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Kensington and Chelsea

This beautiful animation by screenwriters and directors Rémi Bezançon (Le mystère Henri Pick) and Jean-Christophe Lie (Les triplettes de Belleville, Hercules) is inspired by the true story of the giraffe Zarafa who was gifted by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, as a political gesture to the king of France, Charles X. Ten-year-old Maki escapes from slave traders and befriends Zarafa. Together they embark on a perilous journey from Sudan to Paris passing by Alexandria, Marseille et the snowy Alps Mountains.

 Director(s): Rémi Bezançon, Jean-Christophe Lie
 Cast: Max Renaudin, Simon Abkarian, François-Xavier Demaison
 Country, year: FRA/BEL | 2012
 Duration: 78 mins
 Language: in French with EN subs
 Cert.: PG

Screening "Zarafa"

After My Life as a Courgette, Claude Barras strikes again with Savages, a masterpiece of stop motion animation which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. This time he calls for environmental protection through a funny, engaging and heartfelt film questioning indigenous rights. In Borneo, at the edge of the tropical forest, Kéria is given a baby orangutan that has been rescued from the oil palm plantation where her father works. At the same time, her young cousin Selaï has come to live with them, seeking refuge from the conflict between his nomadic family and the logging companies. Together, Kéria, Selaï and the little ape will battle the destruction of their ancestral forest home, now under greater threat than ever. But for Kéria, the fight will also allow her to discover the truth of her own origins. 

 

An adventure movie given wings by its humourous situations and dexterous dialogue. Le Monde

 Delivers a vital lesson, and not only for children. Télérama

 Director(s): Claude Barras
 Cast: Benoît Poelvoorde, Laetitia Dosch, Babette De Coster, Martin Verset
 Original title: Sauvages
 Country, year: CHE/FRA/BEL | 2024
 Duration: 87 mins
 Language: in French with English subtitles
 Cert.: TBC - advised age 6+
 Genre: Animation

Screening "Savages"

Chihiro’s family is moving to a new house, but when they stop on the way to explore an abandoned village, her parents undergo a mysterious transformation and Chihiro is whisked into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. Put to work in a magical bathhouse for spirits and demons, Chihiro must use all her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents and return to the normal world.

Overflowing with imaginative creatures and thrilling storytelling, Spirited Away became a worldwide smash hit, and is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time.

 Director(s): Hayao Miyazaki
 Cast: Rumi Hîragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki
 Original title: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakush
 Country, year: Japan | 2001
 Duration: 125 mins
 Cert.: PG
 in Japanese with English subs

As part of the "Travel Shots" films season

Screening "Spirited Away"

Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, Monsieur Hulot takes a holiday at a seaside resort, where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s masterpiece of gentle slapstick is a series of effortlessly well-choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers. The first entry in the Hulot series, it launched its maker to international stardom.

 Director(s): Jacques Tati
 Cast: Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud, Louis Perrault
 Original title: Les Vacances de Mr Hulot
 Country, year: France | 1953
 Duration: 83 mins
 Language: In French with EN subs
 Cert.: U

Screening "Mr Hulot's Holidays"

Somewhere between Montmartre and Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Jean-Jacques Sempé and René Goscinny lean over a large white sheet of paper and bring to life a mischievous and endearing boy, Little Nicholas. From schoolyard games and fights, to summer camp pranks and camaraderie, Nicholas lives a merry and enriching childhood.

 Director(s): Amandine Fredon & Benjamin Massoubre
 Cast: Alain Chabat & Laurent Lafitte
 Original title: Le petit Nicolas: Qu’est-ce qu’on attend pour être heureux ?
 Country, year: FRA | 2022
 Duration: 82 mins
 Language: in French with English subtitles
 Age: 6+
 Cert.: TBC

Screening "Little Nicholas , As Happy As Can Be"

A timeless classic reimagined for a new generation, combining breath-taking visuals, thrilling adventure, and a powerful environmental message, from the writer of The Queen’s Corgi and Gnomeo & Juliet. When spirited eight-year-old Heidi finds and rescues an injured lynx cub from a trap, she names him Pepper and secretly nurses him back to health. With her loyal friend Peter and ever-faithful St. Bernard, Joseph, Heidi embarks on a daring night-time journey to return Pepper to his family, a brave adventure through the Swiss Alps in which she faces the perils of nature and learns of industrial plans that threaten not just the cub, but the entire Alpine ecosystem.

