Keswick Film Club News

Have A Great Summer!

2026-04-02T10:30:00.001+01:00

Another Film Season ends after another great Film Festival. We hope you enjoyed the films; it was certainly a good season wasn't it?! One of the strongest we have had for some time, with several Oscar nominations, two of which were up for Best Film. You obviously appreciated them, with our best audiences since the pandemic, and some pretty high scoring ones too. 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' came out on top for the club...and even rated higher than any other Festival film. A great film with an horrific outcome, leaving us all in silence when it ended...

The Film Festival too was a success once again, with a new team in charge under the guidance of Festival Director Julia Vickers - We are sure you would join us in thanking Julia and all of them. The amazing 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk' came out on top with 90.91% rating; if you want to see all the scores take a look at the festival website .

So that's it for this season. Thank you for your support this year; without you there would be no Film Club! We hope you all have a great summer and will join us again for more world films in September. Watch this space for news as we start to think about films for next season.

26th Keswick Film Festival

2026-03-16T07:00:00.001+00:00

The club season may have come to an end but there are still lots of films to enjoy at the 26th Keswick Film Festival starting on Thursday with The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford (additional screening on Saturday morning). The closing film A Private Life has already sold out and many of the other films are selling fast so don't leave it too late to get your tickets.

The programme includes award winners, a 1976 retrospective, a Jodie Foster showcase, family films, short films by Cumbrian filmmakers, recent work from vibrant US filmmakers selected by students from Carlisle College and an exclusive opportunity to see rare footage from Lake District filmmaker Terry Abraham. If that wasn't enough the Alhambra's second screen will be used for a Fringe Festival on Friday and Saturday.

Nouvelle Vague Sunday - 15th March 5pm

2026-03-09T08:06:00.002+00:00

Out season of films comes to and end this Sunday but don't worry there's still more than 30 films to choose from at Keswick Film Festival next week. NOUVELLE VAGUE takes us to Paris, 1959 where Jean-Luc Godard is angry because all his buddies from the magazine 'Cahiers du Cinéma' they work for seem to have given up criticising films in favour of making them. "The best way to criticize a film is to make one" he quips to a friend. So, he turns round, bullies a producer Georges de Beauregard into backing a low-budget movie, hires a few unknowns and sets out to make the film that will change film history forever - 'A Bout de Souffle (Breathless)'.

Ever wondered what Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Jean-Paul Belmondo or Jean Seberg were really like? Come along to 'Nouvelle Vague' and see for yourself.

"Film history is rarely this charming." - Ian Freer, Empire

No Other Choice Sunday - 8th March 5pm

2026-03-02T07:00:00.000+00:00

Park Chan-wook's latest is the South Korean entry for the Oscars this year. He has brought us some great thrillers - 'The Handmaiden', 'Decision To Leave' - and this is no exception, but this one is charged with comedy as well.

"With humour blacker than black bean noodles, the film is a masterful work of cinema which might well be Chan-wook’s masterpiece. And given this is the man who directed The Handmaiden that’s saying a lot." - John Bleasdale, Time Out

The Voice Of Hind Rajab - Sunday 1st March 5pm

2026-02-23T07:00:00.001+00:00

Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, Oscar nominated for her 'Four Daughters' that we had at the 2024 Festival, and produced by Brad Pitt, Jonathan Glazer, Joaquin Phoenix and many others: The Voice Of Hind Rajab has massive backing, and received a 23 minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival.

"As cinema, 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' is formally extraordinary, superbly acted, beautifully shot, and shaped and edited with rare urgency" - Leila Latif, Little White Lies.

Sentimental Value - Sunday 22nd February 5pm

2026-02-16T07:00:00.001+00:00

Another Cannes prize winner for you, the Grand Prize went to Sentimental Value and the film also has 8 BAFTA and 9 Oscar nominations. The BAFTA Awards are taking place the same evening as our screening so you'll be able to find out what it won after the film.

It's a movie that sneaks up on you like great fiction, blending theme and character in a way that allows it to live in your mind after you see it, rolling around what it means to both the people in it and your own life" - Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com.

Rental Family - Sunday 15th February 5pm

2026-02-09T06:54:00.001+00:00

Another Members' Choice this Sunday with Rental Family. The 'dicey premise' is an out-of-work American actor, Phillip (Brendan Fraser), living in Japan, is offered a job: being hired out to pretend to be a friend or a family member - his first role is to be a mourner at a funeral. Why is he doing this? Because in Japan this actually happens! The comedy is very real, but so is the pathos - why would anybody hire someone to pretend to be their groom at a wedding..?

“This is gentle, crowd-pleasing drama comedy powered by Fraser’s heroic comeback. It won’t break your heart — but it might quietly mend a small piece of it.” - Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

It Was Just An Accident - Sunday 8th February 5pm

2026-02-02T07:00:00.004+00:00

The first of our BAFTA and Oscar nominated Best Films Not In The English Language is IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, the latest and many are saying one of the best films from Jafar Panahi.

