Discoveries from United Kingdom World Cinema

A newly married woman leaves her wealthy husband for a lover who mysteriously disappears. Things start to unravel and become life-threatening on a trip to the husband's family estate.

The Secret Policeman benefit shows for Amnesty International brought together comedy grand masters - from Python and Beyond the Fringe - and performers then relatively unknown, like Rowan Atkinson. Narrated by Dawn French, the programme includes interviews with many of the comedians and musicians who took part: John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Sting, Lenny Henry and many more. The shows and their stars had a huge effect on modern British comedy. There are few comics today whose careers have not been heavily influenced by the anarchic and surreal humour of these events.

Two technicians battle a vengeful spirit that has infected their stolen military software.

Family adventure based on Mary Norton's classic children's books about a race of tiny people who live under the floorboards, resourcefully surviving by borrowing bits and pieces from the large residents who dwell above. After being discovered by 'human beans', borrower Arrietty and her parents are forced to leave their home while attempting to evade the clutches of obsessive scientist Professor Mildeye.

This documentary about four women, victimised as teenagers by the same man, is an instant rebuttal to that most unsympathetic question: why don’t women just leave their abuser?

In 1920s England, former clergyman Dr Lawrence keeps his cannibal son locked in the attic after the young man is exposed to savage practices in India. When an auto race is held at the estate, Lawrence worries that his son may escape and terrorise the youth.

A burned-out bodyguard is hired to protect the man he hates the most: an international assassin who destroyed his career and ruined his life. Forced to put his personal feelings on hold, the bodyguard must use all his skills and years of experience to keep the assassin alive in the face of constant danger.

The remnants of Knight House Corvec fight for survival against the forces of Chaos while dealing with power struggles that pit their High Queen against her niece – the rightful heir.

When long-time British agent Harry Palmer loses his job because the Cold War is over, he's promptly approached by a Russian bossman, Alex. In St. Petersburg Alex tells Harry of his plan for Russia's future, which is threatened because a deadly biochemical weapon called the Red Death has been stolen from him. He'll pay Harry handsomely to retrieve it. An ex-spy friend tips Harry off that it's being sent to Beijing by train, aboard which we begin to learn whose side everyone's really on.

A woman is torn between the love of her life, who's married to someone else, and her older husband.

Teenagers Luke, Malachy, and Michelle embark on a wild weekend of drink, drugs, shop-lifting and stealing cars. But what starts out as a game turns deadly serious when the three discover that they can't get off the wild ride they've set in motion.

Experienced New York Police Detective John Harris is sent to London to help a local task force investigate a series of gangster killings organized by a new player in town, an American. With the help of a young teen wronged by gangsters, Harris navigates London's seedy, drug-fuelled underworld in order to take down its new criminal empire.

Newly-married Rebecca leaves her husband's Alsatian bed on her prized motorbike - symbol of freedom and escape - to visit her lover in Heidelberg. En route she indulges in psychedelic reveries as she relives her changing relationship with the two men.

Filmed in 1993 but never completed due to River Phoenix's death, Dark Blood tells the story of Boy, a young widower living on a nuclear testing site in the desert. Boy is waiting for the end of the world and carves Katchina dolls that supposedly contain magical powers. Boy's solitude is interrupted when a Hollywood jet-set couple who are travelling across the desert become stranded after their car breaks down. The couple are rescued by Boy, who then holds them prisoner because of his desire for the woman and his ambition to create a better world with her.

Four Poems is a series of video poems in which the horizontal lines of a poem, usually composed of text, have been substituted for horizontal lines of moving image. The piece explores what remains of a poem when its language is removed, and how images might interact with each other in similar or different ways to words. It asks whether rhyme, rhythm, sibilance, or dissonance, might be effectively created by juxtaposing images. It also asks whether arranging images might create a sense of authorship, intentionality, or a tone of voice, in the way that arranging words might. Finally, Four Poems invites the viewer to consider how they might ‘read’ a poem – does a reading have to occur from top-to-bottom, or might new interpretations be possible when the moving parts of the poem can all be seen at once?

Returning to his homeland after years of slavery, a Norman prince seeks revenge on his father's murderer – his ruthless uncle, Earl Durant. Gaining the trust of a band of exiled farmers, he leads them into battle against Durant, exploiting them in his inexorable quest for vengeance. As one by one they are slaughtered in the brutal battle, will the prince sacrifice everything an everyone to fulfil his quest for blood?

Based upon the Celtic legend Tam Lin, a young man is bewitched by a beautiful, heartless, aging sorceress to become her lover. When his attention wanders to a lovely girl, he is doomed to ritual sacrifice by the sorceress.

