Ditchling Film Society

Wilding (15)
2025-09-04 20:00 - 21:15 (Europe/London) | Ditchling Village Hall, 18 Lewes Road, Ditchling, Hassocks, East Sussex, BN6 8TT, United Kingdom
This documentry film based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling bookWilding tells the story of Knepp, and how a dying landscape is healed against the odds and becomes a place where mussel-diving pigs, storks and butterflies find sanctuary, and where thriving flora and a vast array of animals have taken back the land.

Watch this incredible story of a young couple that set to work with their ground-breaking vision, battling entrenched tradition and daring to place the fate of their farm in the hands of nature, and be inspired by this story of rewilding and ecological regeneration.

Directed by David Allen. English.

The Outrun (15)
2025-10-02 20:00 - 22:20
Based on a memoir by Amy Liptrot, the film is set in the other worldly Orkney Islands where Rona goes to recover from her life of addiction to drugs and drink in London.

Saoirse Ronan is outstanding in this sometimes painful drama. The cinematography is at times breathtaking and the film is brilliantly directed by Nora Fingscheidt.

(2024) 1h55 min. English. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt.

The Critic (15)
2025-11-06 20:00 - 21:40
Based on a novel by Anthony Quinn The Critic is a period thriller drama with wicked humour and a twisty plot not to mention sumptous costumes and an all cast.

lan McKellen is an acerbic, conniving and brutally honest newspaper theatre critic in 1930’s London but as the film progresses it becomes darker and more violent and more of a thriller. One critic has said McKellen’s star quality makes him the only possible casting for this role.

Directed by Anand Tucker. English.

The Holdovers (15)
2025-12-04 20:00 - 22:15
Holdovers is the name given to children in exclusive private boarding schools in America, who are held over in school during Christmas, because they are unable to go home to their families.

The film takes place at the end of 1970, when US troops were still fighting in the Vietnam War and explores the relationship between a hated teacher, the school cook and one of the boys “held over”. It is both funny and tragic, with stunning performances by Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa. 2023

Directed by Alexander Payne. English.

A Complete Unknown (15)
2026-01-08 20:00 - 22:30
The biographical film about the iconic musician Bob Dylan is beautifully crafted and executed as it transports you back immersing you in the life, music and story of one of the most influential artists of our time.

The performances are exceptional with Timothee Chalamet as Dylan delivering a magnetic portrayal capturing both the vulnerability and genius of the man.

The music is thrilling, with Chalamet playing and singing the songs, and the galvanizing power of ‘The Times they are a Changin’ debuting before a crowd who spontaneously join in. The supporting cast are terrific with Monic Barbaro performing as Joan Baez.

English. 2h21m. Directed James Mangold

A personal view by guest critic Beth Travers.

Transport yourself back in time this January and immerse yourself in the life,music and story of one of the most influential artists of our time – Bob Dylan.

A Complete Unknown is an autobiographical film about the American singer,songwriter and legend starring Timothee Chalamet and directed by JamesMangold. The film composes a gritty verse in the ballad of Bob Dylan’s life. Ittakes us on a journey with the then, unknown 19-year-and his guitar, on hismeteoric rise, and transformation from folk singer to electric visionary.

Mangold effortlessly captures Dylan’s relationships with musical icons suchas Johnny Cash, as well as his complex partnership with Joan Baez (playedby Monica Barbaro). The magic of their two voices intertwined beautifully onand off the stage, re-writing the rules of what art can achieve.

Chalamet delivers a magnetic portrayal, capturing both the vulnerability andgenius of the man. He helps breathe new life into an icon of the past, whileintroducing a younger audience to the brilliance of his music.

Beth.

All We Imagine As Light (15)
2026-02-05 20:00 - 22:00
Mumbai is more than a city. It’s an ever-expanding universe. Night shots of the thronged streets in this exquisite drama.

Having captured the teeming collision of lives, Kapadia gently guides us to follow three nurses. Nurse Prabhais a veteran at the busy urban hospital where all three work; her younger colleague Anu (newly arrived from the south of India, is caught up in the first thrill of romance with her Muslim boyfriend. And Pavartya cook in the hospital kitchen, is facing eviction from ahome that is due to be demolished to sate the voracious appetite of gentrification.

These are ordinary lives, with small sadnesses, twinging regrets and sparks of joy. In the second half of the film, when the women leave Mumbai to accompany Pavarty back to her coastal village, the skies lift, the air clears and the picture takes on a lyrical, dreamlike quality.

