Film

Many of us grew up in a town like Burnsworth. “Burnsworth is a shithole”, says the graffiti put there by John, the main character, who moves from a no-hope school to a dead-end job with a grim inevitability.

But thanks to a chance encounter at the decidedly uncool school disco, he discovers Northern Soul and a new world of black music, dancing, record collecting and amphetamine fuelled all-nighters.

Adapted from Bola Agbaje’s Olivier award winning play, Gone Too Far! is a hilarious and shrewdly observed comedy with a storyline you can relate to and truthfully depicted characters.

The film is set in vibrant and culturally diverse Peckham, south London. The plot follows young teenager Yemi, born and brought up in Britain and obsessed with his street cred, and his estranged brother Iku, an excitable and proud Nigerian who is new to London.

Directed by Matthew Warchus, released 12 September
Pride is an inspiring and joyful film set during the miners’ strike of 1984. It tells the story of the formation of the first Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners group (LGSM), the relationship they develop with the striking mining community in Dulais, South Wales, and the national impact they have.

Director Anton Corbyn, released 12 September
In his last film role Philip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding as Günther Bachmann, the head of a small Intelligence unit in present-day Hamburg. Bachmann’s brief is to spy on the city’s Muslim population, his networks built on convincing potential informers within the community to betray their families and friends. “We become their friends, brothers, fathers,” he explains to his superiors in Berlin.

Director Francesco Rosi, re-released 12 September
It is exciting news that we can once again see Francesco Rosi’s Salvatore Giuliano on the big screen. It is a very special movie.

Director Mohammad Rasoulof, released 12 September
Dissident Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof’s Manuscripts Don’t Burn is a brave and brutal depiction of corruption, violence and state censorship in today’s Iran. He defied a 20-year work ban to make this chilling political thriller which he has been unable to officially show in Iran. It is more than an exposure of state repression – it’s personal.

This deeply moving coming of age film explores the life of an ordinary boy transformed by the world around him. Linklater uses the same actors over 12 years, allowing us to see the protagonist, Mason, literally grow up in front of our eyes. The character progression is seamless and going from junior school through to college, the sequence of events makes it hard not to feel like you have grown up alongside him.

Inspired by true events, the film Belle follows the case of a young mixed race woman named Dido Elizabeth Belle, who is raised by an aristocratic family in 18th century England.

She was the illegitimate daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay and an enslaved African woman. Dido is raised by her aunt and her uncle, Lord Mansfield who was Lord Chief Justice at the time.

In 1932, ten years after the civil war in Ireland, James Gralton returns to his village in this fictionalisation of a true story. He has worked as a labourer in New York, where he witnessed economic boom and bust.

He is also returning to Onnagh. Jimmy's wish for a quiet life with his elderly mother is interrupted by local teens who plea for him to reopen the village'’s Pearse-Connolly Hall.

Fruitvale Station gives viewers a highly intense 85 minutes. It aims to shine a light on institutional racism and to direct an angry audience to question the role of the police.

We follow the true story of Oscar Grant III, a 22 year old black man and Bay Area resident in the final day of his life. Through vivid and powerful flashbacks we are told his story and shown the time he has spent in and out of jail, criminalised for the possession and sale of marijuana.