Harrogate Film Society

www.harrogatefilmsociety.org/ contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com

Capacity:204

Screening Frequency:2-3 times monthly

Facilities:Bar, Food, Toilets, Accessible Toilets, Parking, Public Transport nearby

Formats:Blu-Ray, Digital Cinema Package (DCP)

Genres:British, Classics, Foreign, Independent

Harrogate Film Society

Harrogate Odeon
East Parade
Harrogate
HG1 5LB

Back to Cinemas

Having started in 1955, Harrogate Film Society is run by a group of film enthusiasts in an informal and welcoming atmosphere. Our core programme of 15 films starts in September each year running through to April. Our focus is on bringing you critically acclaimed and diverse films from all over the world. Entertaining, thoughtful, sometimes unusual and stimulating, many rarely screened in the UK.

Screening the films at the Odeon allows us to offer members and guests the full cinematic experience, including surround sound and comfortable seating (though it costs slightly more than cheaper venues as we hire the screens on a private hire basis and source the licenses and films ourselves).

As well as our core season, we put on themed events such as classic cinema, art films and ad hoc special events such as charity screenings.

Capacity for each film varies as we sometimes hire the smaller screens for our special events though our core season films are always shown in one of the larger screens.

All information provided by Harrogate Film Society

Screenings

Full Time

06-10-2025 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

Starring Best Actress César nominee Laure Calamy, this tense, gripping French drama follows single mother Julie Roy’s frenetic attempts to balance childcare, money worries and a long commute by train into central Paris for her job as Head Chambermaid at a 5-star hotel. All the while, she looks for better-paid employment more suited to her qualifications and prioritises everyone in her life before herself.

A public transport workers strike gridlocks the city and wrecks Julie’s tight schedule, causing her to regularly arrive late for both work in the mornings and collecting her children in the evenings, irritating both their nanny and her boss. Under increasing pressure, Julie hitchhikes with strangers and pays for taxis.

She attends two job interviews at a marketing firm during working hours with her colleagues’ reluctant agreement to cover her. However, Julie’s unauthorised absence is discovered by her manager. The protests and traffic jams cause Julie to keep being late and her hotel swipe card is suddenly stopped. She tries unsuccessfully to persuade the porter to let her in, and an expected phone call about the outcome of her job interviews does not come.

Will there be any good news for Julie?

Additional Info

· Screen 2 upstairs

· Doors open 7pm

· Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm

· Free parking after 6pm if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby

· Unreserved seating

· We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

Location

Full Time, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Io Capitano

20-10-2025 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

A powerful portrayal of the migrant experience, showcasing the harrowing journey of two Senegalese teenagers to Europe. The film blends realism with dreamlike sequences, offering a unique cinematic perspective on the challenges and resilience of those seeking a better life. A story of hope, friendship, and the human spirit's triumph in the face of adversity.

Additional Info

October 20th 7.30pm – 9.40pm

· Screen 2 upstairs

· Doors open 7pm

· Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm

· Free parking after 6pm if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby

· Unreserved seating

· We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

Location

Io Capitano, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Black Dog

03-11-2025 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

November 3rd 7.30 – 9.30 pm

A taciturn loner, Lang (Eddie Peng) recently released from prison returns to his home - a dying Chinese town on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

Lang takes a job clearing the streets of stray dogs before the 2008 Beijing Olympics and unwillingly strikes up a rapport with the titular Black Dog (Xin).

Additional Info

Winner of A Certain Regard at Cannes in 2024, Black Dog is a beautifully filmed exploration of human resilience and the need for connection.

Hauntingly beautiful widescreen photography offers a window into a rarely seen side of modern China.

Director Guan enigmatically blends social realism, dead pan humour and elements of surrealism to ensure this story of Man and Dog avoids all cliches.

The nuanced performances from both Peng and Xin as two lost souls seeking redemption amid societal decay gives adage to the old saying

“You may not get the dog you want but you get the dog you need!”

Xin won a Palm Dog at Cannes for his performance and the rapport between Peng and Xin was so genuine that Peng adopted the dog after filming!

· Screen 2 upstairs

· Doors open 7pm

· Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm

· Free parking after 6pm if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby

· Unreserved seating

· We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

Location

Black Dog, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

SCOTT PILGRIM V THE WORLD

12-11-2025 at 18:45

Certificate:

Synopsis

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | 2010 | 12A | Dir. Edgar Wright | US | 101 mins | IMDb 7.5

Wallowing in self-pity some 400 days since his big break up, and much to the disappointment of his friends, Scott Pilgrim has thrust himself into a questionably age-gapped relationship with Knives Chau. His commitment to his rebound waivers, particularly when he dreams of a mysterious, bright haired, roller skater who he becomes completely smitten with. Ramona Flowers, the girl in question, is warm to Scott’s advances but has a past of her own which he must take head on if they’re going to make a proper go of things.

Adapted from a serious of six graphic novels, Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz) plunges his audience into a hyper-stylised world, full of dry humour and many a meta gag. With a now recognisably stacked cast, many of whom were about to get their big break, Scott Pilgrim swaps out traditional musical numbers and dance sequences for 8-bit fight scenes that feel straight out of the source material. Initially marketed as a teen-romance, the film did poorly at the box office but has since become a cult classic- one that is hilarious and great fun from start to finish.

Additional Info

Seating limited to 64 so we recommend you book in advance.
Screen 3.
Young Persons Cinema is geared specifically to those aged 16 - 25 so at this stage, tickets are not available to purchase for those outside of this age group. We will let you know as and when tickets are made available to those 26+ via email to those on our contact list and on this event page when we add additional ticket options. Check back for more details later!
One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com
Doors open at 6.45pm and the film will start after the introduction
All seating is unreserved.
Free parking in Odeon car park but you must display a parking voucher available from Odeon staff.

