Italian filmmaker struggles with “director’s block” and retreats into his thoughts, often wandering into fantastical territory.
17 FEB
Classic
Columbus
Kogonada | 2017 | 104 mins
USA | M
Jin is stranded in Columbus, Indiana and finds friendship with a young librarian who shares his passion for city's modernist architecture.
24 FEB
Urbanism
March
Strange Days
Kathryn Bigelow | 1995
145 mins | USA | R18
In the last days of 1999, a former LAPD detective is now a dealer in illegal recordings of other people’s memories and sensations.
02 MAR
Cult
Departures
Yōjirō Takita | 2008
130 mins | Japan | M
An unemployed cellist moves back to his old home town and takes a job as a nōkanshi – a traditional Japanese ritual mortician.
09 MAR
Sparking Joy
◆OPEN EVENT
Let the Sunshine In
Claire Denis | 2017 | 94 mins
France | R13
Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) is a divorced Parisian painter searching for another shot at love, and pleasure along the way.
16 MAR
Sparking Joy
Exhibition
Joanna Hogg | 2013
104 mins | UK | M
An intimate portrait of an artist couple framed within the glass walls of their modernist London townhouse.
23 MAR
Urbanism
Orlando
Sally Potter | 1992 | 94 mins
UK | PG
Orlando is given immortality by Queen Elizabeth I and experiences different lives and relationships through the centuries – even changing sex.
30 MAR
Tilda Swinton
Deferred
April
No screenings on 13 April Easter Monday or 27 April Anzac Day.
Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch | 2013
123 mins | UK/Germany | M
Adam and Eve are elegant vampires – partners since the beginning of time – reunited in the decayed splendour of Detroit.
06 APR
Tilda Swinton
Deferred
I Am Love
Luca Guadagnino | 2009
120 mins | Italy | M
In a rich and powerful Milanese family, Emma is a respected wife and mother who falls for a handsome young chef.
20 APR
Tilda Swinton
Deferred
May
In the Aisles
Thomas Stuber | 2018
126 mins | Germany | M
Among the long aisles of a supermarket warehouse, the new night stockman falls in love with mysterious co-worker “Sweets Marion”.
04 MAY
Sparking Joy
◆OPEN EVENT
Deferred
Queer Film Festival - deferred
In collaboration with Christchurch Heroes, this mini festival is an open event over four days with free entry to all screenings (koha/donations always appreciated).
Please note that, as always, censorship ratings apply to all screenings.
SUNDAY 10 MAY 2pm
◆OPEN EVENT
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Desiree Akhavan | 2018
90 mins | USA | M
In 1993, a teenage girl is forced into a gay conversion therapy centre by her conservative guardians.
Deferred
MONDAY 11 MAY 7.30pm
◆OPEN EVENT
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
John Cameron Mitchell
2001 | 92 mins | USA | M
A transgender punk-rock girl from East Berlin tours the U.S. with her band as she tells her life story and follows the former lover/band-mate who stole her songs.
Deferred
TUESDAY 12 MAY 7.30pm
◆OPEN EVENT
Leitis in Waiting
Hamer, Wilson, Wong-Kalu 2018 | 72 mins | Tonga/USA | E
An intrepid group of indigenous transgender women fight a rising tide of religious fundamentalism and intolerance in Tonga.
Deferred
◆OPEN EVENT
WEDNESDAY 13 MAY 7.30pm
Knife+Heart
Yann Gonzalez | 2018 | 102 mins
France/Mexico/Switzerland | R18
In the summer of 1979, gay porn producer Anne sets out to film her most ambitious film yet, but her actors are picked off, one by one, by a mysterious killer.
Deferred
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
Fred Schepisi | 1978
108 mins | Australia | R18
Beaten down by racist abuse and exploitation, Jimmie is triggered to a terrifying murderous rage.
18 MAY
Cult
Deferred
The Seduction of Mimi
Lina Wertmüller | 1972
108 mins | Italy | R18
Sicilian labourer Mimi falls foul of the Mafia and loses his job. He leaves his wife to flee to Turin and an affair with a lovely Trotskyist.
25 MAY
Cult
Deferred
June
No screening on Monday 1 June Queen's Birthday.
And Life Goes On...
Abbas Kiarostami | 1992
91 mins | Iran | PG
After the 1990 earthquake, a film director travels to the devastated area searching for the villagers who acted in Where Is the Friend’s Home?
08 JUN 7.45pm
Iranian
At Isaac Theatre Royal
Through the Olive Trees
Abbas Kiarostami | 1994
108 mins | Iran | G
“Behind-the-scenes” of And Life Goes On…, one of the actors is pining for the woman cast as his wife, creating turmoil on set.
15 JUN
Iranian
At Isaac Theatre Royal
Certain Women
Kelly Reichardt | 2016
107 mins | USA | M
Three strong-willed women strive to forge their own paths amid the wide plains of Montana.
22 JUN
Contemporary
At Isaac Theatre Royal
Tehran Taxi
Jafar Panahi | 2015 | 82 mins
Iran | PG
Banned from filmmaking by the Iranian government, Jafar Panahi poses as a taxi driver to make a film about social challenges in Iran.
29 JUN
Iranian
At Isaac Theatre Royal
July
Ixcanul Volcano
Jayro Bustamante | 2015
95 mins | Guatemala/FR | M
On the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala, a marriage is arranged for seventeen-year-old María by her Kaqchikel parents.
