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Satyajit Ray’s classic exploration of the problems for women in Indian society, told with his trademark humanity and with a wonderful central performance by Madhabi Mukherjee.

Arati, the wife of a bank clerk, is forced to take the initiative as bread-winner when her husband loses his job. This reversal of roles creates great conflict within the family. To everyone’s surprise, Arati is a great success; she becomes the favourite of the boss and is soon promoted to head saleswoman. With her new status comes an independence which Arati has never before experienced and which gradually becomes a necessity to her.

She makes friends with an Anglo-Indian colleague and when her friend is victimised because of her race, flies to her rescue. It is during this incident, when a moral stand is forced upon her, that Arati becomes fully aware of what it means to be responsible for one’s own actions…

Out of this disarmingly simple tale, Ray has fashioned a superlative quiet epic, an eloquent testimonial to the innate courage of ordinary people caught in the complex shifting society of urban Indian life.

No filmmaker is more important to the history of Contemporary Films than Satyajit Ray; Contemporary’s release of ‘The Apu Trilogy’ (Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansur) were important offerings at the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street during the key period for foreign cinema in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Charles and Kitty Cooper, who enjoyed personal relations with Ray and his family, distributed many of his subsequent films and later helped found the Satyajit Ray Foundation which provided scholarships to new filmmakers.

Writer and researcher Manishita Dass will introduce the film, its themes and place within Ray’s oeuvre.

A struggling primary school teacher begins to make some questionable decisions after one of her students is injured.

Raúl is a cult filmmaker in the midst of a creative crisis. When tragedy strikes one of his closest collaborators, he draws inspiration from it to write his next film. Little by little, he imagines Elsa, a filmmaker in the midst of writing a script, whose journey begins to mirror his own.

The two filmmakers become two sides of the same character, in a game of mirrors where the raw honesty of autofiction reveals as much as it destroys. But how far can one go to tell a story?

A group of workers preparing for the re-opening of a remote adventure park on the brink of bankruptcy, find themselves stalked by a silent killer. Cut off from any form of rescue, the survivors must band together to fight for their lives.

Emerging in the early 1970s, Blaxploitation was a groundbreaking movement in independent cinema. For decades, Hollywood sidelined Black actors or confined them to minor, stereotypical roles. Blaxploitation flipped the script, placing Black characters, stories, and perspectives squarely at the centre of the frame. 

Coffy stands as one of the absolute crowns of the era. It features the legendary Pam Grier in the role that cemented her as cinema's first female action superstar. Grier plays a nurse turned vigilante on a one-woman mission to take down the drug pushers destroying her community. Driven by a sensational Roy Ayers soundtrack, Coffy remains an fierce, stylish, and unapologetic masterpiece.

The screening will be followed by a live discussion with Josiah Howard.

Josiah Howard writes on film and popular culture and is the author of several best-selling books including “Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide” (10th printing), “Cher: Strong Enough,” and “Donna Summer: Her Life & Music.” A veteran of entertainment television and radio, Mr. Howard lectures on cinema at universities and film festivals around the world. His writing credits include more than fifty DVD, Blu-ray and CD booklets, concert programs and articles for the American Library of Congress, The Hollywood Reporter, Reader’s Digest and The New York Times.

A new generation of young female activists awakens to a powerful, forgotten chapter of women's history.

As they navigate the complexities of teenage life and social activism, three young women - Poppy (16), Xanthe (17), and Evie (19) - discover the remarkable Greenham Common Women's Peace Movement. This groundbreaking protest saw 30,000 women stand resolute against nuclear armament forty years earlier.

Their journey is an intimate intergenerational dialogue and a 110-mile march over nine days, retracing the steps of the original Greenham Common protesters in 1981. These young women uncover not just a historical movement but a living, breathing legacy of collective courage and resistance.

Gentle, Angry Women is a poignant and timely documentary that weaves personal discovery, historical remembrance, and contemporary activism together. It confronts the rising global tensions of our time while celebrating the enduring power of women's collective action - revealing a bridge between past courage and present hope.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with director Barbara Santi and Kate Hudson, former General Secretary CND.

“a cinematic séance unfolding on the margins of reality” - Screen Anarchy

“an inspired exploration of the myriad ways humans process loss and grief…a haunting cinematic confessional on wheels.” - Slant Magazine

The international hit musical comes to the big screen! Winner of eight Tony Awards in 2019 including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, Hadestown: The Musical is the genre-defying musical blending modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale of two intertwining love stories, that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and King Hades and his wife Persephone.

Filmed live on stage in London's West End and featuring the original Broadway stars, Hadestown: The Musical invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back.

A 12-year-old boy in 1985 suburban Paris navigates life between his distant older brother and quarreling parents while grappling with identity, friendship, love, and understanding why adults seem lost.

Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, the duo of directors behind hit film Untouchable return with this comedy starring Camille Cottin, Louis Garrel and Pierre Lottin.

In 2022, Salman Rushdie was preparing to deliver a lecture on the United States as a safe haven for writers when a man rushed the stage and, in 27 seconds, stabbed him 15 times. Airlifted to hospital, Rushdie survived, barely, and his wife Rachel Eliza Griffiths began filming immediately, capturing an unfiltered view of his recovery, return to life and how he regained his spirit and hope for the future.

