A young draughtsman is forced into a shotgun marriage. A landmark in English cinema in terms of social realism, dealing with the lives of ordinary people set against a grim Northern backdrop, it remains keenly observant in detail and rather moving in its very unpretentiousness. find out more...

Cahit's life is on the rocks, his wife's dead, his job's collecting empties in a rock bar, his clothes are a mess and his flat is a garbage tip. He meets fellow third generation Turkish-German Sibel, who wishes nothing more than to escape the embraces of her deeply religious family, and who proposes a marriage of convenience. The film charts the long and tortuous relationship of these two self-destructive rock'n'rollers in a 'narcotically vivid love story'. More than just a movie. find out more...

Set in the 1890s this adaptation of Harold Brighouse's working class comedy sees a tyrannical bootmaker brought to heel when his plain-speaking daughter marries his down-trodden simple-minded employee and sets up a successful rival business. Keen direction and fine performances make this a great comedy. find out more...

In 1930s North China, a young girl is given to a 50-year-old leper in exchange for a mule, but as she's carried to him through the wilderness she is saved from bandits by a handsome young peasant. Later the leper mysteriously dies and the peasant returns and the pair settle down to make the traditional red sorghum wine. The film shifts from fable to realism when Japanese troops invade the area, destroying the fields with forced labour from the vineyard until the workers revolt against them. find out more...

When Mr Dashwood dies, the bulk of his estate goes to his son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) in straitened circumstances. They are taken in by a kindly cousin, but their lack of fortune affects the marriageability of both practical Elinor and romantic Marianne. When Elinor forms an attachment for the wealthy Edward Ferrars, his family disapprove and separate them. And though Mrs Jennings tries to match the worthy (and rich find out more...

It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

Every country that enforces the death penalty needs people to kill other people. Four men are put in front of an unthinkable but simple choice. Whatever they decide, it will directly or indirectly corrode them selves, their relationships, and their entire lives.

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Based on Bizet's classic work but relocated to a South African township, U-Carmen is a hugely original piece of film making from director Mark Dornford-May. The film is sung and spoken in Xhosa, and features a truly outstanding performance from Pauline Malefane in the title role. The film won the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival. find out more...