Broken English

- OFFICIAL SELECTION: Venice International Film Festival 2025 -
- OFFICIAL SELECTION: BFI London Film Festival 2025 -

Broken English is a bold and imaginative documentary portrait of the inimitable singer, songwriter and icon Marianne Faithfull.

A survivor, provocateur and true original, Marianne spent more than six decades defying expectations, releasing over thirty-five albums while constantly reinventing herself.

Made with her full involvement, Broken English is an intimate and unflinching exploration of a fractured yet unbreakable life shaped by fame, creativity and relentless public scrutiny.

The film unfolds within the “Ministry of Not Forgetting”, an imagined, cinematic institution where memory and mythology collide. The Ministry is presided over by Tilda Swinton as The Overseer, and George MacKay (also starring in & Sons at this year’s Festival) serves as The Record Keeper, poring over Faithfull’s life and career.

Broken English is a genre-defying act of resilience and rebellion — Marianne Faithfull’s final fearless declaration, her defiant swan song.

STARRING: Marianne Faithfull, Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, Zawe Ashton

DIRECTED BY: Jane Pollard, Iain Forsyth

Words of War

From James Strong, director of the acclaimed mini-series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Words of War tells the powerful true story of world-renowned journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya.

Maxine Peake (also starring in I Swear at this year’s Festival) expertly portrays Politkovskaya’s brave crusade, putting her life in jeopardy by fighting to be an independent voice of truth for the Russian people. She refused to give up reporting on the war in Chechnya despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence, including being poisoned.

Sparring with Peake on the silver screen is Jason Isaacs, in the role of Politkovskaya’s husband Sasha - a TV journalist who can barely hide his jealousy of his wife’s success. Irish screen legend Ciarán Hinds also joins the cast as Dmitry Muratov, Anna’s editor of the independent paper Novaya Gazeta.

Politkovskaya’s legacy lives on, and her story serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting the right to report the news without fear of death or reprisal.

STARRING: Maxine Peake, Ciarán Hinds, Jason Isaacs

DIRECTED BY: James Strong

Islands

- OFFICIAL SELECTION: Berlin International Film Festival 2025 -

Tom (Sam Riley, Control) is the tennis coach at a luxurious island hotel, filling his time between lessons with booze and brief affairs. The arrival of the Maguire family pulls Tom out of his normal routine and he strikes up a relationship with Anne (Stacy Martin, The Brutalist), her husband Dave (Jack Farthing, Spencer) and their son Anton. Tom is unable to shake the feeling that he has met Anne before, and this tension grows between them until one night, Dave goes missing and the police investigation points to both Anne and Tom as suspects. With Islands, Festival audiences are in for a “scorching, sun-frazzled Hitchcockian delight” (The Standard).

STARRING: Sam Riley, Stacy Martin, Jack Farthing

DIRECTED BY: Jan-Ole Gerster

Four Mothers

- WINNER: Audience Award, BFI London Film Festival 2024 -

Edward (James McArdle, Mary Queen of Scots, Mare of Easttown), a novelist saddled with caring for his elderly mother, Alma (Fionnula Flanagan, Waking Ned Devine) finally finds himself on the brink of literary success.

With pressure to go on a US book tour mounting, the last thing Edward needs is his friends jetting off to Spain for an impromptu Pride holiday, leaving their mothers on his doorstep!

Over a chaotic weekend, he has to juggle his burgeoning career with the care of four eccentric, combative, and wildly different ladies.

An Irish twist on the acclaimed Italian hit Mid-August Lunch, this uplifting comedy and tender drama takes an unlikely found family on an emotionally charged journey of self-discovery and acceptance.

Book your tickets now for this Irish charmer, winner of the BFI London Film Festival Audience Award!

STARRING: James McArdle, Fionnula Flanagan, Niamh Cusack, Dearbhla Molloy

DIRECTED BY: Darren Thornton

Gerry Adams: A Ballymurphy Man

- WINNER: Best International Documentary, Galway Film Fleadh -

Irish republican leader Gerry Adams is one of the most controversial political leaders and visionaries of our time, having led the people of the North of Ireland from conflict to peace.

Adams was a critical voice in the decision taken independently by the IRA to lay down their arms after their twenty-five-year war against the British. Imprisoned and shot, he was demonised and censored by dominant media as a subversive and a terrorist.

Ultimately, the British and their allies were forced to recognize his legitimacy and negotiate with him - and his party Sinn Féin - the Irish peace accord known as ‘The Good Friday Agreement’.

Today, Adams supports the next generations on their peaceful and inclusive path toward Irish unity.

An intensely private man, protecting his family from the public eye, Adams tell his story for the first time in this eye-opening documentary. Interwoven with his words, a wealth of imagery of what is one of the most documented conflicts of our time gives an insight into Adams’ world - relaxed, informal, and uncensored.

DIRECTED BY: Trisha Ziff

Beat the Lotto

- OFFICIAL SELECTION: Dublin International Film Festival 2025 -

Beat the Lotto is a rip-roaring tale about the mathematician who, along with a ragtag syndicate, plotted to fix Ireland’s National Lottery in 1992, captivating the nation and sparking rabid debate.

In Ireland, the public became obsessed when the National Lottery arrived, none more so than mathematician and avid stamp-collector Stefan Klincewicz. Using mathematical analysis, he reckoned the system could be beaten if he could just gather enough people to form a syndicate to buy every single ticket combination – and front up all the cash, of course.

Director Ross Whitaker fashions this unbelievable true story into a gripping thriller, mirroring the tension felt by the public as the lottery authorities caught wind of the plan.

With insightful interviews and fantastic archival footage, Beat the Lotto is a look back at Ireland in the 1990s and a compelling tale of one man’s attempt to outsmart the system.

DIRECTED BY: Ross Whitaker

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Maggie Smith earned her first Academy Award for this beloved period drama, originally released in 1969. Smith plays the titular Jean Brodie, a headstrong and liberated young teacher at a private school in 1930s Edinburgh. Eccentric but inspirational, Miss Brodie prefers to avoid any sort of curriculum in favour of what she feels her young female charges should know about life. Outside of class, a small group of girls compete for her favour, but their initial devotion eventually leads to jealousies, betrayal and tragedy. Based on the acclaimed novel and stage play by Muriel Spark, make time during this year’s Festival to revisit Maggie Smith’s award-winning performance.

STARRING: Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Gordon Jackson, Celia Johnson

DIRECTED BY: Ronald Neame