Plymouth Arts Cinema July & Open Air Cinema Programme

29th June 2023

It's Plymouth Arts Cinema's last month of films in the cinema before they decamp to Tinside Lido for a summer of Open Air Cinema, and wow, are they going out with a bang!

Major new releases - Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny just beg to be seen on the big screen.

Whatever you've into, there's a wide range of documentaries, from The Last Rider's exhilarating cycling story (Introduced by Steve Toze of Rockets and Rascals), to the incredible life of Noel Coward and Cornwall's Climate Stories, investigating how interlaced our food system is with the environment and climate change.

Let the power of cinema broaden your horizons with the SAFAR Film Festival, and check out some indie gems such as Carmen, Amanda, and War Pony and enjoy some wildly absurd comedy with Medusa Deluxe and Smoking Causes Coughing.

Where to find Plymouth Arts Cinema

You can find Plymouth Arts Cinema inside Arts University Plymouth’s main campus at Tavistock Place. Go through Arts University Plymouth’s main entrance and turn right, you will face their Box Office and Café-Bar.

Opening times and how to Book

The Box Office and Café-bar open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 5-8.30pm; Wednesday: 1-8.30pm; Saturday: 1-8pm). You can call Box Office during these times: 01752 206114.

Standard £9.00 | Matinees £7.00 | Bringing in Baby £4 | Over 60s £7.75 | 25 & Under, Students, AUP Staff, Unwaged and low income £4 | Friends 10% discount and £6 on Tuesdays. Please bring relevant ID if you are eligible for a discount.

Fnd out more on the Plymouth Arts Cinema website.

  

Asteroid City (12A)

MUBI GO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GTA4PLAkbg

Friday 30 June – Thursday 6 July

• Fri 30, 6pm
• Sat 1, 2.30pm (Captioned Screening) & 8pm
• Tue 4, 6pm
• Wed 5, 2.30pm & 8.30pm
• Thu 6, 8.30pm
• Wed 19, 11am (Bringing in Baby)

Dir. Wes Anderson, US, 2023, 105 mins. Cast Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks.

Asteroid City takes place in a fictional American desert town circa 1955 in which the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.

   

Ashkal – SAFAR Arab Film Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6oYfiQ8c0M

Saturday 1 July, 5.30pm

Dir. Youssef Chebbi, France/Tunisia/Qatar, 2022, 92 mins, Arabic, French with English subtitles. Cast. Fatma Oussaifi, Mohamed Grayaâ, Rami Harrabi.

In the Gardens of Carthage - an eerie, half-finished district of Tunis, initiated by the former Regime but where construction stopped at the beginning of the Revolution - two cops, Fatma and Batal, find a burnt body in one of the lots. As construction slowly resumes, they start looking into this mysterious case. When the event repeats itself, the investigation takes a puzzling turn. 

Combining neo-noir, fantasy and crime drama, Youssef Chebbi’s debut feature presents a darker side of the Maghreb infused with post-Revolution politics.

  

Foragers (12) + Soup Over Bethlehem + Talk On Palestine – SAFAR Arab Film Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Yt87_PIbc

F-Rated

Thursday 6 July, 6pm

Foragers / Al-Yad al-Kadra (12)

Dir. Jumana Manna, Palestine, 2022, 65 mins, Arabic, Hebrew with English subtitles.

Soup Over Bethlehem

Dir. Larissa Sansour, Palestine, 2006, 9 mins, Arabic, with English subtitles.

A double-bill of films about food and politics.

For centuries, Palestinians have used za’atar (wild oregano) and ‘akkoub (a thistle-like plant) in their cooking. The plants grow wild and are traditionally foraged, but in Israel today both are deemed “protected species” by the government, and penalties for Palestinians caught picking include hefty fines and prison sentences. 

Gracefully weaving together fiction, documentary and archive footage, Foragers follows the plants from the mountainside to the kitchen, taking in chases between foragers and the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority, courtroom defences, and a delicious-looking lunch.  

Screening beforehand, Soup Over Bethlehem depicts an ordinary Palestinian family at dinner where a culinary discussion about the national dish 'mloukhieh' soon evolves into a political one.  