“It's a beautifully-written and executed work, one of Panahi's most formally straightforward yet powerful, gripping and generous.” - David Jenkins, Little White Lies

Palestine 36 - Sunday 1st February 5pm

2026-01-26T06:54:00.001+00:00

Set in 1936 as the British Mandate is fading in Palestine and German Jews are beginning to flee to the area in larger and larger numbers, Palestine 36 attempts to show us some of the origins of today's troubles. This was all the more timely as filming was set to start soon after Hamas raided Israel and set off the present fighting.

“At its best it cuts between historical footage and new material and achieves the awed emotional resonance of connecting history with the present.” - Marcel Steinbauer-Lewis, Little White Lies

Dragonfly - Sunday 25th January 5pm

2026-01-19T07:00:00.001+00:00

Another Members Choice this week with Dragonfly which continues our accidental mini-strand of 'great acting duos', we have Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough, both Oscar nominees and now sharing the Best Performance award at the Tribeca Film Festival, where this film was released.

When this is mixed with the talents of Paul Andrew Williams who has already made some biting social-realist films (viz 'London to Brighton' and 'Bull') you will already be getting a good feeling about Dragonfly; and with good reason.

“For a study of human connection at its most honest and affecting, with two remarkable lead performances, Dragonfly is a powerfully striking experience.” - Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

Die My Love - Sunday 18th January 5pm

2026-01-12T07:00:00.001+00:00

DIE MY LOVE is our first Members' Choice for 2026. Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, directed by Lynne Ramsay (who brought us greats like 'Ratcatcher' and 'We Need To Talk About Kevin') with Lawrence giving her best performance as new mother, Grace.

"Scorsese, it’s reported, was convinced that no other actor could do justice to the complex character. He may well be correct: Lawrence is thrillingly uninhibited and physically impulsive." - Wendy Ide, Observer

Souleymane's Story - Sunday 11th January 5pm

2026-01-05T07:00:00.001+00:00

Souleymane's Story is the winner of festival awards around the world, including the coveted 'Un Certain Regard' Jury prize at Cannes last year, get ready to follow the routes of Souleymane Sangaré as he frantically tries to keep up a gruelling schedule delivering food on his bicycle round the streets of Paris. To make his life even more stressful, he is an illegal immigrant from Ghana who faces an interview to gain asylum in just two days.

"An intimate, powerful and moving chronicle of life on the margins." -Tara Brady, Irish Times

Annual General Meeting

2026-01-03T12:05:00.002+00:00

Our AGM covering the 2024-2025 seasons, will be held at 4.30 on Sunday 11 January in the Alhambra before the film. We are hoping to make this a friendly, bigger affair this year by offering all members a free drink from 4.00pm so please come along to hear the latest news and, importantly, give your views on the club future.

The full details and documents are now on our website

Spring Programme 2026

2025-12-14T20:16:00.000+00:00

Tickets are now available to book via the Alhambra website for our Spring Programme starting on January 4th. Once again it looks like an exciting mix. Full of stars - from Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean, through Brenda Blethyn, Andrea Riseborough and Brendan Fraser to Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson plus many others, brought to us by great directors such as Lynne Ramsay, Park Chan-wook and Jafar Panahi. And, of course, we have the 26th Keswick Film Festival, our finishing weekend this year, with it's usual amazing array of great films.

4th Jan: Anemone - Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean, brothers at war
11th Jan: Souleyman’s Story - ...trying to survive whilst his asylum is considered
18th Jan: Die My Love - Jennifer Lawrence’s world falls apart
25th Jan: Dragonfly - Is Elsie’s neighbour Colleen really trying to help..?
1st Feb: Palestine 36 - Was this the start of the Middle East problems?
8th Feb: It Was Just an Accident - What to do with a man who tortured you... or did he?
15th Feb: Rental Family - Brendan Fraser pretends to be a father for a job
22nd Feb: Sentimental Value - Is fame worth losing your family over?
1st Mar: Voice of Hind Rajab - A little girl calls for help, but can anyone get to her?
8th Mar: No Other Choice - The best way to get a job with lots of opposition...
15th Mar: Nouvelle Vague - Jean-Luc Godard lives again!
19 - 22 Mar: 26th Keswick Film Festival

The Marching Band - Sunday 14th December 5pm

2025-12-08T07:00:00.002+00:00

We finish our season with The Marching Band, "a very amiable fare..or amiable 'en fanfare'" as Mark Kermode jests, which won our audience vote at the 25th Keswick Film Festival in March; so amiable that we felt we should give a larger audience the chance to see it and the members' vote agree.

“Warm and sure-footed, the film has the feel of a richly satisfying meal in an excellent neighbourhood bistro. Old world pleasures of character and story are generously apportioned.” - Danny Leigh, Financial

Happyend - Sunday 7th December 5pm

2025-12-01T07:00:00.001+00:00

We end the season with two members' choices, first up this week from Japan we have Happyend. The island is threatened by a bad earthquake that never seems to arrive. Tokyo is threatened by political termoil… but life goes on, and two boys, Yuta and Kou, approach the end of school.

