Spotlight Events
Our selection of unmissable screenings in our event programme, including milestone anniversaries, exciting collaborations, special events and other Festival highlights.
Our selection of unmissable screenings in our event programme, including milestone anniversaries, exciting collaborations, special events and other Festival highlights.
As we move into December, we’re presenting a 20th anniversary screening of War Of The Worlds. Steven Spielberg masterfully adapts the seminal H.G. Wells novel for the 21st Century, bringing the scale of the alien invasion to life without losing sight of the existential dread of the source material. Harrowing and haunting, it’s another example of Spielberg’s proficiency in producing PG-13 horror (or 12-rated for us Brits!).
Our final night at the Planetarium in 2025 begins with a 20th anniversary screening of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith. The final film of the prequel trilogy details Anakin Skywalker’s tragic turn to the Dark Side of the Force, and the origins of one of cinema’s all-time greatest villains… It’s a space opera spectacle for the ages!
Our final 2025 partnership screening with Everyman Bristol is a 20th anniversary screening of Peter Jackson’s take on King Kong - and few films this century quite fit the “epic” bill as aptly as this! Full of thrills, spills, a giddy blend of practical and digital SFX, and a surprising amount of heart behind the misadventure and mayhem, it’s done on a king-sized scale [surely “Kong-sized”? - Ed.] that only Jackson can pull off, and is a perfect serving of escapism to lose yourself in this holiday season! Your ticket includes a complimentary drink, collected as you enter the cinema (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available).
Back for 2026, it’s “Epics @ Everyman”, our quarterly partnership with Everyman Bristol screening classic films from across the decades, particularly those with longer run times, that you can enjoy from the comfort of their sofa seats. Our first selection for 2026 is a 60th anniversary screening of The Good, The Bad And The Ugly! Sergio Leone’s genre-defining spaghetti western is rightly hailed as one of the greatest films ever made; with its spine-tingling Ennio Morricone score, career highlight performance from Clint Eastwood and influence on cinema to come - including superfan Quentin Tarantino! - it’s a bloody, gritty and utterly captivating misadventure. Your ticket includes a complimentary drink, collected as you enter the cinema (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available).
Do you feel the need? The need for speed? We hear you… Or maybe you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling? Then we can be your wingman any time, because we’ve got your date night plans/entire month of February sorted with a 40th anniversary screening of Top Gun underneath Concorde at the magnificent Aerospace Bristol! Join us for a high-octane screening of Maverick’s original outing in all its 80s glory - it’s guaranteed to take your breath away.
We’ve got a trio of romantic Vintage Screenings in the run-up to Valentine’s Day 2026, starting with the tragic tale of Romeo + Juliet. Baz Luhrmann’s contemporary take on Shakespeare’s most beloved play turns 30 this spring; Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes shine as the star-crossed lovers, in a high-octane adaptation that transfers the warring families to the Californian city of Verona Beach. We’ll be pairing it with an Italian and Californian wine tasting to complement the timeless tear-jerker.
Our trio of romantic Vintage Screenings in the run-up to Valentine’s Day 2026 continuing with the giddily funny Moonstruck. Starring Cher in an Oscar-winning role and a young Nicolas Cage as her unlikely love interest, it’s an endearingly heartwarming slice of Italian-American romcom perfection, served up alongside a flight of wines from across Italy for an extra dash of authenticity!
Our trio of romantic Vintage Screenings in the run-up to Valentine’s Day 2026 concludes with the ultimate Valentine’s/Galentine’s movie, Bridget Jones’s Diary. With the film turning 25 and the original novel turning 30, it’s a double milestone to celebrate as we navigate a tumultuous life in the year of Bridget, in this hilarious feel-good romcom (and loving Jane Austen pastiche!), paired with some wines inspired by the film (including a Chardonnay, naturally…).
Regulars will know that we have a fond spot for Ealing Comedies, and so we’re delighted to announce this 75th anniversary screening of The Lavender Hill Mob. Alec Guinness is on top form as a mild-mannered bank clerk who dreams up an audacious gold bullion heist with a scheme so outrageously simple, it’s surely the perfect crime - or is it? This gleeful sendup of the crime genre went on to inspire Alfred Hitchcock and remains ranked among the funniest British films ever made - and we’ll be pairing it with some wines inspired by the characters and settings!
