British Council

BETTER THINGS (2008)

Director: Duane Hopkins
Cast: Liam McIlfatrick, Che Corr, Tara Ballard, Megan Palmer, Kurt Taylor, Rachel McIntyre, Patricia Loveland, Frank Bench, Betty Bench

Better Things is a multi-narrative intergenerational tale set in the picturesque rural Cotswolds of present day England. Both the old and young are followed on their journeys of withdrawal and commitment to each other and to life. Sexual awakening, boredom, and drugs form but do not dictate the narrative, which always connects the poetic and transcendent.

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STONE OF DESTINY (2008)

Director: Charles Martin Smith
Cast: Charlie Cox, Kate Mara, Billy Boyd, Stephen McCole, Ciaron Kelly, Brenda Fricker, Peter Mullan, Robert Carlyle

The Stone of Destiny was used for centuries in the coronations of the monarchs of Scotland until it was captured in 1296 by Edward I and taken to Westminster Abbey where it resided for over six and a half centuries. Stone of Destiny tells the true story of how on Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students took the stone from Westminster Abbey, hid it in Kent for a few weeks before returning it north to Scotland. It is based on the book The Taking of the Stone of Destiny, written by Ian Hamilton, the leader of the students.

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HALLAM FOE (2007)

Режиссер: Дэвид Маккензи
В ролях: Джейми Белл, София Майлс, Кирен Хайндс, Юэн Бремнер, Морис Ривс, Клэр Форлани, Джейми Сайвс

Trailer

Hallam's talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears - and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother's death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city of Edinburgh for love.

Official website
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HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008)

Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Stanley Townsend, Kate O'Flynn, Caroline Martin, Oliver Maltman, Sarah Niles, Samuel Roukin, Nonso Anozie, Karina Fernandez, Sinead Matthews, Andrea Riseborough, Elliot Cowan, Joseph Kloska

Trailer

Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan star in director Mike Leigh's seriocomedy concerning an eternally optimistic teacher living and working in North London. Thirty-year-old teacher Poppy (Hawkins) always has a smile on her face, and does her best to brighten the days of those around her by making small talk and cracking jokes. For the past ten years, Poppy has lived with her best friend, Zoe (Alexis Zegerman), a fellow teacher whose wry outlook on life serves as the perfect counterbalance to Poppy's effervescent charm. One day, Poppy decides that it's time to take driving lessons and enrolls in the Axle School of Motoring. Almost instantly, Poppy and her stressed-out instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan), clash. Still, it seems that there's more to this relationship than surface appearances would suggest. After accompanying her colleague Heather (Sylvestra Le Touzel) to a tango class taught by a particularly passionate instructor (Karina Fernandaz), Poppy connects with kindly school social worker Tim (Samuel Roukin). Of course, Tim can't help but fall for a woman of such boundless compassion, but how will Poppy's increasingly jealous driving instructor react to the news of her most recent romance?

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AND WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER? (2008)

Director: Anand Tucker
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Colin Firth, Juliet Stevenson

Trailer

Based on Blake Morrison’s best selling memoir, And When Did You Last See Your Father? is ultimately a father son love story. From scholarly Blake’s fraught and sometimes humiliating teenage years growing up with a charismatic, overbearing and adulterous father, through to the ultimate grief of watching him die as an adult and father himself, the story takes us on a heart-rending and often humorous journey in which Blake revisits his past, comes to terms with some difficult home truths and finally learns to accept that one’s parents are not always accountable to their children.

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FAR NORTH (2008)

Director: Asif Kapadia
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Sean Bean, Michelle Krusiec

Trailer

A dark epic tale set in the harsh beauty of the Arctic where Saiva and Anja struggle to survive on the frozen wastes. They are forced further North to escape Soldiers taking over their homeland and settle on a desolate island. One day a figure, Loki, appears on the ice and collapses, close to death. Despite her fears Saiva saves him. When Loki recovers, Saiva and Anja compete for his attention. A passionate relationship forms between Anja and Loki which leaves Saiva isolated. When the lovers plan to leave for a new life together, a desperate Saiva acts with terrifying and tragic consequences.

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FRENCH FILM (2008)

Director: Jackie Oudney
Cast: Eric Cantona, Hugh Bonneville, Anne-Marie Duff, Victoria Hamilton, Douglas Henshall

Trailer

A smart romantic comedy. Jed prepares to interview French cineaste and self-appointed expert on the nature of love - Thierry Grimandi. The worldly and somewhat jaded Jed is dead-set on dismissing the auteur's musings as pompous and, well French, until his own relationship with Cheryl starts to fall apart and he is forced to re-evaluate the illusive subject. Soon everyone is talking about love: his relationship counsellor, drinking buddy Marcus and Marcus' girlfriend Sophie. Beginnings, endings, tricks... could the French be on to something?

Official website
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GENOVA (2008)

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Colin Firth, Catherine Keener, Hope Davies, Willa Holland

The exotic Italian town of Genova provides a fresh start for Joe and his two young daughters - a family seeking new lives after the sudden death of their mother. Kelly, the 16-year-old, explores the sexy and dangerous underbelly of this mysterious new world, while the youngest, Mary, has sees the ghost of her mother wandering the streets.

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OF TIME AND THE CITY (2008)

Director: Terence Davies Documentary

Trailer

Of Time and The City is both a love song and a eulogy to the director’s birthplace of Liverpool. It is also a response to memory, reflection and the experience of losing a sense of place as the skyline changes and time takes it toll.

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A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES (2008)

Director: Chris Waitt Documentary

Trailer

Independent filmmaker Chris Waitt attempts to interview his ex-girlfriends to find out why they dumped him. This revealing and humorous documentary sees the slacker filmmaker go on a sexual and emotional odyssey in a desperate quest to solve his innumerable problems.

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