Mark your calendars! Exciting new UK and Irish cinema releases are on the horizon for this Summer and Autumn. Discover the upcoming films that you'll want to see below.
SWAN SONG
A FILM BY CHELSEA MCMULLAN
In cinemas 16 August
Swan Song is an immersive look inside The National Ballet of Canada, as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement. With full access to the creative process, the film delves into the lives of the dancers as they push themselves to their limits to stage one of the most significant nights in their careers and company’s history.
Screening at Bertha DocHouse from 16 August, book tickets here.
“A vérité portrait of the sweat, tears, triumphs, and many advils entailed in mounting a ballet.” - POV Magazine
THE MOUNTAIN WITHIN ME
A FILM BY POLLY STEELE
In cinemas 23 August
We're delighted to be releasing The Mountain Within Me in the UK & IRE cinemas with special preview Q&As from 19th August and in cinemas from 23rd August.
After suffering a catastrophic and almost fatal spinal cord injury, professional rugby player Ed Jackson's world changed forever. The Mountain Within Me follows Ed's journey on his recovery as he achieves the mental and physical heights of Snowdonia, the Alps and Himalayas to the life-altering challenges closer to home. From multi-award-winning director, Polly Steele and BAFTA and EMMY nominated producer, George Chignell, The Mountain Within Me is an inspiring, thought-provoking documentary about unexpected change, hope and finding renewed purpose in life.
“So inspiring…A must-watch.”
- Joe Wicks, The Body Coach
SUGARCANE
A FILM BY JULIAN BRAVE NOISECAT & EMILY KASSIE
In cinemas 20 September
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life- Sugarcane, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie- is a cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning.
Set amidst a ground-breaking investigation into abuse and death at an Indian residential school, the film empowers participants to break cycles of intergenerational trauma by bearing witness to painful, long-ignored truths – and the love that endures within their families despite the revelation of genocide. In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves near an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada sparked a national outcry about the forced separation, assimilation, and abuse many children experienced at this network of segregated boarding schools designed to slowly destroy the culture and social fabric of Indigenous communities.
“More meaningful than a mere history lesson”
- INDIEWIRE
black box diaries
A FILM BY SHIORI ITO
In cinemas 25 October
Young journalist Shiori Ito embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country’s outdated judicial and societal systems.
Black Box Diaries was born out of Ito’s need to document her investigation — a response to the authorities’ refusal to pursue her case in a meaningful manner. More importantly, it was a way to journal her fears and thoughts as she anticipated the backlash that followed. As the film’s director, Ito accomplishes something remarkable. On one hand, Black Box Diaries has a raw and honest quality to it — it’s a personal journey from the perspective of a victim piecing together the crime she experienced, while pushing herself to the extreme.
★★★★
“[A] genuinely empowering film but also absolutely clear-eyed about the challenges that remain for women in Japan."
- Financial Times
no other land
A FILM BY BASEL ADRA, HAMDAN BALLAL, YUVAL ABRAHAM & RACHEL SZOR
In cinemas 8 November
Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, has been fighting his community's mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta, as soldiers destroy the homes of families - the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank.
Basel crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for over half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer. Their complex bond is haunted by the extreme inequality between them: Basel, living under a brutal military occupation, and Yuval, unrestricted and free. This film, by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists, was co-created during the darkest, most terrifying times in the region, as an act of creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path towards equality and justice.
“A frank, devastating protest against Israel’s West Bank occupation”
-Variety
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