The Courtyard Film Guide March & April 2024

welcome!

Spring time is here and we’ve got plenty of films to follow on from Borderlines Film Festival, whether you’re looking for awards season favourites, foreign language independents, documentaries or even a sci-fi epic!

Speaking of awards season, we’ve got some major contenders back on the big screen, so if you missed your chance to see Anatomy of a Fall, Oppenheimer or Killers of the Flower Moon, now’s your chance to see them! Plus some foreign language contenders such as the Best Documentary nominee, Four Daughters

Our Young Film Programmers are also marking Autism Awareness Week with a pair of films a week apart.

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Audio Description Available

Check at Box O ce or online for the latest available Audio Described films.

Subtitles

Films which have either a HOH captioned screening or are in a foreign language with English subtitles.

Film Prices

Tickets £8/£7.50 Concession

Under 16’s £6

Front 2 rows minus £1

Member Prices

Courtyard Club & Card £3 Friends & Patrons 10% o courtyard.org.uk/membership

Breakfast Movies

11am films Monday to Friday include a pre-film pastry & tea or co ee.

Relaxed Screening

Screenings with raised lighting, lowered volume and a relaxed area.

Film Fanatics

Book for 2 films with this symbol and get 20% o , book for 3 or more to get 30% o .

Let's talk about adverts

As many of you will have noticed, our adverts now begin at the advertised time of the film and not beforehand, the doors will continue to open at the same time. We’re afraid this change was unavoidable and ultimately out of our control. To better plan your visit with us, please add 15 minutes to the runtime of the film, this is the maximum amount of time that adverts will play for. Borderlines Film Festival and special screenings (35mm screenings, Young Film Programmers events etc.) will continue to not feature adverts.

We understand that this change is frustrating and will take some time to get used to, however the money earned from these adverts goes a long way to keeping The Courtyard Cinema running year on year. We thank you again for all your support and we hope to see you again soon!

March

One Life (12A)

UK, 1hr 50min

Director: James Hawes

Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Olin, Johnny Flynn, Jonathan Pryce, Romola Garai

Our highest rated film of the year so far is back for one last run. The true story of Sir Nicholas Winton who upon visiting Prague in 1938 found families who had fled the Nazi’s living in desperate conditions. In a race against time with World War II imminent, this young London broker rescued 669 predominantly Jewish children. Starring Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins.

Tue 19 2.30pm (Subs), Wed 20 11am, Thu 21 4.30pm, Fri 22 11am, Mon 25 11am, Wed 27 11am, Thu 28 2.30pm

wicked little letters (15)

UK, 1hr 40min

Director: Thea Sharrock

Stars: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Timothy Spall

A popular favourite at this year’s Borderlines Film Festival, Wicked Little Letters is back for a few extra screenings! When people in Littlehampton, including conservative local Edith, begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town’s women investigate.

March Wed 20 5.15pm, Fri 22 2.30pm, Sat 23 2pm (Subs), Thu 28 11am

the boys in the boat (12a)

USA, 2hr 3min

Director: George Clooney

April

3 11am, Thu 4 7.30pm, Fri 5 11am

Stars: Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Peter Guinness

This sports drama is based on the New York Times bestselling non-fiction novel. The film follows the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Olympics in Berlin. This true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they take on elite rivals.

Awards season!

When people ask “what’s your favourite season?” we’ll always answer “awards, of course!”

Once again this year we’ve got a round-up of some of the major titles we’re returning to the big screen, plus some of the smaller titles we didn’t want to be overlooked.

What was your Best Picture this year?

Anatomy of a fall (15)

France, 2hr 30min

March

Mon 18 7.30pm, Wed 20 7.30pm

Director: Justine Triet

April Fri 19 11am

Stars: Sandra Hüller, Milo Machado Graner

When a frustrated writer dies of suspicious causes, the clues he left behind would appear to implicate his wife. Anatomy of a Fall is a 5-time Academy Award nominee and winner of the BAFTA’s Best Original Screenplay This film features foreign languages with English subtitles.

March

Killers of the flower moon (15) USA, 3hr 26min

March

Tue 26 7pm

Director: Martin Scorsese

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone

Members of the Osage Native American tribe are murdered after oil is found on their land, and the FBI decides to investigate. Scorsese’s epic is a 10-time Academy Award nominee, including Lily Gladstone’s historic nomination as the first Native American nominee. This screening will have an interval.

Mon 25 7pm, Tue 26 11am

OPpenheimer (15) USA, 3hr

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Bennie Safdie

With the Golden Globes and BAFTA Best Picture wins already under its belt, Oppenheimer looks set to take the Academy Awards by storm. With 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, Christopher Nolan’s historical epic is set to make history of its own. These screenings will have intervals.

