A NIGHT AT THE LOUVRE: LEONARDO DA VINCI
19th December France 93mins G
Ten years in the making, shot on the final night of the smash hit sell out exhibition, this immersive private tour of the LEONARDO DA VINCI’s Louvre masterpieces is a unique opportunity to contemplate the painter’s most beautiful works up close. Never before have so many Leonardo da Vinci artworks been in the same place at the same time, and never has your access to their secrets and wonders been closer.
This major retrospective devoted to his entire career as a painter shows how Leonardo’s investigation of the world – the “science of painting” as he called it – was the instrument of an art whose supreme ambition was to give life to his works. The insights provided by the exhibition curators during this guided journey offer a brand new understanding of Leonardo’s unparalleled artistic practice.
OTTOLENGHI & THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES
26th December France / USA 79mins G
This critically-acclaimed film is an extravagant feast for the senses; exploring the mouth-watering intersection between food, culture, and history.
Documenting the collaboration between world renowned chef Yotam Ottolenghi (Plenty, Simple) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, OTTOLENGHI AND THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES follows five visionary pastry makers. A veritable who’s who of the dessert world is assembled – including Dominique Ansel and Dinara Kasko – as they race against the clock to construct a decadent food gala based on the sumptuous exhibit: Visitors to Versailles.
CORPUS CHRISTI
26th December Poland 109mins MA
Inspired by true events, Jan Komasa’s multi award-winning drama CORPUS CHRISTI is a remarkable tale of morality and redemption, about a charismatic young ex-convict who fooled an entire Polish village by falsely posing as a priest.
20-year-old Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) has found God whilst incarcerated in a youth detention centre, but his criminal record excludes him from entering the seminary. At the end of his sentence he is sent to a small town to take up a position in a woodworking factory, but thanks to a stolen collar is mistakenly taken as the parish’s new clergyman. It’s a seemingly God-given opportunity for transformation, and Daniel – whilst wholly unconventional in his approach (and after a shaky start) – takes to the pulpit with a fervour and compassion that his predecessor has clearly lacked. Meanwhile, the arrival of this magnetic young preacher seems to be the spark needed for the town to acknowledge a recent tragedy that has affected the entire community, one that few have been able to speak about. But not everyone is open to his approach, and Daniel learns the hard way that following the road to salvation can also lead one astray…
THE SECRET GARDEN
1st January UK 106mins G
The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox, a prickly and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in India to wealthy British parents. When they die suddenly, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven at Misselthwaite Manor, a remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors, under the watchful eye of Mrs. Medlock and with only the household maid, Martha for company.
Mary begins to uncover many family secrets, particularly after chancing upon her sickly cousin Colin, who has been shut away in a wing of the house, and through her discovery of a wondrous garden, locked away and lost within the grounds of Misselthwaite. While searching for Hector, a stray dog that led Mary to the garden walls, she befriends local boy Dickon who, through the garden’s restorative powers, helps her to fix Hector’s injured leg. Once brought together, these three slightly misfit children heal each other as they delve deeper into the mysteries of the garden – a magical place of adventure that will change their lives forever.
BABYTEETH
7th January Australia 116mins M
What might have been a disaster for the Finlay family leads to letting go and finding grace in the glorious chaos of life.
When seriously ill teenager Milla (Eliza Scanlon) falls madly in love with a small time drug dealer, Moses (Toby Wallace), it’s her protective parents’ (Ben Mendelsohn / Essie Davis) worst nightmare. Things get messy and morals go out the window as the lives of those around the family: a sensitive music teacher, a budding child violinist, a disarmingly honest pregnant neighbour become intertwined and Milla shows those in her orbit how to live like you have nothing to lose. In a story about life, grief and the chaos of family, Babyteeth joyously explores how far we will go for love and how good it is to be alive.
HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE
7th January France 108mins M
Three of France’s most endearing leading ladies – Juliette Binoche, Noémie Lvovsky and Yolande Moreau – star in HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE, the eagerly anticipated new comedy by César-winner Martin Provost (Séraphine, The Midwife).
It’s 1967. The immaculate and morally upright Paulette Van Der Beck (Binoche) and her husband Robert have been running Van der Beck’s School of Housekeeping and Good Manners in the lush regions of Alsace for over two decades, with the help of Paulette’s eccentric stepsister Gilberte (Moreau) and the school’s communist-fearing, ex-Resistance nun Marie. Their mission: to train teenagers to become perfect housewives, in times when women were expected to be largely subservient.
After an accident turns clockwork order into chaos, Paulette discovers that the school is on the verge of financial ruin. Forced to assume executive responsibilities, she is flustered even more by an encounter with her long-lost first love, André who becomes relentless in his desire to rekindle their romance. Meanwhile, a sweeping nationwide protest movement is transforming society around them, encouraging the school’s pupils to challenge authority and question their own desires and beliefs…