Cheltenham Film Society is now in its 71st year and we have more than 500 members of different ages, backgrounds and interests. We aim to screen the best in recent world cinema, showing films of different genres and from many different countries. They are films you are unlikely to have seen at the commercial cinema in Cheltenham. We also include some non-mainstream films from the UK, US or Australia, although most of our programme tends to be foreign-language films – but always with English subtitles! We try to get a good mix of films into each season, so while some are more challenging and thought-provoking, others will be much lighter and entertaining. More information about all the films is available on IMDb.com.

Where Films are screened at the Bacon Theatre, Dean Close School. The theatre has a full-sized cinema screen, tiered seating and wheelchair access. There is limited free car-parking on the school site. The theatre also has a bar where you can buy drinks, including tea and coffee, before or after the film.

When There are 18 films in the coming season, including three CFS Extra films and our special event, a silent film with live musical accompaniment. The season runs from September to April, as shown in the programme. Films start at 7.45 pm.

Social Events After some films we offer free wine and cheese events, which give members an ideal opportunity to get to know one another better and to chat about the films.

Please join us Membership is by subscription. All 18 of our films, our wine and cheese events, and this year’s special musical performance are included in the price. Membership is open to anyone aged 16 or over. Members may also purchase up to two guest tickets for each film (available on film nights), so you can bring along your friends or family, even if they are not members.

The membership subscription for the coming season is £34, but we also offer a concessionary rate of £20 for those aged 16-21.

Membership benefits The main benefit, of course, is 18 films for £34. But members may also be offered concessions on tickets for other film-related events, either run by the Society or supported by it. In addition, members are entitled to a concession on tickets for films at the Bacon Theatre and The Roses in Tewkesbury.

www.cheltfilmsoc.org.uk

Membership Application 2016 – 2017Applications to join the Society must be made in advance using either the form below or online via our website. No applications will be accepted on film nights – although you may be able to buy a guest ticket on the night (£5 adults, £3 16-21s) when accompanied by a member. Personal data will not be shared with any other organisations.

Please apply early as numbers are limited and we fill up quickly

Name(s)

Address

Post code

Email

I am/we are 16 years of age or over, joining as:

First time member(s) Returning member(s)

Signature

Please supply

( ) x standard season ticket @ £34.00 per person

( ) x 16-21s season ticket @ £20.00 per person

I enclose a cheque payable to ‘Cheltenham Film Society’ to cover the cost of total amount = £

A SAE with your application would be appreciated to enable us to keep costs down for our members.

Please send this form, cheque and SAE to:

The Membership Secretary The Cusphaus Blacksmith Lane, Prestbury Cheltenham GL52 5JA

!office use only

The Bacon Theatre,Dean Close School,

Hatherley Road, Up Hatherley,Cheltenham GL51 6HE

Cheltenham Film Society is affiliated to the British Federation of Film Societies (BFFS) and Cheltenham Arts Council.

CHELTENHAMFILM SOCIETYPresident: Lord David Puttnam2016 – 2017 71st Season

2016 – 2017 SeasonRams

Not Here to be Loved 19:45 13 DecDir: Stéphane Brizé 2005 France (15) 93 mins (French) wine and cheeseThe first of this season’s CFS Extra films, on the theme of ‘A Chance Meeting’, is a tender comedy of love and tango dancing. Unhappy bailiff Jean-Claude attends a class where he meets careers advisor Françoise, practising her steps for her forthcoming wedding. Humorous and touching consequences ensue.

Marguerite 19:45 10 JanDir: Xavier Giannoli 2015 France (15) 129 mins (French) A bitter-sweet French comedy loosely inspired by the famous story of Florence Foster Jenkins. Marguerite is a society woman surrounded by people who collude in her belief that she has a great voice. Unfortunately she does not. Irresistibly funny but also tragic.