 Director(s): Toby Schwarz & Aizea Roca Berridi
 Original title: 78 mins
 Country, year: FRA/SPA/GER | 2025
 Language: in English
 Cert.: PG

Screening "Heidi Rescue of the Lynx"

The race is on! Get ready for high-speed thrills and endless action in Grand Prix of Europe that will engage the whole family.

Edda is a young mouse with a big dream of becoming a racing superstar. One day her world turns upside down when she gets a chance to race in the Grand Prix of Europe, disguised as her idol, Ed. As she competes on the racetracks through Paris or in the Alps, Edda faces a series of challenges and traps which test her resilience and racing skills – but this isn’t just about speed; it’s about courage, helping your friends and family and proving even the biggest dreams can come true. 

Free Art & Craft session
On 27 Sept, come along before and after the screening to relax during our new monthly colouring session linked with the theme of the film. This is a free event and you do not need to book in advance.

 Director(s): Waldemar Fast
 Cast: Gemma Arterton, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Hayley Atwell, Lenny Henry, Rob Beckett
 Country, year: GER/UK | 2025
 Duration: 98 mins
 Language: In English
 Cert.: U

Screening "Grand Prix or Europe" + Drop in Art session

The race is on! Get ready for high-speed thrills and endless action in Grand Prix of Europe that will engage the whole family.

Edda is a young mouse with a big dream of becoming a racing superstar. One day her world turns upside down when she gets a chance to race in the Grand Prix of Europe, disguised as her idol, Ed. As she competes on the racetracks through Paris or in the Alps, Edda faces a series of challenges and traps which test her resilience and racing skills – but this isn’t just about speed; it’s about courage, helping your friends and family and proving even the biggest dreams can come true. 

This is a special relaxed screening designed for children with sensory difficulties. Everyone is welcomed but please be aware of a few adaptation to cater for everyone.

 Director(s): Waldemar Fast
 Cast: Gemma Arterton, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Hayley Atwell, Lenny Henry, Rob Beckett
 Country, year: GER/UK | 2025
 Duration: 98 mins
 Language: In English
 Cert.: U

Relaxed Screening "Grand Prix or Europe"

Upon its release in June 1925, The Gold Rush was accompanied by a wealth of anecdotes: In some European theatres, projectionists were forced to rewind the reel to satisfy delirious audiences’ demands for an encore of the “bread roll dance”. In the early 1940s Chaplin decided to replace the original intertitles with a narrated commentary, he also changed the editing and shortened the ending. When the film was re-released in May 1942, few people understood the changes. However, the newly orchestrated score represented one of the expressive highpoints in his career as a composer.

In the 1990s, Kevin Brownlow and David Gill undertook a complex reconstruction of the silent version. ‘The Gold Rush isn’t the only film for which Charlie Chaplin is remembered, but without doubt the decision to take The Tramp to the roots (or the precipice) of American mythology, to place his solitary figure against the snowy backdrop of the birth of a nation, makes it a work of unsurpassed, dizzying intensity.’ (Cecilia Cenciarelli, Il Cinema ritrovato)

 Director(s): Charles Chaplin
 Cast: Charles Chaplin, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray
 Country, year: USA | 1925
 Duration: 88 mins
 Language: English intertitles
 Music: Original music by Charles Chaplin
 Cert.: U
 More information: New 4K Restoration

Screening "The Gold Rush"

Chihiro’s family is moving to a new house, but when they stop on the way to explore an abandoned village, her parents undergo a mysterious transformation and Chihiro is whisked into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. Put to work in a magical bathhouse for spirits and demons, Chihiro must use all her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents and return to the normal world.

Overflowing with imaginative creatures and thrilling storytelling, Spirited Away became a worldwide smash hit, and is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time.