Our March screenings at the Planetarium continue with a dose of British sci-fi nostalgia: it’s a digitally restored, 60th anniversary screening of Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. Hammer/Star Wars legend Peter Cushing returns in this sequel as the titular Doctor, with Bernard Cribbins joining in the misadventure as a policeman who mistakes the TARDIS for an actual police box and gets embroiled in a desperate bid to foil the Daleks’ most dastardly plot yet! This expansion of the Whoniverse for the 60s silver screen is the perfect watch for any fan of the beloved series, as well as anyone who enjoys classic science fiction with a healthy dose of British idiosyncrasies.
Our March screenings at the Planetarium conclude with a 40th anniversary screening of the sci-fi/fantasy epic Highlander. With its sprawling story spanning centuries, sword-and-sorcery spin on science fiction, and legendary soundtrack by Queen, it’s a cornerstone of 80s pop culture in all its glorious, cheesy glory - throw in Sean Connery as an immortal swordsman and location shoots from Manhattan to the Scottish Highlands, and you’ve got yourself a bona fide cult classic that’s still full of life after four decades!
2026 marks the 20th anniversary of firm Festival favourite Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning masterpiece is both hauntingly beautiful and brutally ugly, in its seamless blending of its surreal and sinister mythical realm with the harsh realities of the Spanish Civil War’s immediate aftermath. We’ve screened it many times over the past decade at a range of venues, and now for the first time we present it as a Vintage Screening, accompanied by a flight of Spanish wines in tribute to the film’s setting. This promises to be a spellbinding evening - book now to avoid disappointment.
We’re heating things up at the Planetarium in April with a crossover fantasy double bill celebrating dragons on the big screen! First up is a 30th anniversary screening of Dragonheart. Sean Connery voices the last of the dragons in this heartwarming tale of misadventure, unlikely friendship and duty - it’s a loving homage to some of the swords-and-sorcery classics as well as buddy comedies from Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid onwards, with Oscar-nominated special effects utilising full CGI characters that helped pave the way for the likes of Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings. One for the whole family, especially the millennial inner child…!
This May, we’ll be celebrating two very different alien invasion films that both happen to be turning 30 in 2026… First up it’s Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!. We’ve long been fans of Mr Burton’s filmography, but this is our first ever time screening his deliciously dark satire, which feels like a giddy mix of 50s B-movies and Dr Strangelove. Full of famous faces and plenty of laser beam-induced chaos, it’s a campy cult classic that will leave you in shock, awe - and going “Hey, what’s Tom Jones doing here…?”
After sold out screenings last year, we’re going to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Big Night, Stanley Tucci’s tragicomedy chronicling the misadventures of two Italian brothers gambling their struggling restaurant’s future on an epic meal for a special guest. Expect an Italian wine tasting alongside the film, as well as a meal during the interval courtesy of Toff’s Pasta, to accompany one of the greatest films about food and friendship ever made!
This May, we’ll be celebrating two very different alien invasion films that both happen to be turning 30 in 2026… Second up is Roland Emmerich’s Oscar-winning blockbuster Independence Day. It’s the perfect blend of everything we love about 90s cinema: an epic scale, an eclectic all-star ensemble cast, Jeff Goldblum playing a roguish nerd, and high-octane action sequences served up with a healthy dose of Hollywoods cheese!
We’re bringing another instalment of one of our favourite series to Averys in time for its 50th anniversary: it’s The Pink Panther Strikes Again! Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom are the perfect double act in another madcap chapter in the life of the world’s worst detective and his long-suffering boss, who’s finally driven over the brink… In honour of Inspector Clouseau we’ll be pairing the film with a flight of French wines to enjoy between the laughter - Santé!
In honour of its 75th anniversary, we’re delighted to present our first ever screening of Elia Kazan’s astonishing adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire. Featuring an Oscar-nominated Marlon Brandon and Vivien Leigh in her second Oscar-winning role, this Southern Gothic masterpiece is a powerful and poignant realisation of Tennessee Williams’ incendiary play. To pair with this sweat-drenched film, we’ll be bringing you wines from some of the hottest winemaking regions in the world, as the heat rises in New Orleans’ French Quarter…