The Lobster 19:45 24 JanDir: Yorgos Lanthimos 2015 Ireland (15) 119 mins (English)

In the near future, single people are arrested and taken to a hotel where they are required to find a mate. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal. Surreal, unsettling and frequently hilarious, the film employs a fine cast of British and Irish actors. Be prepared for a generous helping of absurdist, dystopian cinema.

Girlhood 19:45 14 FebDir: Céline Sciamma 2014 France (15) 113 mins (French)

In the predominantly black banlieues surrounding Paris, 16-year-old Marieme joins a gang with three other girls and forges a new identity for herself. An insightful story of street survival and female companionship, brilliantly brought to life by a largely non-professional cast.Including student short: Feign

Alice in the Cities 19:45 21 FebDir: Wim Wenders 1974 Germany (U) 110 mins (Ger./Eng./Dutch) The plot of our second CFS Extra film is set in motion by a chance meeting between journalist Philip and nine-year-old Alice, who is left with him by her mother. Becoming friends, they travel around Europe in search of Alice’s grandmother. An early classic by Wim Wenders, and a reminder of a more innocent age.

Timbuktu

CFS Extra is our name for the package of three interesting older films that we show during the season at no extra cost to members. This year’s theme, A Chance Meeting, celebrates the role unexpected encounters have always played in story-telling. The first film, Not Here to be Loved (13 December) is a lovely May-and-September romance, played with great conviction and unfairly overlooked on its release in 2005. In Wim Wenders’s 1974 Alice in the Cities (21 February), a homeward-bound German journalist meets a mother and young daughter at the airport and finds his life transformed. Finally we have Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (21 March) from 1934. One of the great comedies from the classic age of Hollywood, it has been digitally restored and will look great on the big Bacon Theatre screen as well as being both funny and startlingly modern.

A Chance Meeting

Our Little Sister 19:45 15 NovDir: Hirokazu Koreeda 2015 Japan (PG) 128 mins (Japanese) Three Japanese sisters, living together in their late grandmother’s house, meet their 13-year-old half-sister at their father’s funeral and invite her to live with them. An unhurried and delightfully nuanced story of family affection, family duty – and family meals.

Son of Saul 19:45 22 NovDir: László Nemes 2015 Hungary (15) 107 mins (Hungarian) An unforgettable film, rightly acclaimed. In the Nazi extermination camp at Birkenau, one of the Jewish prisoners forced to dispose of the bodies identifies a dead boy as his son and becomes obsessed with finding a rabbi to give him a proper burial. A film of relentless, visceral power.

Theeb 19:45 13 SepDir: Naji Abu Nowar 2014 UAE (15) 100 mins (Arabic) wine and cheeseDuring World War I, a Bedouin boy named Theeb guides a British officer across the deserts of Arabia to a secret destination. A thoughtful adventure film, using a largely unprofessional cast, and set against the harsh and spectacular landscape of Jordan.

Marshland 19:45 20 SepDir: Alberto Rodriguez 2014 Spain (15) 105 mins (Spanish) Set in 1980 in the extraordinary waterlands of Andalucia, this is a brutal but gripping crime thriller that brings to life the mixed loyalties and moral evasions of a Spain just emerging from the shadow of dictatorship.Including student short: The Water That Steams

Mustang 19:45 4 OctDir: Deniz Gamze Ergüven 2015 France/Turkey (15) 97 mins (Turkish) AGMIn a village in northern Turkey, five orphan sisters struggle against the strictures imposed upon them by their uncle and grandmother as they grow up under intense scrutiny in a deeply traditional community. A tough story, told with sensitivity and some humour.

Rams 19:45 11 OctDir: Grímur Hákonarson 2015 Iceland (15) 93 mins (Icelandic)

Two brothers farm sheep on adjacent land but have not spoken for 40 years. When a disease threatens their stock – and their whole way of life – they are forced together. Both funny and moving, the film is set against the stark and unforgiving beauty of the Icelandic landscape.Including student short: E.T.A.

