Inspired by Chris Marker’s La Jetée and with overtones of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, Asif Kapadia delivers an unsettling commentary on the state of the world today… and tomorrow.

Director’s Statement: 2073 is about a feeling of dread at what is happening and being normalised around the world. The film started after seeing Brexit happen through lies and corruption in the UK, I felt I had to make a film to understand why the world seemed to be moving towards lies, authoritarianism, violence. I interviewed journalists around the world, was I going crazy, or was something happening? The journalists agreed, there was a global trend, a democratic recession, technology played a huge part and this was also helping the destruction of the planet's ecosystem. 2073 has come out of those interviews and research. My aim was to connect the dots between many complex issues and countries in a single cinematic film.

Asif Kapadia is an Academy Award, BAFTA, Grierson and Grammy Award winning film director, writer and producer and one of the most influential filmmakers of our generation. Perhaps best known for his acclaimed trilogy of films AMY, SENNA and DIEGO MARADONA, he also directed eps of the MINDHUNTER series for Netflix, series directed and exec produced the critical hit music series 1971: The Year Music Changed Everything (AppleTV+) and he also co directed and exec produced the mental health series THE ME YOU CAN’T SEE (AppleTV+). We are delighted to welcome him back to The RIverside stage to present his new work.

The latest film from John Crowley is a poignant British romantic drama, strikingly led by Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.

Rather than a meet-cute, restaurateur Almut and recent divorcee Tobias’s first encounter is quite literally a car crash. After such a memorable meeting, an instant spark forms between the pair, overpowering any disagreements they may have about matrimony and children in their future. However, this romance is far from a fairytale when the cruel realities of mortality creep into Tobias and Almut’s lives, leaving them to reassess what they want from their careers and the life they are building together. Spanning the highs and lows of a decades-long relationship, Crowley’s (Brooklyn) drama is a fresh, funny and deeply moving romance that, thanks to Pugh and Garfield’s incredible chemistry, feels authentic and alive.

Olivier award-winning director Damiano Michieletto (Carmen, Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci) returns to The Royal Opera for a new production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. Conductor Antonello Manacorda, with whom Michieletto previously collaborated on Carmen, leads Juan Diego Flórez and Leonardo Caimi, who share the role of the poet E.T.A. Hoffmann, Alex Esposito as the Four Villains, Julie Boulianne as Nicklausse and Ermonela Jaho, Olga Pudova and Marina Costa-Jackson as Hoffmann’s unforgettable trio of lovers.

Helsinki, 1945. The end of the war brings a new sense of artistic and social freedom for painter Tove Jansson. Modern art, dizzying parties and an open relationship with a married politician: Her unconventional life puts her at odds with her sculptor father's strict ideals.

Tove's desire for liberty is put to the test when she meets theatre director Vivica Bandler. Her love for Vivica is electric and all-consuming but Tove begins to realise that the love she truly yearns has to be reciprocated. As she struggles with her personal life, her creative endeavours take her in an unexpected direction. While focusing her artistic dreams on her painting, the work that started as a side project, the melancholic, haunting tales she told scared children in bomb shelters, rapidly takes on a life of its own.

The exploits of the Moomins, infused with inspiration from her own life, bring Tove international fame and financial freedom. There's a daily comic strip, a stage play and stories that continue to delight people around the world. But as she begins to find her artistic identity she has to learn to find herself. Her unrequited love for Vivica is preventing her true liberty and only by learning to break away from her can she truly be free.

TOVE is a captivating drama about the creative energy of an iconic talent and her turbulent search for identity, desire and freedom.

In poor health, Maria Callas wanders around a picturesque Paris as she recounts to an adoring journalist the highs of her career and litany of past loves. Angelina Jolie gives a transforming performance, capturing the myriad layers and masks of this legendary singer’s personality, from pithy to heartbreakingly vulnerable, while showing flashes of the personality that saw her idolised as an opera star. Featuring a stellar cast that includes Valeria Golino, Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher, Maria is a stunning addition to Larraín’s portrait of iconic women subjected to an alarming degree of scrutiny, while the world looked on.

The third instalment brings Paddington's story to Peru as he returns to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown Family in tow, a thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and up to the mountain peaks of Peru.

The incredible ensemble cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Colman, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Carla Tous and Jim Broadbent. Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton both return as the voices of Paddington and Aunt Lucy.