Sundance Film Festival 2016: Directing Award – U.S. Documentary
Academy Awards 2017: Nomination – Best Documentary Feature
From Academy Award winning director Roger Ross Williams, Life, Animated is the inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a young man who was unable to speak as a child until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films. This emotional coming-of-age story follows Owen as he graduates to adulthood and takes his first steps toward independence. The subject of his father Ron Suskind’s New York Times bestseller, Owen was a thriving three year old who suddenly and inexplicably went silent – and for years after remained unable to connect with other people or to convey his thoughts, feelings or desires. Over time, through repeated viewings of Disney classics like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, Owen found useful tools to help him to understand complex social cues and to re-connect with the world around him.
Life, Animated evocatively interweaves classic Disney sequences with scenes from Owen’s life in order to explore how his identification and empathy for characters like Simba, Jafar, and Ariel gave him a means to understand his feelings and allowed him to interpret reality. Beautiful, original animations offer rich insights into Owen’s relationship with Disney films as he imagines himself heroically facing adversity as a member in a tribe of sidekicks. Owen’s story is a moving testament to the many ways in which stories can serve as a means of persevering through the dark times, leading us all toward the light. Autism-friendly screening with low-level lighting, no trailers and quiet/chill-out area.
Tickets £3.50 – carers go free.
Unlimited tea, coffee and soft drinks. Please note that this screening will take place at Blackpool City Learning Centre, Bathurst Ave, Blackpool FY3 7RW
Directed by: Barry Jenkins, Duration: 1h 51mins Cert: 15 Genre: Drama, LGBT Language: English
Awards:
Academy Awards 2017
8 Oscar Nominations including: Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress
3 Oscar Wins: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Writing (adapted screenplay)
BAFTA
4 nominations including: Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress
A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man named Chiron as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough Miami neighbourhood.
At once a vital portrait of contemporary African American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship, and love, Moonlight is a groundbreaking piece of cinema that reverberates with deep compassion and universal truths.
Anchored by extraordinary performances from a tremendous ensemble cast, Jenkins’ staggering, singular vision is profoundly moving in its portrayal of the moments, people, and unknowable forces that shape our lives and make us who we are.
One of the most critically-acclaimed films of the year, ‘Moonlight’ is a hugely powerful story of one man’s self-discovery.
Directed by: Athina Rachel Tsangari Duration: 105 min Genre: Comedy, Drama Cert: 18 Language: Greek – English Subtitles
Winner of Best Film at the London Film Festival, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier is a funny, perfectly pitched satire that puts masculinity under a microscope.
Taking competitive spirit to the extreme, six men holidaying together on a luxury yacht go to bizarre lengths to prove that he is ‘The Best in General’. Concocting an increasingly absurd series of contests to test each other’s manhood, they score each other on everything from flatpack furniture assembly to morning erections. Rivalries and insecurities emerge, allegiances shift, tempers fray, and all good sportsmanship goes well and truly out the window and it’s only a matter of time until the knives come out…
Tsangari, a long time collaborator with Yorgos Lanthimos (who made last year’s smash The Lobster), is one of the most exciting directors at work in Europe today. At once a wonderfully weird comedy and an incisive study of the games men play, Chevalier is an indie hit to watch out for.
Dir: Sarah Gavin Duration: 1h 46 mins Cert: 12A Genre: Drama
Starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson and Meryl Streep, SUFFRAGETTE is an inspiring and acclaimed drama that tracks the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement as they fought for the right to vote, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal state.
These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalised and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality – their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives. The character of Maud, played by Carey Mulligan, is one such foot soldier. The story of her fight for dignity is both heart-breaking and inspirational.
This screening includes unlimited tea and coffee.
There is also an optional post-screening craft workshop where you can make your own suffragette pin.
Tickets:
– Film only £4.50
– Film and workshop £8
Available online, limited number on the door.
Please let us know whether you’re coming so we know how many supplies to order!
Come and join us for a knit and a natter, all ages/abilities welcome. As usual we will have a light meal, tea and cake available, as well as wool, needles, hooks etc, for you to have a go with. Bring your own project or help us with our next yarnbombing adventures.
