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Programme  -  2007-08



Date Title Origin Venue*
24 Sep 07 Tell No One France Cairn Hotel
29 Oct 07 The Painted Veil China / USA Cairn Hotel
5 Nov 07 Volver Spain Cairn Hotel
26 Nov 07 The Life of Others Germany Cairn Hotel
3 Dec 07 We Shall Overcome Denmark Cairn Hotel
10 Dec 07 Starter for Ten UK Cairn Hotel
7 Jan 08 Offside Iran Harrogate Theatre
4 Feb 08 Away from Her Canada Harrogate Theatre
3 Mar 08 Ghosts UK Harrogate Theatre
31 Mar 08 36 Quai des Orfèvres France Harrogate Theatre
7 Apr 08 Red Road UK Harrogate Theatre
21 Apr 08 El Lobo Spain Harrogate Theatre
28 Apr 08 The Page Turner France Harrogate Theatre



Tell No One        24 Sep 07
Director: Guillaume Canet, 125 mins, 2006, France
Starring: François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze, Kristin Scott Thomas

Margot Beck was murdered eight years ago. A serial killer confessed to eight other murders but always denied responsibility for hers. The uncovering of two bodies near where Margot's body was discovered brings new elements and reopens the police inquiry. At the same time Margot’s husband, still devastated by his loss, receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video-surveillance web-cam.

The Painted Veil         29 Oct 07
Director: John Curran, 125 mins, 2006, China / USA
Starring: Edward Norton, Naomi Watts

In the 1920s a young English couple, Walter, a middle class doctor and Kitty, an upper-class woman, get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai. Kitty falls in love with someone else and when Walter uncovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, he accepts a job in a remote village in China ravaged by a deadly epidemic, and takes Kitty along. Their journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them purpose in one of the most remote and beautiful places on Earth.

Volver        5 Nov 07
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, 121 mins, 2006, Spain
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Antonio de la Torre

Raimunda lives in Madrid with daughter Paula and husband Paco, who is always drunk. Her sister, Sole, is separated and works clandestinely as a hairstylist. The two sisters lost their parents in a fire in La Mancha, their birth village, years ago. Their aunt, Paula, still lives in the village and continues to speak about her sister Irene, mother of the two sisters, as if she were still alive. When the old aunt dies the situation changes and the past returns in a twist of mystery and suspense.

The Life of Others        26 Nov 07                       
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 137 mins, 2006, Germany
Starring: Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Mühe

In the early 1980s, the successful dramatist Georg Dreyman and his long-time companion Christa-Maria Sieland, a popular actress, are big intellectual stars in East Germany, although they secretly don't always support the party line. One day, the Minister of Culture becomes interested in Christa and a Stasi secret service agent, Wiesler, is instructed to observe and sound out the couple. Their life fascinates him more and more.

We Shall Overcome        3 Dec 07            
Director: Niels Arden Oplev, 109 mins, 2006, Denmark
Starring: Bent Mejding

In 1969 Denmark, 13-year-old Frits has fallen out of favour with the tyrannical headmaster of his provincial school. Frits spends his summer holidays watching the family's first television, and is influenced by the winds of change. Martin Luther King's speeches and dreams of a better life have armed Frits with courage and the desire for rebellion. When the headmaster steps over the line during punishing Frits, the boy takes up battle against the authorities. The story is based on actual events.

Starter for Ten        10 Dec 07                       
Director: Tom Vaughan, 96 mins, 2006, UK
Starring: James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall, Charles Dance, Catherine Tate,

In 1985, a working-class boy stumbles romantically and academically through his first year of University.  On the way to achieving his lifelong ambition to appear on TV quiz show University Challenge, he falls in love with his beautiful team-mate and forms a plan to win her heart through his advanced general knowledge skills. A comedy about loyalty, class, falling in love and the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Offside        7 Jan 08                       
Director: Jafar Panahi, 96 mins, 2006, Iran
Starring: Shayesteh Irani, Ayda Sadeqi

After the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran, women are not allowed to enter football stadiums.  A group of Iranian girls attempts to enter Tehran's Azadi Stadium dressed as boys in order to watch a big match but some get caught and arrested.

Away from Her        4 Feb 08                       
Director: Sarah Polley, 110 mins, 2006, Canada
Starring: Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Michael Murphy

Fiona and Grant have been married for over 40 years.  Now, in the oncoming twilight of their years, they are forced to face the fact that Fiona's "forgetfulness" actually is Alzheimer's Disease.  After Fiona wanders away and is found after being lost, they agree she must go into a nursing home. When Grant visits Fiona after the first 30 days "no-visitors" period, he is devastated to find out that not only has she seemingly forgotten him but also she has transferred her affections to another man - a wheelchair-bound mute who is also a patient at the nursing home. As the distance between husband and wife grows, Grant must draw upon his love for Fiona to perform an act of self-sacrifice in order to ensure her happiness.

Ghosts        3 Mar 08                       
Director: Nick Broomfield, 96 mins, 2006, UK
Starring: Ai Qin Lin, Zhe Wei

A young Chinese girl is smuggled into the UK so she can support her son and family in China. Her story forms the background to the events leading up to the death of 23 cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay in 2004. Filmed using immigrant workers rather than trained actors, this is a film about modern slavery.

36 Quai des Orfèvres        31 Mar 08                       
Director: Olivier Marchal, 110 mins, 2004, France
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu

In the underbelly of the Parisian criminal world, the Police are frustrated by a gang committing a series of violent robberies. Leo Vrinks and Denis Klein are two cops seeking promotion and the imminent departure of the Chief sets the scene for them to compete for the vacant throne. The competition between them becomes increasingly ruthless and blurs the usual lines of morality until there seems no difference between the police and the criminals they chase.  Vrinks, meeting with a source, becomes involved with a murder.  Klein seizes the opportunity to up the ante and arranges for the arrest of Vrinks but when he goes further and viciously involves Vrinks' wife, Camille, revenge is inevitable.

Red Road        7 Apr 08                       
Director: Andrea Arnold, 113 mins, 2006, UK
Starring: Kate Dickie, Tony Curran

Jackie works as a CCTV operator in Glasgow.  Each day she watches over a small part of the world, protecting the people living their lives under her gaze.  One day a man appears on her monitor, a man she thought she would never see again, a man she never wanted to see again.  Now she has no choice, she is compelled to confront him.

El Lobo        21 Apr 08                       
Director: Miguel Courtois, 125 mins, 2004, Spain
Starring: Eduardo Noriega

Based on a true story. In the 70's, during the last stages of Franco's dictatorship, Txema, a Basque construction worker, is arrested because of his connection to some terrorists who have just committed a murder.  The secret service see in him an ideal candidate to infiltrate the terrorist band ETA and become a mole, so they offer him a deal.  He adopts the undercover name of "Lobo" (Wolf) and becomes an active member of the band, making all the right connections until he reaches the top and gains the trust of its leaders.  After the band carries out their most daring and shocking crime yet, killing the prime minister Carrero Blanco, the military heads in Madrid become impatient and wish to launch an immediate attack on ETA without waiting until Lobo can complete his mission. Lobo is now left to his own devices to escape from both sides.

The Page Turner        28 Apr 08
Director: Denis Dercourt, 85 mins, 2006, France
Starring: Déborah François, Catherine Frot

Mélanie Prouvost, a ten-year-old butcher's daughter, is a gifted piano player who sits for the Conservatory entrance exam.  Mélanie is very likely to be admitted but unfortunately she gets distracted by the president of the jury's offhand attitude and she fails. Ten years later, Mélanie becomes page turner to the former president of the jury, waiting patiently to be revenged...