Ciné O’Clock Villeurbanne 2024

The Ciné O'Clock British and Irish Film Festival in Villeurbanne will be presenting its 28th edition from 31 January to 4 February. There are some great current films, golden oldies and previews of upcoming releases.

There are too many fabulous films for us to mention them all, check out the the programme and the teaser below.

You can catch Wonka, or a 20th anniversary edition of Love Actually. Ciné O'Clock has given a carte blanche to our friends from the This is England British short-film festival in Rouen to produce a programme of shorts from their selection. And also:

Scrapper
This film was chosen for the Dinard Film festival this year and got rave reviews in the UK. Scrapper is a first feature film for Charlotte Regan, who already has an impressive reputation for music videos and short films. It bears a passing resemblance to the BAFTA-winning Aftersun (2022). like that, it is the story of a teenage girl and her father. Twelve-year-old Georgie is living alone in a London flat following her mother’s death, having fallen through the gaps in the social-services net. Her estranged father, Jason, reappears on the scene and Georgie doesn't feel that she needs him in her life. On general release 10 January.

The Miracle Club
A feelgood film full of national treasures such as Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Stephen Rea. In working-class Dublin in the late Sixties, a group of women win a pilgrimage to Lourdes. They are accompanied by Chrissie (Laura Linney), who has come home after 40 years in the U.S.A. for her mother's funeral. But the journey reveals a tragic past that connects three of the women.

On general release 24 January.

Previews
One Life
The true story of Sir Nicholas Hinton played by Johnny Flynn and Anthony Hopkins. Just before the outbreak of World War II, Hinton, the British son of German-Jewish émigrés, helped evacuate  669 children from Czechoslovakia to protect them from the Nazis.  He kept quiet about his involvement until he was surprised live on TV on the programme That's Life by some of the refugees he helped save.

On general release 21 February.

Benediction 
This homage to Siegfried Sassoon, was Terence Davies' last film. It's a portrait of the World War I poet and officer who was interned in a mental hospital when he opposed the war. Despite returning to the front line, unlike many of his fellow war poets, such as his friend Wilfred Owen, Sassoon survived the war. The second part of the film follows his later life as he tries to find a purpose to his life, and love in a world that wasn't ready for gay relationships. This could be linked to Shine Bright LLCER File 5 War will not tear us apart.

On general release 6 March.

Wicked Little Letters
Definitely not one to show your pupils! A delicious comedy with Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, it is set in a 1920s English seaside town, where the population starts receiving defamatory letters full of profanities. An Irish migrant with a good stock of swear words in her vocabulary, Rose Gooding is accused of being the author of the letters. But the women of the town begin to doubt her guilt.

On general release 13 March.

The Trouble with Jessica
This dark comedy was another Dinard pick this year.  Sarah and Tom have to sell their London home to resolve their financial problems. Their best friends turn up for a final dinner with an unexpected guest, who then commits suicide in the garden. Tom and Sarah panic as they think they won't be able to sell the house, and come up with a risky solution. The cast includes many familiar faces: Shirley Henderson, Rufus Sewell, Indira Varma and Olivia Williams.

On general release 8 May.

Ciné O'Clock
31 January to 4 February 2024
Villeurbanne