 Director(s): Hayao Miyazaki
 Cast: Rumi Hîragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki
 Original title: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakush
 Country, year: Japan | 2001
 Duration: 125 mins
 Cert.: PG
 in English 
As part of the "Travel Shots" films season

With superb animation and a score by Academy Award winner Alexandre Desplat, this timeless and deeply moving tale is a powerful reminder that in the darkest times, the soul of humanity can only be preserved by the bright light of love and the heroism of ordinary people.

In war-torn times, a poor woodcutter and his wife live in a great forest. One day, the woman finds and rescues a baby girl thrown from one of the many trains that constantly pass through the forest. This baby, the “most precious of cargoes” will bring irrevocable change to the lives of the couple, and those whose paths the child will cross. And some will try to protect her, whatever the cost. Their story will reveal the worst and the best in the hearts of men.

 Academy Award winning director of The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius returns with this animated adaptation of The Most Precious of Cargoes: A Tale, a postmodern fairy tale by French author and playwright Jean-Claude Grumberg set during the Holocaust.

 Director(s): Michel Hazanavicius
 Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Blanc, Grégory Gadebois
 Original title: La plus précieuse des marchandises
 Country, year: FRA/BEL |2024
 Duration: 111 mins
 Language: in French with EN Subs
 Cert.: 12A
 Audience: For adults and children aged 12 and over

Screening "The Most Precious of Cargoes"

Films CinéFamilies 
Travelling Shots
Directed by visionary science-fiction animator René Laloux (La Planète sauvage) and designed by the legendary Jean Giraud – aka Mœbius – The Time Masters is a visually fantastic foray into existentialist space adventure.

After his parents are killed on the dangerous planet Perdide, young Piel survives by maintaining radio contact with Jaffar, a pilot transporting the exiled Prince Matton and Princess Belle from their former kingdom. Jaffar seeks the help of Silbad, a cheerful old-timer who knows how to circumvent Perdide’s hazards, including brain-devouring insects. Along the way, Jaffar and company the Masters of Time, mysterious beings who can bend reality and perhaps reveal to the heroes their secret origins and destinies.

 Director(s): René Laloux
 Cast: Jean Valmont, Michel Elias, Frédéric Legros
 Original title: Les Maîtres du temps
 Country, year: France | 1982
 Duration: 79 mins
 Language: in French with EN subs
 Cert.: PG
 More information: 4K Restoration

Screening "The Time Masters"

This beautiful animation by screenwriters and directors Rémi Bezançon (Le mystère Henri Pick) and Jean-Christophe Lie (Les triplettes de Belleville, Hercules) is inspired by the true story of the giraffe Zarafa who was gifted by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, as a political gesture to the king of France, Charles X. Ten-year-old Maki escapes from slave traders and befriends Zarafa. Together they embark on a perilous journey from Sudan to Paris passing by Alexandria, Marseille et the snowy Alps Mountains.

 Director(s): Rémi Bezançon, Jean-Christophe Lie
 Cast: Max Renaudin, Simon Abkarian, François-Xavier Demaison
 Country, year: FRA/BEL | 2012
 Duration: 78 mins
 Language: in French with EN subs
 Cert.: PG

This screening is part of the Fete du Cinema d'Animation season

Institut Français du Royaume-Uni

The Institut français du Royaume-Uni promotes French language and culture and encourages cross-cultural exchanges from both sides of the Channel. Explore, experience and enjoy!

Founded in 1910, and based in South Kensington in London, it comprises a Language Centre, a Cultural Centre, Ciné Lumière, a cinema with two screens, and a multi-media library, La Médiathèque.

The Institut welcomes over 100,000 people each year, thanks to its wide range of public events, from film screenings, debates and festivals to concerts and workshops. It has also developed a broad offer for young audiences through public and school activities and its dedicated spaces, the Bibliothèque Quentin Blake and L’Atelier. It also hosts Gazette, London’s most authentic French brasserie.

Screening "Zarafa"

Institut Français du Royaume-Uni

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