The Mostly British Film Festival is thrilled to add a festival preview. The stunning drama Mothering Sunday will screen in advance of the festival. A series pass includes this film, and individual tickets will be sold at the same price as the rest of the festival films. 

Adapted from Graham Swift’s 2016 novel, the movie dramatizes the secret affair between a young housemaid Jane who knows her place and the well-heeled son of the family’s neighbor, who doesn’t. It is 1924, Berkshire and this is their final fling; he is to marry within his class, as is right and proper. Both families are grieving, having lost sons in the War, but gather on the British holiday Mothering Sunday to celebrate the engagement. Narrated by the elderly Jane (Glenda Jackson, no less!) replaying memories in hindsight, her powerful emotions suffuse the lavishly filmed period detail. Star-studded with Josh O’Connor and Odessa Young as the lovers and Colin Firth and Olivia Colman as the neighbors. There has been kind of a fuss in the media about the nudity in the film so be warned and come and judge for yourself.

UK 2021 (110 minutes) 

All of us Londoners remember Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. It was the place to be and be seen. Oliver Murray’s documentary pays homage to the famous hot spot and its founder, Ronnie Scott, which opened in 1959 and is still swinging. The film includes vintage clips of Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and more – everyone was there. Opening with Oscar Peterson on the piano, Ronnie’s features vintage clips of the greats: Sarah Vaughan, Cleo Laine, Nina Simone, Eric Burdon and even Van Morrison singing Send in the Clowns. Come on down to sleazy Soho! UK 2020 (103 minutes)

One of the hottest psycho-sexual thrillers you are likely to see, True Things succeeds in large part because of superlative casting. Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke make you believe that their characters fall under an instant erotic spell because the actors reenact familiar roles –Wilson in The Affair and Burke in the The Souvenir. In their latest outing here they meet across a government desk, where she doles out benefits to ex-cons like him. She risks her job and the life she’s made to plunge headlong into a carnal relationship with an obviously inappropriate lover. The film explores whether sexual gratification is worth it. UK 2021 (102 minutes)

A black comedy set in a working-class Dublin hair salon where the stylists become accidental vigilantes and community heroes as they take on the gang members and gentrifiers threatening their community, Deadly Cuts is ridiculously, deliciously over-the-top. It zips right along with zingy one-liners and features some outrageously camp performances that add to the infectious fun. Rachel Carey directs this brash, bold and boisterous comedy– the kind that’s hard to come by (and just what you may be looking for!). Ireland 2021 (90 minutes)

Presented in partnership with Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco and SF Irish Film

A wayward young man and his estranged father rebuild their bond as they journey to Ireland to scatter the ashes of their mother and wife. Frank (Oscar and Golden Globe nominee John Hawkes) isn’t the father he should have been. Sean (Logan Lerman) isn’t the son he should have been. With plenty of unresolved issues, the journey becomes a lot more than father and son had bargained for. A beautifully observed story from director Elfar Adalsteins; emotionally raw and rich with deeply affecting moments. End of Sentence is much more than a traditional road film. Ireland/Iceland/USA. 2019 (96 minutes)

Presented in partnership with Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco and SF Irish Film

A Dublin-set drama from director Phyllida Lloyd (Mama Mia!, The Iron Lady), Herself is the empowering story of a battered wife (actor/screenwriter Claire Dunne) who finds the grit to leave her husband, navigate the realities of homelessness and reclaim a stable life for herself and her children. An inspiring portrait of a determined survivor who, against the odds, literally builds her own house, finding a true home among the decent folks who come to her aid along the way. Ireland/UK 2020 (97 minutes)

Presented in partnership with Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco and SF Irish Film

The title alone distinguishes The Last Bus from a bevy of road movies involving cars, motorcycles or bikes. For some unclear reason Tom — an elderly gentleman on a mission to return his recently deceased wife’s ashes to Land’s End, Cornwall, chooses public transport to travel the 800 miles to the other end of Great Britain. With the always pleasing Timothy Spall as Tom, the reason scarcely matters. The protean actor excavates the joy in Tom’s journey via a daisy chain of local buses, including one with day-tripping sheep onboard. Travel jogs Tom’s memory, prompting flashbacks of his married life. UK 2021 (86 minutes)

“The best Aussie sheep movie since Babe,” enthuses one film critic from Down Under. But Rams offers far more through the touching recreation of a contentious relationship between brothers. Many families may find familiar elements in the rivalry between the two. A grizzled-looking Sam Neill and Michael Caton play the alienated siblings who haven’t spoken in 40 years although their sheep farms are a mere 328 feet apart. A threat to their beloved flocks forces them to work together with tumultuous if life-affirming results. As a nod to the award-winning film from Iceland of which Rams is a remake, the co-stars are seen wearing Icelandic sweaters. Australia 2020 (118 minutes)

Sponsor: Australian Consulate General San Francisco

A Belgian farmhand (Bouli Lanners) exiles himself to a remote Scottish island where he suffers a stroke causing loss of memory. Local islanders call him their Jason Bourne.  One native, a farmer’s daughter (Game of Thrones’ Michelle Fairley), falsely describes to him their torrid affair preceding his amnesia.  These unusual circumstances make for an odd but beguiling romance—sure to captivate with its tale of guilty secrets, regrets and longing, challenging the very roots of sexuality and love. Lanners (who also directs) and Fairley play off each other with a quietness belying their intense feelings. Little wonder they both took top acting honors at the Chicago International Film Festival. UK 2021 (99 minutes)