Primarily Malayalam and Hindi with English subtitles. 2h3m Director Payal Kapadia. Cannes Grand Prix 2024.

I'm Still Here (15)
2026-03-05 20:00 - 22:15
In the early 1970s, the military dictatorship in Brazil reaches its height. The Paiva family – Rubens, Eunice, and their five children – live in a beachside house in Rio, open to all their friends. One day, Rubens is taken for questioning and does not return.

An intense film based on the true story of Eunice Paiva, a mother and activistcoping with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident Brazilian politician Rubens Paiva. Despite being the target of an unsuccessful boycott by the Brazilian far-right, within 3 months of its release, the film surpassed 5 million admissions.

A beautiful film that portrays the strength of an individual fighting back; a triumph of humanity over state terror.

Portugese, French with english Subtitles. 135 minutes. Director Walter Salles. Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (2025) . Golden Globe; Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for Fernanda Torres

A personal review by guest critic Beth Travers:

I’m Still Here, Walter Salles’ Academy Award winning historical film tells the story of the Paiva family living in 1970s Brazil. The film opens on a beach in Rio, capturing a family full of life and love for one another. I found myself craving a place at their table and in their volley-ball games, lulled into the illusion of a happy-ever-after through the film’s comforting palette of yellow and brown. But things aren’t as they seem; the warmth of this family is swiftly disrupted by Brazil’s far right military, who come into their home and take their father away for questioning.

Mother of five, Eunice Paiva, played by Fernanda Torres, carries us and her children through her family’s period of uncertainty and immense stress, as Rubens Paiva becomes one of Brazil’s best known “Politically Disappeared”. I was captured by Torres’s performance, feeling my heart break at her stifled composure and quiet strength. Her attempt to maintain stability for her children, while relentlessly seeking justice and answers, exposed me to a new kind of female resilience.

This period of Brazil’s history was brand new to me, opening my eyes to a time tainted by its far-right, military dictatorship, and serves as a timely reminder of history repeating itself.

I would have loved to have learnt more about Eunice’s later work as a human rights activist and lawyer, seeking justice for other victims of political oppression. But, overall, Torres’s portrayal was still thoroughly deserving of her Golden Globe for Best Actress.

Holy Cow (15)
2026-04-02 20:00 - 21:30
Screenshot

Holy Cow is the feature debut from director Louise Courvoisier. A part time farmer herself, Courvoisier is at home with the reality of rural life in the Jura region of France.

The cast are non professional and take us right into a life that is intrinsically hard. Clément Faveau plays an 18 year old lad whose interests are girls, beer and mopeds. While this doesn’t change, he unexpectedly finds himself alone caring for his 7 year old sister. How do you brush her hair? Get her to school Make money? How indeed? His answer is; learn to make prize winning cheese!

We are making this a special night. High Weald Dairy from Horsted Keynes will visit us. Many of you will know their cheeses in Ditchling and Hassocks as they are brought to our Farmers’ Market by The Sussex Peasant. They will bring tasting samples and cheeses to sell and will talk about cheese making and also their successful and sustainable farming methods.

It will be a convivial evening, and nicely accompanied by a selection of fine wines.

French with English subtitles. 90m. Director Louise Courvoisier. Awards: César Award for Most Promising Actress , César Award for Best First Film , Un Certain Regard Youth Prize .

The Room Next Door (15)
2026-04-30 20:00 - 21:50
Ingrid and Martha became close friends while working together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

This is Almodovar’s first English language film. It is a powerful exploration of euthanasia, where Ingrid (Tilda Swinton) asks her old childhood friend, Martha (Julianne Moore), to stay with her until Ingrid decides she is ready to die. When she has made that decision, she will close her bedroom door which is next to her friend’s. The repercussions following Martha’s death resonate with the current debate in this country on assisted dying.

This film won the Golden Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival in 2024.

English. 107m. Directed by Pedro Almavodar.

The Marching Band (TBC)
2026-06-04 20:00 - 21:50
Screenshot

Acclaimed conductor Thibaut has leukaemia and needs a bone marrow donor. Learning he was adopted, he finds an older brother, a musician and factory worker. Their reunion sparks a fraternal, musical journey amidst the town’s factory closure. It has echoes of Brassed Off with its exploration of the impact of unemployment on a whole community. This is a delightful, at times hilarious, other times poignant, exploration of who we are and where we come from.