American Fiction (15)

USA, 1hr 57min

March

Mon 25 7.30pm

Director: Cord Je erson

Stars: Je rey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross

A novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from Black entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of the hypocrisy and madness he claims to disdain. Adapted from the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett. BAFTA winner of Best Adapted Screenplay and 5-time Academy Award nominee including Best Picture, Best Leading Actor and Best Supporting Actor for Sterling K. Brown.

Perfect Days (PG)

Japan/Germany, 2hr 3min

April

Fri 12 2pm, Mon 15 11am, Tue 16 7.30pm, Wed 17 11am, Mon 22 5.15pm

Director: Wim Wenders (Anselm, Paris, Texas)

Stars: Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto

Hirayama works as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He seems content with his simple life. He follows a structured everyday life and dedicates his free time to his passion for music and books. Perfect Days is nominated for the Academy Award’s Best International Feature. Foreign language with English subtitles.

Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse (PG) USA, 2hr 20min

March

Sat 23 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers

Stars: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Oscar Isaac, Issa Rae

A hot favourite for Best Animated Picture, we cannot recommend this film enough for its creative approach to representing a plethora of artistic movements in its animation. Miles Morales catapults across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.

Four Daughters (Cert TBC)

Tunisia, 1hr 47min

April

Fri 12 11am, Tue 16 11am, Wed 17 7.30pm

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Between light and darkness stands Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. Foreign language with English subtitles.

“What ensues is not simply the story of a family but a tour de force examination of women’s place in the world and the costs of how they choose to cope with it.”

- RogerEbert.com

indigenous experience

With the historic nomination of Lily Gladstone as the first Native American Academy Award nominee, there is no better time to share two new releases covering indigenous experiences from the late nineteeth century to 2019. Why not start things o with Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon on Tuesday 26 March, 7pm?

The Settlers (15)

Chile/UK, 1h 37min

October

April

Sat 28 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

Mon 22 11am, Tue 23 7pm, Wed 24 2.30pm

Director: Brad Silberling

Lisandro Alonso

Looking for a way to get the kids into their first horror film? Look no further than Casper, everyone’s favourite friendly ghost! When a father and his daughter move into a crumbling mansion, they must rid the property of wicked spirits.

Cast: Chiara Mastroianni, Viggo Mortensen

Argentinean director Lisandro Alonso continues to shapeshift, delight, and challenge with his marvelous and immersive new film, which takes the viewer on an unexpected journey through three stories, each of them reflecting lives haunted by the specter of colonialist violence. Foreign language with English subtitles.

“There is a sort of sensory perception, a feeling that through drifting downstream along the river course of this film and gazing at the foliage on either bank, some progress of the soul is being achieved. It is an enriching experience.”

- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

October

April

Tue 2 7.30pm, Wed 3 5.15pm

Sat 28 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

Director: Brad Silberling

Felipe Gálvez Haberle

Cast: Sam Spruell, Mark Stanley

Looking for a way to get the kids into their first horror film? Look no further than Casper, everyone’s favourite friendly ghost! When a father and his daughter move into a crumbling mansion, they must rid the property of wicked spirits.

In Chile in 1901, three horsemen are paid to protect a vast estate. Accompanying a British soldier and an American mercenary is a mixed-race sniper, who realizes that his true mission is to kill the indigenous population.

“Simone D’Arcangelo’s cinematography is exceptional throughout, so haunting and spare that “The Settlers” almost classifies as a ghost western”

- Variety

“The Settlers is not just an account of historical events, it’s a national reckoning with a barbaric past.”

- RogerEbert.com

Eureka (15)

USA, 2h 27min

April

April

Tue 2 2.30pm, Wed 3 2.30pm (Relaxed), Thu 4 2.30pm

Soul (2020, PG)

USA, 1h 40min

Director: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers

Stars: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton

Released back in 2020, we’ve never had the chance to screen Pixar’s wonderful Soul, but the time has finally come! Joe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn’t quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.

Fri 5 2.30pm, Sat 6 11.15am, Mon 8 4.30pm (Subs), Tue 9 4.30pm, Wed 10 4.30pm, Fri 12 4.30pm (Relaxed), Sat 13 11am & 5pm

Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG)

USA, 1h 34min

Director: Mike Mitchell, Stephanie Stine

Stars: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis

Everybody’s favourite martial arts Panda is finally back for more! After Po is tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, he needs to find and train a new Dragon Warrior, while a wicked sorceress plans to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm.

