Wim Wenders’ beguiling Tokyo-set drama is a poignant, warm-hearted portrait of a Tokyo toilet cleaner, played by Cannes Best Actor prize-winner Koji Yakusho.

Hirayama (a captivating performance by Yakusho) lives a life of quiet routine. He goes to work, eats in the same cafe every day and buys second-hand books at the weekend. Wenders’ empathetic portrait gradually draws us into this world, one in which the tiniest details add to the richness of a simple and decent life. With a soundtrack featuring Lou Reed and Patti Smith, this is a gorgeous hymn to humanity and to finding meaning in the everyday.

Alex Garland anticipates a civil war in the United States. In the midst of a North American presidential election year that could see Donald Trump re-elected, and in a climate of high tension and social mistrust in Uncle Sam's country - the assault on the Capitol is not so far off - the British director unveils a future that may be closer than it seems.

To tell the story of this fractured America, Civil War follows three Reuters photo-reporters who bear witness to the situation through their photographs. In a veritable throwback to the American Civil War, Texas and California, allied with Florida, the dissident army of the West, clash with the other government-backed, army-held states. From New York, the three journalists(Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Stephen Henderson) attempt to reach the front line in Charlottesville at all costs, 1300km from their starting point, then on to Washington DC, where the President is holed up in the White House.

WARNING: This film CIVIL WAR contains a sequence of flashing lights which might affect customers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy’

It is August 1971. Football teams from England, Argentina, Mexico, France, Denmark and Italy are gathering at Mexico City’s sun-drenched Azteca Stadium. The scale of the tournament is monumental: lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage, merchandise on every street corner and crowds of over 100,000 hollering fans turn this historic stadium into ‘a cauldron of noise and heat’ match after match. A fawning media treat the players like rock stars. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the greatest moments in international footballing history.

But this is a tournament unlike anything that’s happened before. The players on the pitch are all women. And it’s likely you’ve never even heard of it. This is Copa 71, the unofficial Women’s World Cup. Dismissed by both FIFA and domestic football associations around the world, this event has been entirely written out of history. Until now.

Filmmaker Thomas Pickering has never eaten meat.

Born in the 1980’s and raised vegetarian, before switching to a vegan diet, Tom’s always believed he’s been doing right by the animals, his own health, and - more recently - the planet. Despite this he still can’t go a day without hearing from others why they could never go vegan. From “where do you get your protein” and “soya is killing the rainforests” to “vegan food is expensive” and “climate change doesn’t exist”, he’s heard it all. With no sign of these arguments against his lifestyle choice going away, Tom sets out on a quest to investigate the many reasons he’s heard over the years, and see if they’re unjustified, or whether his upbringing was one big plant based con.

On his journey Tom tracks down several top athletes, witnessing world records, championship successes and an 84-year-old taking part in his sixth ultra-marathon. He speaks to doctors, environmental scientists, psychologists and chefs. He follows investigative journalists and activists as he goes undercover into factory farms, where he learns the A Rating awarded to the UK for its farming practise isn’t what it seems.

At the end of it all, Tom tries to piece together this complex picture as he finds a clear link between the way we treat animals, the effect it has on our planet, and our own health.

BAFTA-nominated and critically acclaimed for her 2019 psychological horror Saint Maud, British director Rose Glass returns with a queer love story and thriller set in small-town America, Love Lies Bleeding.

Kristen Stewart stars as reclusive gym manager Lou, who falls hard for Jackie (Katy O’Brian), an ambitious bodybuilder passing through town en route to pursuing her dreams in Las Vegas. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family – led by her father (a tanned, taciturn Ed Harris, sporting a truly chilling hairstyle) – and threatening disaster.

With a wider ensemble cast including Jena Malone, Dave Franco and Anna Baryshnikov, Love Lies Bleeding promises to be a passionate romance and an electric thriller fuelled by ego, desire, and the American dream.

Zendaya plays a romantically challenged tennis pro in the new ménage à trois sports drama from Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, I Am Love, Bones and All, A Bigger Splash), co-starring Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. One of the most feverishly anticipated films of 2024 (especially after its delayed release following the 2023 US actors’ strikes), Challengers is scripted by playwright Justin Kuritzkes (Guadagnino’s repeat collaborator on the upcoming Queer), sound-tracked by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and promises to be a punchy, sensationally watchable blend of romance, comedy, tennis and high drama, both on and off court.

Zendaya is Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy-turned-coach and a force of nature. Married to Art, a champion on a losing streak (Faist), Tashi’s coaching strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when she signs him up for a ‘Challenger’ match against the washed-up Patrick (O’Connor) – Art’s ex-best friend, and Tashi’s former lover. As the trio reunite, memories of their youthful love triangle arise and new feelings of jealousy, lust and betrayal come to the fore. Tashi must ask herself: what will it cost her to win?

From the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Given complete and unprecedented access to the treasures of Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, this is a major film about one of the world’s favourite artists.

This film provides viewers with the moving and inspiring experience of seeing Vincent’s iconic masterpieces close-up on the screen and presents new insights and interpretations by specially invited guests including V. Willem van Gogh great grandson of Theo van Gogh and contemporary artist Lachlan Goudie.

Vincent’s illuminating letters to his family and friends are brought to life by dramatisation which puts flesh on the bones of new biography. Recent research question the many myths surrounding Vincent’s troubled life.

We look closely at the life of a man who reminds us that, “Art is long and life is short.”

“A revolutionary ‘gallery’ experience” – Canberra Times

“Paintings shown in breath-taking detail” – Daily Mail

Screening to coincide with a major forthcoming exhibition at The National Gallery from September 2024

Following on from his acclaimed features SHOPLIFTERS and BROKER, Hirokazu Kore-eda presents us with another poetic, humanist drama. There is some kind of darkness surrounding 11-year-old Minato (Soya Kurokawa). As his behaviour begins to shift at school, his mum Saori (Sakura Ando) confronts his teachers in order to discover the truth. Using the 'RASHOMON' parallel timeline technique, we watch the series of events unfold from different perspectives, broadening our considerations on what might have happened, but holding its final secret until the end.

The film was also awarded the Best Screenplay at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.