Iconic and game-changing - AKIRA is the definitive anime masterpiece.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark cyberpunk classic obliterated the boundaries of Japanese animation and forced the world to look into the future. AKIRA’s arrival shattered traditional thinking, creating space for future generations of ground-breaking movies.

July, 1988 - World War III breaks loose. Then, in 2019, in megalopolis Tokyo…

As the leader of a group of young robust delinquents, Kaneda spent his nights tearing through the urban wastes, racing his motorbike against rival groups. One night while riding with his gang, his friend Tetsuo suddenly encounters a strange boy - the product of human experimentation.

Based on the graphic novel “AKIRA” by Katsuhiro Otomo. First published by “Young Magazine”,Kodansha Ltd. ©1988 MASH・ROOM/ AKIRA COMMITTEE All Rights Reserved.

All And Nothing is a documentary about Li Yuan-chia, a Chinese-born conceptual artist. In 1971, he restored a derelict farmhouse on Hadrian's Wall and opened the L.Y.C. Museum & Gallery, which became an internationally recognised creative hub exhibiting over 300 artists, including Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash and Bill Woodrow. The local community knew him simply as the "Chinaman"

The film traces Li's journey from wartime China through Taiwan, postwar Milan and Bologna, and Swinging Sixties London, before he settled in rural Cumbria. Drawing on his diaries, personal recordings and the memories of those who knew him, it explores how a singular vision, in an unlikely place, shaped a community for generations.

£5 for Friends of the Forum Members.

Celebrating 25 years of pure cinematic spectacle the irresistible French fantasy Amélie returns to cinemas.

The lonely 23-year-old Amélie decides to become an active member of her community by doing good deeds for those around her. When completing one such mission, she falls in love with a similarly shy collagist.

Directed by Yuen Woo Ping, the action maestro behind Kill Bill, The Matrix, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Blades of the Guardians brings together an outstanding multi-generational martial arts and action cast for an unbelievably stylish sword epic.

In the desert, many groups - including Swordsman, the government, and Western Clans - are fighting for power. Dao Ma, a famous bounty hunter, takes a job to protect a man on the long road to the city of Chang ‘an. However, he discovers the person he is protecting is the empire's most wanted man, Zhi Shi Lang. Now, every greedy faction is hunting them, and a deadly battle for the prize begins.

It’s been 25 years … you know the story.

Bridget Jones is a busy journalist and singleton lost amid a sea of smug-marrieds in London. After vowing to abandon her many vices, Bridget turns over a new page by channeling her opinions and insecurities in a diary that becomes a hilarious chronicle of her misadventures. Soon, Bridget finds herself stuck in the sights of not one, but two men: her dashing boss Daniel, who thrives on bad behavior; and the brooding Mark, who she despises but somehow can't get away from.

Fall in love with Bridget, Mark and Daniel all over again with tickets just £5 for Friends of the Forum or £3 for 16-25 members.

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

This bold unconventional documentary unfolds within The Ministry of Not Forgetting — an imagined, cinematic institution where memory and mythology collide.

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

Funny Girl is the bittersweet musical comedy telling the tory of the indomitable Fanny Brice (a role made famous by Barbra Streisand), a girl from the Lower East Side who dreamed of a life on the stage and her tempestuous relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. Fanny became one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway.

This critically acclaimed production features Sheridan Smith in “an unforgettable star turn” (The Times) and a host of iconic musical numbers including ‘People’, ‘I’m the Greatest Star”, and “Don’t Rain on My Parade’. A love letter to the theatre, the show has the whole shebang!

With his indelible directorial debut, screen icon Brian Cox presents a searing, finely wrought drama about the bonds and betrayals of family, anchored by Alan Cumming and Shirley Henderson.

Donal (Alan Cumming) reluctantly returns to the Scottish Highlands after 35 years in Chicago to make amends with his estranged older brother, Sandy (Brian Cox). Sandy needs Donal to take over the family’s whisky distillery or he will be forced to sell and give up on the family’s legacy. But their reunion forces the brothers to confront the past and the real reason Donal left Glenrothan.

Written by David Ashton (The Last King of Scotland) and Jeff Murphy (Hinterland), Glenrothan delves into the tangled bonds and quiet fractures of family, set against the proud yet endangered craft of producing some of the world’s finest whisky.

Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin. Baritone Igor Golovatenko reprises his portrayal of the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–winner Deborah Warner, “offers a beautifully detailed reading of … Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance” (The Telegraph).

Sung in Russian with subtitles.

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) feature in a five-star, triumphantly acclaimed new production of Arthur Miller’s classic play, from visionary director Ivo Van Hove (A View from the Bridge).

One family, the heart of the American dream. When wartime delivers profits for Joe, it comes at a price when his partner is charged with criminal manufacturing deals, and his eldest son goes missing in action. Will peacetime bring peace of mind, or will he be confronted by the consequence of his actions?

Filmed live from the West End, Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), Tom Glynn-Carney (House of the Dragon), and Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake) also feature in this disturbingly prescient play.

Our Land dares to tread where few have trespassed before, asking the timely question of who has the right to roam in the English countryside?

The UK is a wild and beautiful place, but the vast majority of it is off limits to the general public, with 92% of land and 97% of all rivers in England not legally accessible. At the same time, it is a landscape shaped by centuries of inheritance and tradition, with land held and cared for by families across multiple generations.

Our Land takes us to the heart of the ‘Right to Roam’ movement as it embarks on a provocative trail of mass trespass, campaigning and education, while also exploring landowners’ concerns around environmental protection and the danger such widespread access could pose to a landscape already under threat.

Alan Owen, a descendant of an Atomic Soldier, has fought tirelessly for the rights of those affected by Nuclear Weapons Testing around the world. Through global first hand accounts, we follow Alan on his journey, as he takes on the UK's Ministry of Defence, in a landmark legal battle that seeks recognition and compensation for millions.