"A prank pulled on their Principal leads to a controversial new surveillance system that not only monitors the students but gives them demerits when they do something wrong. As the students push back against Big Brother, these young people are forced to decide what matters to them and how much they're willing to fight for it..." - RogerEbert.com

“A crisp and understated piece... And the charismatic young cast brings a lively, impromptu-feeling organic energy.” - Jonathan Romney, Screen International

The Mastermind - Sunday 30th November 5pm

2025-11-24T07:08:00.001+00:00

If we tell you this is the story of an art-heist, you might start expecting 'Oceans Twelve' or something, but if we tell you the title is definitely ironic you will be closer to understanding the gist; Josh O'Connor, wonderfully scruffy here, plays James, an art-school dropout who has this great idea to steal some paintings from a local museum in Massachusetts. What could be easier?

“'The Mastermind' may be a heist movie about a novice thief with a dumb plan. But Reichardt pulls it off like clockwork: This film is stupendously smart” - Ben Kenigsberg, RogerEbert.com.

Little Trouble Girls - Sunday 23rd November 5pm

2025-11-17T07:03:00.002+00:00

In Little Trouble Girls we meet shy, introverted,16 year-old Lucija as she joins a Catholic choir where she is befriended by Ana-Marija. Lucija's over-protected life (she has not even been allowed to wear lipstick) is faced by the challenge of growing up like everyone, especially the sexual awakening she is feeling.

"Djukic’s feature debut echoes the sensitivities of Céline Sciamma’s early coming-of-age stories but with a bold, cinematic bent." - Tara Brady, Irish Times

On Falling - Sunday 16th November 5pm

2025-11-10T06:52:00.002+00:00

On Falling is our next members' choice - Aurora is a 'picker', pushing a trolley through the warehouse finding items chosen online by people she will never meet, keeping to a pace set by the machine in her hand. She is paid just enough to live on - when her mobile phone need repairing, this is a disaster as she is forced to go without other essentials.

"Carreira’s is the kind of small, still-waters debut that nonetheless confidently sets out its maker’s store for future work -- a clarion call for a new generation of social-realist cinema." - Guy Lodge, Variety

Dying - Sunday 9th November 5pm

2025-11-03T06:57:00.002+00:00

We thought we may need to sell Dying as a film worth your while watching - why should you invest three hours of your life watching a miserable film about dying? Well the critics agree that "this is a film that justifies every second" and "has your undivided attention throughout the vividly composed, brilliantly acted chapters of its three-hour runtime. A miracle."

"Matthias Glasner’s Dying might sound like an ordeal, but this rich, novelistic and mordantly funny Berlin film festival prize winner wears its themes and running time lightly.” - Wendy Ide, Observer

Cloud - Sunday 2nd November 5pm

2025-10-27T07:00:00.001+00:00

Kiyoshi Kurosawa had several award-winning films early this century, including the horror movie 'Pulse', where he portrayed the internet as the home of evil spirits. He is back now with Cloud, a film portraying the internet as dangerous, but this time it is human danger; is the main character who is an immoral 'reseller' of anything and everything for huge profits the baddy, or the people he sells to who decide enough is enough…? A story of our time, then.

"This riveting and highly unusual shoot-em-up finds Kurosawa returning to his roots." - David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Falling Into Place - Sunday 26th October 5pm

2025-10-20T07:00:00.001+01:00

Our next Members' Choice is Falling Into Place; Kira has gone to Skye to help her get over an ex-boyfriend. Ian is there to see his friends and his ailing parents. They see each other across a crowed pub and the rest is obvious... except it isn't.

"An antidote to Hollywood-style romcoms...Sensitive, fearlessly honest and forgiving, it sees two people make a connection amid the ongoing chaos of their lives" - Emma Simmonds, The List.

Parthenope - Sunday 19th October 5pm

2025-10-13T07:00:00.008+01:00

Director Paolo Sorrentino has always been fascinated by beauty and in this weeks film he concentrates totally on the beauty of one woman - Parthenope - whose very appearance seems to have every man obsessed. She herself doesn't like where this power leads her; rather than giving her freedom and enjoyment, her suitors want to own her or bring her sadness.

“An exquisite treatise on cinematic beauty” - Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

Dreams - Sunday 12th October 5pm

2025-10-06T07:00:00.001+01:00

Our first Members' Choice of the season is Dreams; 17 year-old Johanne has a crush on her new teacher Johanna, building into first love and even obsession.

"A story of hazy memories that’s also a city symphony, Dreams elegantly captures the disorienting rush of first love and the frustrations and anguish that stem from romantic fantasies colliding with reality." - Derek Smith, Slant Magazine

The Other Way Around - Sunday 5th October 5pm

2025-09-29T07:00:00.002+01:00

When Ale and Alex's relationship comes to an end they decide to do things The Other Way Around and thrown a breaking up party.

"Even as they insist that they're perfectly fine about separating, the film is skilfully shot to both put Ale and Alex at odds within the frame and also show them as loving partners...Both take involving internal journeys through the narrative, dealing with their thoughts in their own ways as they speak with the people around them." - Rich Cline, Shadows On The Wall