I’m Still Here

Dir: Walter Salles
Brazil 2024 | 138 minutes | Cert 15
Portuguese with English subtitles

We kick off the season with a political biographical drama set during the Brazilian Military Dictatorship of the early 1970s, from acclaimed Brazilian director Waller Salles (Central Station, The Motor Cycle Diaries).

Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist, battles to find the truth behind the forced disappearance of her husband, dissident Politian Rubens Paiva.

‘I’m Still Here’ was the first Brazilian film to win the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards (2025). It also won a Best Actress Golden Globe for Fernando Torres as Eunice Paiva.

“Fernanda Torres is breathtaking in Walter Salles’s true tale of female fortitude” — Nick Howells, Evening Standard

The Beast

Dir: Bertrand Bonello
France 2023 | 148 minutes | Cert 15
French with English subtitles

Lea Seydoux and George Mackay star in a period-hopping sci-fi epic, loosely based on a Henry James novella.

The action moves between 1910 Paris, Los Angeles of 2014 and the near future of 2044.

“A luxurious cinematic experience” ***** Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

The Teachers’ Lounge

Dir: Ilker Catak
Germany 2023 | 99 minutes | Cert 12
German with English subtitles

An idealistic young teacher finds herself in a difficult position balancing the demands of her peers, her pupils and their parents in a gripping and thought-provoking German drama portraying the school as a microcosm of a society’s culture wars.

Nominated for Best International Film at the 96th Academy Awards (2024).

Holy Cow

Dir: Louise Courvoisier
France 2025 | 92 minutes | Cert 15
French with English subtitles

Feelgood French coming of age tale set in rural Jura. Cows, motor bikes, stock car racing and cheese-making all feature in a film that won the Un Certain Regard Youth prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025.

A cast of largely non-professional actors excel in a drama about 18-year-old Totono who needs to make ends meet to support his younger sister and turns to making Comté cheese with a little help from his friends.

“sentimental in the best of ways, with its warmth and hope in human nature” — The Guardian

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

Dir: Raoul Peck
France-USA 2024 | 105 minutes | Cert 15
English

An award-winning documentary from acclaimed documentary maker Raoul Peck about South African photographer Ernest Cole and his work in Apartheid South Africa and the deep south of the US. Joint winner of the Golden Eye (documentary) Award at Cannes in 2024.

“Peck’s film amazes and appals but, above all, inspires” — Jonathan Romney, Financial Times

Santosh

Dir: Sandhya Suri
India 2024 | 128 minutes | Cert 15
Hindi with English subtitles

Recently-widowed Santosh takes on her husband’s job as a police officer and, working with a more experienced colleague, investigates the death of a local Dalit girl.

This gritty film, exploring the murkier aspects of modern India, is the feature film debut from documentary maker Sandhya Suri. It was the UK’s entry for Best International Film in the Academy Awards 2025.

“A tough, sinewy, satisfying film” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Plan 75

Dir: Chie Hayakawa
Japan 2023 | 112 minutes | Cert 15
Japanese with English subtitles

A Japanese dystopian drama set in the near future where the government offers voluntary assisted dying to all citizens over the age of 75. The film follows three individuals as they deal with hard decisions about life and death.

This thought-provoking and topical film won Best New Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress at the 44th Yokohama Film Festival.

“A very, very moving and affecting film” — Mark Kermode

Memoir of a Snail

Dir: Adam Elliot
Australia 2024 | 95 minutes | Cert 15
English

Grace is growing up in 1970s Australia with her twin brother, Gilbert, and a paraplegic father. She keeps a collection of snails and snail paraphernalia. The film follows Grace’s and Gilbert’s story, and is loosely inspired by director Adam Elliot’s own life.

Described as ‘an adult stop motion animated tragi-comedy’ on Wikipedia, the film won Best Film at the 2024 London Film Festival.

“It’s a gorgeous film but it’s also an emotionally intelligent movie” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

Four Mothers

Dir: Darren Thornton
Ireland 2025 | 90 minutes | Cert 15
English

An Irish writer juggles promoting his book with caring for his mother in this comedy-drama. Things get even more complicated when his friends’ mothers join them for the weekend.

“Comic sparks shine through the farce in this pertly scripted crowd pleaser” — Sight and Sound

How to make Millions before Grandma Dies

Dir: Pat Boonnitipat
Thailand 2025 | 126 minutes | Cert 12
Thai with English subtitles

A young dropout determines to look after his ailing grandmother in order to inherit her fortune.

This moving comedy-drama exploring loneliness, old age, inter-generational family tensions and dysfunction in a paternalistic society, broke box office records in SE Asia.

“droll, perceptive and shamelessly sentimental” — Wendy Ide, The Observer