06 JUL
Young Lives
I Am Not a Witch
Rungano Nyoni | 2017
95 mins | Zambia/UK | PG
Convicted of witchcraft, 8-year-old Shula is sent to a penal colony where witches do hard labour in service of the government.
13 JUL
Young Lives
The Florida Project
Sean Baker | 2017 | 111 mins
USA | R13
Six-year-old Moonee and her friends adventure round the hallways of the Magic Castle, a ratty motel in the shadow of Disney World.
20 JUL
Young Lives
Woman at War
Benedikt Erlingsson | 2018
100 mins | Iceland | PG
Halla is an Icelandic superwoman in a woolly jumper – but how much longer can she hide her eco-warrior activities?
27 JUL
Sparking Joy
August
God's Own Country
Francis Lee | 2017 | 105 mins
UK | R16
Johnny's isolated life on a bleak Yorkshire farm is transformed with the arrival of a handsome migrant worker.
03 AUG
Contemporary
A Hard Day's Night
Richard Lester | 1964 | 84 mins
UK | G
This musical comedy is a great
life-affirming landmark —
portraying two “typical” days in
the life of The Beatles during
the height of Beatlemania.
17 AUG
Comedy
Malcolm
Nadia Tass | 1986 | 82 mins
Australia | PG
Malcolm is a gentle tram enthusiast with an unusual gift for invention who becomes involved with a pair of would-be bank robbers.
10 AUG
Comedy
2020 CFS Film Quiz
Saturday 22 August 2pm
CANCELLED
Get your team together and join us for an afternoon of film fun and prizes.
$10 ticket includes a free drink.
22 AUG
CANCELLED
Rose is a mostly sweet andlonely driving instructor, whoreluctantly aids a widowerwith her gift for exorcism inthis off-beat horror comedy.
24 AUG
Comedy
Masculin Féminin
Jean-Luc Godard | 1966 | 110 minsFrance/SE | R16
Paul, an idealistic would-be intellectual, and Madeleine, an adorable pop star, are “the children of Marx and Coca-Cola” in 1960s Paris.
31 AUG
Classic
September
Daughters of the Dust
Julie Dash | 1991 | 112 mins
USA | PG
A Gullah family (descendants of West African slaves) struggle to maintain their cultural heritage while contemplating a migration.
07 SEP
Classic
Skate Kitchen
Crystal Moselle | 2018
106 mins | USA | M
Camille's life as a lonely suburban teenager changes when she befriends a group of girl skateboarders in New York City.
14 SEP
Young Lives
Human Rights Film Festival
In collaboration with Amnesty International, this mini festival is an open event over four days with free entry to all screenings (koha/donations always appreciated).
Please note that, as always, censorship ratings apply to all screenings.
SUNDAY 20 SEP 2pm
◆OPEN EVENT
Letter from Masanjia
Leon Lee | 2018 | 75 mins
Canada | E
When a letter written by a Chinese political prisoner is found in a box of goods sold in Oregon, it sparks a chain of events that exposes human rights violations in the Chinese labour camp system.
MONDAY 21 SEP 7.30pm
◆OPEN EVENT
Soldiers without Guns
Will Watson | 2019 | 92 mins
New Zealand | M
In 1997 the NZ army stepped into a 10 year civil war in Bougainville, armed only with guitars.
TUESDAY 22 SEP 7.30pm
◆OPEN EVENT
Last Men in Aleppo
Feras Fayyad | 2017 | 104 mins Denmark/Syria | TBC
Follows members of the White Helmets – ordinary citizens who rush towards explosions to save lives in the Syrian civil war.
◆OPEN EVENT
WEDNESDAY 23 SEP 7.30pm
Objector
Molly Stuart | 2019 | 75 mins
USA | E
In 6 months, 19-year-old Atalya must either accept her mandatory Israeli army assignment or face prison.
Preceeded by documentary short Guy Hircefeld, a Guy with a Camera (Andrés Gallegos | 2018 | 12 mins)
3 Days in Quiberon
Emily Atef | 2018 | 115 mins
Germany/Austria/France | PG
One year before her death, famous actress Romy Schneider retreats to a spa hotel and gives her last interview to two journalists.
28 SEP
Contemporary
◆OPEN EVENT
October
Arctic
Joe Penna | 2018 | 97 mins Iceland/USA | M
Stranded after an airplane crash, a pilot has to choose whether to stay in a makeshift camp or risk a trek across the tundra.
05 OCT
Ice Night
Ice Night Double Feature
A Polar Year
Samuel Collardey | 2018
94 mins | France | PG
Drama-documentary about a young Danish teacher experience adapting to life in a small fishing village in Greenland.
05 OCT 7pm
Ice Night
The Babadook
Jennifer Kent | 2014| 96 mins Australia | M
Amelia is struggling as a single mum, but things are about to get darker when her son finds a strange book called Mister Babadook…
12 OCT
Cult
Metropolis
Fritz Lang | 1927 | 153 mins
Germany | PG
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, a forbidden love threatens to bring chaos.
19 OCT
Classic
All screenings Mondays at 7.30pm unless otherwise stated.
Doors open 7pm for chat and the sale of food, drink and new memberships.
Most screenings are members only – please come early to join on the night.
◆ OPEN EVENT: Screening open to non-members
Censorship ratings apply to all screenings.