Busy September for Wolverhampton's Light House

Wolverhampton's Light House media centre has unveiled a busy September of films, screened opera and theatre productions and exhibitions.

Cinema

Project Nim

From the Oscar-winning team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human.

Fri 2 Sept, 5.50pm, Sat 3 Sept 5.50pm & 8.20pm, Sun 4 Sept 8.20pm, Mon 5 – Tue 6 Sept 5.50pm & 8.20pm, Wed 7 Sept 2.15pm, 5.50pm & 8.20pm, Thu 8 Sept 5.50pm & 8.20pm

Cert 12A, 1hr40

Dir. James Marsh, UK/USA, 2011

The Tree

After the sudden death of her husband, Dawn must face her own mourning yet still care for her four children. Her only daughter, eight-year-old Simone, seems to take the loss the hardest of all. Simone shares a special secret with her mother: her father whispers to her through the leaves of the magnificent tree next to their home. Convinced he's come back to protect the family, Simone spends more and more time up in the tree. Soon, Dawn herself is mesmerized by the tree's commanding presence.

Mon 5 – Tue 6 Sept 5.55pm & 8.15pm, Wed 7 Sept 2pm, 5.55pm & 8.15pm & Thu 8 Sept 5.55pm & 8.15pm

Cert 12A, 1hr41

Dir. Julie Bertuccelli, France/Australia, 2010

In A Better World

2011 Oscar & Golden Globe Winner for Best Foreign Language Film, In A Better World is a gripping and beautifully constructed human drama about revenge and the power of forgiveness. Anton is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his work at an African refugee camp. In these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness.

Showing with DTS-CSS subtitles on Sun and Tues and audio description headsets available on request.

Fri 9 – Tue 13 Sept 5.40pm & 8.15pm, Wed 14 Sept 2pm, 5.40pm & 8.15pm

Cert 15, 1hr58

Dir. Susanne Bier, Denmark, 2010

Danish with English subtitles

The Guard

Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is a small-town Irish cop with a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humour, a dying mother, a fondness for prostitutes, and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international cocaine-smuggling ring that has brought straight-laced FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) to his door.

Fri 9 – Tue 13 Sept 5.50pm & 8.20pm, Wed 14 Sept 2.15pm, 5.50pm & 8.20pm, Thu 15 Sept 5.50pm & 8.20pm

Cert 15, 1hr36

Dir. John Michael McDonagh, Ireland, 2011

The Skin I Live In

Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After twelve years he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig.

Fri 16 – Tue 20 Sept 5.40pm & 8.15pm, Wed 21 Sept 2pm, 5.40pm & 8.15pm, Thu 22 Sept 5.40pm & 8.15pm

Cert 15, 2hrs

Dir. Pedro Almodovar, Spain, 2011

Spanish with English subtitles

Showing with DTS-CSS subtitles on Sun and Tues and audio description headsets available on request.

Beautiful Lies

Emilie (Audrey Tautou) puts all her heart into running her busy hairdressing salon in sunny South of France. Meanwhile her mother has had her heart broken and needs love. When Emilie starts receiving anonymous love letters, she decides to send them on to her mother, sparking confusion, complications and dilemmas when the secret admirer is revealed. A refreshing comedy of errors from the director of Priceless and the star of Amelie and Coco Before Chanel.

Fri 16 – Tue 20 Sept 5.45pm & 8.20pm, Wed 21 Sept 2.15pm, 5.45pm & 8.20pm, Thu 22 Sept 8.20pm

Cert 12A, 1hr44

Dir. Pierre Salvadori, France, 2010

French with English subtitles

Birmingham International Film Society presents West Midlands Human Rights Film Festival 2011: Arna's Children

In Jenin 1989, a Jewish woman, Arna Mer Khamis, founded a theatre workshop for Palestinian children. This poignant film is a comprehensive portrait of resistance during the second intifada, witnessing in close-up the lives of Palestinian children shaped by a brutal occupation. On April 4, 2011, her son, the film's director, Juliano Mer Khamis was assassinated in Jenin by masked gunmen. Despite his tragic loss, the Freedom Theatre lives on, as does Mer Khamis' vision of the creative process as a medium for social change.