Location

SCOTT PILGRIM V THE WORLD, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

La Chimera

17-11-2025 at 19:15

Certificate:

Synopsis

In 1980s Italy, a young archaeologist gets entangled with a group of tomb raiders, who wouldn't look out of place in a Fellini film.

Additional Info

Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera (2023) is a beguiling journey into 1980s Tuscany, weaving grief, myth and antique hunting into a caper with tomb-raiding rogues that wouldn't look out of place in a Fellini film. Josh O’Connor stars as Arthur, a haunted British archaeologist newly released from prison, who uses a mysterious intuition - a kind of divining rod - to locate buried Etruscan treasures, as he chases the memory of his lost love Beniamina.

Rohrwacher, both writer and director, makes a film rich in folklore and satire. Drawing on her upbringing surrounded by ancient sites and tombaroli (grave‑robbers), her narrative examines our relationship with history, the commodification of culture, and the illusions of capitalism. Her collaborators - particularly cinematographer Hélène Louvart add to the texture and mood by mixing 35 mm, Super‑16 mm and 16 mm film stocks that feel tactile and very 1980s.

Josh O’Connor plays Arthur, with gravitas, sadness and a dreamy otherworldliness, despite being younger than was originally envisioned for the role.

An initially unrecognisable Isabella Rossellini also stars as Flora - a formidable aristocrat who shares in Arthur's grief and longing.

Together, Rohrwacher’s vision, O’Connor’s soulful performance, and the ensemble cast make La Chimera a cinematic artefact well worth exploring. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said it is "a beguiling fantasy-comedy of lost love: garrulous, uproarious and celebratory in Rohrwacher’s absolutely distinctive style. It’s a movie bustling and teeming with life."

Empire magazine said "Enigmatic, absorbing and so much more alive than any pottery behind glass in a museum, this is an exquisitely crafted, grown-up Indiana Jones steeped in its own distinctive magic."

Wendy Ide in the Guardian gave it 5 stars and said "La Chimera is a cinematic artefact that lingers like a thread between love and history, myth and reality".

· Screen 2 upstairs

· Doors open 6.45pm

· Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.15pm

· Free parking after 6pm if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby

· Unreserved seating

· We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

Location

La Chimera, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present

19-11-2025 at 19:00

Certificate:

Synopsis

Presented by Harrogate Film Society in partnership with the Friends of the Mercer Gallery.

This feature-length documentary film follows the artist as she prepares for what may be the most important moment of her life: watch as Serbian artist Marina, self-proclaimed ‘grandmother of performance art’, performs every day for three months in preparation for a major retrospective of her work at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. To be given a retrospective at one of the world's premiere museums is, for any living artist, the most exhilarating sort of milestone. For Marina, it is far more - it is the chance to finally silence the question she has been hearing over and over again for four decades: 'But why is this art?

Additional Info

Seating limited to 64 so we recommend you book in advance.
Ticket price includes a glass of wine.
Screen 3.
One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com
Doors open at 6.45pm and the film will start after the introduction @ 7pm.
All seating is unreserved.
Free parking in Odeon car park but you must display a parking voucher available from Odeon staff.

Location

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Kneecap

01-12-2025 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

One of the funniest movies of the year, but probably not for everyone . (Guardian)

KNEECAP play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defence of native cultures. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic, it brings a manic, irreverent energy to the film, incorporating scrawled animation that looks like toilet-door graffiti brought to life. But the driving force is the band, and performances that, if not polished exactly, are packed to the gills with bad-boy charisma and punchy editing makes for one of the more energising viewing experiences of the year, and possibly one of the funniest.

Because Kneecap are a real band, the music has an authenticity and vitality that fictional musical biopics rarely replicate. The drug-fuelled recording sessions are riotous, while the gigs themselves, from empty pub to big arena, are electric.

Director Peppiatt constantly injects cinematic bravura, with Trainspotting clearly an influence: on-screen animated illustrations, a camera up the nose to capture a coke-snort, split screens, deepfake Gerry Adams, fast-forwarding through a brutal beating and, perhaps best of all, an inspired use of claymation to convey the effects of ketamine.

Additional Info

December 1st 7.30-9.40pm

One of the funniest movies of the year, but probably not for everyone . (Guardian) KNEECAP play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defence of native cultures. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic, it brings a manic, irreverent energy to the film, incorporating scrawled animation that looks like toilet-door graffiti brought to life. But the driving force is the band, and performances that, if not polished exactly, are packed to the gills with bad-boy charisma and punchy editing makes for one of the more energising viewing experiences of the year, and possibly one of the funniest.

· Screen 2 upstairs

· Doors open 7pm

· Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm

· Free parking after 6pm if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby

· Unreserved seating

· We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

Kneecap Film Review: A Raw Exploration of Northern Irish Identity, Sectarianism, and the Irish Language with Michael Fassbender

local trio called Kneecap. Kneecap rap in the Irish language. It isn’t something

C.E.A.R.T.A Is cuma liomsa foc faoi aon gharda, Duidín lásta, tá mise ró-ghasta, Ní fheicfidh tú mise i mo sheasamh ró-fhada

is another thing entirely.

(Translation: R.I.G.H.T. I don’t give a f*ck about any Garda A lit joint, I’m too fast, You won’t see me standing too long.)

Now that’s a living language.

