Month: April 2022

Screening

UK | 2021 | 137 mins | dir. Terence Davies, with Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Jeremy Irvine | in English | Cert TBC

Terence Davies’ Benediction offers a portrait of the life of decorated soldier and renowned poet Siegfried Sassoon. Experiencing the trauma, loss, and failure of the First World War, Sassoon is discharged to a psychiatric military hospital, an atonement for his attempts at conscientious objection and his contemptuous poems detailing the horrors and brutality of war. During his time here Sassoon meets and mentor's fellow poet and soldier Wilfred Owen and the two develop a tender though short-lived relationship.

Tracking Sassoon’s life after the war, Davies explores his relationships with actor Ivor Novello, aristocrat Stephen Tennant, and his later marriage to a woman. This poignant, mournful memoir reflects on British queer history and the inescapable agony of loneliness, being unable to love and desire freely.

See also Benediction release screenings here

Screening

UK | 2021 | 137 mins | dir. Terence Davies, with Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Jeremy Irvine | in English | Cert TBC

Terence Davies’ Benediction offers a portrait of the life of decorated soldier and renowned poet Siegfried Sassoon. Experiencing the trauma, loss, and failure of the First World War, Sassoon is discharged to a psychiatric military hospital, an atonement for his attempts at conscientious objection and his contemptuous poems detailing the horrors and brutality of war. During his time here Sassoon meets and mentor's fellow poet and soldier Wilfred Owen and the two develop a tender though short-lived relationship.

Tracking Sassoon’s life after the war, Davies explores his relationships with actor Ivor Novello, aristocrat Stephen Tennant, and his later marriage to a woman. This poignant, mournful memoir reflects on British queer history and the inescapable agony of loneliness, being unable to love and desire freely.

See also Benediction release screenings here

Screening

UK | 2021 | 137 mins | dir. Terence Davies, with Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Jeremy Irvine | in English | Cert TBC

Terence Davies’ Benediction offers a portrait of the life of decorated soldier and renowned poet Siegfried Sassoon. Experiencing the trauma, loss, and failure of the First World War, Sassoon is discharged to a psychiatric military hospital, an atonement for his attempts at conscientious objection and his contemptuous poems detailing the horrors and brutality of war. During his time here Sassoon meets and mentor's fellow poet and soldier Wilfred Owen and the two develop a tender though short-lived relationship.

Tracking Sassoon’s life after the war, Davies explores his relationships with actor Ivor Novello, aristocrat Stephen Tennant, and his later marriage to a woman. This poignant, mournful memoir reflects on British queer history and the inescapable agony of loneliness, being unable to love and desire freely.

See also Benediction release screenings here

Screening

FRA | 2022 | 2x 52 mins | Written by Raphaëlle Branche & Rafael Lewandowski | dir. Rafael Lewandowski, narrated by Lyna Khoudri

In 1954, the Algerian war of liberation began, shaking the French colonial regime that had been in place since 1830. It was the beginning of eight long years of bitter conflict, one of the most traumatic of the century. On the 60th anniversary of the Evian agreements that ended the war, this landmark documentary series tells in vivid detail the story of this painful conflict through archive footage and interviews. Watch the first two episodes in the new English version of the series as part of Voices of Algeria and in partnership with Arte.

As part of Voices of Algeria

See also:

• Out of Algeria: Faïza Guène & Sarah Ardizzone
• Their Algeria introduced by Faïza Guène
• The Outsiders: Kamel Daoud, Ben Okri & Agnès Poirier
• 143 Sahara Street + Elles

Screening

FRA | 2021 | 139 mins | dir. Christophe Honoré, with Claude Mathieu, Anne Kessler, Éric Génovèse | in French with EN subs | Cert TBC

Set in the summer of 2020, an acting troupe reconvenes to rehearse Marcel Proust’s Le Côtè de Guermantes after months of isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. After it becomes clear that the performance will be cancelled, they decide to forge ahead out of passion for the art of acting. With Proust’s source material overflowing into their real world, Guermantes is a brilliant tribute to theatre and delivers a timely message of hope and resilience.

 
See also:

• Living with Marcel Proust: Christopher Prendergast & Antoine Compagnon
• Musical Tribute to Marcel Proust

© Johnny Ring / © Lynn S.K.

Talk & Readings

In Reeling, acclaimed French writer Lola Lafon explores the fragility and strength of a young girl’s psyche. For Beyond Words Festival, she will discuss how a feminist approach might push the limits of story-telling to allow for a more nuanced exploration of survival, healing and solidarity in a world defined by male power.

Live reading by Félicité du Jeu

This event has been cancelled. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Related / Latest Publication:

Lola Lafon, Reeling, translated by Hildegarde Serle (Europa Editions, 2022)

Talk

USA/NZL | 2011 | 107 mins | dir. Steven Spielberg | in English & in French with EN subs | cert. PG | rec 8+

None other than Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have joined their talent and creativity to celebrate the much-loved Franco-Belgian comic book about the intrepid reporter Tintin and his loyal dog Snowy. In this adventure, Tintin and short-tempered Captain Haddock embark on a treasure hunt around the world for a sunken ship in the open ocean.

Talk

Open to everyone interested in discussing philosophical issues in an informal setting, this festival edition of the Café Philo will be debating the notion of independence when applied to a nation. In a world where our fate is deeply interdependent on economic, climatic, health and safety levels, what does national independence mean?

Screening

UK | 2021 | 137 mins | dir. Terence Davies, with Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Jeremy Irvine | in English | Cert TBC

Terence Davies’ Benediction offers a portrait of the life of decorated soldier and renowned poet Siegfried Sassoon. Experiencing the trauma, loss, and failure of the First World War, Sassoon is discharged to a psychiatric military hospital, an atonement for his attempts at conscientious objection and his contemptuous poems detailing the horrors and brutality of war. During his time here Sassoon meets and mentor's fellow poet and soldier Wilfred Owen and the two develop a tender though short-lived relationship.

Tracking Sassoon’s life after the war, Davies explores his relationships with actor Ivor Novello, aristocrat Stephen Tennant, and his later marriage to a woman. This poignant, mournful memoir reflects on British queer history and the inescapable agony of loneliness, being unable to love and desire freely.

See also Benediction release screenings here

Screening

L'événement

2022 | 99 mins | dir. Audrey Diwan, with Anamaria Vartolomei, Kacey Mottet Klein, Luana Bajrami | in French with EN Subs

Based on the semi-autobiographical novel L’Evénement by Annie Ernaux, Audrey Diwan’s Happening follows student Anne in the early 1960s. A bright young woman with a promising future ahead of her, Anne’s chance to escape the constraints of her provincial town soon begins to disappear when she discovers she is pregnant. Winner of the Venice Golden Lion and a César Award for Best Newcomer for lead actor Anamaria Vartolomei, and nominated to the 2022 BAFTAs, Happening is a timely tale that considers questions of choice and the female body.

The screening will be introduced by authors Deborah Levy & Marie Darrieussecq