The Side Street Films concept, which sees the Eden Cinemas screening off-beat, arthouse and indie films, is two years old. Paula Fleri-Soler finds out how audiences have reacted.

It’s been almost two years since Eden Cinemas launched their Side Street films concept, with the promise of offering cinephiles alternative titles to the mainstream, largely Hollywood fare mostly prevalent in our cinemas.

And now, as Side Street Films enters its third year of operations, Kate de Cesare, marketing and PR director at the Eden Leisure Group, sheds some light on the venture’s results when compared to the original expectations.

“We always knew from the get-go that our Side Street Films wouldn’t attract the same sort of numbers as big name, big budget Hollywood movies, but that wasn’t our scope,” she says. “Our aim was to offer a different film product to the more discerning viewer and, although many of these films are in a different language with English subtitles – which still isn’t very popular – the films have plenty of artistic and cinematographic merit. Other films are more alterative and quirky, or intense and thought-provoking, traits which won’t necessarily appeal to everyone.

“So, yes, attendance numbers aren’t big,” Kate adds. “We’d fill up much more if we were showing another Hollywood film, but we feel that, given we are leaders in the market, we should be able to provide a varied film slate for different audiences.”

The films have plenty of artistic and cinematographic merit. Other films are more alternative and quirky, or intense and thoughtprovoking, traits which won’t necessarily appeal to everyone

Side Street Films has kept its promise, offering a plethora of titles from all over the world over the past two years or so. The line-up also included a Maltese production with the release of the recent Do Re Me Fa and has covered an eclectic mix of drama, comedy, musical biopics, religious fare, complex vampire flicks and, with the inclusion of the Poutfest Tour in late 2015, a number of acclaimed LGBTIQ-themed films.

Kate concedes that some films have been more appealing than others. She cites the recent The Lobster, which attracted plenty of hype due to its very idiosyncratic storyline and Danish director Lars Von Trier’s controversial and very erotic two-part Nymphomaniac (one of the best-performing films, according to Kate, alongside the Christian drama God’s Not Dead, interestingly.)

Currently screening is Chronic, starring Tim Roth as David, a nurse who works with terminally-ill patients. Efficient and dedicated to his profession, he develops strong and even intimate relationships with each person he cares for. But outside of his work David is ineffectual, awkward and reserved. It is clear that he needs each patient as much as they need him.

Also showing is The President, which tells the story of a dictator who comes face to face with the people he previously subjugated. When a coup d’état overthrows his brutal rule, the President is suddenly left to care for his young grandson and forced to escape. They undergo a perilous journey with criss-crossing the country to reach the sea where a ship waits to bring them to safety.

The President is described by its director, legendary Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalba, as a modern fable about power, reconciliation and the hope for breaking a never ending circle of violence.

Paper Souls

Coming up in under the Side Street Films banner is also French comedy/drama Paper Souls (Les Âmes de Papier). Writer Paul (Stephane Guillon) is a loner who earns a living writing funeral orations. Victor (Pierre Richard) his friend and neighbour, no longer knows what to do to shrug off his loneliness.

One day Emma (Julie Gayet), a young widow, approaches Paul to write something through which she can tell her eight-year-old son (Jules Rotenberg) about his father, who died many years ago. Despite Paul’s initial misgivings, he accepts and inevitably a bond forms between the two, but the ghosts of the past come to haunt them.

From the UK comes the biographical drama Desert Dancer, set against the backdrop of the volatile political and social climate of 2009 Tehran, where it is forbidden to dance. The film follows Afshin Ghaffarian (Reece Ritchie) and his friends, who despite the dangers, form an underground dance company in a hidden basement, where they learn from the very best – videos of Michael Jackson, Pina Bausch, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev.

Revelling in the freedom of expression that dance gives them, they set out to put on a performance deep in the desert, away from the watchful eyes of the ruthless Basij militia. However, this simple act of courage and defiance will set in motion events that put Afshin’s life at risk.

Paper Souls and Desert Dancer are screened from Wednesday and Friday respectively, with two screenings per film per day.