2024 Fall Films

September 9th: THE GREAT ESCAPER

(UK, France, Sweden)

Director: Oliver Parker

Language: English

96 minutes

The Great Escaper follows Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine), a veteran who served in the Second World War, who hopes to attend the 70th anniversary of D-Day. When he checks with his nursing home to see if he can make it, he finds he’s already too late and all the tours are booked! Encouraged by his wife Rene (Glenda Jackson), he decides to make his own way from England to France. Evading the nursing home with the help of Rene, he makes his escape. On the way Bernie meets veterans of all kinds and explores the costs of war and what it means to have served.

September 23rd: CROSSING

(Sweden, Denmark, France,Turkey, Georgia)

Director: Levan Akin

106 minutes

Language: Turkish, Georgian, English with English subtitles

Winner of the Teddy Award at the 2024 International Berlin Film Festival

Crossing, written and directed by Levan Akin, follows the journey of Lia (Mzia Arabuli), a retired teacher, as she searches for her niece, Tekla. A transgender woman, Tekla had left her home in Georgia years ago and hasn’t been seen by her family since. Determined to honour Tekla’s mother’s last wish to be reunited with her daughter, Lia searches for any leads she can. Enlisting the help of a young neighbor, Achi (Lucas Kankava), who claims to know where she went, they make their way to Istanbul. Their search leads them to Evrim, a transgender rights lawyer, who tries to help Lia follow the trail Telka left.

October 7th: Old Oak

The future is uncertain for the Old Oak, the last remaining pub and last remaining social space in a quiet working class town in Northern England. While it was once a thriving mining community, years of neglect have left the town barren with empty homes on every street. These houses are cheap and available, making this town ideal for Syrian refugees.

Racism and narrow-minded attitudes towards any newcomers are the standard in the town. 

Meanwhile, The Old Oak owner, TJ, strikes up a genuine friendship with one of the refugees, a young woman named Yara, who is bright, passionate, and interested in creating a life for herself in this new place. 

Infused with director Ken Loach’s signature social realism, THE OLD OAK is a hopeful appeal to better natures, arguing for compassion and solidarity in the face of racism and xenophobia.

October 21st: RU

Based on the Governor General’s Award–winning novel by Kim Thúy, Ru is the story of the arduous journey of a wealthy family fleeing from Vietnam in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, then spending time at a refugee camp in Malaysia, before landing in Quebec. 

This film adaptation, directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud, tracks the events through the eyes of the daughter of the family, Nguyen An Tinh. She’s trying to make sense of her new French-speaking life while also fully aware of the horrors that she and her family have escaped. 

A stunningly beautiful film, Ru is a sombre examination of forced migration, isolation, and newfound belonging, told through rich visuals and an orchestral score.

November 4th: BEETHOVEN'S NINE:

ODE TO HUMANITY

(Canada)

Director: Larry Weinstein

Language: English

85 minutes

In early 2023, Canadian filmmaker Larry Weinstein (director of Our Man In Terhran, a past Monday Night At The Movies favourite) set out to make a documentary about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, but his endeavour took an unexpected turn when he found himself drawn into the very heart of his own film. What follows is a deeply personal odyssey, as Beethoven’s Nine transcends its musical subject matter to become a probing examination of war. Through the lens of nine individuals—including Ukrainian musicians, a deaf composer, a legendary cartoonist, and Weinstein himself—the documentary explores the enduring impact of Beethoven’s masterpiece and the profound solace that music offers even in the darkest of times.

November 18th: Ghostlight  USA  110 minutes

When Dan (Keith Kupferer), a melancholic middle-aged construction worker, finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter after his son’s suicide, he discovers community and purpose in a local theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet. But as the drama on stage starts to mirror his own life, he finds the tragedies of the play too close to his own. Unwilling to confront his grief at home, he begins to confront his loss through the play.

Funny and heartwarming, Ghostlight is an exploration of how we feel love and loss through art.