To Kill a Mocking Bird

• Date: Sunday 5 October, 3 PM, & Wednesday 8 October 2008, 8:30 PM
• Venue: Cinema City, St Andrew's Street, Norwich, NR2 4AD
• Telephone: 0871 704 2053
• Web: www.picturehouses.co.uk
• Price: £7 Adult, £5 Members, £4.50 Conc.

• Date: Friday 10 October 7:30 PM (doors 7 PM)
• Venue: Banham Community Centre, Kenninghall Road, Banham, NR16 2HB
• Telephone: 01953 788909
• Web: www.villagescreen.co.uk
• Price: £5 on the door or £4 in advance from Bunwell Post Office

• Date: Tuesday 28 October 2 PM & 7 PM
• Venue: Sheringham Little Theatre, 2 Station Road, Sheringham, Norfolk, NR26 8RE
• Telephone: 01263 822347
• Web: www.sheringhamlittletheatre.com
• Price: £5, £2 (under 16)

• Programme:

  To Kill a Mocking Bird, starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, John Megna, Frank Overton; Release date: 1962; Director: Robert Mulligan; Running time: 129 minutes; Certificate: PG

  The much-loved, critically-acclaimed, classic trial film, faithfully adapted from Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Considered one of the top 100 films of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird is a poignant coming-of-age story set in the racially charged atmosphere of Alabama in the 1930s. It is a timeless film packed with beautiful scenes and meaningful life lessons for which it won four Academy Awards including Best Screenplay and Best Actor.

Dreamgirls

• Date: Saturday 11 October 2008, 7:30 PM
• Venue: Hockwold Village Hall, Main Street, Hockwold
• Price: £4
• Programme:

  Dreamgirls, starring: Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover; Release date: 2006; Director: Bill Condon; Running time: 131 minutes Certificate: 12A

  The spirit of Motown runs through this film adaptation of the Broadway musical which tells the tale of an all-girl Motown group 'The Dreamettes' seeking fame and fortune during the turbulent 60s/70s. Since its release the film has won numerous awards, while its cast have picked up Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs!

  Ardent, accomplished, overwhelmingly emotional, with something to say and a dream cast saying it in song. Bravo – Empire

• Telephone: 01842 827268 or 01842 827719
• Web: www.villagescreen.co.uk

SHAFT

• Date: Sunday 12 October, 3 PM, & Wednesday 15 October 2008, 8:30 PM
• Venue: Cinema City, St Andrew's Street, Norwich, NR2 4AD
• Price: £7 Adult, £5 Members, £4.50 Conc.
• Programme:

  SHAFT, starring: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Victor Arnold, Charles Cioffi, Antonio Fargas; Release date: 1971; Director: Gordon Parks; Running time: 96 minutes; Certificate: 15

  Renowned for its Isaac Hayes score, and as the first mainstream, commercially successful film about a black private eye, Parks' film is a hip, cool, entertaining thriller that in fact never really says very much at all about the Black experience in America; rather, it merely takes the traditional crime-fighting hero, paints him black, and sets him down in a world populated by more Blacks than Hollywood movies were used to. Roundtree turns in a strong performance, investigating a racketeer's criminal activities, while at the same time trying to find the man's kidnapped daughter.

• Telephone: 0871 704 2053
• Web: www.picturehouses.co.uk

Talking Film: Silver Screen, Black Power The World of Shaft, by Malcolm McLaughlin

• Date: Wednesday 15 October, 6:45 PM
• Venue: Cinema City, St Andrew's Street, Norwich, NR2 4AD
• Price: Price: £5 Adult, £3 Members, £4.50 Conc.
• Programme:

  SHAFT is probably the most widely known and best-loved example of American moviemaking to come out of the Black Power era. Its street-savvy leather-jacket-clad hero, and its unmistakable title song by Isaac Hayes have become iconic. Its gritty urban setting updated the film noir form and defined 1970s cool. Malcolm McLaughlin looks at the world that inspired SHAFT and considers the movie's place in post-war cinematic representations of race.

  Malcolm McLaughlin is a Lecturer in American History at the University of East Anglia, specialising in twentieth-century history and the Civil Rights movement.

  Talking Film is a monthly series of talks about cinema by leading film experts. Talks will normally last 45-60 minutes and there will be around half an hour for questions and discussion afterwards. After the talk there will be an opportunity to watch SHAFT at 8:30 PM. Tickets for the film are not included in the price of the talk and can be purchased separately.

