Are you not a fan of the big blockbuster movies? Are you looking for something a little different on the big screen this month? Then look no further as there are some great indie films on the horizon.
Holding The Man
Yes, the year is flying by and we are already into the month of June. We have been treated to some great indie films throughout 2016 and that looks set to continue over the next few weeks.
We take a look at some of the indie films that you cannot afford to miss this June.
- Holding The Man - out now
Holding the Man is a movie that is not to be missed this weekend marks the return of Neil Armfield to the director's chair. This will be the fourth feature film of Armfield's career and the first since Candy back in 2006.
Holding The Man is a big screen adaptation of the memoir by Timothy Conigrave and has been turned into a screenplay by Tommy Murphy.
Ryan Corr and Craig Stott take on the central roles of Tim and John and are joined on the cast list by Geoffrey Rush, Kerry Fox, Camilla Ah Kin, Sarah Snook, Guy Pearce and Anthony Lapaglia.
Holding The Man is the warm, funny and achingly sad story of the 15-year long love affair between Timothy Conigrave and the boy he fell in love with at high school, John Caleo. Tim was an aspiring actor. John, the captain of the school football team.
Their relationship blossomed and endured in the face of prejudice, adversity and the cruel illness that devastated the gay community in the '80s.
Holding The Man has already been met well critically and has been picking up a whole host of awards and nominations so far this year.
Holding The Man is set to be a poignant and powerful character and relationship drama and is a must see if you are a fan of this genre of film.
- Learning to Drive - released 10th June
Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley are two of the most exciting actors around and they are set to join forces in new comedy/drama Learning To Drive.
Learning To Drive is based on a New Yorker article by Katha Pollitt and has been adapted into a screenplay by Sarah Kernockhan and Isabel Coixet is in the director's chair.
Coixet is no stranger to the director's chair with Elegy and Yesterday Never End and this is her first feature since Endless Night - it is good to see her back.
Clarkson and Kingsley take on the central roles of Wendy and Darwan and are joined on the cast list by Jake Weber, Sarita Choudhury, Grace Gummer, and Avi Nash.
Wendy is a fiery Manhattan book critic whose husband has just left her for another woman; Darwan is a softly-spoken taxi driver from India on the verge of an arranged marriage.
When Wendy hires Darwan to teach her to drive in a bid to reclaim her independence, her unravelling life, and his calm restraint seem like an awkward fit but as he teaches her to take control of the wheel, their unlikely friendship awakens them to the possibility of starting life anew.
Learning to Drive has been playing well on the festival circuit and was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2014.
- The Keeping Room - released 17th June
The Keeping Room is a movie that mixes elements of drama and Western and is the second feature film for Daniel Barber.
Barber made his feature film directorial debut back in 2009 with Harry Brown and I am looking forward to seeing what he delivers with his second film project.
Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, and newcomer Muna Otaru are set to take on the central roles of Augusta, Louise and Mad and are joined on the cast list by Sam Worthington, Kyle Stoller, Amy Nuttall, Ned Dennehy, and Nicholas Pinnock.
In this radically reimagined American Western set towards the end of the Civil War, Southerner Augusta (Marling) encounters two renegade, drunken soldiers (Worthington and Soller) who are on a mission of pillage and violence. After escaping an attempted assault, Augusta races back to the isolated farmhouse that she shares with her sister Louise (Steinfeld) and their female slave Mad (Otaru.)
When the pair of soldiers track Augusta down intent on exacting revenge, the trio of women are forced to take up arms to fend off their assailants, finding ways to resourcefully defend their home - and themselves - as the escalating attacks become more unpredictable and relentless.
The strong female central roles makes The Keeping Room a breath of fresh air this June and is promising to be a really interesting film project.
- Tale of Tales - released 17th June
Tale of Tales is a movie that competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival a year ago and it is finally coming to the big screen.
Tale of Tales is based on a collection of stories by Giambattista Basile and has been adapted into a screenplay by Edoardo Albinati, Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone, and Massimo Gaudioso.
As well as penning the screenplay, Garrone is also in the director's chair. Garrone has brought us movies such as Gomorrah and First Love and Tale of Tales is his first feature since Reality back in 2012.
Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek is set to take on the central role of Queen of Longtrellis and is joined on the cast list by Vincent Cassel, John C. Reilly, Toby Jones, and Shirley Henderson.
From the bitter quest of the Queen of Longtrellis (Hayek) who forfeits the life of her husband (Reilly), to two mysterious sisters who provoke the passion of the King of Strongcliff (Cassel), to the King of Highhills (Jones) obsessed with a giant Flea leading to heartbreak for his young daughter.
Tale Of Tales weaves the beautiful with the grotesque, creating a stunning and unique work of gothic imagination.
Tale of Tales is set to be one of the most unique films of the summer and is promising to be a real treat of a film.
- Adult Life Skills - released 24th June
One of the indie films that I am looking forward to the most this summer comes in the form of Adult Life Skills. Adult Life Skills is a British indie film and sees Jodie Whittaker in a new major leading role.
Adult Life Skills has been picking up a lot of support and praise on the festival circuit and is the feature film directorial debut for director and writer Rachel Tunnard.
Tunnard has worked in editing and delivered short film Emotional Fusebox in 2014 and it is exciting to see her making the transition into features for the first time this summer.
The movie sees Tunnard reunite with Whittaker, who starred in that short film, as she takes on the central role of Anna. She is joined on the cast list by Lorraine Ashbourne, Brett Goldstein, Rachael Deering, Alice Lowe, Edward Hogg and Eileen Davies.
Anna is stuck: she's approaching 30 and having and early-mid-life crisis - one that's seen her regressing to a teenager, living like a hermit in her mum's garden shed and wondering why the suffragettes ever bothered. She spends her days making videos using her thumbs as actors - thumbs that bicker about things like whether Yogi Bear is a moral or existential nihilist. But Anna doesn't show these videos to anyone and no one knows what they are for.
A week before her birthday her Mum serves her an ultimatum - she needs to move out of the shed, get a haircut that doesn't put her gender in question and stop dressing like a homeless teenager. Naturally, Anna tells her Mum to BACK THE F-OFF. However, when her school friend comes to visit, Anna's self-imposed isolation becomes impossible to maintain. Soon she is entangled with a troubled eight-year-old boy obsessed with Westerns, and the local real estate agent whose awkwardness continually undermines his attempts to seduce her.
Tunnard really is one of the female filmmakers to watch out for this year after she won the Nora Ephron prize for best female director at the Tribeca Film Festival.
- Elvis & Nixon - released 24th June
Another film that I cannot wait to see is Elvis & Nixon as Michael Shannon teams up with Kevin Spacey. Shannon and Spacey take on the roles of Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon in a film that focuses on the meeting between the two men in 1970.
Liza Johnson is another female filmmaker to watch out for this month as she returns to the director's chair for her first feature since Hateship Loveship back in 2013.
Shannon and Spacey are two of the most exciting actors around and I cannot wait to see them share the screen together. It really is promising to be an exciting film partnership.
The duo is joined on the cast list by Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville, Colin Hanks, Evan Peters, Sky Ferreira, and Tracy Letts.
On the morning of December 21st, 1970 the world's biggest star, Elvis Presley (Shannon) arrived on the White House lawn to request a meeting with the most powerful man in the world, President Richard Nixon (Spacey).
Elvis & Nixon tells the astounding true story of this meeting between two men at the height of their powers.
Elvis & Nixon has been winning over critics and audiences on the festival circuit and we still have a couple more weeks to go until it finally hits the big screen in the UK.
Other indie films to watch out for include Where To Invade Next, Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story), The Girl King, and Ma ma.