April

Sat 20 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (12A) USA, 2h 5min

Director: Gil Kenan

Stars: Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Annie Potts, Finn Wolfhard, Celeste O’Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Kumail Nanjiani

The Spengler family returns to where it all started, the iconic New York City firehouse, to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces.

Autism acceptance

Young Film Programmers present a duo of films to mark autism acceptance week 2 - 8 April with April as a whole being autism awareness month.

“Both acceptance and awareness are important, but the consensus is we now need acceptance more than ever. As a neurodivergent and Actually-Autistic team we wanted to highlight representations of the autistic community who have been historically marginalised and hidden. Hopefully in doing this, we can help educate allistic folks (that’s non-autistic) whilst helping those on the spectrum feel seen and deepen understanding of ourselves, everyone benefits”

- Georgia, Young Film Programmer

Seeing the unseen (2019, TBC)

Iceland, 1h 22min

October

October

Sat 28 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

April 13 2pm

Director: Michel Gondry

Director: Brad Silberling

Looking for a way to get the kids into their first horror film? Look no further than Casper, everyone’s favourite friendly ghost! When a father and his daughter move into a crumbling mansion, they must rid the property of wicked spirits.

Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood

Eternal Sunshine is a heartachingly beautiful representation of the complexities of neurodiverse love. Joel and Clementine, the two exes in this film that struggle with the memory of their past relationship, appear to represent neurodiverse minds. Joel, played by Jim Carey, is a very shy and soft character, who escapes from his repetitious job by hyper focusing on drawing, and is described as wanting to be ‘swallowed up when in social situations’. Clementine, Kate Winslet, is impulsive, struggles with boundaries and has marvellous little obsessions including collecting potatoes. Join us for this sci-fi romance rollercoaster.

April 6 2pm

Sat 28 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

Director: Brad Silberling

Kristján Kristjánsson

Looking for a way to get the kids into their first horror film? Look no further than Casper, everyone’s favourite friendly ghost! When a father and his daughter move into a crumbling mansion, they must rid the property of wicked spirits.

Our Autism Acceptance week plans begin with an Icelandic documentary exploring the lives of 17 autistic women, raising the question of why women on the spectrum have remained invisible to society for so long. While the women come from a variety of di erent walks of life, they are united in their quest for greater acceptance. Foreign language with English subtitles.

This screening will be introduced by our Young Film Programmers as well as a short film directed by an autistic filmmaker. The runtime of the short film is unconfirmed but please check with box o ce for more information.

Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind (2004, 15)

USA, 1h 48min

March

Sat 30 7.45pm

April

BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE (12A)

USA, 1h 47min

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Stars: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton

The story of how icon Bob Marley overcame adversity, and the journey behind his revolutionary music.

“With a full head of cascading dreadlocks and thick Jamaican patois, [Ben-Adir] vanishes completely within his charismatic showman during electrifying concert performances.” - The Daily Express

Fri 5 5.15pm, Sat 6 7.45pm, Mon 8 11am, Tue 9 2pm (Subs), Wed 10 2pm

Drive Away Dolls (15)

USA, 1h 24min

Director: Ethan Coen (Fargo)

Stars: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo

From one half of the Coen Brothers comes a brand-new exhilirating action-comedy. Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.

The End We Start From (15)

UK, 1h 52min

Director: Mahalio Belo

Stars: Jodie Comer, Joel Fry, Mark Strong

A woman tries to find her way home with her newborn while an environmental crisis submerges London in floodwaters.

“I can think of few other films that get into the skin of new motherhood, with its formless terrors and fierce, furious primal love, as inventively and e ectively as this one.”

- Wendy Ide, The Guardian

Every now and again we like to highlight an actor, director, composer etc. and celebrate their career, looking at the diversity and cultural impact of their work. With that, it’s the turn of Disney poster boy turned art house star Zac Efron! After his breakout Disney Channel hit High School Musical in 2006, Efron has jumped from musicals to blockbusters and now the A24 scene with the powerful biopic of American wrestling family the Von Erich brothers in The Iron Claw. Book for our Monday night double-bill for just £10!

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008, U) USA, 1hr 52min

October

April

Sat 28 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

Mon 15 8pm, Thu 18 11am

Sean Durkin

Director: Brad Silberling

Cast: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Lily James

Looking for a way to get the kids into their first horror film? Look no further than Casper, everyone’s favourite friendly ghost! When a father and his daughter move into a crumbling mansion, they must rid the property of wicked spirits.

Then for the major tonal shift... Having turned to more dramatic pastures with 2019s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and 2022s Firestarter, Efron is now cementing his position outside of his traditional musical and comedy world.

The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.