Unsurprisingly, Kneecap’s music caused a wave of controversy, mostly because of their gleeful detailing of their drug use, but also because of exposing their asses with “BRITS” on one butt cheek and “OUT” on the other. A newscaster tut-tuts: “This is the true face of the Irish language.” The Irish language advocates did not consider Kneecap good ambassadors for the language and, in fact, were hurting the cause. Meanwhile, Kneecap was playing sold-out shows, where hundreds of kids were screaming lyrics in Irish. Shouldn’t the Irish language people welcome this development? Of course, they don’t!

One film can’t explain all of the complexities around the Irish language and its history, but “Kneecap” does a remarkable job laying it all out (while also making it fun). The film’s style is frenetic and propulsive, profane and provocative, peppered with jokey asides, stylistic flourishes (slow-mo, animation), and pulled along by a snarky voiceover (reminiscent of Ewan McGregor’s voiceover in “Trainspotting”). The film is unabashed in its portrayal of drug use and the realities of life in West Belfast among the generation nicknamed “the Ceasefire Babies.” (Journalist Lyra McKee wrote a remarkable article for The Atlantic in 2016 called Suicide Among the Ceasefire Babies, saying, “We were the Good Friday Agreement generation, spared from the horrors of war. But still, the aftereffects of those horrors seemed to follow us.” Tragically, infuriatingly, McKee was right. In 2019, she was murdered at a protest in Derry.)

Naoise’s father, Arlo (Michael Fassbender), was in a paramilitary group and has been on the run for 10 years after faking his death. (He tells his son, “Every day I am not captured is a psychological victory against the occupiers.”) His absence from Naoise’s life has been catastrophic for both Naoise and his depressed mother (the excellent Simone Kirby). The film opens with Liam refusing to speak English in a police interrogation. A translator is called in, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, who teaches music at an Irish language school and is married to an Irish language activist. JJ learns that Liam and Naoise have written a song called “C.E.A.R.T.A.” He helps them record it in the makeshift studio in his garage.

Their gigs at first are teeny. They play in pubs, where old men drink Guinness at the bar, wondering what the hell is going on. Word spreads. Kids start showing up. JJ joins the trio, adopting the name DJ Próvaí. He wears a balaclava onstage (in the colors of the Irish Republic’s flag, of course) because he’d probably lose his job and his wife. They call themselves Kneecap after the “kneecapping” punishment endured by drug dealers from Irish paramilitary groups. (There’s one such group after Kneecap. They call themselves “Radical Republicans Against Drugs,” and they are scary guys. They burn down JJ’s garage studio.)

Hip hop’s origin story comes out of the ad hoc, the DIY, “outsiders” screaming their voices at a mainstream that ignores them. Hip-hop is inherently political; it is legitimate protest music. The controversies around N.W.A.’s lyrics are a case in point, but we don’t need to go back in time to provide context. (The ongoing persecution of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi is the worst example of its kind and probably the most important thing going on in hip-hop right now.) Governments fear freedom of speech. So, too, do advocate groups who want to control the narrative. Kneecap blasts through all of that.

Liam hooks up regularly with a girl (Jessica Reynolds) on the other side of the tracks (not Republican, in other words), and their sex is wild and passionate, filled with balaclava-wearing role-play and political disagreements shouted in the heat of passion. (Is it “North of Ireland” or “Northern Ireland”? Hot!) In one of their arguments, Liam tosses in a furious reference to Ireland’s 1916 Proclamation. This doesn’t feel cheeky or intellectualized. It feels local and authentic. Some viewers might need footnotes. The film barrels on without you.

Having the Kneecap members play themselves was a bold choice, and it pays off. They’re engaging and unself-conscious, and professional actors like Fassbender and Kirby bring out the best in everyone. “Kneecap” is “about” a lot of things, and its pace makes it impossible to resist getting swept up in it. I’ve been following Kneecap for a while but didn’t know much about their backstory. “Kneecap” isn’t an underdog rags-to-riches story. It’s about the right of people to say what they want to say, to criticize the power structures ruling their lives, and to create a community of opposition. And, yes, to put “BRITS OUT” on their butt cheeks. That’s free speech, too.

Location

Kneecap, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

03-12-2025 at 19:00

Certificate:

Synopsis

Presented by Harrogate Film Society in partnership with the Friends of the Mercer Gallery.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict is a feature documentary about the life of art icon Peggy Guggenheim, based on her sole authorized biography. Peggy was an heiress to the Guggenheim family who would become a central figure in the modern art movement. As she moved through the cultural upheaval of the 20th century, she collected not only art, but artists.

Her colourful personal history included trysts, affairs and marriages with such figures as Samuel Beckett, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Marcel Duchamp as well as countless others. While fighting through personal tragedy, she maintained her vision to build one of the most important collections of modern art, which is today enshrined in her famous Venetian palazzo. The film is a compendium of the greatest 20th century art mixed with the wild and iconoclastic life of one of the most powerful women in the history of the art world.

Additional Info

Seating limited to 64 so we recommend you book in advance.
Ticket price includes a glass of wine.
Screen 3.
One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com
Doors open at 6.45pm and the film will start after the introduction @ 7pm.
All seating is unreserved.
Free parking in Odeon car park but you must display a parking voucher available from Odeon staff.

Location

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

The Holdovers

15-12-2025 at 19:15

Certificate:

Synopsis

Presented by Harrogate Film Society

The Holdovers | 2023 | R | Dir. Alexander Payne | US | IMDb 7.9 | 133 mins

December 15th 7.30 - 9.40pm @ Harrogate Odeon Screen 2

This multi award-winning comedy drama atmospherically set in a school in New England over the Christmas period (1970) is a return to form of the director Alexander Payne as he re-teams with the actor Paul Giamatti (Sideways).

