February maybe the shortest month of the year yet it contains a compelling wealth of cinematic joy, and a little bit of despair too. Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Cinema Curator, and Thea Berry, Watershed Cinema Producer share their recommendations and highlights for the month ahead.

First up they discuss why the long anticipated, sensational, Palme d'Or winning comedy thriller Parasite, is just so good. Also much anticipated is Portrait of a Lady on Fire in which they say something really special happens in they way it tells female stories.

Then they shine a light on Japan with highlights from the Japan Foundation season of films which search for happiness in Japanese society and prolific filmmakerTakashi Miike's brutal, bloody, and brilliantly over the top First Love.

On to the fast fashion world of Greed starring Steve Coogan which Mark suggests could be called Carry on Capitalism – a laugh packed critique of capitalism, which still manages to pointedly highlight its inherent inequalities.

They also recommend Mr Jones a story of journalism, truth and lies set in Stalin's Russia – a true story which influenced George Orwell to write Animal Farm.

And finally there's Little Joe in which Thea and Mark find an unsettling, fascinating and though-provoking vision of a near future in which a new plant can lifts people's moods.

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Posted on Thu 30 Jan 2020.

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