October Sat 28 11am (free pre-activity from 10.30am)

April Mon 15 6pm

Director: Kenny Ortega

Director: Brad Silberling

Looking for a way to get the kids into their first horror film? Look no further than Casper, everyone’s favourite friendly ghost! When a father and his daughter move into a crumbling mansion, they must rid the property of wicked spirits.

Cast: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel

You might be wondering, why High School Musical 3 and not the original? As it happens, the third installment was the only film of the franchise to have had a cinema release, plus we’d argue Senior Year has Zac’s best songs and moments in the whole series!

As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

The Iron claw (15) USA, 2hr 12min

April

April

Mon 22 2.30pm, Tue 23 5.15pm

A WOLFPACK CALLED ERNESTO (15)

Mexico/Switzerland/France, 1hr 21min

Director: Everardo González

Combines true stories to create its titular character, and parallels with the manufacturing of a gun. The two stories’ convergent paths twist as González presents the testimonies of teenage Mexico City gangsters who collectively call themselves ‘Ernesto’. Foreign language with English subtitles.

“With his new documentary, [González] covers similar ground, but comes up with a fresh approach that manages to be both unnerving and immersive.”

- Cineuropa

Mon 22 7pm, Thu 25 11am, Sat 27 2pm

Dune: Part two (12A)

USA, 2h 46min

Director: Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049)

Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux

The follow on to 2021’s 6-time Academy Award winning epic! Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. With a star studded cast, Dune Part Two is set to be the cinematic experience of 2024.

April

Mon 22 7.45pm, Tue 23 11am, Fri 26 11am, Sat 27 5.15pm

Driving Mum (12A)

Estonia/Iceland, 1h 52min

Director: Hilmar Oddsson

Stars: Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Kristbjörg Kjeld

The death of Jon’s mother forces him to take on a journey with her corpse in the backseat to fulfill her last wish. Bresnef the dog comes along and this trip will be the gamechanger Jon never dreamt of. Foreign language with English subtitles.

“An enjoyably dark comedy road movie and a belated coming of age for a man whose mother has systematically squashed all opportunities for joy in life.”

- Wendy Ide, Screen Daily

April

Wed 24 11am

It Happened One NIGHT (1934, U) USA, 1hr 45min

Director: Frank Capra

Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

We had a great response to February’s screening of The Shop Around the Corner, so this time, we’re headed back to mark the 90th anniversary of Capra’s classic.

A renegade reporter trailing a young runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York, and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops.

April

Fri 26 2.30pm (Subs), Sat 27 7.45pm, Mon 29 11am, Tue 30 2pm

MOTHERS' INSTINCT (TBC) USA, 1h 34min

Director: Benoît Delhomme

May Wed 1 11am, Thu 2 2.30pm

Stars: Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain

Academy Award winners Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway join forces for a suburban thriller. Alice and Celine live a traditional lifestyle with thriving families. Life’s perfect harmony is suddenly shattered after a tragic accident. Guilt, suspicion and paranoia combine to unravel their sisterly bond.

Tickets £16

Thu 21 Mar, 7.15pm

The Motive & the Cue (15 tbc)

Sat 6 Apr, 5.15pm

Vanya - encore, Subs (15)

Tue 23 Apr, 7.15pm

NYE (12A TBC)

Sat 23 Mar, 4.55pm

Romeo Et Juliette

Sat 11 May, 5.55pm

Madama Butterfly

Tickets £18, Conc £15

Tickets £18, Conc £15

Thu 21 Mar, 2.30pm

Thu 28 Mar, 7.15pm

Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse

Tue 23 Apr, 2.30pm

John Singer Sargent

Tue 4 Jun, 2.30pm

My National Gallery, London

Tickets £15

Madama Butterfly (Encore)

Tue 9 Apr, 7.15pm

Macmillan celebrated

Wed 24 Apr, 7.15pm Swan Lake

Wed 1 May, 6.45pm

Carmen

Wed 22 May, 7.15pm

The Winter's Tale

March & April Family Saturdays!

All with a free pre-activity from 10.30am

The Boy & the Heron (12A)

Sat 2 Mar, 11am

Robot Dreams (relaxed screening)

Sat 9 Mar, 11am

Workshop TBC

Sat 16 Mar, 11am

Spiderman: Across the spiderverse (PG)

Sat 23 Mar, 11am

The Ultimate Bubbles Show (Live)

Sat 30 Mar, 11am

Easter Family Rave

Sat 6 Apr, 11am

Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG)

Sat 13 Apr, 11am

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (12A)

Sat 20 Apr, 11am

Thu 11 - Sat 13 Apr

Tickets: £18 - £16

Thursday 25 April, 7.30pm

Tickets: £27