The ‘Holdovers’ are the pupils and staff held over at a private school (the fictional Barton College) over the Christmas holidays as they have nowhere else to go. They are presided over by the ever-soulful Paul Giamatti playing an embittered teacher whom life has passed by. He is entrenched in a limiting existence as an isolated bachelor taking out his anger and unhappiness on the privileged students in his care but ultimately also on himself by withdrawing from the world. Da’Vine Joy Randal plays the rooted school cook, and mother figure, who is grieving the recent loss of her son in the Vietnam war. And Daniel Sessa gives a strong performance as a troubled teen in his acting debut and is one to watch.

Unlikely bonds are forged as these outsiders are forced together at a time of year that is all about family and relationships. As the story unfolds, the lead characters slowly let their armour down and start to reveal life’s deeper hurts to each other, and ultimately to us the audience. This bonding leads to quiet transformations and propels them all forward in life.

This is a character piece with the three main leads all capable of reflecting the many shades of this film from despair, depth and poignancy to lighter touches. The carefully observed period setting, with soundtrack to match, and the seasonal framing of a traditional snowy New England enhance the absorbing nature of the film.

The Holdovers received 5 Oscar nominations including best picture, best actor (Paul Giamatti) and best supporting actress (Da’Vine Joy Randal) which she won. A finely acted and evocative period piece this is a thoroughly engaging, sensitive and intelligent film about finding an alternative ‘family’ at Christmas. The Holdovers is set to become a non-mainstream seasonal classic.

Additional Info

Screen 2 upstairs - Unreserved seating
Doors open 6.45pm
Preceded by our pre Christmas season social so wine or soft drink included
Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm
Free parking available at the Odeon
We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

Location

The Holdovers, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

SPIRITED AWAY

07-01-2026 at 18:45

Certificate:

Synopsis

Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl, and her parents are travelling to their new home when they come across a potential shortcut which eventually leads them to an abandoned resort town. Chihiro is reluctant to explore but her mother insists, and they all soon find themselves in a world of trouble. With her parents now transformed into pigs and with her original path home rendered unusable, our protagonist sets her eyes on the bathhouse where’s she’s been told to seek employment. A world of whimsy awaits with many a strange character waiting within its walls.

From the brilliant mind of Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbour Totoro) and the team at Studio Ghibli, Spirited Away is a journey of self-discovery and an exploration of all the facets of the mind which are at full throttle during a transitional period such as the one depicted here. Painstakingly hand animated and injected with a full spectrum of colours and a beautiful score, the film speaks true to many and has become a childhood classic full of wonderful and magic.

Additional Info

Location

SPIRITED AWAY, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Hundreds of Beavers

12-01-2026 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

Hundreds of Beavers | 2022 | 12A | Dir. Mike Cheslik | US | IMDb 7.6 | 108 mins

Mike Cheslik’s anarchic, low-budget comedy gem is an absolute riot!

When Applejack producer Jean Kayak’s business and home are destroyed by the local beaver population he must fend for himself in the harsh winter forest wilderness. In order to survive he becomes a fur-trapper and falls in love with the local storekeeper’s daughter – the price of her hand in marriage? “Hundreds of Beavers”.

Take your cinematic experience to the next level with Mike Cheslik’s extraordinary and hilarious debut feature. Combining elements of Buster Keaton’s silent movies and a Super Mario video game, it puts the looney back in to Looney Tunes, and is an absolute must for all comedy fans.

Your challenge is to try and keep count of the laugh-out-loud moments over the course of the funniest 108 minutes you are likely to encounter on the big screen this century.

This is a Dam fine film!

Additional Info

Hundreds of Beavers | 2022 | 12A | Dir. Mike Cheslik | US | IMDb 7.6 | 108 mins

Screen 5 downstairs - Unreserved seating
Doors open 6.45pm
Preceded by our New Year social so wine or soft drink included
Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.15pm
Free parking ONLY if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby
We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

Location

Hundreds of Beavers, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

CLASSIC CINEMA - ALL ABOUT EVE

21-01-2026 at 19:00

Certificate:

Synopsis

Bette Davis gives one of the most outstanding and iconic performances of her long and illustrious career, as veteran stage actor Margot Channing whose changing relationship with a young aspiring actress, Eve, is charted through the eyes of acerbic theatre critic, Addison DeWitt, played by George Sanders.

The ensemble cast also features fine performances from a host of Hollywood talent, including Anne Baxter as Eve, Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holm and the brief but memorable appearance of Marilyn Monroe.

The story, though set in 1950’s Broadway, explores the nature of ambition, competition, and the ever-changing power dynamics in the world of celebrity, and still rings true today.

Additional Info

All About Eve | 1950 | A | Dir. Joseph L Mankiewicz | US | 138 mins | IMDb 8.2 | B&W

Harrogate Odeon @ 7pm on Wednesday 21 January 2026

ONLY PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE JUST NOW WHICH ENABLES YOU TO SEE ALL FOUR FILMS.

Tickets for individual Classic Cinema films will only be made available much nearer the time, if space allows.

This year’s Classic Cinema Season will transport you to a world of Ladies with Attitude. Paying tribute to some of the biggest female stars in Hollywood’s History.

The first film in our Classic Cinema Season 3 (CCS3) is one of the sharpest and darkest films ever made about show business, All About Eve. It stars the first of our Classic Cinema Season Ladies with Attitude Bette Davis.

Davis gives one of the most outstanding and iconic performances of her long and illustrious career, as veteran stage actor Margot Channing whose changing relationship with a young aspiring actress, Eve, is charted through the eyes of acerbic theatre critic, Addison DeWitt, played by George Sanders.

The ensemble cast also features fine performances from a host of Hollywood talent, including Anne Baxter as Eve, Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holm and the brief but memorable appearance of Marilyn Monroe.