The screening will be followed by a za’atar tasting and talk by Zaytoun CIC, a social enterprise inspired by a love of Palestinian culture, communities and cuisine. They support Palestinian farmers through fair trade; importing and selling za’atar, olive oil and dates in the UK, with all profits being reinvested into the mission.

   

The Blue Caftan (12A) – SAFAR Arab Film Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5HJfiehrK8

Friday 7 - Saturday 8 July

• Fri 7, 6pm (Captioned Screening)
• Sat 8, 2.30pm

F-Rated | Reclaim the Frame

Dir. Maryam Touzani, France/Morocco/Belgium/Denmark, 2023, 122 mins, Arabic with English subtitles. Cast. Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, Ayoub Missioui.

Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.

Maryam Touzani’s poignant and delicate second feature The Blue Caftan won the International Critics' Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, the top prize for International Feature at New York's Newfest, and was shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Academy Awards.

   

The Last Rider (12A)

Friday 30 June – Wednesday 5 July

• Fri 30, 8.30pm
• Tue 4, 8.30pm
• Wed 5, 6pm

Dir. Alex Holmes, UK, 2023, 96 mins, English, French, Spanish with English subtitles.

From a BAFTA winning filmmaker, comes the unbelievable story of cyclist Greg LeMond who came back from the brink of death after a hunting accident to win the closest race in the history of the Tour de France.

With innate talent, an earnest, ethical approach to competition, and boy-next-door charm, Greg LeMond was a wizard on the steady, gruelling climbs of the Tour de France. He propelled himself to recognition with wins for the National Team of France, and then unexpectedly for himself in 1986. Alex Holmes’ poignant documentary makes space for LeMond to share a deeply personal journey through trauma and the twists and turns of fame and performance amidst immense public pressures. This is a resounding reminder that LeMond represents the world of athletics at its best, and replays one of the greatest comeback stories in sports history.

  

Carmen (15)

Friday 7 – Thursday 13 July

• Fri 7, 8.30pm
• Sat 8, 8pm
• Tue 11, 6pm
• Wed 12, 2.30pm & 8.30pm
• Thu 13, 6pm

Dir. Benjamin Millepied, US/France, 2023, 117 mins, some subtitles. Cast. Melissa Barrera, Paul Mescal, Rossi di Palma

Melissa Barrera and Academy Award nominee Paul Mescal are dazzling in Benjamin Millepied’s modern-day retelling of one of history’s most famous love stories and operas. Carmen follows a young and fiercely independent woman who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother. After surviving a dangerous illegal border crossing into the US, Carmen is confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard. When he and his patrol partner, Aidan (Paul Mescal) – a Marine with PTSD – become embroiled in a deadly standoff, Carmen and Aidan are forced to escape together, ultimately finding solace and love in one another.

This bold, dreamlike cinematic interpretation of Bizet’s opera features a stunning score by acclaimed composer Nicholas Britell, this is an inspired magical realist triumph.

   

Cornwall Climate Care: Hungry For Change - Cornwall’s Climate Stories

Saturday 8 July, 5.30pm

Hungry for Change and Food for Thought are the latest films from Cornwall's Climate Stories, an award-winning documentary series praised by Sir David Attenborough.These 30-minute films explore how vulnerable our intensive, fossil fuel-driven food and farming systems are to climate shocks, featuring ‘real’ people from farmers to deer stalkers, foragers to scientists – all telling their own local climate stories and showcasing their solutions. Meet the filmmakers and contributors for a discussion following the screening.

  

Mad About the Boy: The Noel Coward Story (12)

Tuesday 11 – Thursday 13 July

• Tue 11, 8.30pm
• Wed 12, 6pm
• Thu 13, 8.30pm

Dir. Barnaby Thompson, UK, 2023, 92 mins. With. Rupert Everett, Alan Cumming.

Narrated by Alan Cumming and with Noël Coward voiced by Rupert Everett, Barnaby Thompson's film takes us on a whirlwind tour of the world-renowned songwriter and performer who penned Brief Encounter, Blithe Spirit and Private Lives.