Since 1945 there have been over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests conducted across our planet. The resulting radiation and issues from these tests have impacted not only soldiers involved in the testing programmes, it has touched everyone alive today. This documentary brings to light the little known, devastating impact of the world’s testing programmes, and how they have impacted different communities and people for millennia to come.

Filmed over 3 years, Director Daniel Everitt-Lock and his team travelled across 20 different states in the USA (including Hawaii), the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, covering over 100,000 miles. On a shoestring budget, they managed to pull together a world class documentary that was accepted into IDFA’s Docs for Sale Programme, and has gone on to screen privately in UK parliament in January 2026, gaining cross party support for the issue.

Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.

Adapted from the best-selling sci-fi epic from Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary has shattered the global box-office and audience expectations, earning praise for its impressive display of practical effects and its entertaining and engaging realisation of an exceptional adventure.

Princess Pamina has been captured. Her mother, the Queen of the Night, tasks the young Prince Tamino with her daughter’s rescue. But when Tamino and his friendly sidekick, Papageno, embark on their adventure, they soon learn that when it comes to the quest for love, nothing is as it really seems. Guided by a magic flute, they encounter monsters, villains, and a mysterious brotherhood of men – but help, it turns out, comes when you least expect it.

Mozart’s fantastical opera glitters in David McVicar’s enchanting production. A star cast including Julia Bullock as Pamina, Amitai Pati as Tamino, Huw Montague Rendall as Papageno, Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, and Soloman Howard as Sarastro, led by French conductor Marie Jacquot in her Covent Garden debut.

Sung in German with subtitles.

A film that inspired a generation. Rob Reiner's timeless coming of age classic returns to the big screen 40 years after its big screen debut.

Adapted from the Stephen King novella The Body, Stand By Me follows 4 friends in the summer of 1959. There’s sensitive Gordie (Wil Wheaton), tough guy Chris (River Phoenix), flamboyant Teddy (Corey Feldman), and scaredy-cat Vern (Jerry O'Connell).

Their weekend plans quickly change after overhearing of a dead body found in a nearby forest. The boys set out to see for themselves in what becomes a defining journey in all of their lives.

£5 for Friends of the Forum, £3 for 16-25 members!

A favourite of our Tyne Valley Film Festival preview’s, we’re pleased to bring back The Blue Trail - a transfixing late in life coming of age tale where the unfamiliar river bends to new routes of freedom.

In near future Brazil, elderly citizens are forced to relocate to remote retirement colonies to avoid hindering their offspring’s productivity. Having reached the fateful age, defiant Tereza instead embarks on an illegal but life-changing journey through the Amazon.

"A boisterous anti-ageism parable."

 - The Guardian

£5 for Friends of the Forum Members.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson star in this romantic dark comedy from Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, as a happily engaged couple put to the test after an unexpected admission sends their wedding preparation off the rails.

Tickets are just £3 for 16-25 members!

Based on the beloved The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton, The Magic Faraway Tree, follows Polly and Tim and their children Beth, Joe and Fran – a modern family who find themselves forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. Soon after their arrival, with no Wi-Fi or electricity to charge their treasured electronic gadgets, the children must develop an interest in the great outdoors.

Exploring the natural world around their new home, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric residents, including cherished characters Moonface, Silky, Dame Washalot and Saucepan Man. At the top of the tree, they are transported to spectacular and fantastical lands, and, through the joys and challenges of their adventures, the family learn to reconnect and value each other for the first time in years.

We have a relaxed show of The Magic Faraway Tree on April 13th 13:30pm  - see more about what to expect from a relaxed show here.

After a brilliant sold out preview screening as part of our Tyne Valley Film Festival, we are pleased to bring back the breathtaking hiking drama, The North for a full run of shows.

Having taken the same 350-mile walk in their youth, former best friends and roommates Chris and Lluis meet up after a decade to hike Scotland’s West Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail. The pair hope to rekindle their once-strong friendship by spending 30 days together in the majestic, raw beauty of the Scottish Highlands.

Shot entirely on the route of the walk, and in chronological order, The North is a beautiful ode to friendship and the healing power of nature.  It’s not only a poignant and powerful drama, but also perhaps the definitive hiking film, allowing us to take in the stunning majesty of the Highlands shoulder-to-shoulder with Lluis and Chris as they reconnect with each other and with nature.

Soviet Union, 1937

Thousands of letters from detainees falsely accused by the regime are burned in a prison cell. Against all odds, one of them reaches its destination, upon the desk of the newly appointed local prosecutor, Alexander Kornyev. A dedicated Bolshevik of integrity, the young prosecutor suspects foul play. His quest for justice will take him all the way to the office of the Attorney General in Moscow.

Set at the height of the great purge and drenched in the paranoia of Stalin’s police state, filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa’s latest triumph is a chilling, Kafkaesque thriller about the impunity of power and matter-of-fact horrors of fascism.

Based on Robert Macfarlane's bestseller, UNDERLAND is a cinematic voyage beneath the surface of the earth, into worlds rarely glimpsed by human eyes.

We know so little of the world beneath our feet. To most it is a place only of fear and darkness, though to a brave few it is one of knowledge and wonder to be found nowhere else. Beginning in the shallow soils beneath an old ash tree, the film follows several ‘astronauts of the underworld’ as they travel into ancient sacred caves, flooded storm drains, melting glaciers, underwater burial chambers and a deep underground laboratory built to solve the mysteries of the Universe.

Narrated by Oscar-nominated Sandra Hüller, and with a uniquely poetic approach, UNDERLAND is a deep dive into the Earth that ultimately presents a groundbreaking vision for rethinking our lives on this fragile surface.