The original tagline for the film was “It’s All About Women and their Men”. Those male stars include George Sanders who won an Oscar for his role and Gary Merrel, who plays Margot’s younger lover Bill.

Nominated for 14 Oscars and winning 6 including best Picture, Screenplay, and Director Oscars for Joseph Mankiewicz. It still holds the record for most female nominations (6) for a single film.

The story, though set in 1950’s Broadway, explores the nature of ambition, competition, and the ever-changing power dynamics in the world of celebrity, and still rings true today.

In recent years it has been transformed into a stage show by the National Theatre and the plot has been reworked by the Simpsons, Family Guy, and even Magic Mike (2012)! To name a few.

But nothing will compare to seeing it on the big screen, with your fellow classic film lovers from Harrogate Film Society in January 2026!

Seating limited to 64 so we recommend you book in advance.
Screen 3.
One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com
Doors open at 6.45pm and the film will start after the introduction @ 7pm.
Premier seating RESERVED for Classic Cinema Package holders ONLY. All other seating is unreserved.
Free parking in Odeon car park but you must display a parking voucher available from Odeon staff.

Location

CLASSIC CINEMA - ALL ABOUT EVE, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

28-01-2026 at 18:45

Certificate:

Synopsis

A Streetcar Named Desire | 1951 | 12A | Dir. Elia Kazan | US | 122 mins | IMDb 7.9 | B&W

The iconic multi-Oscar winning version of Tennessee Williams classic Southern Gothic play about class, morality and of course desire. Directed by the great Oscar winning Eliza Kazan, renowned for his social realism, and adapted for screen by Williams himself, this classic piece of Americana follows the ageing beauty Blanche, now penniless and destitute, as she moves in with her working-class sister Stella and her brutish husband Stanley in a claustrophobic Jazz infused New Orleans. The iconic cast of Marlon Brando (The Godfather) , Viven Leigh (Gone With The Wind), Kim Hunter (Planet of The Apes) and Karl Malden (Patton) reprised their roles from the stage version, which they had practiced and performed for years, allowing for a realism and understanding of the characters that made this the definitive version of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and Marlon Brando a Hollywood sensation overnight.

Additional Info

Location

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

CLASSIC CINEMA – THE AFRICAN QUEEN

04-02-2026 at 19:00

Certificate:

Synopsis

The African Queen is based on a 1935 novel by C S Forester, and tells the story of strait-laced missionary Rose Sawyer who through circumstances finds herself thrown together with a rough and ready steam boat captain Charlie Allnut. Charlie delivers mail and supplies, along a river in the Congo, on his steam boat The African Queen.

Together the unlikely couple take a trip down river on The African Queen and adventure ensues, against the backdrop of a growing war between Germany and Britain.

Additional Info

The African Queen | 1951 | U | Dir. John Huston | US | 105 mins | IMDb 7.7

Harrogate Odeon @ 7pm on Wednesday 4 February 2026

ONLY PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE JUST NOW WHICH ENABLES YOU TO SEE ALL FOUR FILMS.

Tickets for individual Classic Cinema films will only be made available much nearer the time, if space allows.

The second of our Classic Cinema Season screenings is classic adventure drama The African Queen.

A gripping and enduring, unconventional romance set in the heart of Africa, featuring Lady with Attitude Katharine Hepburn and the legendary, charismatic screen presence that is Humphrey Bogart.

The African Queen is a classic adventure drama made in 1951 by American director and actor John Huston. He was recently seen at on screen in Harrogate paying the villainous Noah Cross in Chinatown (1974) but is mainly known for the great movies that he directed including The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Misfits (1961) featuring another of our Ladies with Attitude, Marilyn Monroe, right through to Escape to Victory (1981).

Shot on location in the Congo and filmed in glorious technicolour by renowned British cinematographer Jack Cardiff, the shoot was notoriously difficult, with the cast and crew all succumbing to sickness.

Together the unlikely couple take a trip down river on The African Queen and adventure ensues, against the backdrop of a growing war between Germany and Britain.

The adventure takes second stage to the performances as Rose and Charlie journey from barely disguised dislike, to friendship and beyond.

Despite over 100 years of acting experience between them, this was the first and only time the two great actors Hepburn, playing Rose, and Bogart, taking the role of Charlie, made a film together. They work in tandem to infuse the drama with a light comic touch, that saw them both nominated for acting Oscars with Bogart winning the only Oscar of his career and Hepburn adding to her record breaking career total of 12 nominations.

Seating limited to 64 so we recommend you book in advance.
Screen 3.
One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com
Doors open at 6.45pm and the film will start after the introduction @ 7pm.
Premier seating RESERVED for Classic Cinema Package holders ONLY. All other seating is unreserved.
Free parking in Odeon car park but you must display a parking voucher available from Odeon staff.

Location

CLASSIC CINEMA – THE AFRICAN QUEEN, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

CROSSING

09-02-2026 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

Istanbul, a place where people come to disappear, is also where many find themselves.

Lia, a stern, retired teacher has vowed to her sister to find her estranged daughter, a trans woman who goes by the name of Tekla. Following a tip from a young chancer – the perpetually ravenous, Achi – the two unlikely travelling companions make the long journey to Istanbul from their Georgian border town home.

Along the way their lives become intertwined with two sharp street kids and the warm-hearted lawyer, Evrim, who fights for trans rights in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. This is a tender, moving and memorable film from Levan Akin.

Members will recall we screened the director’s previous film, ‘And then we Danced’ - which premiered in the prestigious Spotlight section at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival - during Season 67. A powerful and moving drama based in Tbilisi and set in the world of traditional Georgian dance.

