Tuesday 17 May at 7.30pm 

SINK OR SWIM (15) 

France 2019. 121 minutes.  In French with English subtitles.  Directed by Gilles Lellouche. 

Cast includes Matthieu Amalric, Guillaume Canet and Benoit Poelvoorde. 

A bittersweet French comedy about a group of disparate fortysomethings who meet when setting up their local pool’s first ever synchronised swimming team - for men.  Together with their coach, a former champion fallen on hard times, the men outface scorn and derision to attempt the impossible.  The cast includes some of the best-known faces in contemporary French Cinema, many of whom will be known to film club regulars.  Inspired by an intriguing documentary, MEN WHO SWIM (2010), which was also the source material for the British film, SWIMMING WITH MEN. 

Tuesday 28 June at 7.30pm 

PARALLEL MOTHERS (15) 

Spain 2022.  123 minutes.  Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar. 

Starring Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit.  In Spanish with English subtitles. 

A warm-hearted comedy drama from Spain’s most celebrated filmmaker.  Two women, Janis and Ana, meet in a hospital where they are about to give birth.  Both are single and became pregnant by accident.  Janis, middle-aged, has no regrets and is eager for a child.  The other, adolescent Ana, is scared and full of regret. During the short time the women’s lives intersect, they form a close bond which will change their lives irrevocably.  A gloriously colourful and entertaining film ensues.  Penelope Cruz is a joy to watch in her best performance since her Oscar-winning turn in the same director’s VOLVER. 

Tuesday 26 July at 7.30pm. 

BELFAST (12 A) 

UK 2022.  98 minutes.  Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. 

Starring Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Ciaran Hinds, Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill. 

Kenneth Branagh’s film about a young boy growing up in Northern Ireland at the beginning of the Troubles needs little introduction.  Describing it as his ‘most personal film’, the director has used his own experience of living through that tumultuous and confusing time, to paint an affectionate picture of a vibrant, now vanished, community.  Shot in black and white and anchored by terrific performances, BELFAST is suffused with nostalgia, warmth and humour, and not to be missed.