Thu 22 Sept, 6pm

Dir. Juliano Mer Khamis, Danniel Danniel, Israel, 2003, 1hr24

The screening, in collaboration with West Midlands PSC and the Birmingham-Ramallah Twinning Committee, will be introduced by Chris Khamis, cousin of the director.

One Day

After one day together – July 15th, 1988, their college graduation – Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) begin a friendship that will last a lifetime. For the next two decades, key moments of their relationship are experienced over several July 15ths in their lives. Together and apart, we see Dex and Em through their friendship and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. Somewhere along their journey, these two people realize that what they are searching has been there for them all along.

Fri 23 – Tue 27 Sept 5.50pm & 8.15pm, Wed 28 Sept 2pm, Thu 29 Sept 5.50pm

Cert 12A, 1hr48

Dir. Lone Scherfig, USA, 2011

Arriety

Tiny 14 year old Arrietty lives under the floorboards of an old house with her parents. Their peaceful life is dramatically changed when Arrietty accidentally allows herself to be seen by Sho, a sickly but well-intentioned 12 year old boy. The friendship between the two children causes the housekeeper to become aware of the borrowers' existence. The family are forced to choose between staying in their home or leaving for the uncertainty of the great outdoors. This Japanese animation version of The Borrowers is written by world renowned Hayao Miyazaki.

Fri 23 – Tue 27 Sept 5.55pm & 8.20pm, Wed 28 Sept 2.15pm, 5.55pm & 8.20pm, Thu 29 Sept 5.55pm & 8.20pm

Cert U, 1hr34

Dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Japan, 2010

English dubbed version

Hobo with a Shotgun (with Introduction)

When an ageing Hobo (Rutger Hauer) jumps from a freight car in a new city hoping for a fresh start, he soon realises he has well and truly reached the end of the line. He finds himself trapped in an urban hell, an anarchic world overrun by murderers, rapists, petty crooks and corrupt cops. Now it's up to him to clean up the streets the only way he knows how . . . with a 20 gauge shot gun in his hand and two rounds in the chamber. With the city's evil crime boss standing in his way, will the Hobo's own brand of street justice prevail?

First featured as a 'fake' trailer in the Grindhouse double bill directed by Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez in 2007, Hobo With A Shotgun, starring Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Batman Begins, Sin City) has been plagued by controversy worldwide for its use of exploitation & ultra violence. Don't miss out on a unique opportunity Thu 29 Sept, 8.30pm

Cert 18, 1hr26

Dir. Jason Eisner, Canada, 2011to see it on the big screen with an introduction by resident Film Studies Lecturer Kimberly Forlin-Softley.

R: Hit First Hit Hardest

Multi-award winning Danish prison drama R is as gritty, punishing and intense as a two year stint in Denmark's toughest penitentiary, but infinitely more riveting. That's where prisoner R finds himself serving a sentence for violent assault. It's his first conviction but he ends up with the hard-core lifers in a world filled with rules, honour and debts to be paid. He must find his place in the system, learn to navigate, and fight for his survival.

Fri 30 Sept – Sun 2 Oct 5.50pm & 8.20pm, Mon 3 Oct 8.20pm

Cert 18, 1hr35

Dir. Tobias Lindholm, Denmark, 2010

Danish with English subtitles

Jane Eyre

In a bold new feature version of Jane Eyre, director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and screenwriter Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe) infuse a contemporary immediacy into Charlotte Brontë's timeless, classic story. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) star in the iconic lead roles of the romantic drama, the heroine of which continues to inspire new generations of devoted readers and viewers.

Fri 30 Sep – Mon 3 Oct 5.40pm & 8.15pm, Tue 4 Oct 5.30pm, Wed 5 Oct 2pm, 5.40pm & 8.15pm

Cert PG, 2hrs

Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga, UK/USA, 2011

Way of the Morris

Way of the Morris follows award-winning filmmaker Tim Plester on a journey from the English village green to the killing fields of the Somme, as he searches for a connection with the much-maligned native dance traditions that run deep in his blood. What emerges is a poignant and evocative exploration of the origins and impulses behind Morris dancing, and an attempt to understand its place within Britain's ongoing story.

