Silent horror as Chichester film festival concludes

This year we have the classic Phantom of the Opera from 1935. Lon Chaney is magnificently creepy as the hideous organist prowling the sewers beneath the Paris Opera. The film will be accompanied by Ben Hall on the organ, and I can promise you an evening that will linger long in the memory.

The Wild Bunch is screening – a rare opportunity to catch Peckinpah’s magnificent revisionist western. William Holden leads his gang of dissolute outlaws towards one of the bloodiest shootouts in movie history. Madeleine Collins is the intriguing story of a woman with two lives. In Switzerland, she lives with Abdel, with whom she is raising a little girl. In France, she lives with Melvil, with whom she has two older boys. Her lies and conflicting commitments push her life off the rails. A fascinating portrait of a monster.

And Then Came the Nightjars is a heart-warming story of friendship and survival set against the backdrop of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak. Bea Roberts’ two-hander about male friendship and a dying way of life is small but beautifully observed.

Penelope Cruz stars in Limmensita, a vibrant coming-of-age story as a mother and her eldest child negotiate parallel realms of unhappiness. This turbulent family drama set in Rome is graced by a brilliant ballad-heavy soundtrack.

Richard Warburton