The story is built around the actions of William Hawkin (Sam Hazeldine) a family man and miner rejected for active duty due to the early onset of miner’s lung. His shame at not being able to serve drives him and his men to extraordinary lengths in the undertaking. There is also a critical look at the military’s penchant for staid and possessive thought in disregarding these non enlisted men’s heroics.

Lacking the budget for big set pieces and special effects helps the film to resolve its story in more human terms and its Britishness becomes a virtue. It lets you in on a world of claustrophobic nastiness where you can almost taste the squalor. The arduous task of digging by hand under incredible stress is given full view, as is the complete lack of help or encouragement from the other troops.

The results of these men’s efforts led to the biggest manmade explosion until the atomic bombs eclipsed it decades later. It also caused over 10,000 German casualties (although those facts are now under scrutiny). The War Below pulls no punches in its depiction of the futility of the trench warfare style of combat of that awful war.
Rob Hudson

The War Below screenings in Brisbane
Palace Barracks
Monday 15, November 11:00 AM
Thursday 25, November 8:10 PM

Palace James St
Tuesday 23, November 8:00 PM
Friday 26, November 3:45 PM
Tuesday 30, November 8:15 PM

The British Film Festival takes place in Brisbane from Wednesday 3 November until Wednesday 1 December and films will be shown exclusively at the Palace Barracks and James St Cinemas. Click here for more information about the festival, or head to the official website for more information and to book your tickets!
www.britishfilmfestival.com.au

An opportunity to wrestle back some independence appears with a shiny new van and the chance to run a franchise as a self-employed delivery driver. It’s hard work, and his wife’s job as a carer is no easier. The family unit is strong but when both are pulled in different directions everything comes to breaking point.

“Working again with writer Paul Laverty, Ken Loach delivers one of the best films the director has ever made” -SCREEN DAILY

“And Loach has now done it again. His new film, Sorry We Missed You, is another intimate and powerful drama about what’s going on in people’s everyday lives” – VARIETY

“At age 82, Ken Loach is doing some of his strongest work in Sorry We Missed You” – THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“The I, Daniel Blake director raises his game yet further with this gut-wrenching tale of a delivery worker driven to the brink” ★★★★★- THE GUARDIAN

Sorry We Missed You will be screening at Dendy Cinemas, releasing on Boxing Day.
www.dendy.com.au