Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Taxi Tehran
Following a personally difficult but artistically rewarding spell making films under house arrest, Jafar Panahi is back on the streets of Tehran.
Documentary 2015 81 mins
Director: Jafar Panahi
Overview
But inspired by the limitations of his incarceration, he continues the use of confined settings by locating his film entirely inside a taxi-cab, in a formal structure that references 10, another classic of Iranian cinema from Panahi’s old associate Abbas Kiarostami.
After giving rides around Tehran to a motley array of passengers – from a rabid reactionary and a liberal teacher to a man selling pirate DVDs and women heading to a shrine – he finally collects his niece, a sassy youngster making a little movie herself for school. Cue a discussion of how film should represent reality (or not!): a subject clearly close to Panahi’s heart, given his standing with the Iranian authorities. Despite its concern with ethics, aesthetics and politics, the film oozes disarming charm and mischievous wit, slyly reminding us that cinema, for better or worse, always trades in illusion.
moderate bloody injuryRelated
Documentary
Varda by Agnès Varda by Agnès
Biopic 2018 115 mins Director: Agnès Varda
In her final film, Agnès Varda offers a personal insight into her oeuvre, using excerpts from her work to illustrate her unique artistic visions and ideas.
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 5 Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 5
Documentary 2019 122 mins Director: Mark Cousins
The journey ends with the biggest themes of love, death and the meaning of life.
Mifune : The Last Samurai Mifune : The Last Samurai
Documentary 2016 80 mins Director: Steven Okazaki
The on and off-screen character of Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s first international movie star, is explored in this illuminating documentary exploring the life and legacy of this mercurial icon.
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 4 Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 4
Documentary 2019 178 mins Director: Mark Cousins
Melodrama, memory, classic genres and tense emotions come under the spotlight in the fourth part of Mark Cousins' sprawling opus.
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 3 Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 3
Documentary 2019 178 mins Director: Mark Cousins
Sex, religion and politics are among the themes in the third part of Mark Cousins' monumental documentary on women's cinema.
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 2 Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Part 2
Documentary 2019 179 mins Director: Mark Cousins
Mark Cousins' epic journey continues with focuses on movement, simplicity of style, the story of films about children, dreams, the power of the close-up.
Award Winning
Winter Sleep Winter Sleep
Drama 2014 197 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Modern master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Celyan’s Palme d’Or winner: an extraordinary, epic drama.
Stranger by the Lake Stranger by the Lake
Drama 2013 100 mins Director: Alain Guiraudie
A young man witnesses a violent crime at a gay cruising ground and becomes obsessed with the killer in Alain Guiraudie’s acclaimed mystery-thriller.
Bicycle Thieves Bicycle Thieves
Drama 1948 89 mins Director: Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica’s story of a father and son searching for a stolen bicycle on the streets of Rome is a classic of post-war Italian cinema.
L'avventura L'avventura
Drama 1960 137 mins Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Antonioni’s masterpiece of modern alienation, with Monica Vitti as the young woman searching for her friend who's inexplicably disappeared.
Festen Festen
Drama 1998 101 mins Director: Thomas Vinterberg
A family reunion turns both incredibly dark and unexpectedly hilarious, in the infamous first film of the Dogme 95 movement initiated by director Thomas Vinterberg and Lars von Trier.
Picnic at Hanging Rock Picnic at Hanging Rock
Period drama 1975 107 mins Director: Peter Weir
The film that established Peter Weir as a major filmmaker remains one of the most chillingly atmospheric and beautifully enigmatic films ever made.
New
All About My Mother All About My Mother
Drama 1999 101 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Almodóvar's dazzling study of grief, motherhood and female solidarity, winner of an Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film.
System Crasher System Crasher
Drama 2019 120 mins Director: Nora Fingscheidt
An intensive drama about a pre-pubescent girl who actually crashes Germany’s child and welfare system whilst on her quest for love and security.
Prevenge Prevenge
Comedy 2016 88 mins Director: Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe directs and stars in this riotous tale of a pregnant serial killer, hellbent on revenge.
Only God Forgives Only God Forgives
Crime 2013 90 mins Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Ryan Gosling takes on Bangkok’s criminal underworld in this kaleidoscopic revenge fantasy from cult director Nicolas Winding Refn.
Talk to Her Talk to Her
Drama 2002 113 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Two men are brought together while caring for women in comas, in one of Almodóvar's most acclaimed and moving features.
A White, White Day A White, White Day
Drama 2019 109 mins Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Iceland’s finest actor Ingvar Sigurðsson gives a heart-breaking and Cannes award-winning performance as widowed cop who becomes increasingly obsessed with his wife’s death.