Holmfirth Film Festival

Dir. Sarah Smith (UK/US 2011 97 mins PG)

Fabulous Aardman Animation classic.

This animated family comedy, at last reveals the incredible, never-before told answer to every child's question: 'How does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?'

Dir. Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz (US 2019 97 mins 12)

Ragged romance in Mark Twain style - a child in care on the run with a criminal.  Great acting - US audiences movie of the year.  A film with genuine warmth and beautiful locations to keep winter at bay - you’ll come out smiling.

Dir. Alex Holmes (US 2019, 97mins 12)

Absolutely terrific. Thrilling archive footage in truly inspirational against-all-odds story of 24 year-old cook Tracey Adams who skippered the first all-female crew in the 1989 Round the World Race.

Dir. Ari Aster (Sweden 2019 138mins 18)

A couple's journey to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in remote Sweden turns into a pagan horror in the style of The Wicker Man that grips audiences. Beautiful, terrifying and rated by some critics a modern masterpiece.

Dir. Stanley Nelson Jr. (US 2019, 115mins 12)

Just out in cinemas, here's a chance to see this superbly-crafted, rich and exhilarating documentary on the legendary jazz superstar.  This is both a great introduction to his groundbreaking music and to the mystique that is Miles. Cool indeed.

Dir. Larry Peerce (US 1967 107mins 15)

An absolutely riveting snapshot of New York City on the edge as two delinquents, a superb Tony Musante and a young Martin Sheen in his first film, take over a subway carriage and confront late night commuters, including a newly recruited soldier, Beau Bridges. A forgotten genuine classic of the emerging American New Wave cinema. 

Dir. Tom Piper (US 2017, 76mins)

A wonderful immersion into the gardens of the revolutionary and iconic Dutch landscape gardener/designer and leader of the New Perennials movement. Beautiful and contemplative. 

Dir. Peter Stephan Jungk (Austria 2018, 91mins 12)

Fascinating and gripping documentary quest into the remarkable life of the director's Aunt, Vienna-born photographer for Picture Post and dedicated Soviet agent, Edith Tudor-Hart, who recruited British spies such as Kim Philby in the 1930s. A very talented woman who became another sad victim of the Cold War.

Dir. Peter Kominsky (UK 1992, 106mins 12)

Emily Bronte's novel has seen many adaptions - this one by Anne Devlin takes on the whole novel and deserves a reassessment. The great Juliette Binoche, the debut of Ralph Fiennes, wonderful music from Ryuichi Sakamoto and uncredited narration by Sinead O'Connor produce a very good film - but will it satisfy lovers of the novel?

Dir. Callum Macrae (UK 2018, 108 mins 15)

A forensic and shocking study of the almost forgotten death of eleven innocent Catholics in an incident in Northern Ireland in 1971, which foreshadowed Bloody Sunday. Documentary film-making and investigative journalist at its best.