Welwyn Garden City Film Society begins its 2022-2023 season of eight films from around the world on Sunday, September 18.
The movies will be screened at the Campus West Cinema in Welwyn Garden City.
The society's 76th year opens with the smart, stylish period spy thriller The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
From British director Dominic Cooke, The Courier will be shown in Screen 3 – the main theatre – at the Campus West Cinema at 7.30pm.
This will be followed by The Truth from Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda on October 16, and then Compartment No. 6 from Finland on November 13.
The first film of 2023 will be French film The Midwife (Sage Femme) on January 15.
The season continues with the acclaimed Minari on February 19 and Parallel Mothers by Pedro Almodovar on March 19.
The final two movies of the new WGC Film Society season will be The Perfect Candidate on April 16 and then Petite Maman on May 14.
All eight shows – some including a discussion – can be seen at the Campus West Cinema Screen 3 for a membership fee of just £40, and students £20.
There is nothing else to pay. Members can also visit all 12 shows at the Letchworth Film Club free of charge.
Non-members may attend any of the WGC Film Society shows, as guests, for £7.
All shows are on Sundays, and start at 7.30pm.
Welwyn Garden City Film Society is one of the longest-standing film societies in the country, having been established shortly after World War Two.
For information about joining, email the membership secretary, Viv Wearing, at WGCFSmembership@gmail.com, visit the society’s website at www.wgcfs.org.uk, or just come along to any show.
Welwyn Garden City Film Society 2022-2023 season
Here's a guide to the WGC Film Society's 76th year.
The Courier - September 18
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in The Courier, which tells the true story of unassuming British salesman Greville Wynne.
As someone who travelled frequently to Eastern Europe, he was recruited in Britain to develop trading links with a top Soviet official, as a cover for collecting top secret information.
At the behest of the UK’s MI6 and a CIA operative (Rachel Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Truth - October 16
This will be the sixth film the society has shown by the Japanese master of family drama, Hirokazu Koreeda.
This time he has ventured to France, to explore the fall-out when a famous actress publishes her memoirs.
The mother and daughter are played by Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, whose husband is played by Ethan Hawke.
Compartment No. 6 - November 13
From Finland, this is the story of Laura, an archaeology student who needs to travel by train from Moscow to Murmansk in the Arctic Circle.
She finds that she must share compartment number 6 with a boorish, drunk young Russian going to a job in a coal mine.
This film was joint winner of the 2021 Grand Prix at Cannes.
The Midwife (Sage Femme) - January 15
In this French film, Catherine Frot plays a middle-aged midwife whose work and domestic problems suddenly become a lot worse when the mistress (Catherine Deneuve) who deserted her (now dead) father makes an unwelcome return after 30 years.
Minari - February 19
The highly acclaimed American film Minari is about a Korea-American family which relocates from 1980s California to rural Arkansas to pursue the American dream.
However, finding out what is best for the family let alone start a 50-acre farm to grow and sell Korean fruits and vegetables, is easier said than done.
Parallel Mothers - March 19
Parallel Mothers is another of Pedro Almodovar’s powerful dramas which reveal deeper issues as the film progresses.
It begins as Janis (Penélope Cruz) and Ana (Milena Smit) give birth on the same day in the same hospital room.
Both are single and became pregnant by accident. One is exultant, the other, an adolescent, is scared and traumatised. They exchange a few words: a link is formed.
The Perfect Candidate - April 16
From Saudi Arabia, The Perfect Candidate offers a candid view of society there.
Maryam, a determined young doctor, runs for the city council after the incumbent repeatedly ignores her request to fix the muddy road to her surgery.
She is her town’s first-ever female candidate.
Petite Maman - May 14
The season finishes with the French film Petite Maman, about eight-year-old Nelly after the death of her grandmother.
It is a tender, magical tale of childhood grief, memory and connection.
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