Packed house to overflow for our Season opener, the hugely regarded ‘The Florida Project’. For those who became Season ticket holders, please take your seats early next Thursday- ‘Felicité’ gets a nod from the Observer as amongst the best foreign language films of 2017.

Season 18 begins with The Florida Project [USA] on Thu 25 January -

Just one week before opening of Season 18 with the marvellous 'Florida Project'. see you at St John's for 8pm Thursday 25th.

Five stars from The Guardian for our season opener, The Florida Project. "A glorious film in which warmth and compassion win out over miserabilism or irony." Thursday 25 January.

Thanks, TheCork Dot Ie, for highlighting our 18th season which begins on Thursday 25 January. [Please note, however, that we're showing 10 films this season, not 18.]

What do you think of our new colour scheme? Our Season 18 flyers are printed and soon will be distributed in Cork City. Here's a sneak preview.

Three female flatmates in Tel Aviv fight the constraints of their Muslim faith and families in an inspiring directorial debut. While films and TV series about the trials and tribulations of female friends living, loving, and working in a big city may be fairly common (‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Girls,’ to name two), Arab-Israeli writer-director Maysaloun Hamoud refreshes the genre’s tropes with her energetic feature. Layla, Salma, and Nour – three Palestinian women with Israeli citizenship – share an apartment in the vibrant center of Tel Aviv. Despite being ‘independent’, each of them struggles with the restrictions imposed on their lives by a blinkered society What makes this spiky dram/comedy so compelling are the Palestinian-Israeli protagonists, whose split lives have rarely been depicted on screen. These strong, modern, sexually active women, living away from their families and the weight of tradition, struggle to be true to themselves when confronting the expectations of others. A brave film befitting its brave depiction of women. ★★★★ – The Irish Times It’s great fun, with a powerful sense of narrative. ★★★★ – The Times Israel, France, 2016 | Language: Hebrew, Arabic | 103 minutes | Cert: CLUB Director: Maysaloun Hamoud Cast: Mouna Hawa, Shaden Kanboura, Sana Jammalie

Luca Guadagnino’s tale of budding gay romance in 1980s Italy is one of the most mesmerizing films of the year. – The Atlantic It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy. Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) is a precocious 17-year-old American who spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa lazily transcribing music and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Oliver (Armie Hammer), a handsome graduate student working on his doctorate arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture. Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, written by James Ivory, and based on the novel by André Aciman. This gorgeous gay love story seduces and overwhelms. ★★★★★ – The Guardian looking like the film of 2017 – RTE ravishing film-making and piercing wisdom – Los Angeles Times some of the richest chemistry I’ve ever witnessed in a movie…sublime – Huffington Post a knockout! casts a beautifully erotic, sensual spell – Entertainment Weekly Italy, USA, Brazil, France, 2018 | Languages English, Italian, French | 130 minutes | Cert: 15A Director: Luca Guadagnino Cast: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois

Ruth Wilson stars in British filmmaker Clio Barnard’s atmospheric and layered drama about the old wounds and bitter new grievances that come to light when a woman returns home to settle the tenancy of her family’s Yorkshire farm. Five years after her provocative breakthrough, The Selfish Giant, director Clio Barnard returns with a highly atmospheric and emotionally charged drama that proves she is one of England’s most distinctive new voices. With Dark River, Barnard uses the Yorkshire countryside as a beautiful silent witness to the troubling tale of a family that, though previously ripped apart, is now trying to reconcile. After a 15-year absence, Alice (Ruth Wilson) returns to the family farm following the death of her father. She finds the place in complete disrepair. Her deeply troubled brother, Joe (Mark Stanley), is ostensibly in charge, but appears to be in no state to make smart decisions. The two siblings have become like strangers to each other. Alice, bold and decisive, bolts into Joe’s life, determined to impose order and give the farm a future. Joe bristles at her every move, and sparks fly as years of resentments resurface. Slowly, layers of their past are stripped away to expose a dark secret between them. But life goes on. Landlords come knocking. Barnard is both an energetic and a reflective filmmaker — deeply poetic, but with a realist’s eye. Here she has carefully brought to life the story of damaged people trying to cope with the past while reassembling their lives. – Toronto International Film Festival UK, 2017 | Language: English | 89 minutes | Cert: CLUB Director: Clio Barnard Cast: Ruth Wilson, Mark Stanley, Sean Bean A short Irish film will be shown before the feature. Please note there is no film on 29 March or 5 April.

A knockout and captivatingly beautiful debut film. Zambian-born, Welsh-reared director Rungano Nyoni is set to make her mark on British cinema with her ground-breaking first feature. Sharply satirical and boldly provocative, the film garnered incredible praise from audiences and critics alike at the Cannes 2017 Directors’ Fortnight. When eight-year-old Shula turns up alone and unannounced in a rural Zambian village, the locals are suspicious. A minor incident escalates to a full-blown witch trial, where she is found guilty and sentenced to life on a state-run witch camp. There, she is tethered to a long white ribbon and told that if she ever tries to run away, she will be transformed into a goat. As the days pass, Shula begins to settle into her new community, but a threat looms on the horizon. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision – whether to resign herself to life on the camp, or take a risk for freedom. At times moving, often funny and occasionally surreal, I Am Not a Witch offers spellbinding storytelling with flashes of anarchic humour. Audacious and unforgettable, it showcases Rungano Nyoni as a fresh and fearless new voice in British film. a knockout debut ★★★★ – The Irish Times UK, France, Zambia, 2017 | Language: French, English, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga | 93 minutes |Cert: 12A Director: Rungano Nyoni Cast: Margaret Mulubwa, Henry Phiri, Nancy Mulilo, John Tembo A short Irish film will be shown before the feature.