Dir: Ken Loach Duration: 1h 40 mins Cert: 15 Genre: Drama
Awards
• Winner – Palme d’Or – Cannes Film Festival 2016
• Winner – Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention – Cannes Film Festival 2016
• Winner – Audience Award – Locarno International Film Festival 2016
• Winner – Audience Award – San Sebastián International Film Festival 2016
• Winner – Outstanding British Film – British Academy Film Awards 2017
Daniel Blake (59) has worked as a joiner most of his life in Newcastle. Now, for the first time ever, he needs help from the State. He crosses paths with single mother Katie and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan. Katie’s only chance to escape a one-roomed homeless hostel in London has been to accept a flat in a city she doesn’t know, some 300 miles away.
Daniel and Katie find themselves in no-man’s land, caught on the barbed wire of welfare bureaucracy as played out against the rhetoric of ‘striver and skiver’ in modern-day Britain.
Cost: Pay what you can. Suggested £4
Book online: Pre-pay or reserve ‘donate on the door’ tickets.
It’s Fair Trade fortnight, so we have refreshments:
– Fairtrade Tea/coffee included
– It’s also Shrove Tuesday if you would like pancakes with toppings, please bring a donation for Blackpool Food Partnership to exchange for your treats. Non-perishable food is great, but cartons of long-life milk are ideal as they are in high demand.
Aunty Social is on the hunt for at least one new Director to join the board of this creative and crafty community interest company based in Blackpool.
Our aspirations are to grow the Aunty Social projects that we already have and strengthen their sustainability and impact. We’re also interested in how we can develop as an organisation to ensure that we’re geared up to access larger funding opportunities and deliver services on behalf of public bodies.
With this in mind we have three key goals for 2017…
Increase opening hours in Charabanc Shop by at least 50%
Increased trading income (shop sales, film box office and advertising)
Securing of at least one large funded project to include project management fees
We’re looking for Director(s) with the following skills to join the board…
Business development
Commercial business experience (small business retail especially)
Financial management and/or accountancy
Human resources and/or legal
Private sector philanthropy
Social investment
Advertising sales
Details of the level of commitment and legal duties associated with being a Director are contained in the recruitment pack.
When Marnie Was There (U)
Thursday 29 December, Start 7pm
Directed by: Hiromasa Yonebayashi,
Genre: Animation, drama
Language: Japanese, English Subtitles
Awards: 2016 Oscar Nominee: Best Animated Feature Film, Winner: Best Animated Feature Film – Chicago International Film Festival 2015
From legendary animation house Studio Ghibli comes this exquisitely crafted film based on the novel by British author Joan G. Robinson. Their final release, When Marnie Was There, is a suitably nostalgic and overwhelmingly moving story, as well as another superb artistic achievement.
Anna, an artistically gifted but timid girl, is sent to live with relatives on the coast to recover from an illness. While out exploring, Anna discovers an abandoned mansion, where she meets Marnie, a mysterious girl she spies through a window. Sometimes this strange house looks new, clean and full of guests; but at other times it’s empty and dilapidated. Which is real? Why are Anna’s dreams being invaded, and what is Marnie’s secret? With all the gentle, highly imaginative narrative complexity and visual grace that’s made the studio’s reputation, this is a beautiful drama and a fitting tribute to Ghibli’s filmography.
Tickets £4.50 available online soon and on the door.
Free unlimited tea and coffee.
The Tree Fairy + family craft workshop (U)
Thursday 29 December, 2pm
Directed by: Louis Neethling Genre: Family, Drama
Language: BSL, English Subtitles
Awards: Best British Film, Best Director,
Best Actress – Deaffest 2015
Struggling to fit in with her new step-family, a young deaf girl called Libby, makes three wishes to the Christmas Tree Fairy. She is delighted when the fairy appears and can communicate with her using sign language. But will she get what she wished for?
This screening also includes a Christmas craft workshop, where you can make your very own felt fairy and book tree. Suggested age range for workshop 5-10yrs.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
BSL interpreter support provided.
Tickets £2.50 available online soon and on the door.
