Beset with personal and professional problems, George Bailey (James Stewart) finds his previously happy life falling apart around him on Christmas Eve. Seeing no way out, George considers suicide from the edge of a bridge - but Clarence, his guardian angel, intervenes and shows George what his beloved hometown of Bedford Falls would be like without him. Shocked by what he sees and at the unfore...

Starring Ralph Fiennes, this heart-soaring period drama from director Nicholas Hytner and Alan Bennett tells the story of young men raising their voices in song under the shadow of WWI. A Yorkshire village’s choral society finds its ranks depleted as men head off to war. With the annual performance looming, the society is forced to change its entry rules to enlist some unlikely teens and the mu...

OPENING NIGHT PRIME MINISTER When Jacinda Ardern became leader of the Labour Party in New Zealand, and then Prime Minister, she rode a wave of heady popularity dubbed “Jacindamania”. She became the world’s second leader to give birth in office, and grappled with national crises including the country’s worst terror attack, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister reflects her time in office with...

PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK A powerful film documenting life under siege in Gaza through the eyes of a young Palestinian photojournalist, Fatma Hassona. Unable to enter Gaza, director Sepideh Farsi struck up a FaceTime relationship with Fatma that resulted in hours of conversation recorded over one year. Their calls show a radiant young woman and gifted photographer whose pictures reve...

MR NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN Pavel Talankin is a popular teacher and his school’s videographer in an industrial Russian town. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, his filmmaking duties are extended to ensure the school enacts Putin’s new “patriotic education policy” and the teenagers start military training. Putting his own life at risk, Talankin uses his camera to reveal the growing grip of prop...

RIEFENSTAHL One of the most controversial figures of the 20th century, Leni Riefenstahl became infamous for her Nazi propaganda films Triumph of the Will and Olympia , but she always denied close ties with the Third Reich. This captivating exploration of Riefenstahl’s life and work uses extensive materials from her private estate to understand her motivations and lifelong denial. POST FILM DIS...

STRANGE JOURNEY: THE STORY OF ROCKY HORROR The cult of The Rocky Horror Picture Show has spanned generations, with many an audience member having donned lingerie and sung along to the exploits of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Now, 50 years after its release, Linus O’Brien, the son of Richard O'Brien, the show's creator, treats fans of the film phenomenon to an intimate portrait of the film musical’s genesi...

HOLDING LIAT Winner – Best Documentary at Berlin International Film Festival 2025 This remarkable and moving documentary follows the capture of Liat Beinin Atzili and her husband, Aviv, kidnapped from their kibbutz on the 7th October 2023, as part of the Hamas attacks. Director Brandon Kramer, a distant US-based relative, is a witness to the enormous strain which threatens to tear the family apa...

POWER STATION When filmmaker-activists Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell set out to take their street and local schools off the grid, they kickstart a solar-powered energy revolution. Eccentric and heartwarming – a real-life version of an Ealing comedy - Power Station shows how art and passionate enthusiasm can bring about positive change. POST FILM DISCUSSION Chair: William Kendall is an entrep...

ORWELL: 2+2=5 Narrated by Damian Lewis, Raoul Peck’s film delves deep into George Orwell’s final months as he struggled to complete his dystopian masterpiece 1984 . This documentary explores the prescience of Orwell’s novel, and reflects how Doublethink, Thoughtcrime, and Big Brother echo across the years. POST FILM DISCUSSION Chair: Stephen Sackur presented BBC's interview show HARDtalk for ...