• Sun 7 Oct • Terence Davies double bill

THE TERENCE DAVIES TRILOGY (15) 2.00

(UK 1976–83) dir. Terence Davies 101m.
Terry O'Sullivan, Wilfrid Brambell, Sheila Raynor.

With a moving trilogy of films, Children (1976), Madonna and Child (1980) and Death and Transfiguration (1983) Terence Davies quietly transformed British cinema. They make up the moving life story of a Liverpudlian Catholic man from schoolboy to closeted middle-aged homosexual and on to the inevitable finale.

+ DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES (15) 4.00

(UK 1985) dir. Terence Davies 84m.
Pete Postlethwaite, Freda Dowie, Anne Dyson

A unique and moving masterpiece as, with a mixture of realism, fantasy and music, Terence Davies looks back at his working-class upbringing in post-war Liverpool. It centres on a household ripped apart by a violent father - a standout performance from Pete Postlethwaite. His death triggers memories of the nightmare that is a repressed Catholic childhood.

Sun 14 Oct • Shane Meadows double bill

DEAD MAN'S SHOES (18) 2.00

(UK 2004) dir Shane Meadows 90m.
Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell.

Shane Meadows‚ dark tale of vengeful violence Disaffected soldier Richard (Considine) returns to his hometown in Derbyshire intent on avenging his dead brother. An extremely efficient, vicious and indispensable work of vigilante cinema.

+ THIS IS ENGLAND (18) 3.45

(UK 2007) dir Shane Meadows 100m.
Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim.

It's 1983 and 12 year old Shaun is a lonely boy, bullied at school and growing up without a dad. Then he unexpectedly finds friendship with a group of skinheads. But darker waters lie ahead... Brilliantly written and directed by Shane Meadows, it perfectly evokes the time, the place, the people and the problems in a way that is both funny and moving and altogether unmissable.

AFRICA'S GREATEST RESOURCE (PG) 11.15am

(UK 2007) dir. Steve O Taylor 47m. Digital.

Documentary by local filmmaker about the slave trade.

+ Q&A with filmmaker.

Admission free

For the fourth year, the Festival is bringing films beyond central London to local cinemas across the capital. The Rio is proud to be one of these venues, and are delighted to be screening the following two films:

DOL: THE VALLEY OF TAMBOURINES (15) 1.30

(Autonomous Region of Kurdistan/France/Germany 2006) dir. Hiner Saleem 90m. Subtitles.
Nazmî Kirik, Belçim Bilgin, Omer Çiaw Sin.

Exquisitely shot tale of a groom on-the-run through the Kurdish mountains. The Turkish-Kurdish village of Balliova borders Iran and Iraq, and is the site of border disputes that have devastated the area. With Kurdish guerrilla fighters active, the Turkish military patrol the area, oppressively clamping down at the mere hint of violence or aggression. It's in these circumstances that villagers Azad and his fiancée Nazenin are to be married, but their plans are ruined when a fight with Turkish soldiers breaks out during their wedding ceremony, resulting in a Turkish commandant being shot and Azad going on the run, leaving Nazenin behind. Azad embarks on an odyssey that takes him to Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq, revealing and revelling in diverse aspects of his peoples' culture and circumstances. Exquisite to watch, but often uncomfortable viewing, the cinematography of Andreas Sinanos (who has worked extensively with Theo Angelopolus) beautifully captures the fascinating landscape of the Kurdish mountains and valleys, while director Hiner Saleem (VODKA LEMON, KILOMETRE ZERO) delivers a searing satire about the treatment of the Kurds with a sense of politics and mischief that is reminiscent of Godard at his peak.

£7

TUYA'S MARRIAGE (15) 3.45

(China 2007) dir. Wang Quan An 96m. Subtitles.
Yu Nan, Bater, Sen'ge.

One of the unforeseen pleasures of this year's Berlinale, Golden Bear-winning TUYA'S MARRIAGE is the story of one woman's struggle to support her family, set against the backdrop of a disappearing way of life. Tuya is a young Mongolian woman, whose husband Bater is incapacitated by injury. With 100 sheep to tend and two young children to support, Tuya reluctantly agrees to divorce Bater and find a new husband, but only on condition that any would-be suitors agree to support Bater as well as the rest of the family. As she receives a series of dodgy candidates, her hapless, drunken but kind-hearted neighbour Sen'ge looks on... An enjoyable slice-of-life drama suffused with gentle humour, the film also benefits from director Wang Quan An's eye for composition and Lutz Reitemeier's photography, which make the film look at times almost like a Steppes-Western. But most appealing of all are the film's characters, particularly the flawed, stubborn but resolutely determined Tuya.

£7

Tickets available in advance online from www.lff.org.uk, by telephone 020 7928 3232 or from the Rio Cinema box office

The 2007 Annual General Meeting of the Rio Centre (Dalston) Ltd. will be held in the auditorium of the Rio Cinema on Sunday 28 October, starting promptly at 11.30am. Please arrive from 11.00am onwards in order to register your attendance. Tea and coffee will be available.

