Richmond Film Society
Richmond Film Society was formed in 1963 and has since screened nearly 950 films. Our objective was, and remains, to bring our community the very best in World Cinema. Our seasons run from September to June and attract an aggregate audience of over 5,000 attendees. Season 63 will comprise 20 films of international repute from Europe, the Middle East, East and South East Asia, South America, Africa, USA and UK.
Films are shown on alternate Tuesdays at 8:00 pm sharp, with no ads or trailers. On screening nights, the bar opens at 7:00 p.m. and drinks can be brought into the auditorium.
Film notes are available online for each screening and audience scores and feedback are collated.
See http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk for further information and full details of our Season 63 programme.
Our Venue
The Exchange is directly opposite Twickenham station, which is served by trains to and from Waterloo, Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, Kingston and Reading. Bus routes 267 and 281 stop outside The Exchange, the 290 stops in Arragon Road and the 33, 490, H22, R68 and R70 all stop in central Twickenham, which is a 5 minute walk away.
There is no onsite parking at The Exchange and no public parking on the Brewery Wharf Estate. There is, however, free car parking nearby at:
• Waitrose Arragon Road multi-storey car park from 6pm to midnight
• Holly Road car park from 6:30pm
• Local streets from 6:30pm
Season 63 Membership is Closed
Having reached capacity, membership for Season 63 (2026-27) is now closed. If you are a non-member and would like to be added to the membership waiting list for next season (2027-28), please email us at admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk with your name, address and
telephone number; alternatively, email us via the Contact Us section of the website.
Seasonal membership has been held at £40 for the 20 films (the 1999 price), an equivalent of £2 per film. For full-time students, membership was offered at the concessionary rate of £25.
Membership includes:
- Free admission to all 20 screenings.
- Free admission to the Christmas party.
- Input into future film selection.
- Details of other local arts-related events through our affiliation with Arts Richmond.
- An opportunity to join RFS-funded tours to the Cinema Museum in Kennington.
Non-Member Tickets
65 non-member tickets will be available to purchase for all individual screenings in Season 62. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. To ensure that you secure a ticket and avoid disappointment, we strongly recommend early pre-booking via The Exchange once tickets become available for sale.
Should any non-member tickets remain available on the night of screenings, these can be now be purchased solely from The Exchange’s box office on the ground floor by contactless payment only.
Further Information
For further information about RFS and our current season of films, please see our website at http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
You can also follow us on Facebook at <a href=
All information provided by Richmond Film Society
Screenings
Upcoming
Nouvelle Vague (France)
15th Sep 2026 at 20:00
Certificate:
Synopsis
Richmond Film Society’s 63rd Season commences on 15 September with a treat for film lovers - Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater's love letter to the social and revolutionary cinematic magic of the French New Wave. The film reimagines, with no little humour, the making of Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film Breathless, capturing the dynamism and creative chaos at the heart of one of World Cinema's most influential movies.
The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and won four Césars, including Best Director for Richard Linklater. It will be introduced by Jon Davies, a tutor in French Cinema and an Associate of the British Film Institute.
Additional Info
Non-Member Tickets £5
Around 65 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 63. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. Non-member tickets sold out for the vast majority of screenings last season, so early pre-booking via The Exchange is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, see http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk.
Location
Richmond Film Society, The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE
Booking Link
This is an external website; My Community Cinema take no responsibility for the content of this page.
The President’s Cake (Iraq)
29th Sep 2026 at 20:00
Certificate:
Synopsis
Set in early 1990s Iraq, when the country was crippled by poverty and UN international sanctions, 9-year old Lamia lives in poverty with her ailing grandmother in the Mesopotamian marshlands. When Lamia’s name is picked out in the class draw, she is faced with the ‘honour’ - and the exceptionally daunting challenge - of baking a cake for her school’s mandatory celebration of Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Her grandmother cannot afford the ingredients and so, together with Lamia’s young friend and her pet rooster, they set off for the city to try and somehow source the ingredients.
The film is not based on one specific individual's true story, but it is deeply grounded in real history. Under Saddam Hussein's regime, schools and institutions were legally required to host lavish celebrations for the dictator's birthday. As a result of the UN-backed sanctions, food and basic goods were incredibly scarce, with eggs, flour and sugar regarded as luxury items. The demand for a pristine birthday cake was thus a perilous task for impoverished families, given that a failure to deliver could result in severe punishments for the child and their family. Indeed, the writer and director, Hassan Hadi, drew upon memories of his own fearful childhood in Iraq, including the memory of a friend and classmate who failed to produce a cake and, as a result, was expelled and forced to join Saddam’s child army.
Part fairy tale and part moral fable, the film undergoes several tonal shifts, skilfully navigating between the comic, the charming and the tragic, providing a child’s eye view of a brutal dictatorship and the effect that the crippling UN sanctions has on its people.
The film premiered in 2025 at Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight, winning both the Audience Award and the Caméra d’Or for the best first feature. It went on to make history as the first ever Iraqi film to be shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar.
Additional Info
Non-Member Tickets £5
Around 65 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 63. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. Non-member tickets sold out for the vast majority of screenings last season, so early pre-booking via The Exchange is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, see http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk.