Mon 3 Oct 6pm, Tue 4 Oct 6pm & 8.20pm, Wed 5 Oct 2.15pm, 6pm & 8.20pm, Thu 6 Oct 6pm & 8.20pm

Cert 12A, 67min

Dir. Tim Plester, UK, 2011

Live theatre and opera

Faust

Wed 28 Sept, 6.45/7pm

Running time: 172mins. There will be an interval of 30 minutes between Acts 3 and 4. Tickets cost: £18 adult / £12.50 under 15s

Light House's Music on Screen season for Autumn/Winter 2011 follows the success of the Live From the Met presentations and Summer at Glyndebourne, with a season of operas and ballet from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

Charles-François Gounod's 1859 opera was by far the most popular opera in the world by the beginning of the 20th century and its arias remain among the best known.

David McVicar's wonderfully indulgent interpretation brings to life the familiar tale in which Faust sells his soul to the demon Méphistophélès in return for youth and possession of the innocent and beautiful Marguerite.

Gounod's opera is renowned for its many popular favourites, whether the dazzling coloratura of Marguerite's Jewel Song, the instantly memorable Soldiers' Chorus or the impassioned climactic trio between Marguerite, Mephistopheles and Faust.

Complete with the Act IV ballet taking a bravura twist, Evelino Pido conducting the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and the massive forces of the Royal Opera Chorus with a cast that includes Angela Gheorghiu and Vittorio Grigolo, this Faust brings together everything that made it a world-wide phenomenon.

One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean

Thu 15 Sept, 6.45/7pm

National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking initiative to broadcast the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world. Broadcasts will also feature interviews with artists and behind-the-scenes footage, allowing audiences to share in the acclaimed work the National Theatre produces. Tickets cost: £12 full / £11 conc.

Based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni with songs by Grant Olding Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancee's dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.

Holed up at The Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.

In Richard Bean's English version of Goldoni's classic Italian comedy, sex, food and money are high on the agenda. James Corden returns to the National for the first time since The History Boys to play Francis.

Events

Home of Metal: Metal on Film

Fri 2 – Sun 4 Sept

Heavy Metal has had an up-and-down relationship with cinema over the years, often exploited for spandex comedy or grisly horror soundtracks. This eclectic programme will celebrate some of the genre's celluloid highlights, from rare television and live footage to cult classics like Heavy Metal Parking Lot and This is Spinal Tap.

There will also be ample opportunity to explore the darker side of Heavy Metal, including a late show of the Boris Karloff chiller that gave Black Sabbath their name, and the music's enduring global impact will be charted through documentaries, animation and artist's film.

Light House's weekend of screenings will include:

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (15)

Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance vs Judas Priest (15)

Black Sabbath aka: I Tre volti della paura (15)

Cult TV shows In Bed With Chris Needham and More Bad News (15)

Heavy Metal Parking Lot – Silver Jubilee (15) Admission free

The Beyond (18)

Area Documentary Heavy Metal (PG)

Ken Loach's Cathy Come Home (PG)

Eclectic mixture of shorts, animation and artists' film Metal Till I Die (15)

Inspiring documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad

The cult rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (15)

Tickets for screenings cost from £4.20 – £5.80. For more information and full listings visit www.light-house.co.uk

Heritage Open Day Projection Tours

Sat 10 Sept 2.30pm & Sun 11 Sept 1pm, 2.30pm & 3.30pm

Light House will be offering behind the scenes tours of the cinema projection room as part of the Heritage Open Days celebrations. Cinema Coordinator Jas Kapur will talk about the different projection technologies used in the cinema industry including 35mm and HD digital systems.

The tour will also provide an interesting insight into how the cinema operates and what the future holds in this rapidly changing and evolving industry. After the tours visitors are welcome to visit the galleries. Lock Works café bar will also be open all day. Each tour will last 30 minutes. Admission free. To book contact The Grand Theatre Box Office on 01902 429212.

Film Quiz

Mon 12 Sept, 8/8.30pm

Put your film knowledge to the test with Light House's monthly quiz. Assemble teams at 8pm for 8.30pm start. Cost: £5 per team (up to 4 members).

Open Mic Nights

Tue 13 Sept & Tue 27 Sept 8.30pm

Admission free

Light House's Open Mic nights are going from strength to strength so why not come down and check it out or perform with our awesome array of acts from all over the region. Witness the wide range of musical talent with styles ranging from folk and flamenco to experimental. Come on down and perform what you do best. With comedy, poetry and live music in a chilled out atmosphere.

