Mark your calendars, here’s what’s hitting UK & Irish screens over the next few months.
2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA
From the Oscar-winning director of 20 Days in Mariupol Mstyslav Chernov’s latest film 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA follows a Ukrainian platoon's mission: traverse a heavily fortified mile of forest to liberate a strategic village from Russian forces.
Amid a failing counteroffensive in 2023, Chernov and his AP colleague Alex Babenko follow a Ukrainian platoon traversing through one mile of a heavily fortified forest on their mission to liberate the small, Russian-occupied village of Andriivka. Weaving together intensive Ukrainian Army bodycam footage and powerful moments of reflection, Chernov captures the war in his own country from a personal and devastating vantage point. 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA documents a battle emblematic of the broader Russian-Ukraine war — the largest military operation in Europe since World War II — and presents a view of modern warfare reminiscent of battles fought nearly a century ago.
In cinemas from 1 August. Book tickets here.
MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE
In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award and was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old. Reflecting on her life in her primary language of American Sign Language, Marlee explores the complexities of what it means to be a trailblazer.
MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE explores Matlin’s life as a groundbreaking performer, whose meteoric and tumultuous rise to fame started in 1987 when she became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award for her role in ‘Children of a Lesser God.’ At the age of 21, Matlin was thrust into the national spotlight, becoming for many Americans the first Deaf person they saw on TV and overnight becoming the de-facto representative of the Deaf community.
In selected cinemas from 6 August, more info here.
PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK
PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK offers an intimate, first-hand perspective of life in Gaza, told through a series of video calls between filmmaker Sepideh Farsi and young Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona. Their digital dialogue became a vital record, bearing witness to everyday life, loss, and acts of resistance amid escalating violence. Just a day after the film’s selection at Cannes, Fatma was tragically killed in an Israeli airstrike on her home. This heartbreaking loss deepens the film’s impact, which combines raw immediacy with profound humanity to portray the stark realities of daily life during conflict, seen through the eyes of those trapped in an endless cycle of war and living under siege.
In cinemas from 22 August. More info here.
THE GOLDEN SPURTLE
Delve into the Oatmeal World Cup in THE GOLDEN SPURTLE - a warm and genuinely funny Scottish film about finding the greatest meaning in the smallest things.
Once a year contenders from around the globe descend on a picturesque village in the Scottish Highlands to compete for the title of World Porridge Champion. Amid intense rivalries, steaming bowls of porridge, and the lives of charmingly eccentric locals we see a living legacy unfold. Each year the sleepy highland village of Carrbridge awakens with excitement as locals and competitors from around the globe vie for the honour of winning The Golden Spurtle in the World Porridge Making Championships.
THE GOLDEN SPURTLE is in cinemas from 12 September. More info here.
THE LIBRARIANS
In today’s America, political polarisation finds librarians under siege as an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond. As the crisis escalates, they join forces as unlikely defenders on the frontlines of democracy.
In October 2021, Texas House Representative Matt Krause issued a list of 850 books for schools to review for obscene and race-related content, urging officials to develop standards to ensure “pornography” and anything that may make students feel “discomfort, guilt or anguish” be removed. Vulnerable librarians were, and continue to be, targeted.
In a dystopian saga akin to a real-life Fahrenheit 451 sequel, director Kim A. Synder’s gripping film THE LIBRARIANS traverses small-town U.S.A. with riveting interviews and troves of archival material to reveal the story of the country’s heroic librarians, everyday Americans who have become unlikely defenders of democracy, risking everything to uphold our most fundamental of rights.
THE LIBRARIANS is in cinemas from 26 September, more info here.