Jolly Good Show – It’s the BBC British Film Festival!

The British Film Festival has kicked off in Melbourne and around Australia, and there’s tons of top cinema to see. C&G have gathered a list of our top picks of the three-week long event, so you can get your hands on the best seats. 

The festival has begun, and there’s plenty going on around the city  - particularly in and around Bayside (hurrah!). The cinemas hosting the festival’s events are Palace Cinemas Como, Balwyn and Brighton. 

The Man Who Knew Infinity

The closing night special sees an all-star cast play out the basis of Srinivasa Ramanujan’s biography. Starring Dev Patel in the lead role, the film explores the intense friendship formed by mathematician Ramanujan and his Cambridge professor – portrayed by Jeremy Irons. 

Brooklyn

A story of a young Irish immigrant making her way in the bright lights of New York. While starting out timid and inexperienced, Ellis – played by The Lovely Bones star, Saoirse Ronan – she finds her feet excelling in accounting study, before being swept off her feet by romance. The film has been well received by audiences thus far, and has been recognised as a ‘sweeping romance for the ages’. 

Suffragette

Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter and Carey Mulligan star in Suffragette, telling the story of the early feminist movement seeking the right of women’s voting. This deeply emotional account of a monumental historical event is both moving and powerful, and wonderfully portrayed by three unique actresses.

Love Actually: A Century of British Romance

This series screens well-loved British romance films from the past century. The story of Australian soldier Joe Harman falling in love with captured British office worker, A Town Like Alice, will be shown, alongside 90s classic Four Weddings and a Funeral, starring Hugh Grant. Two For The Road and Women In Love also feature.

View the full film listing for Melbourne, buy tickets at the website. Enjoy the month of quintessentially British cinema, capturing the essence of all things love, romance, comedy and drama.