The following is the schedule of films to be shown in the Cinema Obscura 2004/5 season.

October 17th 2004 - 21 Grams

Sean Penn, Oscar Winner Benicio Del Torro and award-winning actress Naomi Watts star in Mexican director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's follow up to the excellent Oscar winning Amores Perres.

November 21st 2004 - At The Height Of Summer

This is a gentle knowing look at tradition, ritual, loyalty, and gender roles in contemporary Vietnamese society, with first rate performances from the cast. Described by Director Tran Anh Hung as "a sensual, tender, poignant comedy", it arrives heavy with the weight of expectation. thankfully, our expectations are exceeded. the soundtrack mixes Lou Reed with songs by Vietnamese artists.

January 16th 2005 - Russian Ark

A cinematic conjuring act, with eerie historical mirages evoked in a single sweeping film, shot in high-definition video in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, consists of one continuous uninterrupted take - it is the longest unbroken shot in the history of film.

February 20th 2005 - Kandahar

A film which is bound to attract an audience, if only because it may be the only film whose name gets more mentions that Harry Potter on CNN. Though the Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf's picture was filmed long before the recent Afghanistan war, it is worthy of some attention because it happens to portray the culture - specifically the treatment of women in that Taliban stronghold - in forceful and dramatic terms.

March 20th 2005 - Springtime in a Small Town

A recent remake of what might be the greatest - certainly the most revered - Chinese film of all time, Fei Mu's 1948 masterpiece Sping in a Small Town (also Xiao cheng zhi cheng). Why this film is so beautiful is that every shot has been carefully constructed and every nuance captured with the lightest touch. There is not a word, or gesture wasted.

April 17th 2005 - I'm Not Scared

Set in the blistering heat of the Southern Italian countryside in 1978, it is a sumptuous coming-of-age tale from the Oscar-winning director Gabrielle Salvatores.

May 15th 2005 - Bad Education

The season finishes with Pedro Almodovar's latest film. He delivers his most personal movie yet. Although not strictly autobiographical, its an intimate tale about the fates of two boys abused at a religious school in the '60s. Call it 'All About my Father'; call it an outrageous attempt to put the cock into Hitchcock; call it unmissable for any fan of the Spanish master.