Screen 2 upstairs - Unreserved seating
Doors open 7pm
Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm
Free parking available at the Odeon
We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby
Dvd for members available to borrow from our library

Additional Info

Screen 2 upstairs - Unreserved seating
Doors open 7pm
Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm
Free parking available at the Odeon
We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby
Dvd for members available to borrow from our library

Location

CROSSING, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

BIRD

23-02-2026 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

Bailey lives in a dilapidated house with her hapless dad, Bug, and older brother, Hunter, with a private space that consists of a sleeping bag separated from Hunter’s room by a gauzy curtain, and she’s starting to realise life isn’t turning out so great. It’s not clear how Bug makes his money, though his latest scheme – a frog that he coaxes to produce pricey hallucinogenic slime by playing it Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ and other “earnest music” he normally hates – encapsulates his shaky prospects. Meanwhile Bailey’s mom, separated from Bug, isn’t better off, caring for three small children.

If Bailey’s family is big and loving, it’s also a source of constant worry. Trouble brews as early as the film’s opening, when Bug announces he’s soon to marry, and the bride and her little girl are moving in. Bailey’s stubborn refusal to be a bridesmaid, provoking Bug’s anger, is clearly only the tip of the iceberg of dire tensions between a rebellious daughter and the father whose actions seem to her selfishly haphazard. Meanwhile, drugs are casually taken in both parents’ homes, Hunter styles himself as a neighbourhood vigilante, and mum’s dating a new, violent boyfriend, who increasingly petrifies Bailey’s young and defenceless siblings.

In turmoil, Bailey bolts and runs away, a whirlwind of impulses. Only when in nature does she slow down. Her iPhone’s camera becomes her greatest ally. Though sometimes it documents aggression and violence – such as when Hunter brutally attacks an enemy, or when mum’s boyfriend threatens Bailey and her sister – it also captures fleeting, bewitching moments, like a horse grazing in a meadow, a butterfly landing on Bailey’s finger, or seagulls taking flight. In the scenes of Bailey projecting her videos on the walls of her room, or when her little movies run through her mind, in a constant relay of past and present, Arnold incapsulates the magic of cinema as a sensory tool for discovering and staying connected to the material world, and dreams.

One such dream literally blows into Bailey’s life, propelled by a strong wind, it seems: after running from home, she wakes up in a field, to meet a peculiar young man, Bird. Bird is looking for his family, and though wary, at first, Bailey decides to help him, finding his mysterious ways – spending days and nights perched atop the roof of an apartment block – slowly growing on her. Their bond ripens into a friendship that’s rooted in a sense of otherworldliness, in sensing that there’s another, gentler, way to live.

In Robbie Ryan’s tactile cinematography, the camera stays glued to bodies, with partially obstructed frames, so that viewers are plunged into uncertainty and disorientation along with the characters. At times, the shaky visuals, and Joe Bini’s fluid cutting, also convey Bailey’s perceptual blur, and giddy thrill – as seen during Bailey’s carefree ride with Bug on his scooter – when the city’s arteries, flushed with life, open up to her.

Newcomer Nykiya Adams triumphs as Bailey, commingling edginess, tenderness, and introspection; so do Barry Keoghan, whose Bug is as big-hearted and droll as he is hapless, and Rogowski, who delivers Bird’s stoic poise with a wispy softness. Rogowski’s also convincingly birdlike. By the time his character literally spreads his wings – as a half-man half-beast, an incarnation of a kindred spirit, or a messenger from another world – it’s not too off-putting. His figure rather comes off as manifesting Bailey’s belief in her innate power, and perhaps also her last bid at the safety of childhood, with its array of protective fantastical beings. In some respects, Bird fits in line with gritty contemporary fables such as Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012). Regardless of what viewers make of Bird’s duality, as both a man heartbroken over his family and an animal endowed with supernatural powers, Arnold grapples with the very real dilemma of how to keep one’s senses, and spirit, alive, against uncertainty and pain.

Additional Info

Screen 2 upstairs - Unreserved seating
Doors open 7pm
Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm
Free parking available at the Odeon
We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby
Dvd for members available to borrow from our library

Location

BIRD, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

CLASSIC CINEMA – QUEEN CHRISTINA

25-02-2026 at 19:00

Certificate:

Synopsis

Queen Christina is based on the titular Swedish monarch who reigned at the height of one of the bloodiest periods in Europe’s history: The Thirty Years War, which started in 1618. The film itself begins in 1632 as the five-year-old Christina is crowned ‘King’ of Sweden after her father, Gustavus Adolphus, was killed on the battlefield. Constantly away at war, he left instructions for his daughter to be brought up as a boy. The Russian born Director, Rouben Mamoulian has some fun with this when the grown up Christina, out hunting with her ‘valet’, and dressed in manly garb, bumps in to the Spanish envoy, Antonio, in a Country Inn. John Gilbert, who frequently co-starred with Garbo and had been her lover in real life, plays Antonio with relish.

Additional Info

Queen Christina | 1933 | U | Dir. Rouben Mamoulian | US | 105 mins | IMDb 7.5 | B&W

ONLY PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE JUST NOW WHICH ENABLES YOU TO SEE ALL FOUR FILMS.

Tickets for individual Classic Cinema films will only be made available much nearer the time, if space allows.

Our third film in this series is Queen Christina (1933), which is by far the oldest film to be screened in our three Classic Cinema Seasons to date, the whole ‘talking pictures’ revolution having only been in existence for six years by the time of its release.

Greta Garbo’s career had begun during the silent era in her native Sweden. Such was her early success she soon found herself in demand and quickly answered Hollywood’s call. She immediately took ‘Tinseltown’ by storm, becoming an international star in the process.

