BBC Films
Description
Rosalind is the daughter of banished Duke Senior and is being raised at the court of Duke Frederick, with her cousin Celia. She falls in love with a young man named Orlando, but she is banished by Duke Frederick, who threatens death if she comes near the court again. Celia goes with Rosalind. Disguised as the boy Ganymede, Rosalind enters the forest of Arden. Upon their arrival in the forest, they happen upon Orlando and his manservant, who are fleeing...
Description
When P.L. Travers travels from London to Hollywood in 1961 to finally discuss Walt Disney's desire to bring her beloved character, Mary Poppins to the motion picture screen (a quest he began in the 1940s as a promise to his two daughters), Disney meets a prim, uncompromising sexagenarian not only suspect of the impresario's concept for the film, but a woman struggling with her own past. During her stay in California, Travers' reflects back on her...
Description
Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman, Maria Altmann, starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt's famous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Together with her inexperienced but plucky young lawyer Randy Schoenberg, she embarks upon a major battle which takes them all the way to the heart of the Austrian establishment and the U.S. Supreme Court.
4) Philomena
Description
Judi Dench stars in the story of Philomena Lee, mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock and given up for adoption. Nearly 50 years later, Philomena meets Martin Sixsmith, a former BBC reporter looking for his next big story. Together, they embark on a journey to locate her long lost son. As the pieces of the puzzle come together, the unlikely travel companions form a comic and heartwarming friendship. Based on the 2009 investigative book by Martin...
5) Mr. Holmes
Description
In 1947, an aging Sherlock Holmes returns from a journey to Japan, where, in search of a rare plant with powerful restorative qualities, he has witnessed the devastation of nuclear warfare. Now, in his remote seaside farmhouse, Holmes faces the end of his days, with only the company of his housekeeper and her young son, Roger. Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits the circumstances of the...
Description
Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy about Bathsheba Everdene who is an independent woman who attracts three different suitors: a sheep farmer; a dashing soldier; and a prosperous, older bachelor. This timeless story of Bathsheba's passions explores the nature of relationships, love and resilience.
7) My old lady
Description
When Mathias Gold arrives at the sumptuous Parisian apartment he inherited from his father, he's surprised that the property comes with two stubborn live-in tenants who are not required to leave according to an ancient French real estate law. Unable to sell the place, Mathias moves in with the feisty Englishwoman Mathilde and her daughter, Chloe. But as Mathias and Chloe draw increasingly closer, Mathilde unveils a complex labyrinth of secrets that...
Description
Frank and April Wheeler live a life that appears to be perfect. They live in the Connecticut suburbs with two young children. Frank commutes to New York City where he works in an office job that he hates. One he places little effort at, but he has yet to figure out what his passion in life is. April is a housewife who forgoes her dream of being an actress. They are not happy. One day, April suggests that they move to Paris as a means to rejuvenate...
9) Iris
Description
Adapted from the memoirs of literary critic John Bayley, the film recounts his courtship of and long marriage to British novelist Iris Murdoch. The scenario tacks back and forth from the young Iris--ready to seduce one and all with her coy command of words and sex appeal--to the elder Iris--slowly giving way to the cruel erasure of Alzheimer's.
10) On Chesil Beach
Formats
Description
In England in 1962, a young couple (Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle) find their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night. Official Selection at the **Toronto International Film Festival**. *"There's splendid acting across the board and assured direction by Cooke, a stage veteran making his feature debut..." - Peter Howell, **Toronto Star***
11) Easy virtue
Description
John Whittaker is a young Englishman who falls madly in love with Larita, a sexy, glamorous American woman. The two impulsively decide to get married. He takes her home to meet his family, she arrives like a blast from the future. John's mother takes an instant disliking to Lairta and undermines her every move. But Larita will blow their entrenched British stuffiness right out the window.
Formats
Description
Marking the centenary of the First World War, internationally renowned director Peter Jackson uses the voices of the veterans combined with original archival footage to bring to life the reality of war on the front line for a whole new generation. Footage has been colorized and transformed with modern production techniques to present never-before-seen detail.
13) Enchanted April
Description
London, the 1920s. Lottie and Rose are two married women who share the misery of empty marriages and decide to rent an Italian castle for the spring to get away. In order to save money, they advertise for two other women to join them. Mrs. Fisher is an elderly widow is struggling with a lonely and regimented existence. She jumps at the chance to join the vacation. Lady Caroline Dester is a gorgeous flapper who has been grabbed one too many times and...
14) Victoria & Abdul
Description
The extraordinary true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria's remarkable rule. When Abdul Karim, a young clerk, travels from India to participate in the Queen's Golden Jubilee, he is surprised to find favor with the Queen herself. As the Queen questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance with a loyalty to one another that her household and inner circle all attempt...
Description
A New York socialite who dreams of becoming a great opera singer. While the voice she hears in her head is beautiful, to everyone else it is hilariously awful. Her husband and biggest fan, St. Clair Bayfield is determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence stages a huge concert at Carnegie Hall, he faces his greatest challenge to make sure her performance is a rousing success.
Description
A powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the First World War memoir by Vera Brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a woman₂s point of view. A searing journey from youthful hopes and dreams to the edge of despair and back again, a film about young love, the futility of war and how to make sense of the darkest times.
18) Fast food nation
Description
When a marketing executive for a huge burger chain finds a nasty secret ingredient in their burger recipe, he goes to the ranches and slaughterhouses of Colorado to investigate and finds that the truth is sometimes difficult to swallow.
19) Bright star
Description
Nineteenth century poet John Keats and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, started out as unlikely lovers who were totally at odds with each other. However, when Brawne offers to help Keats nurse his seriously ill brother, the two soon became involved in an unstoppable romance that only his untimely death at age 25 could bring to a shattering end.