Wednesday April 2nd at 4:00 and 7:00pm
Stage Mother is a 2020 Canadian film about a conservative church choir director who inherits a San Francisco drag club started by her deceased son, from whom she was estranged after he came out as gay.
Wednesday, April 16th at 4:00pm and 7:00pm
We’re celebrating this year’s Canadian Film Day by screening Bergers (Shepherds) – FREE ADMISSION – at our current home at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool.
Mathyas trades in his Montreal life as a young advertising executive to become a shepherd in the South of France. But the harsh realities of the pastoral world force him to question his romantic vision of the profession. A visit from Elise, a civil servant who has abruptly quit her job, gives Mathyas’ quest a new direction. Together, with a herd in their care, they embark on a journey towards a new way of life in the mountains.
French with English subtitles.
You can find out more at the film’s website.
May 7th at 4:00 and 7:00pm
Hard Truths is a 2024 comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, and David Webber. Set in London, its plot follows the plight of a depressed and nay-saying woman (Jean-Baptiste) and the relationship with her jovial sister Chantelle (Austin).
The film premiered at TIFF September 2024 and was met with widespread critical acclaim for its screenplay, direction and Jean-Baptiste’s performance. Jean-Baptiste received Best Actress nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards, BAFTA Film Awards, and the Gotham Awards, and swept the Best Actress trifecta at the NYFCC, LAFCA, and NSFC, becoming the first woman of colour to do so.
This movie isn’t going to be an easy ride; of course not. But if it promises to reveal hard truths in their simplest and most irreducible sense, then what are these hard truths exactly?
Perhaps the hardest and most obvious truth is that the lead character is suffering from clinical depression and urgently needs to see a professional about it. But no one actually puts that hard truth to her, or maybe they did, long ago, and had it angrily thrown back in their face. And so the second hard truth is that no one can help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.
Hard Truths is a deeply sober, sombre, compassionate drama about a black British family, with flashes of fun and happiness that are emollient if not exactly redemptive.