Films, TV & Radio

Never have I been so conscious of how the world view I bring with me to a film affects how I understand it. Rose of Nevada begins with a succession of beautiful, lingering, colourful, close-up shots of decay - rocks and wood covered in lichen, metal chains eaten away by rust, a fishing harbour that has seen better times. Then two crossed pieces of wave-worn wood leap out at me like an abandoned cr... Read More

Helena Judd, from Radio Maria, reviews Hamnet, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao. The film has already won the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) People's Choice Award, highlighting its critical acclaim and audience impact. O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the ... Read More

'Life is Beautiful' is the ironic title of this 1997 period masterpiece that was an overwhelming critical and commercial success with critics praising its story, performances, direction and, in particular, its 'union of comedy and drama'. The story tells of a Jewish bookshop owner who uses his imagination to shield his young son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp. The film... Read More

H is for Hawk is a biographical drama produced by Film4 and based on the 2014 memoir written by Cambridge academic Helen McDonald. The film, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, deals with the awful depression Helen (Clare Foy) falls into following the sudden death of her beloved father, played by the supremely engaging and roguish Brendan Gleeson. As a way of hanging onto to the memory of her father, ... Read More

This five week course with Father Stuart Jesson SJ, at the London Jesuit Centre, 114 Mount Street, London W1K 3 AH, starting on Wednesday, 14 January, explores the way that films depict human life, and the hope of salvation, and what this might teach us: from Wim Wender's meditative Wings of Desire to the melodrama of Fellini's La Strada. For more information and to book see: https://londonjesuitc... Read More

What's your favourite Christmas carol? On Boxing Day, student reporters from St John Bosco College in Battersea, (who also publish a magazine: Faith Matters) will reveal the favourite Christmas carol of twelve people, including actress Dame Joanna Lumley, singer Barbara Dickson, rugby star Jonny Wilkinson, Maureen Devereux MBE, Father Patrick van der Vorst, precentor at Westminster Cathedral and f... Read More

A new documentary, 'Remembering the Seven', telling the story of seven Columban Fathers who were killed at the beginning of the Korean War in 1950, has been made by a grand niece of martyr, Fr Anthony Collier. The film is the work of Emma O'Brien, who is not only a film maker and grand niece of Fr Tony Collier but also a niece of Columban Missionary Fr Ray Collier, who currently is working in Brit... Read More

Hampstead is this month's movie at the Tim Hetherington Film Club in the Arrupe Hall in Farm Street Jesuit Centre this Thursday 27 November - 6.30 for 7pm. As a tribute to the late Dame Maggie Smith, the Film Club showed the last film she ever made, The Miracle Club which was enjoyed by all. Now, in memory of Diane Keaton who died recently, we are showing the delightful comedy drama, Hampstead. Re... Read More

Starring: Jeremy Alan White, Jeremy Strong, Stephen Graham, Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffman, David Krumholz, Paul Walter Hauser, Harrison Sloan Gilbertson, Grace Gummer, Mark Maron, Matthew Anthony Pellicano Jr. Directed by Scott Cooper. Bruce Springsteen is a significant figure in American and world music, 20th century, 21st-century. This is a portrait of Springsteen in 1981-1982 rather than a biograp... Read More

Vatican Media have launched a documentary today: 'Leo from Chicago' about the background of Robert Francis Prevost in his native United States. The film begins with his childhood in Dolton, through the memories of his brothers Louis and John, and continues among schools and universities, communities and parishes, featuring the voices of confreres, teachers, classmates, and longtime friends. Produc... Read More

In 2023, a new life-size bronze statue of St Dominic was unveiled outside the Dominicans' chapel in Edinburgh. In this new film by Graham Pritz-Bennett, Becoming Dominic, we follow sculptor Kenny Hunter as he draws the form of this statue out of its raw materials. This labour, attempting to capture the spirit of St Dominic, is woven between interviews with today's Dominican Friars, who in many dif... Read More

As the desperate crisis in Israel and the Occupied Territories continues - a new film released in the UK this week, offers some insights into the history of the region. Written and directed by Annemarie Jacir, the drama takes place in 1936 Mandatory Palestine, where a unified Palestinian uprising and increasing Jewish immigration intensify conflict against British rule. With a stellar cast that in... Read More

There's a chance to see the award -winning movie 'The Artist' at the Tim Hetherington Film Club at Farm Street Church Mayfair, this Thursday, 30 October at 6.30 for 7pm. Cost: free refreshments (donations welcome) This 2011 French-Belgian comedy drama made in the style of a black-and-white silent movie, or 'part-talkie', is a quite unique cinematic experience. The film is directed by Michael Hazna... Read More

Helena Judd from Radio Maria writes about the new film, 'Sketch' distributed by Angel Studios: 4 out of 4 stars! The story follows widower Taylor Wyatt (Tony Hale, in one of his most moving performances) as he prepares to sell the family home while his daughter Amber (Bianca Belle) begins to process her grief through drawing-creating colourful yet haunting monsters that seem to mirror her inner wo... Read More