The Lodger 19:45 1 NovDir: Alfred Hitchcock 1927 UK (PG) 90 minsSilent with live musical accompanimentA special event, with live music by Minima, a four-piece group specialising in film accompaniment. The Lodger was the film in which the young Alfred Hitchcock turned to murder and suspense. A mysterious stranger, played by Ivor Novello, comes to stay in a London home, just as the hunt is on for a serial killer.

The Look of Silence 19:45 8 NovDir: Joshua Oppenheimer 2014 Indonesia (15) 103 mins (Indonesian)

Our only documentary of this season. A man travels around Indonesia confronting the perpetrators of the country’s 1965/6 massacres, which took the life of his own elder brother. As the regime is still in power, this eye-opening exploration of unrepentant depravity was made at great risk.

Dheepan 19:45 7 MarDir: Jacques Audiard 2015 France (15) 115 mins (English/French/Tamil)A topical and humane account of migration. Dheepan, a Tamil militant arriving in France, teams up with a mother and daughter he has never met; by posing as a family, they hope to improve their chances of gaining asylum. Taking a job as a caretaker in a block of flats, he is faced with increasing violence from local gangsters and is forced to react.

The Second Mother 19:45 14 MarDir: Anna Muylaert 2015 Brazil (15) 112 mins (Portuguese)

Val is a live-in maid in a wealthy household in Sao Paulo, serving as a ‘second mother’ to the son of the household. Then her own teenage daughter arrives on the scene, moves in, and opens the door to a series of entertaining misunderstandings and clashes of class, culture and generation. Including student short: Milton

It Happened One Night 19:45 21 Mar Dir: Frank Capra 1934 USA (U) 105 mins (English)

In the third of our CFS Extra films, spoilt heiress Ellie (Claudette Colbert) meets Peter (Clark Gable), a washed-up newspaper reporter, and they travel together from Florida to New York, squabbling and wise-cracking along the way. Said to be the first ‘screwball comedy’, It Happened One Night is as sharp and funny today as it was 80 years ago.

Timbuktu 19:45 4 AprDir: Abderrahmane Sissako 2014 France/Mauritania (12) 97 mins (Multiple languages)A pertinent and eminently cinematic drama about the seizing of a village in Mali by Islamic fundamentalists determined to impose sharia law. Kidane, a cattle herder, lives in the dunes with his wife and daughter and their 12-year-old shepherd boy. Their peaceful life is soon shattered as the new strictures bite. A powerful insight into both the extremists and those who come under their control.

The Brand New Testament 19:45 25 AprDir: Jaco Van Dormael 2015 Belgium (15) 113 mins (French) wine and cheeseIn this dark and provocative comedy, God is a bad-tempered, spiteful individual living in a tower block in Brussels, forever devising new ways to torment mankind. His 10-year-old daughter, Ea, escapes his clutches and goes in search of some unorthodox apostles to help her create her own testament. A highly imaginative piece of cinema.

Special Event The Lodger 19:45 1 Novi

As an extra attraction this year, Cheltenham Film Society is presenting Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller The Lodger, with live music by Minima, an acclaimed four-piece group specialising in silent film accompaniment.

The 1927 film was the young Hitchcock’s first venture into crime, created while he was still in London. Hitchcock loved silent films, which he saw as ‘pure cinema’. The Lodger has a strong story and many striking visual effects, which are sure to be complemented by the specially written score.

Minima, whose instrumentation includes cello, double bass, guitars, dulcimer, ukulele, glockenspiel and drum kit, were formed in 2006. Since then they have performed in cinemas and arts centres as well as music and film festivals, creating sinister and spell-binding soundscapes for appreciative audiences.

The event takes place on 1 November at 7.45pm. There is no extra charge for members.

For further information please contact the Society

07528 746750 cfs@cheltfilmsoc.org.uk

www.cheltfilmsoc.org.uk

@cheltfilmsoc

CHELTENHAMFILM SOCIETYPresident: Lord David Puttnam

2016 – 2017 71st Season

The Look of Silence

The Brand New Testament

Mustang