This is the Irish movie that made Colin Farrell famous. He is part of a terrific ensemble including Shirley Henderson, Colm Meany, Cillian Murphy and Kelly Macdonald. Their characters’ lives are portrayed in a series of stories set in modern day Dublin as they search for love, show their anger and commit crimes that will never pay off. Directed by John Crowley who would go on to direct “Brooklyn.”

UK, 2003 (102 minutes)

An Australian teen goes missing, and a local investigator joins the search started by her anxious parents, played by Radha Mitchell (“Melinda and Melinda”) and Richard Roxbury (“Mission Impossible 2” and the TV series “Rake”). Grace’s absence is a catalyst for other discoveries – narratives of loss and uncertainty that are at the heart of this compelling family drama directed by Sue Brooks (“Japanese Story”). Location shooting in Western Australia.

Australia, 2015 (100 minutes)

The exquisite Indian desert and the village people come alive on the screen and draw you in from the first long shot of this drama about women attempting to escape their plight in a cruel, relentless patriarchy, Their sensual aspirations, feminine solidarity and joy in even small revenge are all vividly expressed, qualifying this as great cinema. The very same themes pervade urban India as well which makes the film topical as well. The screenplay is based on recorded conversations of Indian village women by director Leena Yadav. The enchanting lilt of their dialect comes through loud and clear.

India, 2015 (116 minutes)

A day in the life of a dusty old pawn shop in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, 12 individuals’ stories unravel before the world-weary owner. The raw humanity of the characters comes alive through strangely moving vignettes – an odd street singer, a duo of homeless wackos, a couple working in the local bookshop – all enmesh in Paul Ireland’s directorial debut to produce a colorful, giddy ensemble piece. Great soundtrack and winning performances.

Australia, 2016 (89 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)

“We’re not a band, we’re a group!” “Backbeat” chronicles the early days of the Beatles in Hamburg on the cusp of fame while brilliantly capturing the period (early 1960s). The story of the “bromance” between Liverpool art students John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe as each struggle to find love and true self-expression and the later influence of Sutcliffe’s German girlfriend, photographer Astrid Kirchherr. A tightly focused love story; beautifully paced, with raucous band performances popping up whenever young romance promises to over-soften the plot. Stephen Dorff and Ian Hart are perfectly cast as Stu and John, but Sheryl Lee’s performance as Astrid all but steals the show. “A thrilling spectacle that rocks the house,” Rolling Stone

UK, 1994 (100 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.