• Telephone: 0871 704 2053
• Web: www.picturehouses.co.uk

Boyz 'N the Hood

• Date: Wednesday 22 October 2008, 8:30 PM
• Venue: Cinema City, St Andrew's Street, Norwich, NR2 4AD
• Price: £7 Adult, £5 Members, £4.50 Conc.
• Programme:

  Boyz 'N the Hood, with special introduction from Junior Johnson; Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Yolanda Whittaker, Hudhail Al-Amir, Lloyd Avery, Mia Bell; Release date: 1991; Director: John Singleton; Running time: 107 minutes; Certificate: 15

  In the course of one summer week, all of the strands of Tre's life come together to be tested: his girlfriend, his relationship with his father, his friendships, and the dangers from the street gangs of the area. John Singleton's screenplay is built well; we feel we know the characters and their motivations, and so we can understand what happens, and why. A lesser movie might have handled this material in a perfunctory way, painting the characters with broad strokes of good and evil, setting up a confrontation at the end, using a lot of violence and gunfire to reward the good and punish the rest. Singleton cares too much about his story to kiss it off like that.

• Telephone: 0871 704 2053
• Web: www.picturehouses.co.uk

Tsotsi

• Date: Wednesday 22 October 2008, 7:30 PM
• Venue: The Studio Theatre, Wymondham High School, Norwich Road, Wymondham, NR18 0NT
• Price: £4
• Programme:

  Tsotsi, starring: Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Percy Matsemela; Director: Gavin Hood; Release date: 2006; Running time: 94 minutes Certificate: 15

  Set amidst the Johannesburg township of Soweto Tsotsi traces six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader who ends up caring for a baby accidentally kidnapped during a car-jacking. A psychological thriller which puts a human face on both the victims and the perpetrators of violent crime; it is ultimately a story of hope and a triumph of love over rage.

  A great, riveting work of drama… – Sunday Times

• Telephone: 01953 713108
• Web: www.villagescreen.co.uk

Cry Freedom

• Date: Thursday 23 October 2:30 PM, Friday 24 October 2008, 7 PM
• Venue: Wroxham Church Hall, Norwich Road, Wroxham, NR12
• Price: £5
• Programme:

  Cry Freedom, starring: Kevin Kline, Denzel Washington, Penelope Wilton, John Thaw; Release date: 1987; Director: Richard Attenborough; Running time: 159 minutes Certificate: 15

  A dramatic story inspired by real-life events. This is the retelling of the life of outspoken South African anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko as seen through the eyes of his friend, liberal white newspaper editor Donald Woods who attempts to investigate the death of Biko whilst in custody.

  Exciting journalistic ferreting, memorable acting and Attenborough's burning admiration for the film's heroes power this moving and enduring indictment of racism – Channel 4

• Telephone: 01603 782555 or 01603 781599
• Web: www.villagescreen.co.uk

Ray

• Date: Saturday 25 October 2008, 7:30 PM
• Venue: Tittleshall Village Hall, High Street, Tittleshall, King's Lynn, PE32 2PJ
• Price: £3.50
• Programme:

  Ray, starring: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Curtis Armstrong; Release date: 2004 Director: Taylor Hackford; Running time: 146 minutes; Certificate: 15

  Jamie Foxx raises the roof with a passionate portrayal of the legendry American pianist Ray Charles. Patching together key events in his life and peppered with standout songs, this is a tear-jerking, toe-tapping biopic that serves as testament to the man's passion and resilience.

  Foxx's performance is nothing short of amazing – Empire

• Telephone: 01328 700952
• Web: www.villagescreen.co.uk

Kirikou and the Sorceress

• Date: Sunday 26 October, 3 PM; Monday 27 October, 12:30 PM; Tuesday 28 October 2008, 12:30 PM
• Venue: Cinema City, St Andrew's Street, Norwich, NR2 4AD
• Price: £7 Adult, £5 Members, £4.50 Conc.
• Programme:

  Kirikou and the Sorceress, starring: Theo Sebeko, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Kombisile Sangweni, Antoinette Kellermann, Atsuko Asano; Release date: 1998; Director: Michel Ocelot; Running time: 70 minutes; Certificate: U

  In a little village somewhere in Africa, a boy named Kirikou is born. But he's not a normal boy, because he knows what he wants very well. Also he can already speak and walk. His mother tells him how an evil sorceress has dried up their spring and devoured all the males of the village except for one. So little Kirikou decides he will accompany the last warrior to the sorceress. He may be the villagers' last hope.

• Telephone: 0871 704 2053
• Web: www.picturehouses.co.uk