1930s New York, at the height of the Depression. Joe Bonaparte is a gifted young violinist with extraordinary talent and a future in music, until a chance at fame and fortune lures him into the brutal world of professional boxing. Pressured by a ruthless manager, tempted by a forbidden love, and bound by the expectations of his Italian-American family, Joe is a young man torn between the seductive promise of the American Dream and the quiet honor of a decent life. He must confront what he’s willing to sacrifice, who he’s willing to become, and how to find his place in a world that demands he choose a side. Sam Yates directs Josh O'Connor in this searing revival of Clifford Odets' knockout American classic. Brought to life with a live string quartet, this propulsive drama explores ambition, identity, and the high price of success.

Alice, a brilliant novelist, despises the hollow contemporary mantras of kindness and respect. But the bolder she becomes in speaking out, the more colleagues avoid her, and the more her personal relationships begin to fracture. As she challenges fashionable ideas and lends her voice to causes others are afraid to touch, she faces intense criticism and backlash. Alice will soon learn the price she must pay as an artist and as a woman for daring to speak her mind. Award-winner Sandra Oh is the Misanthrope in Martin Crimp's cutting new version of Moliere's dark comedy, directed by National Theatre Director Indhu Rubasingham.

In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, and the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice to launch the largest and most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.

Enjoy the best new films on the big screen with your little ones of twelve months and under in a relaxed environment, without worrying about making too much noise. Lights are turned up higher and sound is turned down lower, so you get the easiest environment for you and your baby.

No baby, no entry. These screenings are designed for parents and carers with little ones of twelve months and under. Where the certificate is U, PG or 12A, older children may also attend, although a baby (0-12 months) is still required. 

Embracing his heritage, Darius Brubeck, son of legendary jazz musician Dave Brubeck, built on his father’s legacy as a jazz ambassador. He overcame formidable challenges to inaugurate jazz education in apartheid South Africa.

Playing the Changes shows the social impact of jazz music, by telling the story of jazz pianist Darius Brubeck (born in 1947), the eldest son of legendary jazz musician Dave Brubeck. People quite often see him as 'the son of’ but he has used this distinction with idealism. This story examines why and how jazz had a transformative role in different types of societies such as Poland and South Africa and tracks Darius Brubeck’s involvement in both. Not only by embracing it - but also carrying on his father legacy in his own social, educational and musical way.

The screening will be followed by a live discussion with director Michiel ten Kleij, Darius Brubeck and renowned film critic and Mark Kermode.  

In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, and the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice to launch the largest and most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.

As advanced dementia erodes an older woman’s ability to communicate her inner life, her husband and daughter struggle to act in her best interests, navigating love and the fragile boundaries between care, protection and autonomy.

Under the oppressive heat of the Spanish sun, the fiercely independent Carmen attracts the attention of Don José. She warns him not to fall in love with her, but his obsession knows no bounds. Damiano Michieletto’s searing production returns, casting scorching light on the lust, violence and destructive desire of Bizet’s ever-popular opera. An all-star cast brings this white-hot drama to life, with Ginger Costa-Jackson in the fiery title role, alongside Russell Thomas as the jealous and despairing Don José. Following his 2023 Royal Opera debut, Sesto Quatrini returns to conduct Bizet’s electrifying and sensual score.

In the seedy underbelly of 18th-century Paris, money is king. Nothing is sacred – even love itself can be bought for the right price. A native of this hedonistic underworld, Manon is caught between twin desires when she falls in love with the student Des Grieux. Steadfast and devoted, he offers the possibility of an honourable life. Yet, the riches promised by the world of Parisian society remain tempting... Manon’s inner turmoil and struggle for survival lie at the devastating heart of Kenneth MacMillan’s 1974 adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s novel. In this signature work of The Royal Ballet, MacMillan’s nuanced understanding of human psychology makes for an unflinching look into the moral degradation of Manon’s Paris, while all its decadence and decay are brought to life through Jules Massenet’s score and Nicholas Georgiadis’s designs.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A.

A young woman decides to return to Beirut to see her estranged dying father after 25 years. Between the struggle to forgive him and building up the courage to face him, she discovers the heart of her homeland through the people she meets.

Shadows of Beirut is a powerful drama exploring lives shaped by conflict, displacement and the enduring consequences of Lebanon’s recent history. Following its UK premiere at the British Urban Film Festival, the film returns to London as part of its UK theatrical release.

Take It or Leave It is an autobiographical account of the cult '80s British pop group Madness, with members of the group playing themselves, charting their rise from humble beginnings as pub band The Invaders to chart success and their first overseas tour. The film follows the ups and downs of individual members of the group, and features all of their early hits including The Prince, One Step Beyond, Baggy Trousers, and Night Boat to Cairo.

The UK faces a growing climate and nature emergency. Yet most people have never been fully briefed on what it means for our lives, our economy and our future.

Last November, ten of the UK's leading experts briefed an invited audience of over 1,200 politicians and leaders from business, culture, faith, sport and the media. The briefing set out the implications of climate and nature breakdown for health, food systems, national security and the economy.
 
The People's Emergency Briefing presents the national implications of climate and nature breakdown - along with credible, positive responses - in a single, accessible account. A new film featuring Chris Packham, leading scientists, a former general and Jennifer Saunders - all being far too frank about where things are heading and what can be done about it. 

Join us for this free community screening, followed by an inclusive facilitated discussion.

Run time: 50 mins + facilitated inclusive discussion