Films at the Courtyard Cinema – May 2023

Tue 2 & Wed 3

LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM (PG)

Exiled to the most remote school in the world, an apathetic young teacher finds his life transformed by the spiritual strength he encounters in Lunana. Ugyen wants to go to Australia and become a singer. Instead, he is assigned to a remote school high in the mountains of Bhutan, an eight-day trek away. There’s no phone reception, little electricity, spartan accommodation, not even a blackboard. But there are bright-eyed children eager to learn, new friends, locals Michen and Salden – plus yaks. Shot in staggeringly beautiful locations, Dorji’s directorial debut explores with gentle humour the potential for finding contentment in unexpected places (a concept key to Bhutan, which famously declared Gross National Happiness its most important measure of success). Foreign language with English subtitles.

Tue 2 – Thu 4

MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE (15)

Mike takes to the stage again, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse.

Audio Description and Subtitled screenings available.

Tue 2 – Sat 13

THE SUper Mario Bros. movie (PG)

A Brooklyn plumber named Mario travels through the Mushroom Kingdom with a princess named Peach and an anthropomorphic mushroom named Toad to find Mario’s brother, Luigi, and to save the world from a ruthless fire-breathing Koopa named Bowser.

Relaxed screening and Audio Description available.

Tue 2 – Mon 22

GOD’S CREATURES (15)

In a windswept fishing village, a mother is torn between protecting her beloved son and her own sense of right and wrong. A lie she tells for him rips apart their family and close-knit community in this tense, sweepingly emotional epic.

Subtitled screenings available.

Fri 5 May – Thu 1 Jun

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY (PG)

A seemingly unremarkable man in his 60s named Harold one day learns his old friend Queenie is dying. He embarks on a walk, only to keep going for 450 miles until he reaches Queenie’s hospice, much to the despair of his wife Maureen. Based on Rachel Joyce’s best-selling novel.

Baby Friendly and Subtitled Screenings available.

Sat 6, 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

Little Eggs: African adventure (U)

Toto and his friends must rescue his egg children after they’re taken away for a gourmet food event in Africa. They encounter hungry crocodiles, a trio of clueless hippos, lots of crazy monkeys and even the King of the Jungle himself. An emotional and at the same time funny story that shows us the courage of parents who, despite their apparent smallness, are capable of crossing the entire world to rescue their children.

Mon 15 – Tue 23

ONE FINE MORNING (15)

With a father suffering from neurodegenerative disease, a young woman lives with her eight-year-old daughter. While struggling to secure a decent nursing home, she runs into an unavailable friend with whom she embarks on an affair. Foreign language with English subtitles.

Fri 19 & Wed 24

IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING: KING CRIMSON at 50 (15)

What began as a straightforward documentary about the cult rock band King Crimson as it turned 50, mutated into an exploration of time, death, family, and the transcendent power of music to change lives. But with jokes.

Mon 22 – Thu 25

AS BESTAS (The Beasts) (15)

A middle-aged French couple moves to a local village, seeking closeness with nature where their presence inflames two locals to the point of outright hostility and violence. Foreign language with English subtitles.

Mon 22 – Fri 26

RYE LANE (15)

Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson), two twenty-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.

Subtitled Screening and Audio Description available.

Thu 25 May – Thu 1 Jun

Renfield (15)

R.M. Renfield decides to leave his centuries-long line of work as a henchman and familiar to Count Dracula and finds a new lease on life in modern day New Orleans when he falls in love with a feisty but perennially aggressive traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy.

Subtitled Screening and Audio Description available.

Fri 26 – Tue 30

LE BLUE DU CAFTAN (THE BLUE CAFTAN) (CERT TBC)

Following sell-out previews at this year’s Borderlines Film Festival, we thought we’d bring back this powerful Moroccan tale. Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with demanding customers, they hire a talented young man as an apprentice. Slowly Mina realises how much her husband is moved by his presence. Foreign language with English subtitles.

Fri 26, 5.15pm

RETURN TO SEOUL (15)

A twenty-five-year-old French woman returns to Korea, the country she was born in before being adopted by a French couple, for the very first time. She decides to track down her biological parents, but her journey takes a surprising turn. Foreign language with English subtitles.

Sat 27, 2pm

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES (12A) COSPLAY SCREENING

A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Grab your armour, cloaks and your 20-sided dice for our cosplay screening! Audiences are encouraged to come dressed ready for adventure, but everyone is welcome!

Audio Description available.

Tue 30 May – Sat 3 Jun

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES (12A)

A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

Relaxed Screening and Audio Description available.