Aberystwyth Arts Centre Screenings

Set in a landscape like no other, this is a truly memorable film about our relationship with the natural world that with its sudden glimpses of the sublime really should be seen on the big screen. An amazing, meditative journey into one of the last truly wild sanctuaries, rich in unforgettable scenery and full of fantastic encounters with Tibetan antelopes, birds, foxes, wolves, bears, all the while in pursuit of the elusive snow leopard. Don’t miss your chance to be transported to the awesome mountains of Tibet in the company of Vincent Munier, one of the world’s great wildlife photographers.

 

“simply mesmerizing” Slant magazine

 

“[a] rare nature film about not only beauty and beasts but also the very human urge to make sense of our place in it all.” L A Times

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Winner Audience Award for Best Documentary Santa Fe Independent Film Festival 2021

Prayer flags, soaring mountains and an old myth set the scene. Then we’re off across the vast, awesome high Himalaya in an effort to conquer a forbidden peak that is the home of the Gods. The local Sherpas desperately need the money the expedition brings but are wary of breaking a long-held taboo, while the European climbers are determined to proceed whatever happens. With its breath-taking footage of the ‘roof of the world’, this gripping documentary is for anyone who loves mountains and simply must be seen on the big screen.

 

“Conjure[s] up a real sense of awe and majesty.” FILMUFORIA

 

“Spectacularly shot odyssey...“ POV Magazine

 

Winner Best Climbing Film Award at Banff Mountain Film Festival 2020

Winner Grand Prize at Ulju Mountain Film Festival 2021

With its non-professional actors, keen eye for local customs, and its neorealist approach this is a Loach-like take on life for Jesmark, a real-life Maltese fisherman. Short of money and reluctantly dependent on his wife’s family, Jesmark is determined to hold on to his boat (a Luzzu) and his traditional way of life. As the pressure mounts he takes up with some dodgy traders operating in the dark underbelly of the fishing industry. Authentic, intimate and poignant, this is a crushing lament for the loss of community and cultural traditions.

 

“An honest, affecting slab of working-class portraiture, altogether bracing with its thorny labor politics and salty sea air.” Variety

 

“a story told with skill, beauty, and resonance far beyond the shores of Malta.” TAKE ONE magazine

 

Winner Best Actor World Cinema section Sundance Film Festival 2021

A special screening to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Herzog’s hugely influential epic adventure that stars the one and only Klaus Kinski in his defining role as a mad conquistador in search of El Dorado. Full of extraordinary imagery this breathtaking journey into the heart of darkness explores the dark psychological depths of man’s fascination with gold. An awesome feat of filmmaking that has to be seen on a big screen, Kinski’s extraordinary magnetic performance highlights the folly of man’s desire to conquer nature, signaling the beginning of Europe’s exploitation of the Global South.

 

“The whole movie merges landscapes and character with such force that, once seen, you never forget it.” Derek Malcolm Evening Standard

 

“It looks more magnificent and mad than ever,” Peter Bradshaw Guardian

 

“The images are breathtaking in their beauty, mystery and sense of scale” Geoff Andrew Time Out

 

Winner Best Cinematography Award at the German Film Awards 1973.

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Festival Director David Gillam will introduce one of his favourite films that kicked off his lifelong fascination with world cinema.

Float away on a stream of fabulous aerial photography of rivers, mountains, deserts, oceans, and clouds, experiencing rivers on scales and from perspectives that you’ll never have seen before. Meditative, measured and thought provoking this journey through space and time tracks humankind’s relationship with rivers, the arteries of trade, cultural exchange and life-giving drinking water. Then reflects on their current parlous state worldwide, dammed, polluted, plastic-infested and toxic. Its union of image, music and sparse, poetic script create a film that is both dream-like and powerful.

 

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water” - W.H. Auden

 

The screening will be followed by a recorded Q&A with Robert Macfarlane and director Jennifer Peedom.