Everyone is welcome and Members (either as a Friend of the Rio or a Rio programme subscriber) of more than three months' standing are entitled to vote in the election of our Board of Directors, the cinemas governing body. You might like to consider standing for election yourself. If you are interested in becoming a Director, please contact the Rio's Honorary Secretary, Andy Cawdell andy.cawdell@dove-tail.co.uk as soon as possible. To avoid spam traps, please include the words "Rio AGM" in the subject line.

There will be a light buffet and drinks reception afterwards and your Voting Card will entitle you to a £2 discount off our afternoon Julie Delpy double bill, 'Before Sunset' and 'Two Days In Paris'.

We look forward to seeing you there.

BEFORE SUNSET (15) 2.30

(US 2004) dir. Richard Linklater 80m Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy.

Richard Linklater's sequel to BEFORE SUNRISE reunites Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) nine years after their one night in Vienna. This time it's Paris but the romance and enchantment linger on.

+ TWO DAYS IN PARIS (15) 4.15

(France-Germany 2007) dir. Julie Delpy 101m.
Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Marie Pillet, Albert Delpy.

Julie Delpy's directorial debut is a likeable, smart, offbeat romantic comedy. She's Marion, a photographer with an interior designer boyfriend Jack (Adam Goldberg). Refreshingly witty with real characters and recognisable situations as the couple battle with Marion's family, ex-boyfriends, cultural differences, and above all - each other!

BLOWUP (15) 1.45

(UK/Italy 1966) dir. Michelangelo Antonioni 111m. Digital.
David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, Jane Birkin.

Antonioni's hallucinatory portrait of the 1960s Swinging London scene of fashion and free love is also one of the director's most incisive studies of paranoia and disorientation. A successful but jaded photographer (David Hemmings) accidentally captures a murder in progress, but is it? Vanessa Redgrave is the mystery woman and the Yardbirds make a brief appearance in this enigmatic time capsule of a movie.

+ THE PASSENGER (Professione: Reporter) (12A) 4.00

(Italy/US 2006) dir.Michelangelo Antonioni 126m.
Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry, Stephen Berkoff.

Antonioni's final English-language film, now restored, is a dazzling masterpiece  with one of Jack Nicholson's finest ever performances. He plays a burnt-out reporter who exchanges identities in Chad with a dead acquaintance. There are car chases, assassinations, and Maria Schneider but everything is just a premise for the director to explore themes of identity and isolation. Luciano Tovoli's magnificent cinematography of the African desert and the arid Spanish countryside echoes Antonioni's vision of humankind's empty and futile relationship to the world around us.

OPERA JAWA (12A) 1.45

(Indonesia-Austria 2007) dir Garin Nugroho 120m. Subtitles. Digital
Martinus Miroto, Artika Sari Devi, Eko Supriyanto.

Song and dance combine in a visual tour de force in this tale of a love triangle set in an Indonesian village. Traditional myths are combined with contemporary meditations on violence and social inequality to produce an extraordinary musical epic that is bold, beautiful and breathtaking.

+ SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY (15) 4.00

(Thailand/France/Austria 2007) dir Apichatpong Weerasethakul 106m. Subtitles.
Arkanae Cherkam, Jaruchai Iamaram, Sakda Kaewbuadee.

The young Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul is one of the most exciting, original and seductive talents in world cinema today. SYNDROMES is a Buddhist meditation on the mysteries of love and attraction, the workings of memory and the ways in which happiness is triggered. It places the same characters in two different environments: a simple clinic in a rural village and a modern medical complex in a large city. Add touches of absurdist humour and the result is mesmerising.

BOMBON EL PERRO (15) 2.15

(Argentina-Spain 2005) dir. Carlos Sorin 98m. Subtitles.
Juan Villegas, Walter Donado, Rosa Valsecchi.

An enjoyably relaxed road movie with a spectacular Patagonian setting. The struggle that is everyday life for mechanic Juan is transformed by the arrival of a very special four legged friend. Upbeat, never sentimental, and a little gem.

+ BORN AND BRED (15) 4.15

(Argentina-Italy-UK, 2006) dir. Pablo Trapero 99m. Subtitles.
Guillermo Pfening, Frederico Esquerro, Tomás Lipan.

Interior states of mind and exterior realities are explored as affluent Buenos Aires interior designer Santiago undergoes a change of life after being involved in a car accident. It's an understated and intelligent examination of guilt and grief played out against the striking Patagonian landscape and confirms Pablo Trapero as a major international filmmaker.

FLOATING CLOUDS (12A) 1.45

(Japan 1980) dir. Mikio Naruse 124m. Subtitles.
Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Mariko Okada.

Naruse is the unknown Japanese director but he clearly ranks alongside  the great masters, Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi. This moving portrait of unrequited love is the story of a young woman who is both physically and emotionally displaced in the new world of post-war Japan. It‚s a a heartbreaking journey through an unforgiving world in a determined search for happiness.

+ WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS (PG) 4.10

(Japan 1960) dir Mikio Naruse 111m. Subtitles.
Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Reiko Dan.

Naruse's masterpiece is an exquisite and deeply moving portrait of dignity and determination. Keiko is a bar hostess at one of life's crossroads, both personally and professionally. Her embodiment of the conflicts and struggles of a woman trying to establish her independence in a male dominated society shows the director at his most socially exacting and profoundly emotional.

Programme to be announced