Director Anthony Asquith’s silent classic is a working class love story about an electrician and a porter who both fall in love with a shop girl they meet on the London Underground on the same day. Set in the subterranean entrails of the London Underground in the 1920s with iconic shots of Lots Road Power Station in Chelsea, gentle Bill and macho Bert charge through tunnels and across monumental buildings to fight it out. No one “minds the gap” and passengers smoke, nonchalantly dropping stubs on the wooden carriage floors. The 2009 restoration by the British Film Institute makes the film look fresh and new.

UK, 1928 (84 minutes)

Remarkable silent film documenting the legendary Everest expedition of 1924, the third attempt to climb the mountain that led to the deaths of two of the finest climbers of their generation, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. The trek ends in controversy over whether they did indeed reach the summit. Filmed in brutally harsh conditions using a hand-cranked camera, the amazing cinematography inspires considering the limited technology and danger of their expedition. Miraculous restoration by the British Film Institute National Archive.

UK, 1924 (85 minutes)

Five years in the turbulent youth of John Lennon, in 1950s Liverpool, torn between his legendary mother and his equally formidable aunt. Lennon’s emerging teenage angst and his inability to appreciate how deeply both women love him gives rise to a love triangle supreme. You can see the young Lennon in Aaron Johnson’s spot-on performance, and Kristin Scott Thomas is memorable as his aunt. An affecting movie about coming of age and leaving home, and the beginning of the long and winding road that ultimately leads to the birth of The Beatles. “Handsomely made…with ringingly heartfelt performances.” – The Guardian

UK. 2009 (97 minutes)

A slow-burning thriller set in an overcast Belfast. A literary celebrity / television host (Conleth Hill of “Game of Thrones”) driven to shoplifting in the vague hope the adrenaline buzz might cure his writer’s block gets caught red-handed by a creepy security guard who blackmails him into becoming his “best friend forever.” In doing all he can to extricate himself from the imminent loss of his good name and his sanity, the one-hit-novelist becomes drawn ever deeper into the dark world of the blackmailer turned stalker (a nicely nuanced Stephen Graham).

“An unsettling and astutely accomplished British thriller” – Movie Review World

UK, 2015 (92 minutes)

The film will be introduced by Tony Broadbent, author of “The Smoke” series of mystery novels about a Cockney cat burglar and jewel thief in post-war London. He’s a longtime fan of Film Noir and British Noir.

Challenging the traditional image of the London port drinking establishment, the pomp and ceremonial type stuff, David Kennard’s documentary delves into the history of the mercantile trade between the two countries and moves to Northern Portugal, to the wonderful, moving scenes of Oporto and the hills surrounding the Douro. The British vintner-merchants who maintain their hold in Porto contrast with local farmers who work the rugged terrain of these vineyards, testifying to the huge disparity between the world of owners/distributors and vineyard workers. You will be riveted even if you don’t drink port. Joint 1^st place, Rhode Island Film Festival Appearance by filmmaker

UK, 2016 (86 minutes)

Debut films can be hit and miss. Rachel Tunnard’s first film  definitely is the former. She won the Tribeca Film Festival’s prestigious Nora Ephron Award for “Adult Life Skills” which focuses on a confused teen, played with just the right degree of kookiness by the adorable Jodie Whittaker (“Broadchurch”). Grief stricken by the death of her twin brother she has fled to the seclusion of a shed in her mother’s garden. Facing her first birthday without her brother, she questions if she still qualifies as a twin. Its heart-felt emotions are sure to impress.

UK, 2016 (96 minutes)     

A compelling coming-of-age drama from New Zealand, “The Rehearsal” starts with a country boy named Stanley (James Rolleston, star of “Boy”) auditioning for a prestigious Auckland drama school. You immediately see what the teacher sees: Stanley is a star. This winning  film, based on the first novel by Mann Booker Prize winning author Eleanor Catton, follows Stanley and other recruits through their first year as they struggle with inner conflicts, and Stanley is forced to make a moral decision about whether a steamy scandal in his girlfriend’s family is fair game for him to dramatize in a school project.

New Zealand, 2016 (102 minutes)