abfilms.org.uk

Bobby Sands’ 1981 hunger strike and ‘dirty protest’ in the Maze prison, Northern Island, is the subject matter of Hunger, which won its director the Golden Camera award at Cannes in 2008. McQueen, a Turner Prize winner in 1999, depicts Sands’ quest for political prisoner status using highly sophisticated and beautiful imagery. The film is not a conventional political film, arguably not political at all. Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of Sands is magnificent. “Hunger is a work of bold artistic invention; at the very least, its must-see status is inviolable” - Jonathan Romney, Independent on Sunday. (Cert 15)
Dir: Steve McQueen 90 mins UK/Ireland 2008

This story of a family reunited for a wedding at their rambling family pile in Connecticut. Shot in naturalistic handheld camera style, the viewer moves through the throng of diverse family and friends in just the way a guest might, and the family’s secrets and lies are exposed. “Those who surrender to Demme’s disarming, almost participatory technique will find themselves overwhelmed, exhilarated and inspired by the eternal possibilities of cinema.” (Tom Huddleston, Time Out) (Cert 15)
Dir: Jonathan Demme 113 mins USA 2008

Wajda was 14 years old when his father was murdered in the Katyn massacre of 1940. The Soviets only admitted responsibility 50 years later. Wajda concentrates as strongly on the personal and family consequences as upon the massacre itself. A harrowing testament to the evils of war, but an important milestone in Polish / Russian history, that this film could now be made. (Cert 15)
Dir: Andrzej Wajda 121 mins Poland 2007

Introduction by Dr Hubert Zawadski, co-author of A Concise History of Poland (CUP). The screening will start at 7.30 p.m.