Her first ‘talkie’ – Anna Christie (1930) – was MGM’s highest-grossing film of the year and, although never in doubt, it announced unequivocally to the world that Garbo had successfully made the transition from silent to sound.

Mata Hari (1931), where she played the notorious exotic dancer and spy, and the Oscar winning Grand Hotel (1932) quickly followed, and were equally successful, both critically and financially.

Garbo had become vital to MGM’s success, and we have our third Lady with Attitude to thank for tonight’s film. After her contract with MGM had expired in 1932 she spent a year back home in Sweden. Such was her power and influence, even within the notorious studio system of the time, she was able to include a condition in her renewed contract that she should play her fellow countrywoman, Queen Christina, in a film MGM had hitherto been reluctant to make – that, and negotiating a staggering salary, for the time, of $300,000 per film.

We fast forward to 1644 and the end of the ‘Regency Period’, Queen Christina at 18 has now come of age to rule one of the most powerful nations in Europe - a Europe at war. No doubt the film takes liberties with the historical figure, but there are some fundamental truths the narrative holds by. For example, against the wishes of her court advisers, she refuses to marry, and she is far more interested in becoming a patron of the arts and supporting education than continuing to lead her nation in what is becoming a ruinous war.

Interestingly, there are parallels between Queen Christina and Greta Garbo’s lives, which may be why Garbo was so keen on the project. Both women never married and they each voluntarily gave up their thrones: Christina as Queen of Sweden and Garbo as Queen of Hollywood.

With Queen Christina you get so much for your money: period drama, biography and romance. There are wise words, some philosophising from Christina and not a little humour. In one scene The Queen quotes Moliere: “on marriage being an altogether shocking thing. How is it possible to endure the idea of sleeping with a man in the room” and the Spanish Envoy, Antonio in decrying the Swedish weather complains: “You can’t serenade a woman in a snowstorm!”

The whole film revolves around Garbo, who is mesmerizing throughout, gloriously photographed by her regular cinematographer, William Daniels. Like us, I’m sure you can’t wait to see some of the most iconic images of one of Cinema’s greatest ever Stars on the big screen.

Seating limited to 64 so we recommend you book in advance.
Screen 3.
One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at <a href=

Location

CLASSIC CINEMA – QUEEN CHRISTINA, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

THE LAST DANCE

09-03-2026 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

Hong Kong’s The Last Dance (破·地獄), directed, written, and produced by emerging filmmaker Anselm Chan, is a moving drama‑comedy that explores the funeral trade and the meaning of life through death rituals.

Chan, who previously made light-hearted comedies, pivoted in 2024 to a more contemplative tone inspired by his grief during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

The film stars two Hong Kong icons: Dayo Wong as Dominic, a struggling wedding planner forced into funeral services, and comedy legend Michael Hui as Master Man, a conservative Taoist priest whose traditions challenge Dominic’s modern ideas.

Their chemistry elevates the story from odd‑couple setup to something more emotionally rich and rewarding.

Joined by Michelle Wai (as Man’s daughter Yuet) and Chu Pak‑Hong, the cast unpacks themes of tradition, gender roles, and family tension with authenticity and warmth.

The film broke multiple box‑office records in Hong Kong and also won top audience awards at the 2025 Far East Film Festival.

Please note that as this is set in a funeral home there are some scenes with bodies, including a pivotal scene involving a child being prepared for funeral.

Additional Info

Location

THE LAST DANCE, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

CLASSIC CINEMA – GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES

11-03-2026 at 19:00

Certificate:

Synopsis

The film is based on a 1949 Broadway musical of the same name, which itself was based on a 1925 comic novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Intimate Diary of a Professional Lady, by Anita Loos. The book was published the same year as The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald within a trend of books set in the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 30s.

Additional Info

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes | 1953 | U | Dir. Howard Hawks | US | 91 mins | IMDb 7.1

ONLY PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE JUST NOW WHICH ENABLES YOU TO SEE ALL FOUR FILMS.

Tickets for individual Classic Cinema films will only be made available much nearer the time, if space allows.

The final film in our Classic Cinema Season is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), featuring the one and only Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe’s face is of arguably the most recognisable actress of all time. Her fame and global recognition is all the more remarkable considering her untimely death at just 36 years old.

This version of the story is filmed in glorious Technicolor and showcases the comedic and musical talents of both Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. Entertainers Lorelei Lee (Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Russell) travel to Paris on a transatlantic cruise with a whole set of eligible men, including the US Olympic Team, plus a private investigator, Ernie Malone (Elliot Reid) on their tails. Lorelei and Dorothy’s very different attitudes to love and marriage are a delightful contrast, with the ladies leaving most of the menfolk in their wake in a series of hilarious comedic scenes. The supporting cast including Reid, Charles Coburn and Tommy Noonan are great foils for Monroe and Russell.

Directed by Howard Hawks, one of the greatest American filmmakers, who helmed such classic films as Scarface (1932), El Dorado (1966), Rio Bravo (1959), The Big Sleep (1946), and To Have and Have Not (1944). He is famous for portrayals of strong female characters, known as “Hawksian women”. Hawks never won an Oscar for his films, receiving an Honorary Academy Award in 1975.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes includes classic musical numbers “Two Little Girls from Little Rock”, “Ain’t There Anyone Here For Love?”and, of course, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”. Most of the songs were taken from the original stage musical, written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin, with new songs for the film by Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Adamson and others. The musical numbers are choreographed to wonderful effect by Jack Cole.

Monroe’s performance of “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” in her iconic pink dress and adornments has inspired many a homage, including Madonna’s “Material Girl” video - another link to our Ladies with Attitude theme for CCS3.

