Ditchling Film Society is proud to host an evening in conversation with Greta Scacchi. Join us for a screening of White Mischief (15) followed by Greta Scacchi in coversation with Peter Guttridge author and former film journalist.
Set in 1940s colonial Kenya, White Mischief (1987) follows Diana Broughton (Greta Scacchi), a young aristocrat trapped in a loveless marriage to the much older Sir Jock Broughton (Charles Dance). Seeking escape, she falls for the charismatic Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll (Joss Ackland), a notorious figure in the decadent Happy Valley set. Their affair sparks jealousy and scandal within the insular expatriate community, leading to Erroll’s mysterious murder—a crime that exposes the moral decay beneath the group’s glamorous facade. Directed by Michael Radford (1984), the film blends historical drama with an atmospheric murder mystery, set against the striking landscapes of East Africa.
Radford’s direction highlights the tension between Diana’s yearning for freedom and the rigid constraints of her world. Scacchi delivers a nuanced performance, portraying Diana as both vulnerable and defiant, caught in a web of passion and power. John Hurt’s narration adds a reflective tone, while the film’s restrained pacing builds a quiet inevitability. With its mix of romance, intrigue, and social critique, White Mischief offers a compelling portrait of colonial excess and the personal tragedies it leaves in its wake.
Free for members.
£7 Advance tickets on sale from Ditchling Post Office or on the door
La Chimera is a fantasy created from fragments. For the thieves of ancient grave goods and archaeological wonders, the Chimera means redemption from work and the dream of easy wealth.
For Arthur (Josh O’Connor), fresh out of prison, the chimera means a search through time and the underworld for his love Beniamina. A piece of cinematic magical realism using the ancient and modern landscapes of Tuscany against an unexpectedly rich musical score.
The film has received 11 film awards and 26 nominations.
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher. English, Italian, French with subtitles.
NB: This film is being shown on 8th May due to County Council elections on 1st May 2025.
Kate Winslet stars as Lee Miller – the fashion model turned war photographer for British Vogue. She bears witness to the terrible aftermath of WWIl in her new role and even gets into Hitler’s private flat and poses in his bath – a photoshot intended to shock.
She battles against prejudice as a woman war photographer which seems to give her an impetus to press further in her work.
Lee Miller lived in Sussex with her husband, Roland Penrose, an artist and art critic.
A tale of Syrian refugees and asylum seekers set in the summer of 2016, just after the Brexit vote. The Old Oak is the local pub where the landlord is only just hanging on due to deprivation and poverty in the village. Не refuses to get involved in the issues of the refugees. While some in the community have some sympathy with the refugees there is hostility at the apparent benefits the refugees get.
He gradually softens towards the refugees and together with Yara, the young Syrian woman, organises a food kitchen where the community can get together socialise and gradually get to understand each other. It is a complex film with issues such as Brexit, racism, poverty and alienation running throughout.
This documentry film based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling book Wilding 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.