Coward grew up in poverty and left school when he was only nine years old. He was queer in a very straight world. Yet, against all odds, Coward became the most successful multi-talented artist of the 20th Century. He defined an era and led an extraordinary life. This is his inspirational story told in his own words and music, and unique home movies.

  

Amanda (15)

F-Rated | Programmer’s Pick

Friday 14 – Wednesday 19 July

• Fri 14, 6pm
• Sat 15, 8pm
• Tue 18, 6pm
• Wed 19, 8.30pm

Dir. Carolina Cavalli, Italy, 2022, 93 mins, subtitled. Cast. Benedetta Porcaroli, Galatea Bellugi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno.

This darkly comic feature debut is a deliciously satirical character study of a twenty-something looking for purpose… and maybe also a friend.

Amanda has returned home to Italy after a few years studying in Paris. It’s her first summer back and it’s clear the long weeks ahead of her are devoid of any plans. She has no friends (the housekeeper is her closest thing to a confidante), doesn’t get along with her family and generally doesn’t seem to fit in. Her mother reminds her of a friend’s daughter whom Amanda was close with as a child. And so, with little else to do and no one to entertain her, Amanda decides to seek her out.

  

Medusa Deluxe (15)

MUBI GO | Programmer’s Pick

Friday 14 – Thursday 20 July

• Fri 14, 8.30pm
• Sat 15, 2.30pm (Captioned Screening)
• Wed 19, 6pm
• Thu 20, 8.30pm

Dir. Thomas Hardiman, UK, 2022, 101 mins. Cast. Clare Perkins, Kayla Meikle, Lilit Lesser.

An audacious original, Medusa Deluxe is a bold, camp and unique take on the murder mystery.

After a stylist is found dead at a hairdressing competition, the remaining competitors try to uncover the killer over the course of an evening, in this vivacious and absurdly comic ensemble drama. Rivalry and mistrust build as the remaining group of determined contestants suspect that someone may be trying to rig the competition, by gruesomely picking off its entrants. Featuring stunning cinematography from Academy Award® nominee Robbie Ryan (The Favourite), an electronic score by Koreless and dazzling hair designs by renowned stylist Eugene Souleiman.

   

War Pony (15)

F-Rated

Saturday 15 – Thursday 20 July

• Sat 15, 5.30pm
• Tue 18, 8.30pm
• Wed 19, 2.30pm
• Thu 20, 6pm

Dir. Gina Gammell, Riley Keough, US, 2022, 115 mins Cast. Iona Red Bear, Ta-Yamni Long Black Cat, Wilma Colhof.

Stunning, tender and utterly compelling, War Pony tells the interlocking stories of two Oglala Lakota men coming of age on the Pine Ridge Reservation. At 23, Bill just wants to make something of himself. Whether it’s syphoning gas, delivering goods or breeding Poodles, he is determined to make his life the American Dream. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Matho can’t wait to become a man. A powerful tale of life, hope and belonging on the Reservation, War Pony features spellbinding performances from first-time actors Jojo Bapteise Whiting and LaDainian Crazy Thunder, created over a period of several years in collaboration with members of the Pine Ridge Reservation.

   

Smoking Causes Coughing (15)

Friday 21 – Thursday 27 July

• Fri 21, 6pm
• Sat 22, 8.15pm
• Tue 25, 6pm
• Wed 26, 8.30pm
• Thu 27, 6pm

Dir. Quentin Dupieux, France, 2023, 80 mins, subtitled. Cast. Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Lacoste, Doria Tillier, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Benoît Poelvoorde.

This sounded too good to miss! A wildly inventive new French comedy from Quentin Dupieux, Smoking follows the misadventures of a team of five superheroes known as the Tobacco Force – Benzene, Nicotine, Methanol, Mercury, and Ammonia. After a devastating battle against a diabolical giant turtle, the Tobacco Force is sent on a mandatory week-long retreat to strengthen their decaying group cohesion. Their sojourn goes wonderfully well until Lézardin, Emperor of Evil, decides to annihilate planet Earth.