The film gave Monroe and Russell top-billing, with no male actors headlining, and established Monroe as Hollywood’s biggest female star of the time. However, this is not just Monroe’s film, with Russell more than holding her own, and the two leads working in harmony, In fact, one of the highlights of the film is Russell’s impersonation of Monroe’s character in the French court scene.

So two Ladies with Attitude for the price of one in the final film of our Classic Cinema season!

Seating limited to 64 so we recommend you book in advance.
Screen 3.
One wheelchair space - get in touch to reserve this - at contact.harrogatefilmsociety@gmail.com
Doors open at 6.45pm and the film will start after the introduction @ 7pm.
Premier seating RESERVED for Classic Cinema Package holders ONLY. All other seating is unreserved.
Free parking in Odeon car park but you must display a parking voucher available from Odeon sta

Location

CLASSIC CINEMA – GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

Out of Africa

18-03-2026 at 14:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.

Additional Info

Out of Africa | 1985 | PG | Dir. Sydney Pollack | US | IMDb 7.2 | 161 mins

Being shown to commemorate the career of the iconic Robert Redford following his death in 2025.

Choose from the matinee or the evening screening - 2.30pm start time or 7pm start time.

The film is based on the memoirs of Danish writer Karen Blixen (pen name, Isak Dinesen) in a coffee plantation in present day Kenya. It explains how this brave woman overcomes the stereotype of a dainty, colonial British lady by running the coffee farm while her husband Bror Blixen (Brandauer) led a life of hunting and infidelities. Meryl Streep is great as Karen Blixen. She manages to maintain the realistic Danish accent through the whole film. Redford is great as Denys Finch-Hatton, the Etonian hunter who keeps companion in her loneliest and hardest times.

Meryl Streep conquers another accent and another role with her eyes closed. She personifies the strong-willed Danish woman of Dineson's stories. Robert Redford is the free-spirited Denys Finch Hatton. Strong too is Klaus Maria Brandauer as Baron Von Blixen, the wayward husband, while Malick Bowens is a delight as Mrs Blixen's native 'man'.

Some may consider that the real attraction of the film is the outstanding photography of the African landscape together with the sweeping John Barry soundtrack that is probably the most beautiful movie soundtrack of the 1980s. Out of Africa won 7 Oscars and was nominated for many more.

1986 Oscar Winner - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing (Screenplay based on Material from Another Medium), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction (Set Direction), Best Sound, Best Music (Original Score)

· Screen 3 downstairs - Unreserved seating - one wheelchair space - please get in touch to reserve this

· Doors open at 2.15pm

· Parking at the Odeon is FREE after 6pm

Location

Out of Africa, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

THE PROMISED LAND

23-03-2026 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

The Promised Land tells the tale of Ludvig Kahlen, a retired army captain, who attempts to build a property and cultivate land on the desolate Danish moorland in Jutland. Set in 1755, and starring Mads Mikkelsen, the film centres around Kahlen’s struggle with both the inhospitable landscape and the current landowner who aims to drive Kahlen from the moor.

With a strong performance from Mikkelsen, this historical drama with western tropes is wonderfully photographed, capturing Jutland’s wildness. Mikkelsen delivers much emotion and power even in scenes where he is alone and says very little. Equally as good are Amanda Collin in the key role of Ann Barbara and Simon Bennebjerg as sadistic magistrate Frederik De Schinkel.

The film is an adaptation of the novel The Captain and Ann Barbara by Ida Jessen, which was inspired by the true story of the captain-turned-farmer who was the first person to cultivate the Jutland heath.

Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, this is a return to Danish period-drama following A Royal Affair (2012), and a reunion with Mikkelsen. The Promised Land delivers excellent costume and production design and is beautifully filmed, showing off Jutland’s wild and unforgiving landscape. Indeed, the film won the European Film Awards for both Costume Design and Cinematography.

Originally titled Bastarden (The Bastard), this is a gritty, inspirational Nordic Neo-Western story of one man’s fight against the elements and class in order to disprove that “the heath cannot be tamed”.

Additional Info

Location

THE PROMISED LAND, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB

THE REASON I JUMP

13-04-2026 at 19:30

Certificate:

Synopsis

Jerry Rothwell’s 2020 documentary The Reason I Jump transforms Naoki Higashida’s 2007 memoir into an immersive, sensory-rich exploration of non‑verbal autism. The film blends Higashida’s translated reflections (by UK author of Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell) with portraits of five non‑speaking autistic individuals from India, the UK, the US, and Sierra Leone.

Rothwell crafts an unusual cinematic language that echoes the cognitive and sensory experience of autism: flickers of light, recurring sounds, fragmented memory sequences, and minimal narration merged with powerful voice‑over readings of Higashida’s words. His stated intent "is not documentary exposition, but phenomenological immersion for neuro‑typical audiences".

The production team also includes producer Jeremy Dear, whose own non‑verbal autistic son, Joss, is featured in the film. Together, Rothwell and Dear spent years building trust and collaborating with families across continents, ensuring the film foregrounds a true lived experience.

The sound design, score, and cinematography help to frame everyday environments in unfamiliar ways.

The result is an unusual documentary - profound, empathic, and challenging to stereotypes about autism. It won the audience award at Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition and best documentary at the British Independent Film Awards.

Additional Info

Screen 2 upstairs - Unreserved seating
Doors open 6.45pm
Preceded by our end of season social so wine or soft drink included
Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm
Free parking available at the Odeon
We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby
Dvd for members available to borrow from our library

Location

THE REASON I JUMP, Harrogate Odeon, East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LB