Location
Richmond Film Society, The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE
Booking Link
This is an external website; My Community Cinema take no responsibility for the content of this page.
DJ Ahmet (North Macedonia)
13th Oct 2026 at 20:00
Certificate:
Synopsis
DJ Ahmet is a coming-of-age drama-comedy, in which we follow 15-year-old Ahmet, a shepherd from a remote village in North Macedonia. He dreams of becoming a DJ while navigating family expectations, the conservative traditions of his community and a forbidden love for a ‘promised’ girl.
Additional Info
Non-Member Tickets £5
Around 65 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 63. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. Non-member tickets sold out for the vast majority of screenings last season, so early pre-booking via The Exchange is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, see http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
Location
Richmond Film Society, The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE
Booking Link
This is an external website; My Community Cinema take no responsibility for the content of this page.
The Stranger (Tunisia/France)
27th Oct 2026 at 20:00
Certificate:
Synopsis
A film from of Richmond Film Society’s favourite directors, Francois Ozon. The Stranger (L'Étranger) is based on the 1942 existentialist novella by Albert Camus.
In French Algeria, Meursault (played by Benjamin Voisin) lives a life of indifference and detachment. Following the death of his mother, he stands accused of the murder of an Arab man. The film is shot in black and white, and won Best Cinematography for Manuel Dacosse at the 2026 Lumiere and Cesar Awards.
It will be introduced by Dr Sophie Belot, Senior Lecturer in Film and Screen Media at St Mary’s University.
Additional Info
Non-Member Tickets £5
Around 65 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 63. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. Non-member tickets sold out for the vast majority of screenings last season, so early pre-booking via The Exchange is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, see http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk.
Location
Richmond Film Society, The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE
Booking Link
This is an external website; My Community Cinema take no responsibility for the content of this page.
Souleymane’s Story (France)
10th Nov 2026 at 20:30
Certificate:
Synopsis
Souleymane is a Guinean asylum seeker living in Paris who works as a food delivery cyclist. He has just two days to prepare for a crucial asylum interview that will determine whether he can remain in France legally. As he navigates exhausting deliveries, homelessness, exploitation, and pressure to memorise a story for the immigration authorities, the film explores the emotional and practical challenges faced by undocumented migrants.
The film received widespread critical acclaim, winning the Cannes Jury Prize and the Best Performance Prize for Abou Sangaré in his first leading role, together with several Césars, including for Best Original Screenplay.
The film will be preceded by the Richmond Film Society AGM and will therefore commence half an hour later than usual at 8:30pm.
Additional Info
Non-Member Tickets £5
Around 65 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 63. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. Non-member tickets sold out for the vast majority of screenings last season, so early pre-booking via The Exchange is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, see http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk.
Location
Richmond Film Society, The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE
Booking Link
This is an external website; My Community Cinema take no responsibility for the content of this page.
The Last Viking (Norway/Denmark/Sweden)
24th Nov 2026 at 20:00
Certificate:
Synopsis
This extremely black comedy comes from the Danish auteur director Anders Thomas Jensen who uses his regular ensemble cast in this, his latest film. Some of you will remember RFS’s screening Men and Chicken and may also have seen his more recent Riders of Justice. The cast is lead by RFS favourite Mads Mikkelsen and also includes Sofie Gråbøl. Although the film has a 15 certificate, do be prepared for some very gory shocks, with strong violence and bloody images (Anders was the writer of the RFS screened The Promised Land). See the BBFC guidance at https://www.bbfc.co.uk
When a bank robber, Anker, is released from jail after 15 years, he finds that his traumatised brother, Manfred, has retreated into a delusional state, believing himself to be John Lennon, and is too upset by everyone disbelieving him to remember where he buried the money. In desperation, Anker, with the help of a rogue psychiatric nurse, has to round up three other dysfunctional cases to ‘reunite the band’ in the remote Danish forest in the hope that Manfred will remember where to start digging.
Additional Info
Non-Member Tickets £5
Around 65 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 63. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. Non-member tickets sold out for the vast majority of screenings last season, so early pre-booking via The Exchange is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, see
https://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
Location
Richmond Film Society, The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE
Booking Link
This is an external website; My Community Cinema take no responsibility for the content of this page.
The Blue Trail (Brazil)
8th Dec 2026 at 20:00
Certificate:
Synopsis
In a not-so-distant dystopian future set in Brazil, the government sends seniors to isolated colonies under the guise of boosting the economy. But 77-year-old Tereza (Denise Weinberg) decides her story is far from over. Refusing to surrender her independence, she embarks on a journey to pursue the dreams she is not yet ready to abandon. Along the way, she discovers freedom, companionship, and the joys of going wherever the river takes her.
Winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, the latest from director Gabriel Mascaro (Neon Bull, Divine Love) is an inspiring reminder that it's never too late to take flight.
Additional Info
Non-Member Tickets £5
Around 65 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 63. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office: online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person. Non-member tickets sold out for the vast majority of screenings last season, so early pre-booking via The Exchange is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, see http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk.
Location
Richmond Film Society, The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE
Booking Link
This is an external website; My Community Cinema take no responsibility for the content of this page.