The Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival takes place again this year and we are pleased to be hosting two films. We very much hope you will join us
Tuesday 12 September, 7.00pm at St Richard’s Church Centre
Gregory’s Girl
In this film directed by Bill Forsyth, Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair) and his friends at school are starting to notice girls – particularly Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), not least because she’s on the football team and is a better player than all the boys. With counselling from his younger sister, Gregory finally asks Dorothy out, but turns up to the date only to discover that the girls at school have other plans for him.
A huge breakout hit on its original release in 1981, Gregory’s Girl was nominated for four BAFTA’s, winning for Best Original Screenplay. Bill Forsyth’s classic comedy remains to this day the ultimate depiction of coming-of-age awkwardness and an enduring favourite of Scottish cinema.
‘‘Gregory’s Girl’ is as flawless an example of personal cinema as this nation has to offer: witty, insightful, beautifully observed and heartbreakingly accurate, it says everything there is to say about suburban lust, adolescent romance, the pressure to fit in – truly, all of teenage life is here. The dialogue is poetic but wholly believable, the cast is note-perfect, the characterisation is broad but distinctive and the photography is simple, unfussy and real.’ TIME OUT GREATEST BRITISH FILMS OF ALL-TIME, 2021
St Richard’s Church Centre, Swallowfield Road, London, SE7 7NR
Wednesday 13 September, 7.00pm at St Luke’s Church
Limbo
Ben Sharrock’s critically adored Limbo is a wry, funny and poignant cross-cultural satire that subtly sews together the hardship and hope of the refugee experience.
Set on a fictional remote Scottish island, it follows a group of new arrivals as they await the results of their asylum claims. Among them is Omar (Amir El-Masry), a young Syrian musician struggling with the guilt, regret and grief that comes with leaving his former life behind. This deadpan comedy-drama from a bold new voice in British film shines a light on the hearts and lives of those at the centre of a crisis that is mostly only experienced through the headlines.
But while he is stuck there, Omar he isn’t alone. In between brief long-distance conversations with his parents and passing interactions with oddball locals, Omar and hisnew flatmates attend outrageously misjudged ‘cultural awareness’ classes, binge Friends boxsets, and debate attending the local open mic night, all the while waiting for the delivery of letters that will ultimately determine their future.
Doors open at 6.30pm when refreshments will be served. There’ll be a chance to explore our historic church and to listen to the choir
St Luke’s Church, The Village, London, SE7 8UG
The Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival runs from 10 – 17 September 2023. Catch up on all the films being shown and the venues on their website.
