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SEASON EIGHTEEN: 2016-2017

​September 2016: The Wonders
October 2016: Wild Tales
November 2016: The Battle of the Sexes
December 2016: The Lobster
January 2017: Mustang
February 2017: Embrace of the Serpent
February 2017 (HFS AGM): Taxi Tehran
March 2017: A War
April 2017: Rams
May 2017: Tangerines
June 2017: Still Life
July 2017: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
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Download a PDF of the programme

Sunday 11 Sept 2016:  The Wonders  (Le Meraviglie)  

Aiming to boost the fortunes of her beekeeping family in rural Tuscany, young Gelsomina enters them in a tacky TV show against her father's wishes. Traditional ways of life conflict with the modern world in this charming, funny and bittersweet coming-of-age tale.

2014 | Germany/Italy/Switzerland | 111 min | Cert 15
Director: Alice Rohrwacher | Grand Prix Cannes                                                       

Plus: Honey tasting and presentation by local bee-keeping expert, Margaret Thomas.

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Number of beans: 31
Average bean score:  2.90 
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Sunday 9 Oct 2016:  Wild Tales  (Relatos Salvajes)

Wickedly hilarious and delightfully deranged, these six short stories are linked by the common theme of revenge and violence, as people under stress succumb to the giddy pleasures of losing control. Wildly entertaining.

2014 | Spain/Argentina | 120 min | Cert 15
Director: Damián Szifrón | Multiple Awards

​Number of beans: 26
Average bean score:  3.58
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Sunday 6 Nov 2016:  The Battle of the Sexes

In this classic comedy, gold-digger Marie hooks a tycoon, but when his family and her boyfriend get involved mayhem ensues. Silent film with live accompaniment by Jane Gardner and friends. Showing in association with Aberfeldy Music Festival. 

1928 | USA | 88 min | No certificate
Director: D W Griffith

Number of beans: 36
Average bean score:  3.89
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18-20 November 2016:
​Aberfeldy Film Festival (Sound Tracks)

​A weekend of films and events celebrating the role of music in cinema.
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Sunday 11 Dec 2016:  The Lobster

In a dystopian near future, single people are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or be transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods. Seriously weird and wonderfully funny. 

2015 | UK & International | 120 min | Cert 15
Director Yorgos Lanthimos | BAFTA, Cannes Awards   


Number of beans: 32
Average bean score:  2.38
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Sunday 8 Jan 2017:  Mustang

As punishment for the ‘immorality’ of playing with boys and in an attempt to keep them unsullied, five teenage sisters are virtually imprisoned at home and marriages are arranged. Their spirited rebellions bring lightness and humour to this bubbling comedy-drama. 

2015 | Turkey/France | 97 min | Cert 15
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven | Multiple awards

Number of beans: 60
Average bean score:  3.72
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Sunday 12 Feb 2017:  Embrace of the Serpent
​                                  (El abrazo de la serpiente)

40 years apart, an Amazonian shaman leads two western explorers in search of a sacred healing plant. A mixture of fact and fiction, this mesmerising, politically-tinged adventure is both an indictment of colonialism and a celebration of disappearing cultures. 

2015 | Colombia | 125 min | Cert 12A
Director: Ciro Guerra | Director's Award Cannes

Number of beans: 41
Average bean score:  3.37
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Sunday 26 Feb 2017 (AGM):  Taxi Tehran

Banned filmmaker, Jafar Panahi, takes to the streets in a taxi equipped with hidden cameras. The resulting portraits of everyday characters and events offer a captivating, entertaining and telling commentary on life in Iran today. 

2015 | Iran | 82 min | Cert 12
Director: Jafar Panahi | Golden Bear Berlin 2015

Number of beans: 28
Average bean score:  2.89
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Sunday 12 March 2017: A War  (Krigen)

On a routine mission in Afghanistan, an army officer makes a momentous decision which has grave consequences for himself and those at home, where his wife struggles to hold the family together. Part thriller, part courtroom drama, this is a complex and rewarding film.

2015 | Denmark | 115 min | Cert 15
Director: Tobias Lindholm (A Hijacking) | Oscar nominated

Number of beans: 21
Average bean score:  3.48
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Sunday 9 April 2017:  Rams  (Hrútar)

In rural Iceland, two curmudgeonly sheep-farming brothers are faced with a total cull of their ancestral flock. In a perfectly pitched film which hovers between absurdity and tragedy, they fight back in their own ways. 

2015 | Iceland/Denmark/Norway/Poland | 93 min | Cert 15
Director: Grímur Hákonarson | Un Certain Regard Cannes

Number of beans: 69
Average bean score:  3.46

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Sunday 14 May 2017:  Tangerines (Mandariinid)

In 1992 in warring Georgia, Ivo remains on his farm to harvest his tangerines, but finds himself caring for two wounded soldiers from opposing sides, who barely suppress their mutual hatred.  A poetic, moving and suspenseful anti-war film. 

2013 | Estonia/Georgia | 87 mins | Cert 15
Director: Zaza Urushadze | Multiple Awards

Number of beans: 29
Average bean score:  3.79  
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Sunday 11 June 2017: Still Life

In this poignant drama, John (Eddie Marsan), whose job for over 20 years has been to trace the relatives of people who have died lonely deaths, is facing redundancy. Tackling his final case, he becomes involved in the complicated past of a neighbour and finds a new friendship. 

2013 | UK/Italy | 92 min | Cert 12A
Director: Uberto Pasolini | Best Actor & Best Director Awards

Number of beans: 29
Average bean score:  3.38
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Sunday 9 July 2017:  A Pigeon Sat on a Branch
​                                 Reflecting on Existence

A deadpan black comedy, as a pair of hapless novelty salesmen take us on a tour of the human condition, in reality and fantasy, which unfolds in a series of absurdist episodes revealing the humour and tragedy within us all. 

2014 | Sweden | 100 min | Cert 12
Director: Roy Anderrson | Golden Lion Venice

Number of beans: 22
Average bean score:  2.55
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