I Am Xander EP Launch: 'Song Book For The Distance'

Sat 17 Sept, 8.30pm

Cost: £3 on the door

Celebrate the launch of the I Am Xander debut self-released EP, 'Songbook For The Distant', with a live set from I Am Xander in Lock Works, with support acts including an acoustic set from Nathan Till of The Silhouettes and The Wanderer with a performance by Seventh Syndicate. There will be a limited number of free copies of the EP, available first come first served on the door.

Podjammas launch by urbanjunglewear Ltd

Sat 24 Sept, 7pm

Admission free

urbanjuglewear will be holding an informal launch of their new Podjammas product range, a luxurious unisex product designed to keep you warm around the home. Featuring DJ sets. All welcome.

With record breaking winters sweeping the country, keeping warm this winter doesn't necessary mean piling on extra layers of clothing. Podjammas is an insulated fleece suit, with gloves, a hood, and boots attached for lounging indoors.

Exhibitions

Main Gallery:

Black Country Stories by Martin Parr

Until Fri 30 Sept

Magnum Photographer, Martin Parr, has spent a year documenting life in the Black Country. Exploring modern day society and the cultural make-up of the region, Parr has painted a portrait of British life from his own unique perspective, creating an archive for the future. The collection which contains over 650 images, 60 of which will be on display at Light House, is now held by Sandwell Library.

The work was commissioned by Multistory, a local community arts organisation, and captures and celebrates everyday Black Country living and working. Parr photographed local factories and industries, markets, shops, gurdwaras, temples, mosques, churches, restaurants, cafés, clubs and pubs, weddings and local cultural celebrations for St George's day, Easter and Vaisakhi.

Parr's process of documenting and recording is fuelled by his passion and curiosity, taking inspiration from his surroundings. His intimate approach, photographing his subjects in their own environment, gives him space to explore their lives and values in ways that often involve inadvertent humour.

Martin Parr and Multistory will continue to develop the Black Country Stories project over the next three years with Martin visiting Walsall in 2011, Wolverhampton in 2012 and Dudley in 2013, the project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the New Art Gallery Walsall, Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage And Dudley Museum and Arts service.

Lock Works:

Show Me a Secret by Students of Sandwell College

Until Fri 30 Sept

While documenting Sandwell, Magnum photographer Martin Parr worked with students and tutors from Sandwell College Photography Department. Martin challenged the students to 'show him a secret' of the Sandwell area. A small selection of the students' work from this assignment will be shown in Lock Works café bar.

Balcony Gallery:

Collektive Exposure Presents: True Identity

Wed 21 Sep – Thu 13 Oct

Collektive Exposure is a group dedicated to exploring contemporary issues in visual terms. This exhibition challenges the notion of the traditional portrait by taking the view identity is a shifting, temporary construction.

Katherine Bell: Focused difference

Our hands are a very important part of everyday living which shape the person we are in the tasks we set ourselves. This project shows, through a series of images, that facial and full body portraits are not the only way to see an individual's character and identity.

Katherine Ann Marie Burdon: Nature verses nurture

This collection explores how nature can generate uncertainty and ecstasy through the expressions and postures in portraiture. The individual being photographed is embraced by the natural surroundings and becomes empowered in a moment of frozen bliss. Burdon wants to take the viewer to a place of comfortable serenity and peace.

Jon Hancock: A Perceived Time of Happiness

To reflect on childhood is often carried out with selective memory, only the happy moments are recorded. This series aims to challenge that by using constructed images encouraging the viewer to look beyond the surface to the suggested longing, loneliness anger and pain as well as true happiness.

Alice Jones: Freedom and Control

The recording of self-image has enabled issues around appearance to be dealt with. Such issues can become a powerful and controlling voice in the mind and can start to dominate everyday life. Photography possesses a therapeutic quality, a way to express issues that would be difficult to communicate verbally.

Glenn Rossington: Personality Split: Through A Day

Personality Split is the first in a series of images constructed and manipulated to show the various aspects of our personality in certain situations/events contained within everyday life. From the struggles of everyday mundane tasks, to the elation and celebration of the impossible.

Katy Victoria Smith: Blurred Identity

Blurred Identity aims to challenge our perceptions of others. Taking influence from Francis Bacon the project focuses on removing the beauty sought after in traditional portraiture. Removing the face using traditional camera techniques, rather than digital manipulation, the viewer is forced to look deeper into the image to form an idea of identity.