   

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (12A)

Friday 21 – Thursday 27 July

• Fri 21, 8pm
• Sat 22, 2pm (Relaxed Screening) & 5pm
• Tue 25, 8pm
• Wed 26, 2pm (Captioned Screening) & 5.30pm
• Thu 27, 8pm

Dir. James Mangold, US, 2023, 154 mins. Cast. Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Toby Jones.

It’s almost the summer break and what better way celebrate than with the eagerly anticipated return of a cinematic legend: Indiana Jones.

1969; The height of the Space Race. Indy is retiring from his career as a college Professor but isn’t yet finished with his swashbuckling life as a globetrotting adventurer. Recruited by his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the daughter of old WW2 friend, Indy sets out to thwart a world-threatening Nazi plan to hijack the Apollo moon-landing program.

Spearheaded by the formidable Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), the race is on to retrieve the mythical, course-altering Dial of Destiny before it is too late…

   

Open Air Cinema

Grease (PG)

Friday 11^th August

Dir. Randall Kleiser, US, 1978, 110 mins.

Cast. Olivia Newton John, John Travolta, Stockard Channing, Eve Arden.

We couldn’t start the summer without a good old-fashioned crowd-pleaser. Grease is every bit the songfest you remember it as, with innuendo, laughs and a huge, huge heart. The perfect tribute to the ever-wonderful Olivia Newton-John. Sandy, we will all remain hopelessly devoted to you.

  

Jaws (12A)

Saturday 12^th August

Dir. Steven Spielberg, US, 1975, 124 mins.

Cast. Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Bruce the shark.

It wouldn’t be summer at Tinside Lido without Jaws, the most feared/loved film about the terrors of swimming! When a young woman is killed by a shark near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry Vaughn overrules him, fearing that the loss of tourist revenue will cripple the town. Ichthyologist Matt Hooper and grizzled ship captain Quint offer to help Brody capture the killer beast, and the trio engage in an epic battle of man vs. nature. They are definitely going to need a bigger boat.

  

Enys Men (15)

Sunday 13^th August

Dir. Mark Jenkin, UK, 2022, 90 mins.

Cast. Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe. John Woodvine.

Is there a more perfect setting for a screening of this atmospheric film, set on a deserted and windswept Island off the coast of Cornwall, than at Tinside where we can look over at Drakes Island.  This is a mind-bending Cornish folk horror tale, gorgeously shot on grainy 16mm.

In 1973 on a remote island off the Cornish coast, a wildlife volunteer's daily observations of a rare flower take a dark turn into the strange and metaphysical, forcing both her (and the audience) to question what is real, and what is a nightmare. Jenkin has created another boldly experimental work set against his native Cornish landscape. An eerie, almost dialogue-free throwback to the British folk horrors of the 1970s and a look at how, when alone, we are at the mercy of our memories, dreams, and fears.

  

Everything Everywhere All At Once (15)

Friday 18^th August

Dir. Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, US, 2022, 139 mins.

Cast. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis.

The film that took the world by storm is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who just can't seem to finish her taxes. Swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led, the fate of the world is suddenly in the hands of a most unlikely hero.

  

The Blues Brothers (15)

Saturday 19^th August

Dir. John Landis, US, 1980. 142 mins.

Cast. John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Carrie Fisher, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and every brilliant soul singer in the history of music!

Two brothers trying to put together a band and raising money for the orphanage that moulded them sounds like a straightforward story. Throw in John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, the biggest car chase in film history and a killer soundtrack from the most iconic singers in the world and what you get is pure, unadulterated joy.

“It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses – Hit it.”

  

Roman Holiday (U)

Sunday 20^th August

Dir. William Wyler, US, 1953, 118 mins.

Cast. Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert.

It has been quite a loud weekend so we thought we would end on a high note of pure cinematic joy. The incomparable Audrey Hepburn in her first starring role in one of cinema's greatest love stories about a European princess longing to escape her suffocating schedule, and experience normal life for once. With Hepburn luminous in her American debut, Roman Holiday is as funny as it is beautiful, and we guarantee you will go home with stars in your eyes.