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A delightful and gentle Italian comedy set in present-day Rome. A middle-aged, single son finds himself on his own looking after his mother and three other elderly ladies (with a combined age of 350 years) in his apartment. “Beautifully played … affectionate and beautifully directed” (Time Out).
Dir: Gianni Di Gregorio, Italy, 76 mins, Cert U

Doors open 5.30 pm, at Stanford in the Vale Village Hall
Food and drink from 6.00 pm (bring and share)
Film at 7.00 p.m
Coffee and informal discussion to follow.
Admission £5.00

Non-members: please phone or email to book.

An atmospheric and poetic observation of life in 1960’s Rome and the final part in Antonioni’s celebrated 1960s trilogy. Beautifully photographed by Gianni Di Venanzo, it has powerful performances from Monica Vitti and Alain Delon, as a translator and stockbroker who meet when Vittoria (Vitti) breaks up with her lover. The film follows the course of this new relationship in a slow-paced minimal style, but the feeling is evident. (Cert PG)
Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni 118 mins Italy 1962

This is a new date for the 7th January screening that was cancelled owing to snow. Free to members; non-members: £4.50. Abingdon College, 7.45 p.m. Non-members: please phone or email to book.

A 77 minute programme of fifteen documentaries made during the last century, from the National Film Archive: “The turbulent story of coal and its immense effect on British life explored on the screen”. The evening will be introduced by Patrick Russell, Keeper of Documentaries at the British Film Institute.

Members: £3.50, non-members £4.50. Abingdon College, 7.30 pm
Non-members: please phone or email to book.

Our annual screening in association with the Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society is:

THE CLASS (ENTRE LES MURS) - April 22nd

A “thoroughly modern and thoughtful portrait of a rowdy and adorable class of multi-ethnic Parisian teenagers over one school year” (Dave Calhoun, Time Out).

This film won the Palme d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and, in 2009, a César for Best Writing - Adaptation. (Cert 15)
Dir: Laurent Cantet 124 mins France 2008

This screening is additional to the main programme. Admission is £5.00 which includes food and soft drinks. You may bring your own wine. Please note that the start time is 7.15 pm.

Our final film of the season. With lightness of touch Ken Loach presents a mixture of whimsy and morality tale, culminating in the triumph of the personal and political in this story of a Mancunian postman in the grip of a mid-life crisis. Eric, a single parent, finds his life spiralling out of control, but he finds a most unusual counsellor - his footballing hero, Eric Cantona. At times we risk drifting into the sentimental, but the narrative regains control and concentrates on some highly pertinent subjects of concern in the bleak urban landscape. (Cert 15)
Dir: Ken Loach 112 mins UK 2009