Maya is a quick-witted young woman who comes over the Mexican border without papers and makes her way to the LA home of her older sister Rosa. Rosa gets Maya a job as a janitor: a non-union janitorial service has the contract, the foul-mouthed supervisor can fire workers on a whim, and the service-workers' union has assigned organizer Sam Shapiro to bring its "justice for janitors" campaign to the building. Sam finds Maya a willing listener, she's also attracted to him. Rosa resists, she has an ailing husband to consider. The workers try for public support; management intimidates workers to divide and conquer. Rosa and Maya as well as workers and management may be set to collide.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes is credited as being the World’s Greatest Living Explorer. Among his extraordinary achievements, he was the first to circumnavigate the world from pole to pole, crossed the Antarctic on foot, broke countless world records, and discovered a lost city in Arabia. He has travelled to the most dangerous places on Earth, lost half his fingers to frostbite, raised millions of pounds for charity and was nearly cast as James Bond. But who is the man who prefers to be known as just ‘Ran’?

The incredible but true story of how an impersonator was recruited to impersonate General Montgomery to mislead the Germans about his intentions before the North Africa campaign.

A middle-aged man recalls his childhood growing up in and around London during World War II.

To escape a scandal, a bestselling author journeys to Scotland, where she falls in love with a castle -- and faces off with the grumpy duke who owns it.

An idealistic colonial police officer is sent to capture a rebel leader who threatens the stability of the Raj's north-west frontier. Despite his official colonial capacity, the policeman is impressed by the ingenuity and integrity of his enemy and is determined to arrest him alive rather than bring him in dead as his superiors might wish.

In 1905, after 10 years of missionary work in Africa, the Rev. Charles Fortesque is recalled to England, where his bishop gives him his new assignment - to minister to London's prostitutes.

Two sisters raised on a charter resort in Gran Canaria. After 27 years, they reluctantly return to their childhood island to deal with their parents death, and end up with a half-finished esoteric retreat center in the Canary Islands.

Examines the life and career of singer Whitney Houston. Features never-before-seen archival footage, exclusive recordings, rare performances and interviews with the people who knew her best.

Will he make it home ... or is this the end of the road? One of the most recognisable figures in British comedy, John Cleese's career spans six decades - from his early days with the Cambridge Footlights to co-founding Monty Python, co-creating Fawlty Towers, and writing and starring in the Oscar-nominated “A Fish Called Wanda”. His unique brand of black humour has made him a global icon and intergalactic treasure.

Set in the Napa Valley in 1895, an immigrant family struggles to keep their vineyards from industrialists.

James Stewart plays aeronautical engineer Theodore Honey, the quintessential absent-minded professor: eccentric, forgetful, but brilliant. His studies show that the aircraft being manufactured by his employer has a subtle but deadly design flaw that manifests itself only after the aircraft has flown a certain number of hours. En route to a crash site to prove his theory, Honey discovers that he is aboard a plane rapidly approaching his predicted deadline.

When the space shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, it was the most shocking event in the history of American spaceflight. The deaths of seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe, were watched live on television by millions of viewers. But what was more shocking was that the cause of the disaster might never be uncovered. The Challenger is the story of how Richard Feynman, one of America's most famous scientists, helped to discover the cause of a tragedy that stunned America.

The story of the extraordinary final chapter of Freddie Mercury’s life and how, after his death from AIDS, Queen staged one of the biggest concerts in history, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, to celebrate his life and challenge the prejudices around HIV/AIDS. For the first time, Freddie's story is told alongside the experiences of those who tested positive for HIV and lost loved ones during the same period. Medical practitioners, survivors, and human rights campaigners recount the intensity of living through the AIDS pandemic and the moral panic it brought about.

As a young boy, future emperor Nero witnesses the mad Emperor Caligula kill his father and exile his mother. While in exile in the pontine islands, Agrippina, his mother, sees a vision telling her that her son can become emperor, but she will have to die first. She accepts the proposal. Back in Rome, Nero, now being raised by emperor Claudius after Caligula's death, Agrippina returns. She poisons Claudius' food and Nero becomes emperor. At first, Nero cuts taxes and introduces successful programs and invades Brittania. Soon he meets a beautiful slave named Claudia Acte, and marries her, throwing off his engagement with Claudius' daughter, Claudia Octavia, telling her she can marry someone she will be happy with. Heartbroken, she arrives at an island and kills herself. Nero enjoys being married to Claudia Acte, but soon he gradually goes mad with power and sets fire to Rome.

Sally Lockhart has struck a man dead with just three words, sent to her in a message from her father just before he drowned in the South China Seas. But unfortunately, Sally has no idea what the words The Seven Blessings mean. Before long, she is drawn into a mystery filled with opium, secrets from her own past and, at the heart of it all, the Ruby of Agrapur.

A Secrets of Life short of which the BFI described "a delightful study of a single family which leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction and a determination to watch at least one garden nest consistently when spring returns. The views from inside the nesting box are particularly interesting and one is left wondering how the lighting was managed so well. Young children would be relieved to hear that the parents continued to feed all their young ones and not only the few which kept their balance on the branch. Useful in nature study, biology and gardening classes"

The story of three men with a shared dream: James Bond franchise producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and Bond creator and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history, which began in 1962.

The story of American poet Emily Dickinson from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognized artist.