French with English subtitles. 103m. Directed by Emmanuel Courcol

Santhosh (15)
2026-07-02 20:00 - 22:00
Young widow Santosh inherits her late husband’s position as a police officer in the rural badlands of India, becoming the centre of a gripping story of moral conflict from British-Indian director Sandhya Suri.

Taken under the mentorship of Sharma, a charismatic and authoritative senior female inspector, Santosh soon finds herself investigating the brutal murder of a low-caste girl. The case draws her deep into a harsh world of crime and corruption, forcing her to confront both the failures of the system and her own place within it—mirroring the uncomfortable reckoning the audience undergoes alongside her.

Already a BAFTA-nominated writer-director, Suri makes her feature debut with Santosh. Premiering in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes 2024, the film earned critical acclaim and was developed with support from the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs.

Hindi with English subtitles. 2h. Directed by Sandhya Suri

My Favourite Cake (15)
2026-09-03 20:00 - 21:40
70-year-old Mahin has been widowed for 30 years and her two children live abroad. She is living a lonely life in Tehran. But one day, she decides to join her friends for the afternoon tea and finds a new spark in her heart. She meets someone who makes her feel alive again, and the evening brings unpredictable surprises and memories. She bakes her favourite cake, believing that she may have found love at her late age.

The female directors were banned from leaving Iran to attend it’s premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. They were held in Evin prison awaiting trial for propaganda against the regime.

Persian with English subtitles. 97m Directed by Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha

A personal view by guest critic Beth Travers

Ah yes, My Favourite Cake – though I would have appreciated a slice or twoto comfort me after this film. It is a gut-wrenching portrayal of loneliness andisolation of two, single 70-year-olds living in the hustle of modern-day Tehran.This award-winning Iranian film follows seventy-year-old Mahin and herattempt to revitalise her life after the loss of her husband. From a hilariousdepiction of female friendships, to heroism in the face of the oppressiveIranian morality police, co-directors Maryam Moghadam and BehtashSanaeeha beautifully capture a revival of love and romance.

The question arises from the beginning of the film – is it possible to find loveonce again at such an age? Mahin proves quite easily that it is, even underthe constraints of the Islamic Republic regime. She determinedly sets herheart on rediscovering life with a partner, unabashedly inviting cab driver andmilitary veteran, Faramarz (played by Esmail Mehrabi ) into her home forsome of her “favourite cake”. Admittedly I felt dazzled by her boldness, LiliFarhadpour magically captured that universal excitement and enjoyment offemale pursuit typically associated with young, carefree (and predominantlywestern) women. She proved the desire to be seen and for physical touchnever dies as we grow older.

Esmail won my heart with his loveable, charming smile and dance moves thathad viewers (such as myself) crying on their sofas still with no cake insight…

Beth

Battleship Potemkin (PG)
2026-10-01 20:00 - 21:20
Screenshot

Eisenstein’s 1925 film has earned immense critical acclaim and is consideredone of the greatest films ever made. About a 1905 naval mutiny it wasrevolutionary in both form and content. Battleship Potemkin is renowned forits dynamic composition and frame-perfect editing.

In this 2025 release the Pet Shop Boys score is performed with the DresdnerSinfoniker and orchestrated by Torsten Rasch. It blends electronic beats withorchestral grandeur in an encompassing score that makes a powerfulcinematic experience.

Director Sergei M. Eisenstein. 72 minutes. Silent. Originally screened in 1925. This version with new accompanying soundtrack by the Pet Shop Boys. 2025

The Ballad of Wallis Island (12A)
2026-11-05 20:00 - 21:40
Screenshot

This humorous and melancholic films follows Charles (Tim Key) an eccentric lottery winner living alone on a remote island who dreams of getting his favourite folk duo back together for a gig with an audience of just one. Carey Mulligan stars as part of the once almost famous band and returns from west coast USA where she now makes chutney along with her bird watching husband who tows along for the reunion. Tim Basden plays the other part of the duo and wrote the music for the film.

A powerful and beautiful story of family , friendship and identity

English. 1h 40mins. Director James Griffiths.

The Tundra Within Me (12A)
2026-12-03 20:00 - 21:40
Oskai’s film shows narrative and characters richly steeped in Sami cultural and tradition. Artist Lena returns to her remote Sami homeland in order to work on a project about women herders after she herself rejected this role and headed for the city.

The stark and beautiful landscape shows the life of the herders including the women and Lena is torn between renewing this life for herself and her son whilst falling in love.

The director Oskai is also a herder and this enables her to understand the love and pain that goes into this way of life. A beautiful and enriching film.