A child conceived by a mute servant girl transforms from an innocent youth to a killer beast at night with uncontrollable urges.

An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters and rejects his one loving, but honest one.

War between two Irish youth gangs consists of removing and retrieving buttons from each other's clothing.

When the world is gripped by a plague unleashed by the evil lord Chaos, and humans are turned into rabid creatures, mankind can only be saved by three young women, descendants of a Goddess, with the power to stop Chaos' evil.

Joining multi-Grammy Award winning and one of the biggest UK artists of all time, Adele, for a unique and special night at the legendary London Palladium, where she performs her chart-topping single Easy On Me, as well as tracks from her new album, 30.

A woman is wrongly accused of murdering her husband in Edwardian London. Just before the outbreak of World War I, Edith Graydon married her boyfriend Percy Thomson. He survives the war but theirs is not a happy marriage. She doesn't really love him and he feels it every day. He's also possessive and their daily life is a constant battle. She meets and falls in love with Frederick Bywaters, her sister's one-time boyfriend. They have a long affair and her desperate attempts to get either a formal separation of divorce from her husband falls on deaf ears. They are at their wits end and Bywaters decides to do something about it. On a dark evening when Edith is walking with her husband, Bywaters stabs him to death. Edith is charged with murder along with Bywaters and both are found guilty. She claims her innocence right up until the day they are both executed by hanging in 1923. Based on a true story.

A married couple move back to his childhood village to start a family but a surprise visit from the husband's brother ignites sibling rivalry and exposes the lies embedded in the couple's relationship.

A documentary chronicling the Beatles' rehearsal sessions in January 1969 for their proposed "back to basics" album, "Get Back," later re-envisioned and released as "Let It Be."

Based on a true story. Annie Nolan is saved from domestic violence by Officer Craig Mitchell. Craig wants to be with Annie, and manipulates her into falling in love with him. He then persuades her to kill his wife, Wendy so that he does not have to go through the inconveniences of a divorce.

In 1456, French King Charles VII recalls the story of how he met the 17-year-old peasant girl Joan of Arc, entrusted her with the command of the French Army, and ultimately burned her at the stake as a heretic.

The true story of a rich girl who was abducted by American revolutionaries in the 1970s. Her time spent with her captors made her question herself and her way of life. She eventually joined their cause, sparking controversy.

In medieval France, young lawyer Richard Courtois leaves Paris for the simpler life in the country. However, he is soon drawn into amorous and political intrigues. At the same time, he is pushed to defend a pig, owned by the mysterious gypsy Samira. The pig has been arrested for the murder of a young boy.

A chronicle of the lives of the Gibbons family, from shortly after the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second.

Six children are found spread through out the world that not only have enormous intelligence, but identical intelligence and have a strange bond to each other.

Westerners generally view Ethiopia as the mythical land of Rastafarians. However, the contemporary music scene is much richer than that, as this sultry, nocturnal exploration of the capital Addis Abeba demonstrates. From reggae to hip-hop and from free jazz to electronic sampling: diversity rules.

A journalist from Berlin, Germany, and a Swedish lawyer discover the truth behind the sinking of the "MS Estonia" in 1994, where more than 850 people drowned.

As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on 1943 Britain, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.

A young woman with a troubled past takes a job at recently closed down hospital. Working the night shift alone she begins to experience a series of unsettling events that lead her to believe that the hospital may be connected to a number of recent murders in the area. To uncover the truth she will have to revisit the past behind the walls of Psych:9.

Recently orphaned David must move to the Isle of Man to live with his grandfather, Adam, who's a sheep farmer. Both long for the end of the summer, having nothing in common but their love for dogs, notably Adam's precious champion sheepdog Bob. David strikes a friendship with Maggie, the sassy daughter of friendly neighbor Keith Moore, but Adam hates that family on account of an old canine competition-related tragedy. Other neighbors suspect Bob and the Moore's dog of the recent series of nocturnal sheep-kills.

When a leak of information in the African section of British Intelligence is discovered, a security man is brought in to investigate.

A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret.

A young Pakistani, living in England thinks that he is a cowboy and dreams of leading his country music band to success in Nashville. He meets a young woman who leaves her abusive husband and joins their group as a singer, but when they get a break with a record company, the company is only interested in her. Taking the proceeds of the sale of their family home, they finally set out to achieve their dream in Nashville. There are several comic sub-plots as well, the main one revolving around a biker gang out to get the family.

Fact and fiction are combined in this story about Jack Ruby and a stripper, Candy Cane, and how they become involved in a conspiracy to kill J.F.K.

After a childhood of abuse by his evangelistic father, misfit Oscar Hopkins becomes an Anglican minister and develops a divine obsession with gambling. Lucinda Leplastrier is a rich Australian heiress shopping in London for materials for her newly acquired glass factory back home. Deciding to travel to Australia as a missionary, Oscar meets Lucinda aboard ship, and a mutual obsession blossoms. They make a wager that will alter each of their destinies.